Those Disgruntled Lazy Elves

Well, this year’s holiday season was a productive one in my shop. I made lots of presents, baby blocks for my twin 1 and 1/2 year old nephews, a bunch of cutting boards, and a couple of other projects that I won’t mention because they’re not done yet. Yep, that’s right it’s well into January and I am still not done making Christmas gifts. I tried blaming it on the elves but that didn’t work. So I tried doing something unusual I told them the truth.

I tried to get them all done on time, but I started to rush and like most people when I rush I make mistakes. Not only in the project, but also in safety. I get rushing around and don’t put on my respirator, because it is all the way on the other side of the shop. The floor of the shop looks like a sawdust and scrap wood monster exploded, and tools become strewn all about the shop. I kept pushing and pushing to make that Dec 25th deadline. It was the week before Christmas and I started to realize that some of the projects were not going to get done. And for the first time in that hectic month I looked around at the mess. The sawdust covering every thing, the scrap wood tripping hazards all over the floor, and the tools left out all over everything. It was time to step back and take an unsawdust filled breath. I decided to finish the one project that was almost done. As well as put the finish on the ones that were done. I told all that were supposed to get presents that they would be late. They really didn’t mind. I guess no one likes getting presents handed to them from a bloody stump!

-- -Shawn