November 06, 2020

The Problem With Procrastination

Thank you for the kind comments on my last post. I had a better day today, but still had my moments of feeling sad for no reason at all. At least I didn't cry on the beach for an hour ;)

After I finished my walk today, I was determined to do something productive that was also enjoyable. (Ugh, after I did the laundry, of course!) I quit procrastinating a trip to Lowe's to buy the materials for the nightstands I want to make for my bedroom.

I spent a LOT of time a month or so ago planning out how I was going to make them--doing all the measurements and calculating drawer sizes, etc. I had a printout of all the pieces I'd need to cut from the sheets of plywood. I wasn't working from someone else's plans--I'd made my own! I was really excited to finally work on the nightstands.

I was NOT, however, looking forward to buying the materials. I wanted to get oak plywood (I usually buy pine because it's cheaper, but it has a lot of knots and imperfections). Whenever I've bought it, I had to dig through the pile of super heavy sheets to find one that looks good. Then I had to load it on a cart and bring it to the back of the store for someone to cut it down into a few pieces for me (the only way I can fit it in my car).

For the nightstands, I knew I'd have to get two sheets--one 3/4 inches thick and the other 1/2 inch thick. Today was the day I quit procrastinating and I went to Lowe's. I was actually really looking forward to finally getting started on this project. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the oak plywood looked fantastic--no flaws! The top sheet looked great, so I didn't even have to dig through them. Things were going my way today.

And just as I was pulling it out from the shelf, a nice man who was walking by asked if I'd like help getting it on the cart. Yes, please! So he helped me with both sheets. I pushed the cart to the back of the store where the saw is. There was an employee back there (usually I have to hunt someone down, so it was my lucky day). And then he turned around, and holy smokes--he had Jared Leto's eyes! Hahaha, it was kind of mesmerizing. 

I asked him if he could cross cut the plywood into three pieces, and... cue the record scratch of my going-so-well-day.

He told me that cross cutting oak would destroy it--the ends would splinter a good 3-5 inches at the cut. He said that you have to use a very specific saw blade to cross cut oak (or any hardwood). The blade that they have on the saw at the store isn't good for doing that, and he said he'd be happy to do it, but I would be very unhappy with the cuts. (He said even after warning people, they've yelled and cursed at him after he cut it.)

I was very appreciative that he told me because the two oak boards were a total of about $115. So, I left the store empty handed. I'll either have to beg someone to let me borrow their truck to bring the wood home and cut it myself with a very expensive blade that I don't have, or I'll just have to buy some nightstands. I'm thinking I'll just buy a couple of nightstands. 

When I was at Brian's house a couple of days ago to babysit Luke and Riley, Brian gave me some scrap poplar boards that he had, so maybe I'll come up with a small project I can make with those. I'm itching to make something!

And because I don't have any photos for this post, here is a picture of the "kittens"--I write that with parenthesis because they are huge!! EACH of them weighs more than Estelle and Phoebe. (Duck is on the left--short hair--and Chick is on the right.)


Phoebe - 7 pounds
Estelle - 9 pounds
Duck - 10 pounds
Chick - 11 pounds

Seriously!! The kittens are huge. But I still can't help comparing them to Chandler, who was a whopping 26 pounds at one point.


I am sure I probably wrote about this before, but I'll share the story again here because it was funny.

I wanted to put Chandler on a diet, and after going to a "True Nature of Cats" weekend at the Purina headquarters, I learned about puzzle feeders. You put dry food inside of a bunch of little cups of different depths and the cats have to reach their paws down into the cups to scoop out a few pieces of kibble.

It actually worked! Chandler lost five pounds over a few months. And then I noticed that he was gaining the weight back. I couldn't understand why until one day when I saw that Estelle getting food out for Chandler! BAHAHA. She would pull some out for Chandler, and then pull some out for herself. Back and forth.

Estelle hates other cats, but she sure as hell loved Chandler. (Everybody loved Chandler--pets and people.)



Anyway, the kittens are adorable. I'm so happy we adopted them!


4 comments:

  1. Have we talked about the Buy Nothing Project before? Lots of communities have local Buy Nothing groups, where you can give items but also ask to be gifted or borrow particular items. It might be a good way to get the blade you need. https://buynothingproject.org/find-a-group/

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    1. I haven't heard of that! I've heard of "freecycle" (which I always forget about). I'm going to check out the Buy Nothing Project--I always have things to give away and I would love to borrow (or be gifted) things that I need! Thanks for the tip :)

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  2. You cats are hysterical. Bummer about the oak, but thank goodness for an honest man!

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    Replies
    1. I was SO happy that he was honest with me. I'd have been super disappointed if I spent so much money on wood that I couldn't even use.

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