Do I even have to say anything?

Have a great holiday season!

Well my friends, this will probably be my last post for 2006, as I'm heading for the Midwest on Wednesday. We'll be in the area for two weeks and are hoping to make contact with as many of you as possible. There is one hitch in this plan though. We're flying home this time and will have very limited access to a vehicle, so for the most part we'll be in Cedar Rapids for the entire trip. So if you'd like to see us, you'll have to come to us this time. Sy's family would love company, as long as they are forewarned , and we'd love to see as many of you as possible, but if you can't make it, we'll understand. I think the best way to get ahold of me is by email at ntymnky@hotmail.com but I will be checking this blog as well.

I'm sorry I haven't got the workshop pictures up yet, but I started some work on the chopsaw table and made a mess of the shop and I wanted you to see it it pristine condition. I haven't forgotten to take them though, and I'm certain many pictures of me will be taken over our trip, so after carefully Photshopping it, maybe it will make it's way to the blog. Take care all of you and have a great x-mas and a safe new year!

Holy cow!

Two posts in less than a week. We'll have to see if I can keep the momentum going. Let's see, well, I've finished the carpentry aspect of the woodshop I'm building and am about to start the electrician component so wish me luck. We're going to be mounting flourescent lights and also I'll be wiring a lot of new wall sockets so that we have plenty of power to the shop. I've also got to go down and take some digital photos so that I can show all of you what we've accomplished so far. I wish that I had taken some before pictures, but it's way beyond that now.

Not much else has been going on in my world. I've started thinking about what to pack for our trip home and am finishing up some x-mas shopping. I've also started to work out again, spurred on by the wager that my mom and I made. We're going to see who can lose more weight and more inches off of our middles before April 1. It's not really a fair contest, because my mom has so little weight to lose compared to me, but I think she's trying to help motivate me to get back in the gym. I've also received an invitation from a friend to come and lift weights with him twice a week in the mornings, so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to make some progress. Wish me luck and we'll see if I can't keep up better with the blog.

My next project?

I was telling you about building a woodshop in my friend's basement, and while my motive are relatively pure, there is a small benefit to me. You see, I have been offered almost completely unrestricted access to this amazing place to work on any projects that I desire. While for some of you this might not seem like a big deal, it is wonderful news to me as my woodshop doesn't have heat. As much as I like my tools to freeze to my skin, I thought it would be a change to build something in the winter without the fear of hypothermia. I've found some pretty amazing projects online such as a new kitchen table, or even some decorative end tables, but I'm looking for something a little more functional, but also something that will be fun to build and use. That's why I'm seriously contemplating building the boat pictured above. It's a fairly simple design and dates back to the early 1800's. You usually see this type of boat in the bayous of Louisiana and other Cajun enclaves, but it's used for duck hunting all over because its very stable and lightweight. I thought it would be fun to flyfish out of and to just paddle around in some of the beautiful lakes and rivers we have around here. Obviously it's not a white water boat, but there are some calm stretches of the rivers that would be neat to see from the water. Oh, by the way, the type of boat is a pirogue (peee-rogue). The only thing that's holding up my nautical ambitions is my lovely wife who tells me that I don't need a boat. While it may be true that I don't need a boat, I really think that I want one and I'd love the chance to build my own. So, I need your help in lobbying the wife for my next project.

I'm just going to pretend.......

that I've been updating this blog ritualistically and that this is merely a entry to catch those of you up that don't read everyday. So, life is good. Still madly in love with my love and am so very thankful for all of the wonderful people that I have in my life. I've been a little busy with this and that, but you all knew that already.

Hunting. I did go a few times to try and shoot an elk or deer. And let me tell you, there are a couple of deer that should be thanking their stars that I'm not very good at this hunting thing yet, because I had some great chances to shoot deer, but I talked myself out of the shot. As for elk, apparently that repellant that my wife put in my boots is incredibly effective, though the last time out, I did see a momma moose with her calf, so at least the day wasn't a complete waste. It's amazing how much unused animal tags taste like......failure.....when you make them into a soup. I haven't really been doing any duck hunting, but now that big game season is over, I might have to start going out again.

So my friend that I built the pirate ship for was thinking of putting a wood shop in his basement, so of course I volunteered to help and I've been having a blast doing it. You'll be happy to hear that I haven't even painted anything black, though everything that I've built in that shop will survive a nuclear blast, so at least it has that going for it. I think that in the next week or so I'll be doing all the electrical work, so wish me luck on that. After the shop is wired, I'll help him finish an office that we're renovating and I think I'll be finished. You never know though, I'm sure we could find something else to do with his house.

I'm looking forward to coming home for Christmas and hope to see all of you there. We'll be in town on the twentieth and we won't be leaving until the fourth of January, so I don't want to hear any excuses. We're flying into Cedar Rapids and we won't really have access to a car, so you'll have to come to us, but I think I'm worth it. Take care my friends, and try not to spend too much on my x-mas gift.