Speaking of Anxiety...

My mother-in-law is coming into town this week!

(Just kidding, Mom. :) )

Don't you hate it when someone says they're going to do something and then they don't? That bugs me to no end! Which is why I'm a little upset with myself right now. I said I was going to post a picture of the cap wall on the stairs and I just realized this afternoon I hadn't done it yet. Grrrr...

I have the pictures on my camera, though, so I'll try my hardest to pull them off and load one into the blog this evening. If I have time, that is. I do have a few things to try and finish up in preparation for our weekend guest (my mother-in-law really is coming into town tomorrow afternoon - I wasn't joking about that; I was just kidding about it causing me anxiety). My wife had to leave town Sunday morning for work (coming back home late this evening), so I've pretty much been on my own for cleaning up.

I've done a good job with not making new messes, but... I'm afraid I haven't been as attentive as I wanted to be with cleaning old ones and tidying up a bit. I still have a few hours tonight, so I'm not worried. I'll still be able to get some stuff done.

I don't think my wife reads my blog, so I can safely say I have been working on a few other things, instead - things that have been bugging my wife for some time - so I wanted to surprise her by getting them done. For example, the dryer sits to the left of the washer, but the dryer door hinges on the right, so when it is open, it creates a sort of wall between the washer and the dryer. It isn't a big deal to switch the dryer doors around (I used to deliver furniture and appliances when I was in college, so I can switch a dryer door or a fridge door in no time); you just have to make a few minutes of time to actually do it.

I didn't really notice how annoying the whole door thing was until I had to do some laundry this week. (before you say anything like, "Why is your wife always doing the laundry?", keep in mind that I do most of the cooking.)

So I did it.

I also detailed the inside of her car (which needed it) and washed and waxed the outside of her car (which desperately needed it). It wasn't quite warm enough outside to touch up some of the chips with paint, so I'll try to do that this weekend.

And then I did something for myself, too...

I picked up an old Craftsman WorkMate someone had listed on Craig's List for $20. It is in excellent condition and of higher quality than a brand new one you could buy today. It came with the four low profile bench stops, even!

I can use it as a workbench up in the garage now that I've moved my bench into the basement, or if I need it in the basement, then it can be easily transported. I can probably mount a few tools onto plywood bases (miter saw, my other recent Craig's List find of an old crank hand grinder for $25, maybe my slow speed grinder) and then use the WorkMate to bring them up to a proper usable level.

Oh, I almost forgot! I did make some headway on that danged cap board. Specifically, I jointed one of the edges flat, then used my trusty Bosch router and a cove bit to route a 5/8" x 5/8" cove into the side. I ripped it off with the table saw and repeated the process two more times, so I now have three pieces of cove trim. I like having a little extra, just in case; besides, I could always use the leftovers on a box or something, right?

Anyway, now I just need to take off the old board and molding, cut the new board to size, and then attach it and the trim and I'm done! It always sounds easier than it really is, doesn't it? I have to make sure I have the right reveal on all of the edges, I need to figure out how I want to mount the board (screws or finish nails), need to figure out when/how I want to finish it.

Decisions, decisions...