Got wood?

I've recently developed an addiction to wood. I should probably rephrase that so I don't com off sounding like some Viagra junkie... I have developed a fondness for wood working. But, being a Phamily on a tight budget, I'm not one to shop for high quality box-store boards. There is a "zero" under the wood column in our budget. That last part is actually a lie; there is no wood column in our budget.

There is also no furniture line in our budget. But low and behold we needed furniture for our son. I've never been a woodworker, but I did go to art school, once. Something should have stuck... right? Fast forward, I started collecting these huge pallets from a nearby bathtub makeover store and soon thereafter, I'm building custom furniture. Who'd a thunk it?! This could be a legitimate business sitting right under my nose and it's win-win-win:
1. I get to design and create and build
2. It brings in extra money to the bottom line
3. It keeps old pallets out of landfills and fire pits

Here are the latest projects to role out from Chucked Wood:

Potting Bench

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deck Table

I have a house; let's make it a home.

I'm not sure exactly when I turned into this person. The past few months have been a whirlwind of self-doubt; an oh-woe-is-me-sad-sack-of-a-shell-of-a-guy. Who is this guy?

Not me, that's for sure.I wasn't raised this way. I haven't always been this way. But, somehow... here I am.

Well, there I was; enough is enough is enough. Lennon said that, "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." Corporate America says "if you fail to plan, then plan to fail", Pink Floyd said... well I don't really know what Pink Floyd said because I never took that specific combination of drugs.

Look, what I know is this; I'm a great person. I'm surrounded by great people. If you're reading this, then you're probably one of them. I'm not great because of how much I bench press, or because of my bank account (both are near zero, by the way) but because I am a part of something great; humanity. life. love. humor. faith in the good. faith in the Good. faith.

Enough is enough is enough. It's time to celebrate the "who" in the world; not worry about the when or the how. Like my stinky shoes remind me; just do it. No one is there to stop you but yourself. stand up and... okay, for Christ's sake.. this is a bit ridiculous. I think my ego is kicking in. Or the PBR.

Here's the skinny. No more hiding behind my own shadow. I'm a guy that enjoys what I need over what I want, a husband that cheers for his wife, a daddy that packs lunches and slays dragons for his kids, a son that is still his parents' child and a brother that still loves to raise hell with his kid sister. Odds are you are too.

This blog is dedicated to the small victories that make us, "us". Like when we we make it to Friday without being late to work once or forgetting something my wife asked me to do. The quiet moments that should be shouted from the mountain tops like learning how to play the intro to an 90's power ballad, knowing your kids can wipe their own backsides or getting everyone to sleep before 9PM without using ether or chloroform. The human element that keeps us pining for the shared experience, like a pint of beer in a neighborhood tavern with a friend talking about who-knows-what-and who-gives-a-rats-ass or the Thanksgiving dinner where you tell the same God-forsaken stories and still laugh just as hard... sometimes even harder because it adds fuel to the fire so that they can be told again next year.

This blog is my pressure valve; the e-version of a padded room where I can shout and praise and share and swear and celebrate and cheer and wish and dream. This blog is... well who knows what it is, or what it will become. But, now my voice has it's own little house... time to make it a home.