December 16, 2016
Dear Everyone:
Christmas is just
around the corner. I’ve been
“busier than a one-armed
paper-hanger with
hives” trying to finish my Christmas Project in time to ship everything
before the deadline which, according to the
United States Postal Service, was
yesterday.
My living room looked a lot like
some sort of explosion had taken place in
Santa’s
Workshop. Red, green,
white, materials everywhere.
Three
ironing boards set up in various parts of the space.
Small tables pressed into service.
In other words, a holiday-themed
obstacle course.
Why three ironing boards?
Because that’s as many as I have.
There’s the regular ironing board that everyone has, suitable for
pressing just about any item of clothing.
Then there’s the “table-top” version; smaller in overall size
with much shorter legs. This
one usually sits on top of a table and can be used to quickly press a
seam open. On the other
hand, if you have two dozen of the same seam to press, you might as well
use the full-size model.
Finally, there is the sleeve board.
Or, as “Alice” once exclaimed:
“Look at the little baby ironing board!
It’s so cute! And
small! It’s hardly big
enough to be away from its mother.”
This is another type of “table-top” board, small enough to fit inside a
sleeve, hence the name. It
is extremely useful when you need to press open a seam on something that
is too small fit around either of the larger two models.
As I said, three ironing boards, but only one iron.
So the extension cord was stretched across various locations, as
well as supplying power to the sewing machine, which occupied the most
central location in the room.
Nearly two dozen items were in varying stages of assembly.
A catastrophe was almost inevitable.
My toe sort of bumped, ever so gently, into the leg of one of the small
tables. The table rocked.
The large glass of
Diet Coke on top
of the table rocked. Then it
wobbled. Then it took on a
life of its own.
Dark brown liquid went everywhere:
On the table, on the chair, on the carpet, on the Christmas
Project. Oops.
I managed to rescue all but three items, leaving the chair and carpet to
fend for themselves at first.
Once the Christmas Project was safely moved away, it was a matter
of using up an entire roll of paper towels to try and mop up all that
soft drink. Lucky thing it
was Diet; no sugar to have to deal with.
But I had to place a large bath towel on the floor to keep my
feet from getting repeatedly wet.
As disasters go, this one was fairly minor.
I still had enough material left over to replace the damaged
pieces, starting over from Step One on three soon-to-be-gifts.
Obviously, it could have been much worse.
From that point on, all drinks were relegated to the kitchen
until further notice. Even
though I finished the last piece yesterday afternoon, I wasn’t taking
any chances.
Then I did some additional shopping and the wrapping.
And packaging. As of
this afternoon, all the shipping is done.
Local presents still need some attention.
But the ironing boards are all corralled back in the closet and
the sewing machine has resumed its place of honor in the back bedroom.
The soft drink glass is designated as free to enter the living
room once again.
Now there’s just those three dozen
Holiday Cards
to get done…
Love, as always,
Pete
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