Winding down, gearing up

I’m pretty much wrapping up my Civil War woodworking book, and as always happens when I near the end of a very large, time-consuming project, I feel a little directionless.

That shouldn’t be the case, really, since I have other assignments and projects to move on to. For one thing, I’ve been wanting for several months now to redo my wife’s desk a bit so it can accommodate a slightly larger computer – the opening she has now is about 1” too small for her new PC, and redoing that has been on my list.

Likewise, I did a project article for one of the woodworking magazines last year and several months ago they asked me to come up with another for them, but I just haven’t had time. The project I have in mind is something that will end up in our living room, so I even have a double incentive to get that one rolling.

I also just got a contract for a new woodworking book, and while it’s not quite time to start turning out the projects for that one yet, there’s a lot of preparatory work that needs to be done as I get started on it.

Then there are the 101 little things that need to be done in the shop. As you may recall from my Feb. 10 blog, I haven’t hadn’t been out there for two – now three – weeks, and I need to get things back in order. Not the least of which is dealing with the growing stack of stuff-that-needs-to-be-dealt-with that my wife piles just inside the shop door. Attic, trash or wherever, I have to do something with it.

So I have plenty to do, and I’m eager to do all of it. Well, all but that pile of my wife's deal-with-it stuff. But I just can’t decide what to do first, and as a result I’m finding it difficult to start on any of it.

Is this just something I do when transitioning away from a huge project and getting ready to move on, or do you experience this, too?

Till next time,

A.J.