The Bookcase Project

My job at work is to be an HR Generalist. That pretty much just means I need to be versed in a little bit of everything related to HR – benefits, payroll, compensation, compliance, recruiting/staffing, leave administration, employee relations, employment law, policy administration, and anything else thrown on our plates. I’m not a specialist in any of those areas per say, but I know enough to be dangerous.

At home, I fancy myself a generalist as well. I can cook, clean, sew, decorate, organize, fix minor home repair and computer issues, paint, craft, garden (in progress), and open jars without help…usually. But what I haven’t spent much time with is something my dad has mastered – wood working.

So I decided to round out my personal resume by convincing my dad to teach me “how to build stuff.” I decided to start with a bookcase as our first project. It’s something I need and it seemed fairly easy to make. (besides the H&G shows build one in 5 minutes!)

After deciding on a design, dad created a drawing, cut list, and priced out our project materials. So far I have used a table saw, router, jig saw, skill saw, and power sander. I'm also learning the lingo! For example, notch thingys = dado.

(Dad has been a very patient teacher.)

We are not quite done, but here is our progress so far:








This was the dry fit to make sure our cuts were correct. Next step is to use wood glue and a nail gun to put everything together and add the feet. Then we stain and varnish!

Patio Garden...sort of

I don’t remember a lot of plants around the house when we were growing up. Mom had some ivy plants, but it is only within the last 10 years or so that she has become a garden diva. My sister currently holds the family record of quickest kill. (killed an ivy in 4 hours flat) But she has also had more successes in recent years.

I love gardens, potted plants and fresh cut flowers, but have never had much success keeping plants alive. After college I bought an ivy plant for my apartment. That poor plant moved with me from Dallas to California, California to Kentucky, and Kentucky to Dallas. Against all odds and by no work of my own, it has survived.

April 9, 2010, the following e-mail was sent to our corporate office:

“The property management have some plants to give away that have been switched out in the lobby, they are in the media center, please limit yourself to 2 each, first come first serve.”

The details are fuzzy, but I just remember talking to a colleague in the training department, then being grabbed by the arm, and dragged down the stairs to the media center; a stampede of women from my office behind me. Confused, I picked up a plant and made my way back upstairs to my office.

The result – meet Frank:

I adopted Frank that day and made a promise to keep him alive through the week. (Anything outside of that I couldn’t guarantee) But first, Frank needed a respectable pair of pants.

I am happy to report that Frank is still alive today. Since that small success, I have added an aloe plant, some orange cosmos from my mom’s garden, a zinnia starter kit, and have reclaimed the original ivy plant (my dad was acting as a foster gardener for the last 3 years).

Ivy plant with 9 lives

Aloe plant from Aunt Nita and Uncle Jim










Orange Cosmos today

Orange Cosmos all grown up

Zinnias today

Zinnias all grown up