The story of my Valentine's gift

It's been suggested that I tell the story of the bookshelves.


It was a cool autumn day in 2007....


Kidding.


Well, not really.


Two years ago I talked to my FIL about building some bookshelves for our learning room.

You need to know that he is an extremely talented carpenter and all-around handyman. He built our house! Trust me, if something needs to be fixed, he can fix it. He probably has the parts for it. If not, he'll make them. The man has garages, storage sheds, even outside storage. If he says he has something, he has it.

So, I talk to him about bookshelves. I explain what I want and said I'd buy the wood at the lumber store and pay for his time if he'd build them.

He said no problem. He said I didn't have to pay him for his time. He also said he had the wood, so I didn't need to purchase any. I agreed - knowing I'd still pay him.

Meanwhile, he was asked to repair other things for family and friends. If you know a good handyman, you know how needed they are.

He would occasionally tell me that the wood was in the garage, but he was busy working on other things.

I didn't complain.

About 3 weeks ago I asked my husband if his father had started building them yet. I had seen several bookcases on sale, and thought it might be better if I just bought some, as the books were multiplying.

My husband told me no, that his dad had spent a lot of time getting the wood prepared.


Getting the wood prepared? What does that mean?



That's what you have to do to ............ logs.



Yep.



You have to peel the bark off, rough saw, plane it down, sand it, cut it, glue together into boards wide enough.....get the picture?



How on earth do I ever thank the man enough?