Everyone needs a Project!

Last night, I gave in to my tired eyes and put myself to bed earlier than midnight. I promise myself every morning that I will go to bed earlier that night, and the vast majority of evenings I find I have broken my own promise. There is stuff I want to get done - whether its doing my laundry at 10pm, reading Trueblood, or in the lounge wrapped up in my quilt from Penny googling or more recently pinning to my hearts content. I am not a morning person. The girls in my theatre change room can vouch for that.  Thats not to say that I am a grumpy bum, it just takes me a while to look and feel awake. 10 hour shifts on 6 and half hours sleep probably doesn't help the problem... Having completed my third 10 hour shift in a row, and a full day of mixed-bag ENT as the only ENT experienced nurse... I was buggered when I finished work at 6pm and headed straight to Mum and Dads to celebrate cousin Meg's birthday!

So after a delicious dinner, chosen by the birthday girl, made by Nick, supervised by Mum and eaten by me...  We gave the girl her presents, ate some cake and when Meg and the boys headed off to see Transformers 3, I went home with good intentions to write my third blog this year.  
It didn't happen.
Instead was in bed by 10, and whilst it took me quite a while to fall asleep, I am now feeling the benefits of a little extra sleep. Another 10 hour day of ENT today and I'm still perky at 9pm.  It might have something to do with today being my 'Friday'. Two days off - WOOHOO!  
Last weekend, I completed the very un-fun task of the spare bedroom cleanout. Having accomplished that, I now figure I deserve to do something fun and creative. I originally had plans to DIY something awesome and perfect for Miss Meg's birthday present, but being that until last weekend, my sewing machine and overlocker were buried deep in the spare bedroom abyss it was made somewhat impossible. Now that I have extended the deadline of Meg's super present til Christmas, I want to make something for me. So, what to do?
Remember this picture from my last blog?

Notice the purple cover on my overlocker? That's not a cover.  It's a green bag. Yep, the ones you put your groceries in, and it has been covering my overlocker for years. Being that it is one of few items now visible in our spare bedroom, being pinspired by Pinterest, and wanting to improve my sewing skills - I've decided it's time to make me a cover! I found the following pictures on Pinterest which links directly to their original sites here and here which give tutorials on how to make them!

I look forward to pawing through the patchwork section of Fantazia Fabricland tomorrow to see what I can find.  And, of course will be sharing my successes/failures right here.
So I now have a short term project for this weekend, and Adam recently began a project of his own. His is much more long term, and has been a long time coming. For a couple of years now he has dreamed of building his own cocktail cabinet. No, it's not a cabinet full of alcohol... It's an old-school sit down gaming cabinet.  One of these - 

...but a bit more stylin', and without the gaudy sticker panel. It suits us don't you think? Unlike the original cocktail cabinets of the past, on which you could play only the one game - you can now make these babies with like 8000+ games. Every game from the late seventies onwards. Space Invaders, Frogger, Cookie Monster Galaga, Wonder Boy, Street Fighter, Psycho Fox, Alex the Kidd, Bubsy - you name it, we will have it.
Creating one of these for us will require Adam to learn a whole bunch of new skills.  He has already bought an old dead empty cabinet off eBay.

Yup! This one is ours, and it is a little worse for wear.  Adam is currently in the throes of deciding whether to refurb this cabinet or simply use it as a template to make his own from scratch. We have enlisted Rossco, and his mad carpentry skills, to be his mentor for this part of the process.
In addition to building/refurbing the cabinet, Adam will be building a computer from scratch that will be able to run the games. This will involve him putting together the hardware of the computer and connecting it to a monitor, joysticks, buttons, coin-slot etc. He will also have to configure the computer.  It's a long road ahead, but he is already on his way.

This was Adam testing a game on his work bench in the garage, having already built the hardware of the computer.

And here is Leo (isn't he handsome?), who thought he would jump in and help his daddy with his new project!


Is anyone else in the middle of an awesome DIY project? Do your substitute children pets insist on helping you aswell?


Just like the Policeman with the ukulele, it's time to twiddle my fingers and say...
Sweet Dreams. See You Tomorrow!


P.S. I really shouldn't beat up the true awesomeness of your present Miss Meg, you may be disappointed. Your present will be perfect total crap.