Making Things

It’s almost book sale time again and excitement is building.  I’ve already been thinking about what section I’ll start in this year and what shoes I'll wear and what bag I’ll bring to lug around pounds and pounds of books.  My book sale teammates are also getting ready; Kellaura mentioned that she wished there was an Advent calendar for the book sale, which was really all the encouragement I needed:

I wouldn’t say that giving up tv for Lent has made me more productive in the traditional sense.

Staying up until midnight to make an "advent calendar” for a used book sale is my version of going on a long run to wind down or relieve stress.  Some people end up with blisters on their toes, I end up with blisters on my hands from the hot glue gun.  In fact, I think after making two of these countdowns my fingers might be scared enough to be protected from boiling hot glue.
Giving up tv hasn’t necessarily made Trent productive either, unless you count reading a few pages of Atlas Shrugged and then falling asleep sitting up productive.  He did however make this:

It’s a house for mason bees!  My dream of having two beehives in our backyard is on hold, but now that we have a nice little home for them hopefully some mason bees will stop by.  I’ve faced the reality that two hives and 60,000 bees will not enjoy sharing a space with everyone currently living in our house.

I can already imagine Rush or Tate answering the phone in his dorm room to hear his youngest sibling giving the update from home:  “Well, Mom finally got her bees.”  One day I’ll be sharing honey with all of you.  For now, I’ll be trying to stop the bee house from being sprayed by the hose.