merry Christmas to me

almost 5 years ago I received a wonderful Christmas present. oh how I dreamed and longed for this present. I researched, read tons of websites and bought books about it, and thought it would be the coolest thing ever. yes, I was obsessed. but I thought it was too expensive, so I figured that someday, perhaps, I’d work my way toward such greatness. but then Michelle and my family surprised me and all chipped in to get it for me: a kit to build my very own flattop mandolin! I was very thankful and excited.

but after the initial excitement I discovered that there was a problem: I had little to no experience with woodworking. oh, I had done my research. I knew all the lingo and learned about all the tools and how to use them. I borrowed or bought most of the things I would need. my dad and brother-in-law (both good with such things) helped make me a workbench in the shed, so I was all set up. so I figured I should start small and learn some stuff before tackling the mandolin project. sadly, my initial little projects didn’t go well. I’m still amazed at how people can cut straight lines and make things go together nicely. add to that the fact that I didn’t have much time to learn due to other factors. so I never got off the ground, and I’ve concluded that kind of woodworking is not for me. electrical? plumbing? sure. making fine instruments? not so much. I did however get a bunch of pretty cool tools, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

the kit has been sitting in the closet for a while. last year I thought about trying to sell it to fund the purchase of another instrument, so I placed an ad at the old Mandolin Café, and for good measure I put it on our website too, but didn’t get any bites. and once more, Google comes to the rescue! a guy in Virginia was searching for a kit, and he found my web page and offered to buy it! woohoo! I’ve had my eye on a pretty cool and pretty cheap electric guitar, and it so happens that it costs exactly what I sold the kit for.

so as of yesterday afternoon, Merry Christmas to me, 5 years later. thanks to Michelle and all of those who chipped in for the original present. I’m a little sad it never worked out, but I’m certainly glad I’ve traded in something sitting on the shelf for something very nice that should expand my musical horizons. I was jamming on my friends electric guitar recently, and I was hooked, so the timing of this has been very cool. now to find an amp somewhere…