Crazy Furniture Project

I have three large tables in my sewing room. Here are some old photos. It's beautiful furniture, but it takes up most of a room.

After we move, I won't have a whole room for sewing so I've started looking around for a smaller setup. Of all the options I found, I liked this Amish sewing cabinet best—in cherry, it's $3800! I wanted to order it, but that's a lot of money.

But then I ran across this solid cherry Mission Craft desk on craigslist for $400!

My hope is to convert it to a sewing cabinet without destroying it. We'll obviously have to cut a hole in the desktop, which is pretty scary, and install a sewing machine lift. I've written a number of local woodworkers, and so far I haven't been able to tempt any of them into taking the project.

We may have to try this one ourselves. What could happen? LOL

What's Up With Us

I'm not quite sure what happened to the rest of the year. It feels like we've spent most of it in a non-productive haze, which is why I haven't posted much—there didn’t seem to be anything noteworthy to report. That's changed now.

This past August, Intel announced layoffs that affected most of Jeff's group. Although Jeff wasn’t laid off, he was offered a role he would have disliked, so he chose to leave with his colleagues. Fortunately, we have a friend in a high-level position at Hewlett Packard Enterprises who helped Jeff quickly find a new job. It's a fully remote position, which includes some travel for customer visits.

Taking advantage of his newfound flexibility, Jeff spent a week visiting his mother at her retirement community in Anaheim, CA. He is always impressed by the vibrant social life and the close-knit community there—a lifestyle he now envisions for us. And not having to do yardwork and cook everyday is also a feature. So, we've decided to move into a retirement community ourselves. We're currently exploring options, ideally looking to be closer to family in California. Thus, our search has extended from Southern Oregon to Northern California.

Jeff dropped by Mountain Meadows in Ashland, Oregon this past week and was quite taken with it, making it our top contender. Finding the right home could take some time, as they only have around 50 detached single family homes available in the community. Luckily, we aren't in a rush.

This waiting period will be our opportunity to focus on downsizing—a necessary step, considering the homes in the community are about half the size of our current one. It looks like we're in for a serious "stuff diet."