Nine years ago, I was but a wee lad, bright-eyed and bushy tailed full of vim and vigor. Marc Spagnuolo, my woodworking svengali, asked if I would be interested in writing a few guest posts for him.

Once I started writing three articles a week for him – and he had only asked for maybe one every two weeks or so, he asked me, “Dude, would you want to set up your own blog?”

Oops, I guess I went a little overboard with the writing. And, for the first seven years of this blog, I adhered to my rigid posting schedule of four posts a week. Articles on Monday and Wednesday, the Link of the Week on Friday and the Quick Poll on Sundays.

Believe me, it was a ton of fun, but it was also a ton of work. On average, I was spending anywhere between 12 and 15 hours each week – every week – on the blog to meet my self-imposed deadlines. It was a thrill. I was in demand, asked to speak at – and later serve on  – the board of directors for the local Woodworking Guild. I started attending woodworking meet-ups.

Heck, I even got the attention of sponsors. Companies such as MicroJig, Infinity Cutting Tools, Tormek, Bora Tools, Bell Forest Products. Laguna. Eagle America.

I was asked to join Dyami Plotke and Chris Adkins on the Modern Woodworkers Association podcast, and I have met so many interesting and awesome folks.

Wood Magazine even approached me and had me write a column for their magazine. I was doing online content for Popular Woodworking. It was crazy…

Then, I realized something. It wasn’t all of a sudden, but it had been building over the past year. I am starting to feel a little like Lucy Ricardo, joined by her friend Ethel Mertz on the candy wrapping line. Suddenly, instead of getting all of the candies wrapped beautifully for packaging, I was rushing to just get them out.

Sunday night would roll around and I would look into the shop in terror and panic, realizing I hadn’t done any woodworking, but I had to write SOMETHING.

Basically, I’m discovering that I just can’t maintain this second job, my primary job and my  sanity all at once.

That being said, it pains me to make this announcement. Effective today, I will be putting Tom’s Workbench on an indefinite hiatus.

Does this mean the site is going away?  No. I will continue to maintain it so you can go back and check out the articles I have written. Does this mean I am going to crawl away into a cave and disappear from the face of the planet? Nope. I will still post to Twitter and Google Plus as I finish projects and seek the wealth of advice of the woodworking community.

What it does mean, however, is that I am going to get a little much-needed balance back into my life and spend some of the time I have been writing about woodworking to actually get back into the shop and do some of it. Isn’t that why I have all of those tools in the first place?

In the meantime, please e-mail my Trained Shop Monkey at iggy@tomsworkbench.com if you have any questions, and be sure to get some time for sawdust therapy.

Trust me, you need it!

No, it wasn’t time when the kids went back to school. Nor was it the time when the carved pumpkins were on the porch. It wasn’t even time when the turkeys lay in the brine, or after those bronzed beauties were pulled from the fryers, ovens or smokers for Thanksgiving. 

Wow, that was impressive.

No, NOW it’s the time for the holiday season to begin in earnest. Which means after a turkey sandwich or two, I had to start stringing up a few sets of lights.

Oh, and I had to start a little bit of shopping. Now, I was not about to start doing any of the Black Friday madness which took place early the morning after the feast, but I do have to say that the home improvement centers are definitely stepping up their game when it comes to impressing woodworkers.

Formerly the home of just the avid DIY woodworkers, home centers are stepping up their offerings considerably. Take for example that Lowe’s is now carrying many of the Kreg and Bora lines of tools, especially their Portamate Wood Rack – definitely a specialized tool to the woodworking community.

Add on the folks over at Home Depot carrying a wide array of power tools and high end Bessey Clamps, and if you are looking to drop a few hints to your loved ones, or seeking to buy a woodworking gift for a friend, you might want to consider there.

At more specialized woodworking stores, you can definitely find whatever you seek. From the major 220 volt cabinet saws to paring chisels that can nick off a whisker at a time, there’s a tool for everyone. Here’s a hint if you are looking to buy for someone or make some suggestions – try to think of a particular aspect of your shop work you want to focus on. For instance, we so often overlook safety in our urge to get the shiny tools. Why not spring for something like a MicroJig Grrr-ripper push block?

And, we all know that today is Cyber Monday, when we tell our bosses to take a hike and we get a ton of shopping done at our desks.

Just kidding. With wi-fi and 4G speeds so darned fast these days, there’s no need to soak up the company’s bandwidth anymore.  The deals you can find online are totally impressive, and you know there are a few places I would recommend you check out for some awesome deals (ahem, Infinity Tools and Bell Forest Products).

Also remember that most online places have wish list features, so be sure to ask your friends for their lists – and put your own items up there – just in case you want to make shopping a little easier for friends and family.

Oh, and if you want a chance to get some awesome goodies for yourself, Iggy and I are still looking for some Last Minute Elf ideas for our ongoing contest.

Just be sure to send an e-mail to Iggy@tomsworkbench.com with a photo of a holiday gift you have built. The idea is something that doesn’t take a lot of time or material, but will make for one happy recipient on the big day.

In the meantime, we’ll post the best ideas on the site the week of December 7 – 11, and we’ll name the winners by random draw or by my hairy woodworking friend throwing banana peels at random entries.