crunch time

i'm always running out of time.  for my latest exciting project, i was given two weeks to create two three-dimensional three-layered plywood cityscape cutouts for two downtown portland window displays.  all this, to commemorate pink martini's forthcoming christmas album.   i was hired by client and friend thomas lauderdale, the official "band leader", and if i know one thing about thomas after five or so years of getting to know him, it's that he's wildly in love with everything christmas.  every year he takes great pride in lavishly decorating his two-story indoor christmas tree, and the crews don't stop until the tree is absolutely dripping with tinsel and antique glass.  all this to prepare for his annual holiday party, where hundreds of people gather together in spite of stormy weather, dressed fabulously over sing-along carols to a grand piano, no host bar, and cupcakes as far as the eye can see.  it is truly a magical affair.  and so i know this window display is no small ordeal. it must be perfect.  

now i'm the type of can-do girl that will say yes to almost any project.  but i don't always realistically estimate the time it will take to get a project done.  for this particular project, i didn't realize what it meant to cut two hundred windows out of a full sheet of plywood with a jigsaw.  not to mention that for each window hole i cut, i initially have to drill two pilot holes for my saw blade to go into, and then once the holes are cut, i have to carefully rasp the edges to sand off the splinters.  tonight, after a week full of sawing windows, my left arm is sufficiently taxed, my tricep a little buffer, the cityscapes have a slick base coat of paint, and are ready for the final touches of vellum, blinking lights, and silhouettes in the windows.  with one day to go until the album release, it's crunch time.