Brad,
Slow progress can be a good thing- the canoes can get decorated, and the canoes become great decorations. The ones in the attached photo here aren't decorated for the holidays, but the fact that others are in the queue before them means that they get to grace the home! (BTW- down here in the sub-tropics, there's no need to worry about the dryness from winter heat... there's no such thing as winter heat!)
Michael