doing things like cooking, playing, crafting, and watching Mark read ginormous books
Monday, May 23, 2011
pardon the absence…
my last week was spent with these girls
doing things like cooking, playing, crafting, and watching Mark read ginormous books
doing things like cooking, playing, crafting, and watching Mark read ginormous books
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
the week at a glance
The days go by so quickly. Sometimes I look back on the day and think "did I even breathe through this one?" I was just thinking about my blog this morning and feeling the usual guilt that I've neglected it yet again. I want to blame it on busyness which is always valid, but in some ways, I don't want to have to have a reason. I think it is just the way I blog. It's sort of like reading for me. I would consider myself an avid reader, but I go through what Mark and I like to call "reading binges." I may have a month or 2 dragging through the same book and maybe never entirely finish it and then suddenly I'll hit a weekend where I read 3 or 4 books and be done. Perhaps these binges are a clue to my personality. At least they are of the healthy binge variety.
Yesterday I made an actual paper to-do list, which is something I love to do but haven't done in a while. It was long. Full of everything that really must be done this week. Until I made that list, I was feeling overwhelmed by the week. Wishing I could somehow magically insert 4 more days into the typical 5. But once it was all down on paper, I started to breathe more normally again. I found a different energy, sparked by the desire to mark something off the list. It's like those gold stars that I use to get in first grade on my desk paper when I finished all my homework and more. Those are a real motivator for me. It seems silly that getting to put a check next to something on my list serves as motivation, but I'll take it. I'm proud to say that nearly half my week's list was completed yesterday. And today will hopefully fair as well.
I have another list that tends to sit for longer periods of time and often I add more to it than I cross-off. This is my Projects list. All the ideas I come up with for decorating the house, fixing things, and personal art projects. It is an exciting list and I'm often depressed that I'm so far behind on it — like the yearly photo albums I really want to do to capture the images from each year of marriage and life. I'm 3 and a half years behind on this one, but I'm tightly crossing my fingers that I work on it this summer.
This week however, we have been tackling something off that list with a vengeance… the downstairs bathroom fix-up. Two weekends ago, on Holy Saturday, amidst all the craziness surrounding Holy Week and the music album (which is still yet to be released, stay tuned) and music for Easter morning, Mark and I awoke early and I said, "Let's demo the bathroom and put it the way we want." Amazingly enough, Mark said, "Great!" And we did.
Demo took all of one day and served to completely freak out the poor dog. So the last week and weekend we spent spackling and sanding on repeat trying to get a smooth wall once again after removing the construction bathroom mirror which is always GLUED to the wall. Yes, glued! Aggravates me to no end. Thankfully though, Mark whipped out his amazing sanding chops and I think the wall looks fantastic. So this weekend, we put a coat of primer and repainted the whole bathroom with the same color as before, but in semi-gloss for maximum moisture protection. This week, we must put the new light fixture, mirror and vanity into place and the bathroom will look better than it ever has.
So you may be asking, why the sudden need to do this after waiting for 3 years? Good question. The answer is quite simple: my sister, bro-in-law, and three little nieces. We are getting a happy visit in just 2 short weeks and being my mother's daughter, I've been obsessing over the state of the house and how to make it perfect for their short visit. Granted, this is the first time they will be seeing our house and I also happen to be faulted with a need to be known as someone with good housekeeping skills.
On another note, call me crazy, but I'm also running a massive yard sale this weekend for a couple families, including ours. So, amidst the bathroom reno and dust, we have piles, SERIOUS piles of stuff that I'm slowly working on organizing and tagging for the yard sale. This is my first yard sale ever and I am psyched. We've been brutal about getting rid of things this go around and so far I'm very proud. Even as I'm terrified that I'll completely screw up the sale somehow. But I figure you have to start somewhere. So here we go! Wish us luck.
Now, I just reread this post checking for spelling errors and general flow and I realized, there is no point to this post. I'm going to put it up anyway, because sometimes life is like that. It doesn't feel like there is a point, but it still happens. So happy Tuesday and I hope you are having a remarkable day even if it doesn't feel like one.
Yesterday I made an actual paper to-do list, which is something I love to do but haven't done in a while. It was long. Full of everything that really must be done this week. Until I made that list, I was feeling overwhelmed by the week. Wishing I could somehow magically insert 4 more days into the typical 5. But once it was all down on paper, I started to breathe more normally again. I found a different energy, sparked by the desire to mark something off the list. It's like those gold stars that I use to get in first grade on my desk paper when I finished all my homework and more. Those are a real motivator for me. It seems silly that getting to put a check next to something on my list serves as motivation, but I'll take it. I'm proud to say that nearly half my week's list was completed yesterday. And today will hopefully fair as well.
I have another list that tends to sit for longer periods of time and often I add more to it than I cross-off. This is my Projects list. All the ideas I come up with for decorating the house, fixing things, and personal art projects. It is an exciting list and I'm often depressed that I'm so far behind on it — like the yearly photo albums I really want to do to capture the images from each year of marriage and life. I'm 3 and a half years behind on this one, but I'm tightly crossing my fingers that I work on it this summer.
This week however, we have been tackling something off that list with a vengeance… the downstairs bathroom fix-up. Two weekends ago, on Holy Saturday, amidst all the craziness surrounding Holy Week and the music album (which is still yet to be released, stay tuned) and music for Easter morning, Mark and I awoke early and I said, "Let's demo the bathroom and put it the way we want." Amazingly enough, Mark said, "Great!" And we did.
Demo took all of one day and served to completely freak out the poor dog. So the last week and weekend we spent spackling and sanding on repeat trying to get a smooth wall once again after removing the construction bathroom mirror which is always GLUED to the wall. Yes, glued! Aggravates me to no end. Thankfully though, Mark whipped out his amazing sanding chops and I think the wall looks fantastic. So this weekend, we put a coat of primer and repainted the whole bathroom with the same color as before, but in semi-gloss for maximum moisture protection. This week, we must put the new light fixture, mirror and vanity into place and the bathroom will look better than it ever has.
So you may be asking, why the sudden need to do this after waiting for 3 years? Good question. The answer is quite simple: my sister, bro-in-law, and three little nieces. We are getting a happy visit in just 2 short weeks and being my mother's daughter, I've been obsessing over the state of the house and how to make it perfect for their short visit. Granted, this is the first time they will be seeing our house and I also happen to be faulted with a need to be known as someone with good housekeeping skills.
On another note, call me crazy, but I'm also running a massive yard sale this weekend for a couple families, including ours. So, amidst the bathroom reno and dust, we have piles, SERIOUS piles of stuff that I'm slowly working on organizing and tagging for the yard sale. This is my first yard sale ever and I am psyched. We've been brutal about getting rid of things this go around and so far I'm very proud. Even as I'm terrified that I'll completely screw up the sale somehow. But I figure you have to start somewhere. So here we go! Wish us luck.
Now, I just reread this post checking for spelling errors and general flow and I realized, there is no point to this post. I'm going to put it up anyway, because sometimes life is like that. It doesn't feel like there is a point, but it still happens. So happy Tuesday and I hope you are having a remarkable day even if it doesn't feel like one.
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