This Isn't A Real Update

Last week I learned that I had to travel to Florida this week for work.  This morning I woke up and thought to myself "I go to Florida on Tuesday."  Well, nobody told me Tuesday comes after Monday, and Monday happened to be today.  

In addition to this morning's general confusion about days of the week, I encountered a Cave Cricket.  He was staring me down from my office/dressing room.  If you don't know what a Cave Cricket is (also known as Camel Crickets) or what they look like, I suggest you Google it but do so with caution.  Once seen, they can't be unseen.  I beat this morning's intruder with a broom.  Repeatedly.  And then I left his carcass on the rug as a message to his friends.  Really, I just didn't want to pick him up and figured Terry could do it when he got home from work.  This was a fine plan until I left work early to come home and pack for tomorrow's trip only to find a dead cricket waiting for me.   

This afternoon was a balancing act of trying to pack while avoiding a dead cricket, and phone calls.  Phone calls about phone calls.  All leading up to a conference call tonight.  Needless to say, I'm still not entirely packed - and I'm only going to be gone for 27 hours.  Of those 27 hours, about half the time will be spent with dead people.  It's not like I have to dress to impress. 

Which brings me to my next and final point.  The purpose of this trip is to assist on-site at a surgical workshop.  This time tomorrow I will be thawing...  Well, let's just say I won't be thawing dinner.  And yet, I can't pick up a dead cricket.  

My life is full of paradox.    

Martha, Taylor, and a Mirror Collage

For some reason I receive issues of Martha Stewart Living.  At my office.  I'm not complaining, they're always fun to peruse, it's just a little odd that I work for a surgical organization and I've somehow ended up on Martha's mailing list.  I received her February issue on Friday, and this was the first thing I saw when I opened the magazine:

Hey lady - that's my table!

I even showed it to a friend of mine who confirmed "Hey, that looks like your table!"  I've got no beef with Martha; she went to prison and is devoted to her Chows.  At least we know she's got good taste.

There was lots of rambling about building new furniture to accommodate our new sofa in this post, and it occurred to me I never posted a picture of the actual sofa.

And there you have it!  

I've said before that I love the mirror on my table that is now named Martha, but because of it's height it appears as thought it shortens the wall.

It hits part way up the wall, and there's nothing left to continue to draw your eye up.  We don't have spectacular ceilings or anything, but I don't want it to look as thought I've cut the room in half.  My solution to this is a mirror collage.  

It's something I'd been wanting to do for a while.  See, I come from a family of collectors.  Our family mantra is that you have to have at least two of everything.  If it fits, if it works, if you like it, you have to have it in every color, pattern, or flavor.  Which is why when I received this gift for Christmas, I didn't question it:

OK that's a lie, I totally questioned it (to be fair, I didn't realize that it was T.Swift Diet Coke!).  It was very matter-of-factly explained to me as such: "Do you like Diet Coke? Yes.  Do you like Taylor Swift?  Yes.  So you get Taylor Swift Diet Cokes - they're a collectors item."  

Can't argue with that logic.

The point of all this is to say that I come from a family that has a penchant to collect and I am no different, so it was not difficult for me to imagine putting together a collage of mirrors.  Let's take a look, shall we:

I've got a couple holes to fill, but I'm happy with it so far.  By hanging mirrors at the top of the wall, it adds height back into the room.  The mirrors also help make the room look bigger but most importantly brighter.

All of these mirrors came from thrift stores and flea markets, except for one which was saved from the thrash.  Seeing all of them up on the wall helps me visualize what I need as far as size and shape for anymore that I add.  

I love the concept of collages - whether they are groupings of similar pictures, mirrors, whatever - I think it's a wonderful way to create a focal point in any room.  Collages may translate as making a wall look cluttered but to me it feels natural.  As natural as receiving a 6-pack of Taylor Swift Diet Coke for Christmas - love you Andrea! 

And I'm totally not kidding, can you get me another 6-pack for my birthday?  I need two after all; it's better to keep one unopened in it's original packaging.

Obligatory New Years Resolution Post - Part V

Alright, this is the last resolution post for 2014!  This final resolution is two-parts that tie together nicely: patience and hope.

One of the things I learned very quickly when I started this furniture gig was how much patience is required.  From the stripping and sanding, waiting for stain to take, waiting for a piece to sell, patience is a requirement from beginning to end. 

Lo and behold, I am not a patient person.  I try to rush things in an effort to finish faster and hurry on to the next project.  Then I make mistakes.  Then I get frustrated.  Then I want to walk away forever and say lots of cuss words.  This year though I am actively going to work towards becoming more patient.  When I catch myself getting frustrated through my own impatience I'll take a step back and remind myself of all the good that comes from being patient, like puppies and flowers and cake.

Getting today's stuff done yesterday does not free up today - it only allows for more stuff to get done in it's place.  In short, my impatience will never allow for more naps so it's better to trust in the moment.  

To hinge off of patience, comes hope. 

Hope is this Gardenia that at least two people, including my mother, told me not to buy (I'm sorry mom, sometimes you just have to let your kids make their own mistakes).  I was warned to avoid this plant because of it's fickle nature, yet I trepidatiously planted it anyway.  

Hope are the buds waiting patiently to bloom.  Hope is catching my breath when I spotted this flower. 

Hope won't let it die and patience will keep it alive.

So this year I resolve to hope.  Hope for change, hope for peace, hope for cheeseburgers for dinner.  Hope is pink and bright and greets us at the start of every day.  Hope is what keeps us going.  

Embrace hope and patiently, anything is possible. Like keeping these resolutions.  

Obligatory New Years Resolution Post - Part IV (I swear I'm almost done!)

New Years Resolutions wouldn't be complete without talking about saving money.  I say this every single year, but the difference is this time I have a plan!

And to be fair, my past "I vow to not spend any money ever except on gas and groceries and that really cute skirt I saw at Banana Republic" resolutions must have worked somewhat because for the first time in my adult life I am beginning the new year debt-free.  No car payments, no credit card payments, nothing.  Also for the first time, I have a savings account.  With actual money in it. 

With all that said I struggle to manage my money.  To start, I'm terrible at math.  Thank God there's an app for that.  Secondly, in the nature of what I do with furniture, part of the gig is having to spend money to make money.  I get to shop and kind of sort of in a very back-asswards way, get paid for it.  I also have a tendency to jump the gun when it comes to my savings account.  I see my checking account balance, transfer way too much money from checking into savings, and the next thing you know I'm left with $25 to live off for two weeks which causes me to then transfer funds back out of my savings which makes me feel like a failure.  Feeling defeated, I then decide if I can't save money I might as well spend it, and I go buy that cute skirt I saw at Banana Republic.  

Mo' money, mo' problems y'all.  

Which is why this year I am truly going to try to budget (oh boy).  One way I plan to do this is to use more cash.  Cash isn't just for yard sales and flea markets - it's a for real currency accepted at all major retailers and more. 

Using cash will hopefully force me to budget because well, once it's gone from my wallet, it's gone until I'm allowed to withdrawal more the next week.  Also, if you know me, I'm not carrying around a LOT of cash so please don't rob me.   

So far we're on week one of this resolution and I've done kind of ok.  Although we did go over our weekly grocery budget because someone decided he needed $9 worth of granola bars despite already having $9 worth of granola bars stashed in the pantry he forgot about.

...

 

In other news, I think Winter has finally gotten to all of us.  Kenny was officially ready for bed at 8:00 PM.

 

 Today was a rough day, so I made the conscious decision to come home and paint.  

Of course I would choose red which is probably the least satisfying color to work with because it needs so many coats, but it felt good! 

Obligatory New Years Resolution Post - Part III

One day last week while I was home over Christmas break I took a nap.  I love naps and think they should be federally mandated.  

This particular day happened to be one of the coldest with warnings about wind chills and low temperatures.  The sun was out though and I found Kenny on our bed, cat-napping dog-napping in the sun.

So we all dog-napped in the sun.

Dozing off with two dogs and the sun on my face was glorious.  It served as a reminder that not only do we need more Dentasticks because the boys have some serious dog breath, but that I am so fortunate to share a nap with my boys.

So I resolve to take more naps.  Sort of.

Seeking balance isn't only to maintain my sanity.  It's to allow for more naps with my dogs.  It's to make time to love more.  

I don't mean just loving the obvious - my boys (all three of them), our families, etc.  It's about taking the time to love the things that often get overlooked.  Our home, for one.  I love our little house, and it certainly has become a home in the year and a half since we moved in.  But certain things about our home got ignored, for example the two mismatched sofas we had in our living room.

Taking the time to love my space, which in my case meant finally purchasing the damn sectional sofa we had talked about getting for three years, has created a sanctuary.  Our home was already our safe place, but now it's become a comfortable space that is relaxing (so long as you pardon the barking) and cohesive.

The sectional of course required new furniture to accommodate it, which Terry and I worked hard on creating.  First we built a new coffee table since we needed something more square than rectangular.  

Yay for reclaimed wood!

Then we worked on our new entry way table.

More reclaimed wood, and one half of an old set of french doors.

I loved this mirror the minute we brought it home, but I had no where to put it. It's so big and heavy it's really ideal for a mantle.  I'm happy to finally show it off!  

Oh right - New Years resolutions...  The point of all this is to say that by giving our home a little love I've created a space I long to be in for reasons other than it's where I live.  In turn my home has loved me back.  So that's the resolution in this long-winded post - to take the time to love a little more.  Give a little love to aspects of myself and my life that might get neglected, and get a little love in return.  

Oh yea, and totally take more naps.

Obligatory New Years Resolution Post - Part II

Well, well, well.  

What do we have here besides the perfect transition to part two of my resolution post.

I only moved this issue of Real Simple at least three different times in attempted clutter maintenance before I actually read the cover: How to Live the Balanced Life.

Hey!  I want to live a balanced life!

Since starting this furniture gig I have struggled to maintain a life.  My friends and family get neglected.  My home gets neglected.  I can't see anything beyond my current project.

You see, I can't do anything half-way.  This isn't meant to pat myself on the back; it applies to all aspects of my life.  So even when I fail, I fail in an exceptional manner.

My obsessive nature often leads to me walking away from something I once enjoyed because I'm tired of it.  Since I don't want that to happen this time, I need to achieve a balance between my life and my basement.

I'm big on schedules.  I need structure.  This is not something I can place into a neat little appointment on my calendar.  I can't promise to be creative on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  So I had the novel idea to actually read the article on balance in Real Simple in hopes of getting some ideas.  

To be honest it didn't shed any new light on how to help achieve my coveted concept of balance. It did however, feature some delicious recipes that made me wistful for the days when I would prepare dinner for our little family.  I was meticulous about my dinners.  They weren't fancy by any means, but they became part of a nightly routine.  Terry and I would sit down every night at the beautiful kitchen table he built for us, and eat.  My dinners helped prepare me for the week.  I headed to the grocery store every week armed with an iron clad grocery list and a grocery budget calculated down to the penny.  

Once I started painting, my dinners became a thing of the past.  A home-cooked meal morphed into microwaved take-out or cereal.  Grocery shopping became a chore that resembled prepping for a massive snow storm - only essential items were purchased.  By the time I'd emerge from my projects the last thing I'd want to do is fix dinner.  Our only dining options became establishments that featured a drive-thru window.  I'm not proud. 

Which leads me to my grand plan on how to achieve balance: I'm going to cook dinner.  Not every night.  But a couple nights a week.  Knowing that I have some flexibility in my week will hopefully give me the structure I need to work and come up for air.  

Structure through flexibility.  

Balance through structure.  

Creativity through balance.  

I hope I remember to stretch first.  

     

Obligatory New Years Resolution Post - Part I

Happy New Year  ya'll!

I'm feeling guilty slinking back to this here blog after a 2-month sabbatical.

I could tell you about how busy we've been with projects around the house and how they all started with a new sofa.

I could go into detail about the holidays and how they tend to suck the life out of me.  Serious - I didn't even put ornaments on my tree this year and that sucker was on the curb by 8 AM, December 26th.

Or I could just share the truth.  I haven't felt much like blogging or working on furniture.  Since the two go hand in hand, it felt deceptive to work on one and not the other.  

And it's been nice.  The holidays did take over as they tend to but my heart wasn't in it.  It's difficult to enjoy Christmas knowing I have a basement full of ugly furniture that I put there and isn't going to paint itself.  Last February I got the flu.  I could feel it coming on for a full day before it actually hit.  I didn't know it was the flu at the time but I did know that the minute I stopped moving whatever it was would kick my ass.  So I didn't stop moving.  For that full day I continued in perpetual motion so that when I did get sick I could at least have a clean house to go along with it.  Sure enough by that evening I couldn't breathe and I had a temperature well into the triple digits.  

This apparent furniture burn-out is kind of the same way.  I could feel it coming on.  When you start dreading leaving your 9-5 job because it means coming home to work on furniture, that's an indicator that you might want to slow it down.  At the time I couldn't.  There were custom pieces we were working on that had to be completed.  I even tried to work on some of my own stuff up until Thanksgiving, in hopes that if I did a piece of my own it would help inspire me.  Needless to say, that piece is still unfinished in the basement, right where I left it the day after Thanksgiving.      

I know once I start, I'll be able to get going again.  So why can't I start?

The New Years resolution in this post is my resolve to be truthful to myself and my blog.  I can't promise to produce a new piece every week.  But I can promise to blog more, blog better, and talk about when I need a break.