Like Watching Paint Dry

Goodness y'all, but I lead an exciting life.  I don't know which of my latest nail-biting adventures to share with y'all first...painting the bedroom...or preparing my annual sales tax report.  Both are have-you-sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat, riveting tales to be sure, but a cliff hanger is always good for a Monday morning so whatdaya say we start with the Black Hole of Casita de Trash...the bedroom project with no end?

Let me start by saying I love paint chip cards.  They're right up there with wallpaper and fabric samples in my mind.  (Is that a "girly" thing or what?)  I've got those little strips of paper all over the house...clipped to my man basket, peeking outta drawers, tucked in every handbag I own.  Shoot...I once even made price tags outta 'em just to get rid of some 'cause I couldn't bear to throw 'em in the trash.

I also love paint...not painting per se...just the paint.  In the past, I changed paint colors almost as much as I changed my underwear.  I swear up and down...I think I've lost a good 10' in square footage with all the layers of paint I've added over the years.  Repaint every 10 years...pshaw...about every 3 around these parts!

What I don't like is picking out paint...normally.  This time was a breeze.  I knew what color I wanted and lucked out my first time outta the shoot when we went to get it....Glidden's Granite Gray.  In the words of Goldilocks...not too dark...not too blue...ju-u-u-st right!

I'll tell y'all a little secret about me...I am the messiest painter on the planet!  When I buy paint, I always get twice what I think I'll need...as in a gallon for the walls...and one for me to wear.  I get paint everywhere...and I do mean everywhere.  When I take a bath after painting, I think to myself "Now how on this green earth did I get paint there?"

Another little secret about me...I don't do product endorsements.  I get asked, but I make it a rule to never mix business with pleasure.  I'll endorse yours 'cause I believe in you and your artistry, but never commercial ones...never.  Well guess what y'all?  Never say never...'cause rules were made to be broken and I'm breaking one of mine.

Believe you me...and I'm not getting paid to say this...Glidden's 2n1 paint is...in three words...Fab U Lous!

I was going to be painting over dark chocolate brown walls and the idea of having to prime the walls first gave me the willys!  I make no bones about being lazy...it's who I am and doing double work on a room I was already dreading just didn't seem like the carrot-on-a-stick incentive needed to get me shaking my tail feathers.  When I saw this paint...I thought why the heck not give it a try.  The only thing I stood to lose was a little money if it didn't work.  Law...but work it did...like a rented mule!  No dripping...no streaking...total coverage on first application...easy clean-up...a procrastinator's dream paint!  I had bought only one gallon in case it didn't pan out, but guess what?  I still have almost a half a gallon left after painting a 10x12 room!

The best part?  Except for some Jackson Pollock squiggles on my left thumbnail...Trash is paint free!  That's right y'all...the only gray in my hair comes from raising kids...not from raising a paint roller!  Can I get a yee to the haw?

The room is taking shape and if my camera was working properly, I'd show y'all some money shots.  In the meantime, you'll just have to take my word for it.  I'm working my flat-as-a-flitter hiney off and it's gonna be Bee-U-ti-ful.  The fun part is almost about to commence!

Before I begin hanging curtains though...I'm off to see what else I can slap some Granite Gray on.

Here kitty, kitty, kitty!

 

Word To The Wise...From A Wiseacre

A friend asked me recently what my word of the year was going to be and my first thought...it sure as heck ain't gonna be one that I feel inclined to include in the title of each.and.every.post!  What the heck was I thinking when I dreamed up that nightmare?  Folks...if you ever see me thinking of doing that again (and you'll know 'cause my eyes will be spinning in opposite directions and smoke comin' outta my ears)...do us both a favor and  slap me on the forehead, get all up in my face, and holler "DON'T!"  Let me tell y'all...some of my titles for 2011 were a stretch...even for me.

Like a lost marble (or two...or three), I've rolled this around in my head since New Year's eve trying to take a'holt of what and where I wanted to be in 2012.  Looking at the date on the calendar this morning and realizing January was slipping away, I thought "Bingo...got it!".

  PROCRASTINATION

A word that fits like a pair of Spanx.  I do believe I could single-handedly put the Pro in procrastination.

(I stole borrowed this from somewhere and can't remember where!)

I tell myself all the time, I don't drag my feet...it's just that I work better under pressure...but I'm only fooling myself.  To be fair...it's not entirely my fault.  In doing a little prep work for this post, I did my research on the word procrastination and it seems it's actually a slight kink in the ol' wiring of the noggin...kinda like ADD.

For all my joking about Squirrel Alerts, it really is true.  I'm easily distracted and even easier to talk into doing something...make that anything...instead of what I should be doing.  It isn't always laziness on my part or even a lack of will power...it's poor time management more often than not.  Obviously, a skill I failed to learn over the years.  Ooops!

I have a tendency to put off and put off until I'm so overwhelmed, I don't know how to even begin.  I'm not making excuses, but to keep from beating myself up relentlessly, it really got out of control while waiting for Bella to be born and continued to spiral downward like a kite that had lost its wind while waiting for her to come home.  Like the wind...my priorities shifted and with it...my attention. 

For example...remember this photo?

(Ugh...my Black Hole of Casita de Trash!)

'Course you don't...how could you?  We'd have to take a trip in the Way Back Machine to jog your memory 'cause it's from December 2008 and half of you didn't even know me then.  Would you be shocked if I told you the only thing different in this room is the boxes are back in the Christmas building (she says hanging her head in shame!)?  It's true.  This room is the bane of my existence...my Achilles heel...my Kryptonite.  I walk in there...get the heebie-jeebies...close my eyes...slowly back out...shut the door...and promise myself I'll do it later.  Deny..deny...deny!

The thing is y'all while doing my research, one suggestion for coping was to quit trying to be it all while doing it all.  Instead, the experts suggest commit only to the first step and see how that goes, thus staving off the guys in white jackets and possibly real commitment.

S-o-o...here it is...my word for 2012.

ONE

That's it.

One step at a time...instead of trying to skip a few in haste and stumbling...or worse...falling.

One piece at a time...instead of running back and forth doing ten...and watching in horror as they all turn into hot messes.

One project at a time...instead of fifty that never get finished or wind up looking like...well...for lack of a better analogy..dog poo.

One day at a time...instead of worrying Thursday what could happen on Friday or what went wrong on Wednesday.  Tomorrow can wait and yesterday's gone.

Finally...one life...mine...and me repurposing it.

My first step/project/day reclaiming my sanity began this week...in that blasted bedroom.  The walls are swept down...along with the cobwebs...the holes patched.  The blue tape is in place and the paint has been purchased. (Y'all would be so proud of me and how I handled making my paint choice. I kept calm and no bodily harm came to Cat Daddy throughout the entire ordeal!)

Once I begin painting, it'll go fast, but for now...I have to take a little breather from everything else in order to remain focused on one thing at a time.  If I can conquer that dratted dreaded room...I'm on my way to conquering my fear of failure.

After that y'all...the world is my oyster...served on the half shell...

and I can't wait to slurp it down!

Word up...y'all! 

  

Games Of Chance?

Random...an adjective defined as having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective...

or in layman's terms...

chance.

I personally find this amusing since I don't happen to hold with chance...even with something as seemingly mundane as choosing a number for a giveaway.  I couldn't have sat down, gone through all the entries, and picked a better number to win the Spoonin' pendant than #1.

# 1...Rebecca at A Re-Purposed life just "happened" to be the first commenter...just "happened" to be only one of two still awake at the stroke of midnight to ring in the New Year with me...and just "happens" to be anything but random.

R.E.'s life is full of purpose...God's purpose for her...hence her blog name.  She never sits still for very long, always has an on-going project or her Bible at hand, runs up and down the highway like she was born with wheels on her tooshie, and epitomizes the words SQUIRREL ALERT.  God is constantly diverting her attention with random beauty causing her to stop...pull over to the side of the road...and marvel in His goodness.  She may begin a major over haul of a room, only to have Him whisper "Made you look!" sending her out to lecture, teach, and reach out to others.  Her daily planner is full of changes, scribbled out dates, and cancelled plans, but it's also bulging with friendships, love, and proof-pudding of a most beautiful Re-Purposed Life.

Big...huge...thanks to all of you for your oh-so-funny comments and for taking the time to humor an old lady.  BTW...one of the best was Susie's.  If you get a chance...read it.  Law...it's a squirrel tale to end all squirrel tails tales!  (Warning:  empty all contents of your mouth before reading!) 'Course I was sad to have to eliminate her, but good golly...she can make her own!

Sorry I had to eliminate a few others from the drawing as well, but there are rules about family members...Jenn.  (Play nice and maybe your gorgeous mother will get you one for your birthday!)

A special thank you to those of y'all who became new followers.  I appreciate the pleasure of your company and hope you come by again.  I'll be sure and leave the light on for you...even if you've only time for a drive-by.  Believe me when I say...I'll take it!

I want to emphasize...y'all are all numero uno in my book, but sadly...that ain't how the game is played.  I will say here and now...for all the world (or at least a few hundred) to read...y'all could never be the dog poo on the soles of my Yellow Boxes.  You're way too busy being the Dr. Scholl's to this ol' gal's heart and...SOUL!  

Random... could be, but you'll have a hard time convincing me...

'cause people...

I just can't make this stuff up!

'Cause Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut

In hindsight, vision is always 20/20, but when writing a post while drinking Pink Squirrels,  it's more like 20/12.  Let me be a warning against BWUI*...don't do it!

(*BWUI...blogging while under the influence.)

Nuts and bolts get omitted...important nuts...and even more important bolts....like extra ways to earn brownie points.

(~I do not like the cone of shame.~Up)

Why on earth didn't I mention giving a shout out to Susie on your own blogs...either with a post or on your sidebar?  Really...tell me why?  Oh yeah...I remember...my SADD* got in the way!

(*SADD...squirrel attention deficiency disorder.)

This people is why I cannot be left unattended...SQUIRREL!

(~Won't you please be my prisoner, please, please, please.~Up)

I also failed to mention that I'll be needing contact info...just in case you're the nut who falls from the tree when it comes time to shake out a winner.  I'm not trying to get y'all to chase your tails...BUT...if you do decide to do a assorted nuts sorta soup-to-nuts on my giveaway...go here (not here) to let me know about it.  Otherwise...I'll be the one running around...trying to gather all my nuts in one basket.  I think I'm also gonna change the date to the 8th for announcing the winner for one reason and one reason only.

(Do you not agree with that I am saying to you now?~Up)

In a nutshell, the way I got it figured...the more folks who know about Susie Q...the more orders she's gonna be filbert filling and I really want to see her rattling that squirrel cage round and round 'til 2014!  Yeah...her talent and prices are just that off-her-nut good!

(Susie girl...~My name is Dug.  I have just met you and I love you.~)

Remember...let me know on the previous post here...not here.  Don't make me take my earrings off.  Got it...get it...good!

~I can smell you~Up