Thursday, December 19, 2013

A yearly project, cement, doing it all not very well

I want to do a 365-type project for next year, or maybe a one-a-month project. I have ideas in mind, but haven't decided how to implement them.  One thing is I'd like to stop cursing like a sailor.  I've started on this already, with limited success.  It is really hard to stop cursing. The only thing I can think of to help me stop is some Cliff Clavin-type of electric shock whenever I curse.

How would you stop yourself from cursing? Your suggestions are welcome.

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This morning I was merging onto a highway when I was cut off quite abruptly by a cement truck.  The cement truck had the back portion open and was spilling cement all over the highway. To avoid hitting/being hit by the cement truck, I was forced to swerve my brand new, less than two weeks old, doesn't even have plates yet car through a giant slurry of flying cement. 

Nobody I know ever has this sort of stuff happen to them. 

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A while back, hush asked for a post on how I "do it all"--....I have a super easy, simple answer!

I don't. 

I don't even do half. 

You might (or might not) have noticed that over the past year I've gone from posting five days a week to posting two to three times a month.  I am having a hard time finding enough time to write up  blog posts.  I haven't found the time to actually finish three or four projects that are 90% done.  I attribute this lack of time to my greatly-increased chauffeur duties--in our old house I spent about forty minutes in the morning and the afternoon dropping kids off and picking kids up at school, but in our new house the morning drop off takes me two hours round trip and the afternoon  takes three....so....much of my free time is spent sitting on the highway. 

As for getting stuff done....how do I do it?  I tend to do large projects in spurts.  I will save up enough money for whatever it is, then do it all at once, probably over a weekend or two.  I've also started trying to hire out bigger projects, especially ones that involve heavy manual labor and tools we don't own.  We hired out the living room floor. I recently had a bunch of mid-size painting projects (like the fireplace) that I knew would involve lots of cutting in and bending and stretching, which usually leaves me with an ice-pack and a strained neck and back, so I hired those out too.  I can't always afford to do this, but when we can, it makes life easier. 

Any time I think "oh, I'll knock that out in a weekend, no problem!".....those always seem to turn into a goat rodeo.  Like the kids bathroom. 


I had the painter repaint a fresh white over my electric blue, and I thought I would do the easy task of repainting the crappy vanity and replace the hinges that had been painted over with forty-two coats of paint.  It took--wait for it--AN ENTIRE WEEKEND--to get those vanity doors off. That's right, two days, multiple shattered drill bits, a new screw extractor, the list goes on....and the doors are finally off but three hinges still remain on the doors, which means that I will be ruining the Mister's upcoming weekend as well.  I have not yet sanded the vanity or the doors or gotten anywhere near the vanity with a coat of paint yet, ten days after starting this project. 

Princess keeps asking when I am going to put the doors back on.  Not any time soon, kid.  I'm hoping to have this done by Valentine's Day. 

So there you have it.  I don't "do it all".  I do what I can, slowly, when I have time.  Sometimes I sit on my couch and read library books or other people's blogs rather than write a blog post or slap a coat of paint on a vanity.  Sometimes I get a burst of energy and get a ton of stuff done.  Bursts of energy generally only seem to happen on a weekend and/or if someone else is entertaining my children. 

There isn't any "doing it all."  Seriously.  I do home décor projects because I like them.  If I didn't, I'd be doing something else.  Sometimes projects take forever, but you don't see that when you're reading a post.  There's nothing behind the curtain but an old guy and some sound effects.  If you want to do it all, do what you like when you have the time.

(Words of wisdom from a woman who drove through a cement waterfall.) 
 

5 comments:

  1. You should have heard the curses flying out of my mouth this morning when I saw the garbage truck outside and realized my hubby never put the garbage out...and we won't be home for a week. I looked beautiful in my pajamas, glasses and stringy hair running the garbage out

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    1. Of course there is a time and place when curses are appropriate--that would certainly be one of them! I'd be cursing too.

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  2. That was my original thought with the Cliff Clavin clip! When I went to look it up, I was surprised to find that his therapist follows him around with an electric shocker; I remember it being him thwacking himself with a rubber band.

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  3. Hi,
    I think doing jobs so many jobs 90% is actually doing it all, better than nothing happening at all. Be proud of what you do achieve and the rest - oh well , there's always next weekend ,( or the next). We will all still be here watching and waiting.
    Hope you and your family have a joyful, healthy and happy Christmas
    Kind Regards
    Cathy

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  4. I bought a brand new 2007 Toyota Solara in June 2006. About 2 weeks after I bought it, I was on my way home from the grocery late at night and a FREAKING GRAVEL TRUCK was in front of me (why, at 10pm??) and I got about 20 knicks on my hood/front fender from that effing truck. I have no desire to stop cursing by the way. But yes...it happened to me and it was devastating. My only new car. Ever.

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