life in the (middle of a million) projects

i love projects. especially home improvement projects, these days.

our home was built in 1849, so it's pretty much what you'd call a work in progress. the thing about progress, however, is that you need to make some. and that proves to be hard with elias and piper sometimes.

i recently made some good progress around here, though. i painted the fireplace mantle, spackled the walls in the living room and office, and did some paint touch up.

AND i finished eli's room. finally! what were once maroon walls with dark and light wood trim are now cobalt blue and "appletini" walls (yes, kristen- the right choice, indeed) with crisp white trim. my anxious heart can rest now that the gloomy, drab maroon paint is off the ceiling and the trim (and yes, the walls). sweet victory over the darkness.

what you must know about our cute little cape is that the previous owners simply didn't pay attention to detail. and i couldn't pay any more attention to detail without becoming a lunatic. it's part of my very essence, i guess, and why editing was an obvious choice for me. but there are so many things that were done, well...poorly. which may be the understatement of the century. and those things drive me crazy. so one room at a time, we've re-painted, re-finished, re-done, re-plastered, re-everythinged.

and i really try not to start too many projects at once because dave is a busy guy, and i always need his help/skills for things. but there are certain projects that take all my will power not to start. like the "built-in" (if you can call it that) in our living room that looks like it was built by a blind man with no arms. it's ricka-rack. and i loathe it. but the walls behind it are unfinished and it will require much more time and effort than my kids afternoon nap can support. so for now, it's left in all it's ugliness for me to look at and be tormented by each day.

i like "re-ing" things. i like the process of making things look the way i envision, but it can be hard having multiple unfinished projects. especially because i'm a results person. i want it done yesterday, and well. but budgets and time-constraints don't always allow, so i wait in project purgatory...usually for a time when dave can help me finish what i started. i'm so lucky he's handy :)

so the other day, as were finishing up painting eli's room, i said to dave something like, "wow, it's so nice to have a project completed...totally done. i'm so excited" and after a few moments he quipped "does this mean tomorrow when i come home i'll find you with a sledgehammer and the built-in in pieces?"

he knows me all to well.

what can i say? i like living in the projects.