The Painting Princess...

January is an interesting month....The holidays are over, the money is gone, the days are dark and kinda dreary, and every January I get the "blahs".  I start yearning for a trip or a new piece of furniture to fill the empty space created when the Christmas tree came down.  But, because the money (and excuse to spend) left with Christmas, it just cannot be.

For the past 4 years (and I'm NOT even joking!), I have wanted to paint the kitchen.  I even had paint tape up last year...and it stayed up for almost 3 months before I got irritated and pulled it back down.  It was just becoming a painful daily reminder that painting the kitchen was not going to happen anytime soon.

This year for Christmas, my awesome kids gave me a wonderful gift....a roll of paint tape, a brush and A GIFT CARD TO HOME DEPOT!!!  As soon as the tree came down and the boxes made it back to the garage, my card and I headed to get paint chips to post on the wall.  Of course, when the last coat of paint was 15 years ago, there's a lot to do before dipping the roller....OH!  The deciding on colors, the drywall and spackle...the sanding and the basic re mudding... it was ridiculous!  It's amazing the damage that 6 kids and all their friends can inflict.  And of course, once you have the putty knife and drywall mud in hand....you just simply MUST fix that wall in the family room and entry...That hole that caused me such stress a few months ago in the middle of the entry wall?  Gone!  The gauge down the stairs from the vacuum attachment?...No longer a problem!..Remember when the towel rod pulled out of the kids bathroom?  Repaired!...The hole cut in my bathroom to repair the plumbing?...Finally fixed...
I found all kinds of treasures....apparently one day someone was lying down in the hallway and decided they needed to write "hello!"...why?  who would EVEN know?  I found that one quite by accident, it's gone now without anyone fessing up to that little salutation.

I walked through the house 2 weeks ago and realized that in EVERY SINGLE room there was either a wall or a ceiling with a patch of drywall mud repairing some damage.  It's kind of sad how you just get used to it and let it go for so long.  I also find it kind of humorous that a wall or door that I think needs to be washed, somehow just seems easier to paint with a brush in hand and a roller at the ready.  (Should I admit that I don't wash walls before painting?? Oh well....I don't!  It's out there now....

Well....this weekend after prepping and prepping and prepping the painting has finally begun!  The kitchen is a warm, inviting shade of mustardy yellow...."gray poupon" is what the kids call it.  None of them can decide if they like it or not...doesn't matter too much to me 'cause I LOVE it!  The entry and hall have been re-fauxed and I'm ready to start on the mudroom and downstairs bathroom.  Fortunately, there is leftover paint to repaint the kids bathroom next and to touch up a few other areas.

There are so many colors on  my jeans that I've started referring to them as my "pallette pants".  Each splatter of color that joins in takes me one step closer to getting out of "Blah-ville".  It makes me happy!! 

So...The Painting Princess moves on from room to room , whistling while she washes walls in her own little way and making a list of things she hopes to get for her birthday; feeling less like a damsel in distress with every passing January day.

So...what to choose???

SO many choices for my New Year's resolutions....SO many areas in which I fall short.  Sometimes it's a hard line to try to be better without being too hard on myself.  I tend to get a little over zealous when it comes to these resolutions because I know the real me and want to be better. It's not unusual for me to have a long list that I want to check off from day to day and month to month. 

So, this year I'm going to try something a little different. I've found a few quotes that I'm printing up and keeping close to me as I face whatever 2011 has in store.

 "If what you believe doesn't affect how you live, then it's not that important."
#1-Simply put: I know what I believe and I'm going to be better at acting upon that.

“Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.”
#2-I have some lofty running/fitness goals for myself this year. I'm going to remember that I started as a girl who has NEVER run and gonna see how far I can get. I can't wait to see how far I get!!

"I See You"
 #3-This quote is FULL of meaning for me, but let's just say that I'll try to do better at looking at people and trying to understand them better and leave it at that for now.

"Every day may not be good, but there's some good in every day."
#4-Find it. Every day.

SO....

"To be or not to be?' That is not the question. What is the question? The question is not one of being, but of becoming. 'To become more or not to become more' This is the question faced by each intelligence in our universe." — Truman G. Madsen

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!!

10 weeks......

In conjunction with my new running goals, I'm starting a 10 week no sugar/no carb challenge...starting right   this   minute,  November 23, 2010 4:47 pm--which puts me to Feb 1, 2011 at 4:47 pm, to be exact. I know I can do it, but do I WANT to do it enough to do it??  Dang it!  Two days before Thanksgiving??  How do I get myself talked into such things??

They (whoever the elusive "they" are), say that the best way to commit yourself to a goal is to tell people...so here you go.  I'm telling people.  Actually, at the moment I'm kind of whining about it, but either way, it's out there. 

Ready, set, go! 

"No thanks, I don't run."

I'm starting the "Couch to 5K" program on Monday.  A dear friend from my past and I are going to run a race in February, just a few days before we both turn 47.  Yep!    Me...the girl who doesn't run.....

I'm a little nervous for some strange reason.  I realize that 5K is only a little over 3 miles...no biggie for most people, but remember...I...don't....run.  This is a HUGE stretch for me, and a spontaneous decision.  One day Debi mentioned it to me, the next day I shocked us both by registering.  Done. Commited. One click and a short conversation via email, and I'm off to do something totally new. 

If you are one of the many friends or family members who have mentioned a 5K, 10K or any other number of K's to me before, don't give up on me, I just may take you up on it yet!  I guess it's all about timing. I mean, really, why would I want to run my first race at 37 or even 27, when I can do it at 47?  Somehow that makes sense, right?!?

If all goes well, I'm doing a 10K with Quinn in May, just a day before he turns 15, which means we'll rename that race, "The tortoise and the hare race" because he DOES run and he'll probably run it back and forth at least 3 times in the amount of time it takes for me to finish. But I WILL finish...because....well, I just will!

So, if there's a race around your birthday, let me know and I'll do it with you....but be warned, I'm with the tortoise on this one....slow and steady wins the race.....or at least finishes. 
2011 is the year of the Rabbit.  Apparently that holds some kind of significance to this middle aged tortoise over here, and apparently, I can be talked into almost anything.

F.E.A.R.

I recently had a friend share this awesome acronym with me and it came at a really great time!

False

Expectations

Appearing

Real

I'm trying to remember that I can't worry about the possibilities of something happening....nothing is "real" until it happens. So what is it then?? R.E.A.R.?

Yep, that's what I was thinking....

Open Book

Yep, so I'm pretty easy to read. And when I'm not, I tell all anyway. I know that I probably share WAAYY too much, but on the other hand, because I do, I get the support I need.
Friends are my therapy and fortunately I've been blessed with many friends, because apparently I need a lot of therapy!!

Lots of calls and emails from people I would expect to hear from and even some surprises. Diet coke runs, treats, walks, hugs, phone calls, advice, lunches.....just those things that I need to get through a rough spot.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring...it's anybody's guess, but today I'm feeling a glimmer of hope because of wonderful people whom I love dearly. I'm hoping the winds of change are shifting. Here's to hoping they are good winds and not "pummel you to the ground" kinds of winds, 'cause I want to start a new chapter, but the pages can't get ripped out of the book.

Tough stuff...

...is just plain tough. And please, if you love me at all, or even like me just a little bit, PLEASE don't share that famous saying with me: "What doesn't kill you will make you stronger." I think I hate that saying and the next person who shares it with me is going to get slugged in the arm....hard. Or, they are going to witness some tears, the likes of which aren't often seen coming from me. Either way, it's not going to be pretty.

Just sayin'..."

it's been a "horrible, no good, very bad day"--I think I just might move to Australia.