Peepers, painting, and powerwashing.

     I had one of those weekends where at the end of each day, you're convinced you ate breakfast about a week ago.
 
     Saturday morning I got up bright and early (well, not really. It was so early the sun had barely even come up yet, so the "bright" part of that is a smidge misleading) to go to the Lineman's Rodeo, which is always interesting. Watching those guys scamper up a pole like chipmunks at hyper-speed was seriously impressive. I mean, I take a break halfway up the stairs sometimes, and that's way easier. Then I visited my sister to deliver a selection of highly fattening foods (she needs to gain weight while pregnant, I like to make calorie-bomb type foods. Dream team!). When I got home, it was right back out the door again to Lowe's, since it's finally started feeling like spring, and that means working outside! On a sidenote, what's the big idea of having super-cute gardening gloves at Lowe's, but only having them in ONE SIZE, which is way too big for my (very average-sized, I feel) hands? Unacceptable.Get your act together, Lowe's!

     By the time the day was over, I was so tired that I actually fell asleep almost immediately, and I don't remember waking up in the middle of the night too much, either. To most people that's probably nothing special, but if you know me at all, you'll know it's beyond rare to actually hear me say "I slept well last night!"

     On Sunday it was back to my sister's place to paint the ceiling of the nursery. Ugh. Ceilings are miserable. Taping everything off (no one in our party is confident enough in their skills at cutting in with a brush to go tape-less) was bad enough, but ughh the painting. I only did about 1/5th of it before I decided "Nope, this is the opposite of fun" and quit. I'm helpful like that. We had planned to do the second coat of paint on the walls as well, which was to be a decorative metallic wash, but it...did not go well. I'll attempt to make this long story short: the paint guy at Lowe's told us you get the same color, one in a semi-gloss base and one in a metallic base, but they're pigmented the same. Well, this turned out to just make it look like a crappy paint job when you layer the two together, because they're not different enough to look intentional. So that idea went out the window, and now we're rethinking the whole plan. But it'll come together soon enough. 

     After that whole debacle, I came home to more things to do: move the furniture back onto the newly painted porch, spray the weeds, repot a plant, power-wash the sidewalk. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all. I like having things to do. Makes me feel useful. Plus it's satisfying to get things done outside in the nice weather. I especially enjoy the powerwashing -- it's satisfying in the exact same way as peeling old paint or wallpaper off of something. You can really see what you've done, you know?

Oooh, gratuitous infomercial-style "before and after" shot! Did I dunk half of this sidewalk in Oxyclean or what?

    
     Since we're talking about spring cleaning and spruce-ups, I figure this is as good a time as any to introduce my new favorite thing about my room: THIS CHAIR. Oh my glob you guys, this chair is so comfy.

Also featured: my wreath, which I finally dug out and found a place for. Oh, and my uterus and cupcake plushies, because I'm a very serious grown-up type.

  
     Ok, so it looks a little like an exploded pink meringue. That's ok, I can work with that. The reason it looks like that is because underneath, it looks like this:

Womp-woooomp, sad trombone.

    
     Lookin' a little worse for wear there, buddy. So, because I'm not ready to tackle trying to replace or cover the cushions, and because I am utterly ridiculous, I covered it in my fluffy pink duvet. And now it's like sitting in a delightful pink cloud. At some point I would like to cover it, because I know it looks a little nuts, but in the meantime it's cozy as hell. I'm sitting in it as I type this, and it's so nice to be able to sit and work on the computer without getting that pain in the knobble where my neck meets my spine.

     So that's what I've been up to all weekend. Now it's warm enough to leave my windows open, the peepers are a'peeping like a free white noise soundtrack, and I'm hoping to get another good night's sleep, extending my all-time streak to two nights in a row. Can it be done? I don't know, but I shall try valiantly. 

Just thought I'd end with this pretty sunset over the pasture so we can all feel a little more relaxed.

Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share!

     Except what needed cleaning up was my closet, so it was all my share. I figured that since I'm finally not a miserable hormonal mess anymore, I should...you know, actually do something. So I'd have something to post about besides insomnia fueled sketches of mythical hybrid creatures (hey, I do this for free. They can't all be winners). And I also figured "Who doesn't love a good before and after?" So (brace yourselves, I warn you) here's what my closet looked like before: 

Before, although apparently after some sort of apocalyptic event. Are you horrified yet? I kind of am. If it eases your mind any, know that that is all CLEAN laundry on the floor.

Behind the door, where I hide my secret stash of Play-Doh, and anything else that will fit there.

     Yikes, right? Full disclosure: when I took the first picture off my camera, I honestly couldn't even tell which way was up at first. The main reason my closet gets so messy is because I honestly have too many clothes, and I only actually wear maybe 50% of them (the other reason being that I have a bunch of stuff from college stored in there, just takin' up space). So when I go to put clothes away, I end up just dropping them in the floor in exasperation because there's no room for them in my dresser. I needed to be ruthless and get rid of the things I don't wear, instead of just convincing myself "Oh, but I might wear it some day!" After three hours of paring down, hanging up, folding, organizing, and being generally miserable, not to mention three bags of stuff gone, here's how it looks.

I have a floor! Who knew!

To anyone who was feeling like they might criticize me for still having too many hair products: I have curly hair. You know not my plight. 

 

 

     I know there are a lot of people to whom my after pictures would still seem too cluttered, but let's be real here: no space that I am in charge of maintaining is ever going to look like it belongs in an IKEA catalog. I have a lot of stuff, and until I have a place of my own to spread all that stuff around, things are gonna be a little cluttered. But at least now everything is in a logical place and semi-organized. 

     I also did a little sprucing up in my bedroom for spring, so let's just toss that in here too because, why not? More stuff to look at! Hooray, looking at stuff!

     On zees side of ze room, I stuck a bunch of fake (don't tell anyone, but I actually can't afford to keep fresh roses over my windows at all times) pink roses atop the curtains to make them a little less dark and wintry and depressing, then hung up a $1.99 heart-shaped plate from Target that tickled my fancy. I know this set-up looks awfully Valentine's Day...y. Day-y? Day-esque? I dunno. But that's the weird relationship I have with Valentine's Day: I hate the day itself for being sappy and bringing with it so many commercials that make me feel feelings, but I sort of love the decor. Everything's heart shaped! A dream come true! Anyway, the association doesn't bother me much, and I figure as soon as the holiday's over and everyone has immediately forgotten about it, it won't seem so...thematic. 

     Meanwhile, on ze ozzer side of ze room:

     Ok, try and tell me those pink puffball things are not the most delightful thing you have seen in...a time. They're so Dr. Suess that I can barely contain my urge to rhyme (but I will). They just make me happy. 

     So that's what I've accomplished lately! It may not seem like much, but it beats laying in bed all day. (Just kidding, laying in bed all day is the best.)