Before I write what I intended to write, I have to tell you that it’s just started raining and the sky is rumbling. The light breeze coming from the window smells fantastic: like minerals and candy and summer. I’ve just got out of the shower and started sipping from a glass of wine. This is a great moment after a long tiring day.
Now let me tell you about all the crap moments that came before it.
No, just kidding. But you notice I haven’t been here so I must have been on the Home Improvement Project. I worked very hard this weekend, mostly even having fun but this afternoon I got discouraged and for about a 1/2 hour (or as my cousin Lisa would say: half of an hour. She had a big birthday yesterday: Happy Birthday Lisa!) felt like I was going to cry.
The worst part is that all my stuff is in chaos. I’m working on my room. My room contains all my stuff which means my books, notes, reminders, files, craft supplies, computer, calendar, photos, artwork, yoga mat and meditation area. Everything. And it’s all put away right now in boxes and on counters, all over the house. I don’t know where anything is and I can’t do anything. That part is making me the most crazy.
I spent all day Friday and Saturday washing the walls. It took forever to get the wallpaper off and then when I started washing it took another forever to get the wisps and titanium adhesive cleaned off. Plus it made my arms feel like they were made of noodles. They still feel like noodles.
Today I apprenticed with the joint compound and the patching and spackling. I really want to do a good job but it seems like there are more and more problems. Cracks where there shouldn’t be cracks. Stuff chipping off metal. Crackly paint that doesn’t behave. I now completely and fully understand why people do a half assed job on stuff like this. One wall where I removed wallpaper is completely pitted. I don’t think it’s all from the wallpaper I think the person who put the wallpaper up originally had another plan and gave up on it. That was a half bucket of compound right there.
Also I decided to remove the entire closet infrastructure so I can install my own which will be a bunch of shelves for all my crafts and boxes and yoga supplies and junk. I don’t need to put clothes in here. Turns out the infrastructure was installed to withstand Armageddon (is that supposed to be capitalized?). There were Paul Bunyon nails of a size I didn’t know exist, keeping these wood fragments bonded to the walls. So I basically destroyed large areas of closet to get them out. We’ll see what the Power of Joint Compound can do.
What you need to be aware of is that I am going to start sanding very, very soon and when I do that, my extra limb, Mr. Frodo Computer, will be put in another room, safe from The Dust. And Frodo only works in my room because that’s where the DSL hookup is.
Hm. Well, now that I think of it, maybe he can be plugged in elsewhere but that would be like the kitchen and I already have my crap taking up every conceivable corner. I’m not sure I want to put Frodo in the kitchen. We’ll see how twitchy I get without him. (Aside: seeing all my stuff all over the house is making me want to get rid of it which would be perfect because I started this farking project so I’d have more storage for my stuff.)
I can access my email and blog from my work computer so it’s not like I’ll disappear but I won’t be quite as reliable.
I’d make some sort of goal statement here except I don’t want to jinx myself. The Home Improvement Project will take as long as it takes. Stay tuned.
