Not Bad for 9th Grade Shop...

/

Click to enlargeCheck out the beautiful bookcase my husband built me! Its installation is the final component of my writing room. I adore being in the space. I walk in instantly feel calm and inspired at the same time. Can't wait to put in some serious writing time in here.

Blair finished the bookshelves this weekend and as soon as the paint was dry I was loading them up with books. The second shelf from the top now houses my COMPLETE Stephen King collection. As these are not insubstantial books, I asked Blair as I was stacking them if the shelf could bear the weight. 

"Sure," he said. "I don't see why not."

He was silent as he watched me load more and more books on the shelf. "You know," he finally said, "Your guess is as good as mine on the weight. All I ever took was a 9th grade shop class." 

So far, so good. Click to enlarge

He Makes Me Laugh

/

So yesterday I'm on the floor, doing some gentle twists and turns to help my back. I crouch into child's pose, which is a yoga pose where you sit back on your heels, arms stretched out in front of you on the floor so it appears that you're bowing. Blair came in the room.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Stretching out my lower back."

"Oh." 

I sensed he was still in the room but not saying anything. I raised my eyes and looked at him standing in front of me. As soon as I did so, he nodded at me and smiled benevolently. 

"You may rise." 

Smart ass. But he does make me laugh. 

Food Journal Update

/

You may recall a recent entry in which I started keeping a food journal. In lieu of fresh, inciteful, or socially worthy content, I thought today I'd instead offer a quick update on how that little self-improvement plan is going. 

Overall, pretty well. It's definitely helped with random grazing. I'm much less likely to walk into the kitchen and grab a handful of grapes or nuts or sneak forkfuls of leftovers out of the tupperware container while standing over the kitchen sink. 

It's also been revealing. Being a vegetarian...

Read More

List Making - Is There A Better Way?

/

My dry erase board with today's to-do listI have a friend I admire who's an action gal. Unlike me, with half my life spent huddled over a to-do list (either admiring it, adding to it, or crossing something off with a sense of satisfaction), my friend just does things. Phone call needs to be made? Bam. She picks up the phone and makes the call. Letter to be sent out? She's at the computer - type type type print - done. Need to get the dogs in to the vet? She's on the phone making the appointment. 

It's my goal to be more like her. Quit dithering around and just DO what needs to be done. Do it, move on, quit thinking about it. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?

Part of my "to do" list fetish comes from a fear that I'll forget something. Heaven forbid I be less than perfect. But I think a lot of it is just showing off. A written record of "Sigh, look how much work I have to do!" Big, fat, hairy deal. Do YOU know anyone who isn't swamped? Me either. 

I think I'd get a lot more done if I just jumped into a task versus planning WHEN I'll start it and HOW LONG it will take and IN WHAT ORDER things should be done. Let go of the OCD and just do the work, Dena.

I think I'll start by erasing "Write blog entry" from my to-do list. ;)

Cheers,

Dena