Sunday, November 25, 2007

Fun Monday - You show me yours... I'll show you mine!

Blue Mama is hosting this week - That nosy lady is peeking out of the fish bowl and into our job jars! This is what she says:
I want you to show me your......projects. More to the point, I want to see your unfinished projects. I have so many that I really need some reassurance that I'm not the only one. Home improvement projects are what I have in mind, but it you don't have any of those show me any kind of project - needlework, cooking, scrapbooking, etc. You can even show me your spouse if they qualify as a work in process.

First of all, let me tell you that I am the QUEEN of unfinished projects. I am sure there's a book in there somewhere, if only I had the time to write it!

I have three major unfinished projects at the moment:

The House. We moved into an older home last May and have been doing-it-ourselves ever since. Half of the downstairs is painted. All the bedrooms upstairs are painted, but have yet to see curtains or artwork hung on the walls. This past week, I managed to get the family room in shape enough to have people visit it. If you've been hanging around long enough, you've seen the diningroom change colors and get a new floor - still waiting on one piece of quarter-round and a couple of thresholds in there.



But the biggest bugaboo has been the downstairs bathroom. It's plenty big, but had an old dated mirror, awful lighting, hideous granny's-couch wallpaper that was so busy that I completely missed the fact that there was a pink toilet in there until after we started moving in!


The wallpaper removal was a nightmare in and of itself. It had been applied straight over the drywall, and there was no way to get it off without damaging the wallboard itself. Also discovered a couple of big holes in the wall. I HATE wallpaper.

Thankfully, this project, while slow, is coming along. I've completely re-textured the walls and patched the holes. I still need to prime and paint and replace the toilet and the faucet. I still need to find a mirror that works in there and change out the light fixture. But I feel much more optimistic about it all now that the walls are ready and I have had practice changing out toilets (see previous post).



My second unfinished project is ME! I have about 80 lbs to get rid of and after a promising start, fell ill, reinjured my knee, and have been putting out fires (unfinished projects). Tomorrow, I have to go and face my doctor. He will not be happy about my weight. I think I've lost some (I had actually lost 13 lbs, but I know I've gained some back). I'm hoping that my bloodwork will make up for the fact that I'm still in bad shape.

But inspite of my seeming lack of progress, progress has indeed been made. I am eating more thoughtfully now than I used to. I don't swill sweet tea all the time but have made water my drink of choice. And I don't fall victim to these anymore:


It's not stunning or spectacular, but progress is being made. I'm just not finished yet.

And my third project is my novel. You're probably getting sick of NaNoWriMo updates (though I've tried to keep them far and few between). My weekend away didn't happen, thanks to a sick kid and my granddaughter coming as well. Darling Man PROMISES me a night away this week. The end of the month is Friday. As of right now, I have 29,106 words. I need 50,000. When I finish this post, I will bang out a couple thousand more. I will be wearing wrist braces by the end of the week, I'm sure. But I am determined to finish this project! It is something I have ALWAYS wanted to do and by golly, I'm a'gonna do it!

Go peek in the fishbowl to see other Fun Monday participants!

24 comments:

karisma said...

OMG Can you stop posting naughty food. Im getting fat over here. Love your picture, very cute. We were discussing muscles at the dinner table tonight and I was pulling the same pose, coz they reckon I dont have any muscles. I sure showed them.

Peter said...

Can't work out if you are brave or foolish.... fancy including yourself as an unfinished project, I'm TOTALLY finished I'm afraid.

Hootin Anni said...

I was doing well, until I see the plate of brownies. Oh lordy do they ever look like they could have MY NAME on a few!!

I too find water the best choice of drink. In fact I lost about 20 pounds a few years back when I learned to drink a 16 oz bottle of water 30 minutes before a meal...kept me filled so I didn't eat a lot.

Sandy said...

Congrats on the terrific progress you've made! and virtual brownies have no calories...lol.

Anonymous said...

If you're not going to eat them, can I have your brownies?

Anonymous said...

Wallpaper is the most vile thing ever! Will people ever learn?

Beckie said...

I hate wall paper! It is so hard to get off sometimes.

the planet of janet said...

mmmmm. brownies!!

Anonymous said...

Please send your brownies to me. Post haste.

And I've got one thing I want to say to you...YOU GO, GIRL!!!

Kaytabug said...

in reply to your comment: Mr. Clean doesn't work for me, well at least not on Rose art markers or permanent markers...maybe it's my walls.
We were very lucky with our walls...all blank off white canvases that have gone unpainted with the exception of the kids art and our oldest boys K-state room.
I wish you luck on loosing weight!

Anonymous said...

Ahhh, you already look victorious striking that pose! Now you have thousands of FM peeps ready to cheer you on! And if you've given up brownies, that IS stunning AND spectacular!

BTW, I often get googled for "pink tub" and we don't even have a pink tub! I think I must've used the word "pink" in the same sentence as "tub", so that's why... Anyway, I don't blame ya for wanting to change out that toilet...can't imagine the eye that would've spotted that and thought it a good idea!

Good luck with finishing your novel--I'm impressed with all the people who are doing this, I'm not NEAR brave enough!

Alix said...

Your doing really well, I'm cheering you on. Hope your knee is better soon and you can get back on track.
Well done on the novel too - that's a lot of words!

Alix said...

oh I really want a brownie now!

Sauntering Soul said...

I want a brownie too! But I need to lose 80 pounds or more so I'll just keep looking at the photo instead.

Unknown said...

Now I want a brownie. I could stand to lose a few (twenty) pounds, too. I think any progress is something to show off with pride.

Pink toilet? Seriously? What are people thinking??

Anonymous said...

Yep, I can see how you missed the fact that the toilet was pink! What crazy wall paper.

Keep on working on you...I'm sure you can do it! (Not that I've managed it yet, but I'm a great cheerleader!)

Anonymous said...

You are much farther along with your wall paper than I am! I don't even have all of mine down yet. Should be doing it now, but here I sit reading your blog!!!

Tiggerlane said...

It is soooo hard to redo an old house - every time you start a project, you uncover something unexpected to impede your progress.

And don't be hard on yourself about your weight - it's a CONSTANT work in progress, for all of us!

kitten said...

I don't know what is harder, working on your self or an old house.
Good luck & keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Any amount of weight loss is stunning and spectacular in my books! Way to go :o) As for the wallpaper....ooooohhhhh I hate wallpaper!

Pamela said...

I heart you!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Those are great projects. I should be working on myself as well since I have some weight to remove. We had a bathroom once where the wall paper was applied directly to the wall board. We were fortunate to have the town sewer back up during a rain storm, and insurance paid for the walls to be removed and new ones to be put up. We paid for a new toilet sink and vanity, but the construction workers put them in. We then had a nice bathroom.

Anonymous said...

Yum yum. I love brownies.

Anonymous said...

If you are the queen, I am the king - especially writing projects. (sigh)