Cloche Love

I have taken a liking to adorable little glass cloche's.  A cloche is really defined as a close fitting hat or in this case a glass plant cover.  I have become enhanced with their use to highlight special objects.  I have begun a small collection of them and pick them up wherever I happen to see one at a decent price.  

The tiny glass cloche below gives a special home to a tiny house that belonged to my mom.

When the tiny little house was by itself on a shelf it was barely noticeable.  But now that the home has a  "home" of its own I love looking at it even more.

 I just love the way they make something totally ordinary shine. 

I Do Mildew

I dove into the basement clutter today.  OK, not intentionally.  I was putting Christmas Decorations away and needed some space so I saw two of my 200 still unpacked boxes there and needed to move them so I figured that I would "unpack them" {yep, procrastinate actually putting the decorations away}.

Being recently divorced I have moved twice in the last two years.  Utter mayhem precluded each move for a variety of reasons.   The boxes I unearthed today were obviously packed in panic and haste. Contents of the box I am about to discuss included one tiny toddler size white tap shoe {my children are 12 and 8}, REM cassette tape from college, two slippers that did not make a pair, my wedding shoes, a doll from when I was little that my grandmother gave me, a Limoges bunny, one perfectly folded cloth napkin, and a Christmas theme bathroom towel.  Oh, and what was once the most beautiful pale blue memory box with silver embossed writing on the cover that read "Wedding".

I actually forgot I even had this box.  It hails from a point in my life when I actually took the time to buy fancy boxes like this and put like items inside them.  That was a long, long time ago. The Wedding box was at the bottom of the array of bizarre items I found.  Looked a bit different then I recalled.
Seemed a little bit paler blue.   I took it out and it had an odd odor.  Probably because the contents looked like this:

Yes, that is mold.  Seems somewhere in the process of moving and storing boxes in garages and basements the bottom of the box became wet and soaked right through and disgusting smelly mold now covered all of my wedding ephemera. I sat and I cried.

Now, as a divorced woman you may think this strange.  Why should I care, right?  I am not exactly sure I can pin point the exact reason.  Frustration, disappointment, bad choices, hurt, anger - - - I think they all come in to play.  This box at one time was carefully packed full of all of my favorite things from what is still one of the happiest days of my life.  Now because of my own carelessness most of what I saved is ruined.  Cards from friends and loved ones no longer with us.  Invitations to pre wedding celebrations, my wedding program, table numbers and the marriage certificate.....gone.  Gone along with the marriage itself.

I wiped off what I could.  Dried out what I was able.  Saved a few things that could be salvaged.  But the beautiful box is destroyed and 90 percent of what was inside is gone as well.  This is what happens when you are careless and unorganized.  This is what happens when you don't pay attention.  Things get ruined.  Memories get lost. Maybe that is when marriages unravel too.   In any case I am trying to change my ways.  Today, a painful reminder of the cost of procrastination and disorganization.  I don't like it one bit, either.

This is all that I have to say....

it was just that kind of a day.

My Latest Procrastination Project

Enough of this random posting.  I am going to get back to my real point of this blog.....my old worn down house project.  Currently working on the transformation of my Dining Room.  In truth it is a NDR right now..... Non Dining Room.  Why you ask?  Well just take a gander at the picture and you can see.....

Now, this may not look like much to the average person but those awful walls were covered with brutally ugly wallpaper on top of paint on top of wallpaper on top of paint on top of awful plaster.  I am  literally working wall by wall in this room.  The molding on the bottom was artfully placed on top of the second layer of wallpaper which made it necessary to cut around all of it with a razor blade to avoid ripping all the trim work off the wall.

Talk about procrastination....been at this one wall for almost two months!!  I try to work on it an hour or two a day because the task is so daunting.  If I had the money to hire someone I would.  That option just isn't in the cards right now so it is just me, some spackle and my paint brushes making a little bit more of a dent every day.

The built in cabinet is what was once a cold cabinet and used to keep perishable items cold before refrigerators came into play.  I imagine that what is now the dining room was once the kitchen.  The unfortunate thing is that the inside of the cabinet is painted a very deep cranberry red color.  It's been awful trying to get it white!

If anyone has taken on a project like this and lived to tell about it please share your experience with me!!  I know it will be beautiful when it is done . . . just have to keep the faith and keep plugging along.

If You Ignore it ....Will it Go Away?

I find myself continually fighting against the act of procrastination.  Interestingly enough I just love the idea of being organized and getting things done.  I just haven't been able to find out exactly how this process of order and organization applies to me.  I make lists.  I buy calendars of every shape and size.  Hanging, desk, hardbound, softbound, spiral bound, small sizes, large sizes.  I could open a fully stocked calendar store.  I have even tried online calendars and list making apps.  Momagenda, Evernote, I have them all right there on my desktop.

List Making?  I am a consummate professional.  Every color shape and size of paper available is at my fingertips. Don't forget the accompanying writing instruments!  Pens of every color and ink variation fill  the most adorable antique glasses on my desk.  I have an entire collection of bound notebooks with beautiful covers that I just hate to ruin any by writing in them.

Yep, I have issues.  Seems I have some big ones.  I flip flop between getting more done in a day then most can do in a week to days where I swear I feel like I  walk around in circles not knowing where to start.  What seems to lie at the heart of this issue is a need for perfection.  This is interesting since the chaos prevents any sort of perfection from even coming into play in any area at all!  

I buy the notebook.  I buy the new pens.  I have the calendar.  Hell, I even fill the calendar in but do I follow through and ever look at it?  Nope.  Not me.  Why would I actually make things easy on myself?  This is not good.

I actually have to say this is one of the things I can't stand about myself and I am taking and entirely new approach in 2014.  I am resisting the urge;  that strong pull towards STAPLES to go get all new stuff for the New Year that I will never use.  I am going COLD TURKEY.   Seems all those things haven't worked for me yet, so I am doing away with all of them for the New Year.

My approach is going to be completely organic.  I am going to use what I have.  I am going to just try to stop and FOCUS long enough to get a few things done each day that are essential.  No more lists of 50 things to get through by noon.....which only depresses me at six o'clock when I haven't gotten any of them done.  I'm paring the to do list down to 3 items a day.  Once I can master that I will add one more and then another one thing to do and so it will be. 

It's day 3 of this plan and so far I am doing marginally well.  I seem to be cheating though.  I am starting out with seriously mundane things to get my confidence up.  Today's list:  1. Make Bed  

2. Shower  3. Go to Supermarket.   Hey, I did them all.  It was a good day!  Sad, but true.  Baby steps they say.

Pressure.....they say it makes diamonds and I am willing to try

2014 here I am....I just joined the charge of NaBloPoMo and have made a commitment to blog every day during the month of January.  O. M. G. do I even have anything to say?!  Actually, I think I do.  Love the saying in the above picture....Pressure Makes Diamonds.   If it does then I should be at least a sparkling 10 carat Princess cut gem.

I begin the new year with an enormous amount of optimism but also feel looming pressure.  So much to get done and so much to get done right.  My divorce was finalized two years ago.  Seems like I should be farther along then I really am.  But I am my own worst critic.  My entire world needs so much refinement but much of the time although I am in constant motion I find myself paralyzed inside.  Moving ahead yet standing still.  I wish I could figure out exactly why this is.  Maybe this will be my year.  The year that all the pieces finally come closer together and the landscape begins to come into focus.

My first order of business....for the love of God get myself organized.  I moved into my new house and ongoing project a year ago.  My garage is still packed with boxes.  I don't even know what the hell to do with all of the stuff that is in there.  Pieces and parts of my old life.  Memories packed away.  Who knows what lurking inside taped boxes of cardboard that I haven't looked at in over 24 months.  Clothes everywhere, furniture that I love but that doesn't fit with my new smaller quarters.  I need to shed more then just a some of what I have accumulated.  But, it is so hard to let go for some reason.

Pressure.  I think I need to really put the pressure on.  It will make me crazy to do it.  I know I will try to fight it every step of the way.  But I am going to try.  I am going to keep pushing through.  I am going to imagine and visualize and believe there there is a sparkling diamond of a future out there waiting for me to arrive.

Just One Word

I came across an interesting idea today through site called oneword365.com.   If you have moment take a look and consider this intriguing concept.  The idea is to choose one word to be your mantra, your focus, your theme if you will, for 2014.   The premise is to ditch that list of resolutions and have one single word begin to define the way you are going to live the coming year.  Not so easy to do when you sit and think about it.  After careful thought I decided upon the word BELIEVE.

For the next 365 days I commit to be guided by the word BELIEVE.  I will let this simple word that can encompass so much be my north star.  BELIEVE.  I will BELIEVE in myself.  I will BELIEVE in my dreams. I will BELIEVE in others and I will BELIEVE in my choices.

If you had to choose just one word for 2014 what would you settle upon?   Visit http://oneword365.com and learn about the power of one word.