I'll Think About That Tomorrow

I have a habit of setting perfectly reasonable goals for myself and then promptly putting it off.  For example, I wanted to have at least 90 blog posts by the end of June.  Here we are on the last day of June and I only have 87!  On days like today, I have to ask myself what happened to all my good intentions?  

The answer, I think, is simple: I'll do better work tomorrow.  You see, tomorrow I shall be great.  I will be brilliant and witty and successful.  How can I possibly accomplish today everything of which I will be capable tomorrow?  If I can't do a super-fantastic job today, why even think about it?  Sadly, I'm rarely any more brilliant when the new day dawns and I just have a longer to-do list.  I'm then more intimidated by everything I want to accomplish and realize that I need more awesomeness than I currently have to be successful.  So, naturally I comfort myself with the belief that I'll be able to tackle it all later.  Besides, there is something fun I could be doing now which will inspire me to be better!

Why do I continually get myself caught in this vicious cycle?  It's the same reason I continue to wear shoes that blister my feet.  Okay, I continue to wear the shoes because they're pretty, but that's not the only reason.  I'm not so entirely vain that I'd choose limping for days over a pair of slightly less attractive shoes.  I don't choose beauty over comfort.  When I wear a particularly impractical pair of shoes and end up blisters that make it difficult to walk, I vow that I will never wear the shoes again.  But when the blisters heal, I find myself wearing the shoes all over again.  I choose beauty over the memory of pain.  It's easy to look back and think that it wasn't that bad.  The shoes are soo pretty, of course it's worth it!  It's the same thing with procrastination.  No matter how much trouble I get myself into by waiting until the last minute, it doesn't seem that bad looking back.  What's a little stress in the future when I could be having fun now?  Sure, it was a mistake last time, but past me was an idiot!  Future me will be able to handle it.  

Future me will have to read this tomorrow.  Hopefully she'll approve; but if not, that's her problem!   

I Love to Shoot the Blue Ones, but They Gave Me the Stupid Yellow Ones

Sometimes in life, you just have to make do.  Jack just reminded me of this fact while he was playing Angry Birds Rio on my iPhone.  He plays fairly often and isn't too bad, but he tends to get distracted by the music (he likes to bust a move).  And though he takes my phone so often, I had no idea that he had a favorite bird.  Apparently, he does.  He told me today, "I love to shoot the blue ones, but they gave me the stupid yellow ones!"  He was quite disappointed in me that I was not able set up a game in which he could shoot only the blue ones.  

I suppose it's a good thing that he's learning now that things in life that aren't ideal.  For serious, sometimes the shoes you want aren't available in your size, Sephora is just too expensive, and the chocolate cake has too many calories.  Work isn't always fun.  Dreams don't always come true.  Not everyone is cut out to be a trophy wife.  I'm just saying, it's good to be realistic about these things.  Still, it's sad that a four-year-old should have to face this harsh reality.

Luckily, he's also learned that life is easier for the charming.  When I start to get upset with him for doing something untoward, he reaches out, takes my hand and smiles with all of his might.  When he was frustrated with the Angry Birds today, he said, "Aunt Jamie, could you please shoot the birds at the monkey because you're sooo smart?"  Yes, Jack, flattery will get you everywhere!

Jamie's Hero and Villain of the Week #24

It's finally Friday, which means that this super crazy week is almost OVER!  And that, of course, means it's time to announce the hero and villain of the last seven days.

Hero of the Week:  Ginger Citrus Sugar Scrub

As I mentioned in my last post, I've spent a good deal of time this week painting.  Since I'm super klutzy, I end up covered in paint; for serious, it's all over my clothes, my arms, my feet, my hair, and even my eyelashes!  When I get home, it takes forever to wash it all off.  Luckily, my good friend Jessica is an Arbonne Consultant, and she gave me some Arbonne Ginger Citrus Sugar Scrub for Christmas.  It is truly amazing--in one deliciously decadent step, my skin is not only paint-fee but exfoliated, moisturized, and lightly scented.  I feel completely renewed after using it!

Villain of the Week:  Fiscal Responsibility

This weekend is my 26th birthday.  I remember when I didn't think about money; my biggest worry was getting a part in the school play.  My parents were very supportive of my school work and extra-curricular activities (they never missed a performance or an awards dinner).  They never encouraged me to have a job during the school year because school was my job.  Even in college, my only jobs were internships for academic credit.  Because of my parents' support, I was able to focus on my academics, acting, debating, etc. and was pretty successful.  Now that I am an "adult," it's not nearly fun.  Instead of being able to focus solely on creating cards, I have to ask myself questions like, "Does the increased traffic on this website make up for its higher listing fees?" "When factoring in the cost of gas and an hour-long commute, how much does my part-time job actually pay?" "Should I pay for my car insurance in installments or pay the lower lump sum using my credit card even though I may end up paying interest on it?" and so forth.  These are not fun questions, especially on my birthday, so I'm labeling the whole being-responsible-with-money thing a villain for the week.

That's all for now.  I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

A Fresh Coat of Paint

I've been doing a lot of painting recently.  I am certainly not an expert house painter  or even very domestically-inclined, but apparently my experience (I painted my room in college and my room when I moved back to Stephens City) make me a valuable commodity to someone who has never painted before.  I have such a friend, and she suggested that I post a how-to article to help others who find themselves unprepared for the treacherous journey that is home beautification.  So here it is:

Jamie's Foolish-Proof Guide to Painting Your Room

The other three walls were Spring Green

Step 1.  Pick out a super-pretty color!  My personal favorite is Key Lime Pie Green, but I realize people have different tastes.  You can, however, choose multiple colors.  I have painted a single room with as many as five different colors.  It was awesome!  

Step 2.  Get supplies.  You need paint (of course), drop cloths, rollers, brushes, paint trays, tape, a paint edger (recommended), and a step-stool or ladder unless your a million feet tall.  Oh, and those wooden sticks they give you when you buy your paint are used to stir the paint. 

Step 3.  Move all the furniture either out of the room or well away from the walls.  This isn't like when you're dusting and you just kinda swish the duster around all the little knick-knacks on your dresser without moving them.  It's way more obvious and you'll probably get paint on your furniture.

Step 4.  Take the pretty blue painter's tape and tape the edges of all baseboards, doors, windows, and ceilings.  I know not everyone tapes the ceiling, but if you have the klutzy factor (like me) it's super helpful.

Step 5.  Lay down the drop cloths to cover every single inch of the floor.  For serious, if you leave a tiny little space exposed, it will get paint on it.  I think it's a law of physics or something.

Step 6.  Find some awesome tunes and rock out!  This is a really important step, so don't skip it.  It's way more fun to paint when you're dancing around and singing into a paint brush.  

Step 7.  Open the paint, stir it with those fancy wooden sticks, and pour it into the paint tray.  Really complicated, right?

Step 8.  Get a nice coat of paint on your roller and start throwin' that stuff up on the wall!!!

Step 9.  Keep singing and dancing.  I told you it was important!

Step 10.  Use smaller paint brushes to get the hard-to-reach areas like corners and around doors and windows.

Step 11.  Use the paint edger to get the top of the wall by the ceiling and the bottom by the baseboards.

Step 12.  Add a second coat if necessary.

Step 13.  Remove the painters tape.  Hopefully, you'll see nice crisp lines!  If not, proceed to step 14.

Step 14.  Touch-ups.  If the paint bled through the painter's tape or peeled off with tape removal, use a small brush to touch up these problem areas.  Of course, the amount of touching up you do depends on what you can live with.  Personally, I see the imperfections as proof that I didn't hire someone, and I can live with a LOT of imperfections.

Step 15.  Finish up.  Clean your equipments, remove the drop cloths, and move the furniture back.

That's it!  All that's left now is to completely pamper yourself as a reward for a job well done.

This may not be the most helpful or accurate guide to painting, but it works(ish) for me.  If you actually are good at painting and think I'm an idiot, please keep it to yourself.  I prefer people to blindly agree with me.