(happy sigh)
Remember how I also said that there were projects already in motion or things that needed to be wrapped up that may qualify for attention this year?
("oh yeah...that stuff" sigh)
WELL, I made the list and wrote it (in yellow dry erase marker) on a white board displayed on our "busy wall" in the most traveled hallway of the house. Aside from JC's dislike of my choice in marker color ("I can't even see it."), it is great to have a reference point to keep us in check when it comes to what to do with extra time and energy (ha!). If it's on the list, it made the cut and it can be worked on this year. If it's not on the list, it requires a meeting of the Special Project Committee in which they will determine if it is worthy of our attention in this year of basics. (All committees in our household consist of roughly the same members but it is still fun to give ourselves different names for different occassions.)
Anyway, I am transferring that list here for a few reasons...First, I like to have witnesses to my ambitions in order to be held further accountable. Second, it will be fun to look back on in decades to come. Third, in case JC needs another place to look for the list since the yellow is so darn difficult. Fourth, it gives me a reason to also document us doing these mundane, around-the-house things with pictures as we cross them off the list. I like doing that.
So, as our household-projects-in-waiting hold their breath ("did I make the cut, did I make the cut?"), I now give you...
The Callback List
The Red Couch Wall in the Playroom - hang picture frames above couch to make more home-y? Check. Put actual pictures that relate to our home and life inside picture frames? Yet to be done. In some of the pictures I took at Christmas in the playroom, you can see the picture frame models still proudly displayed. So...make changes and proudly display images that make me happy.
The Blue Couch Wall in the Playroom - did some creative/rushed decorating here a while back...stuff keeps falling off the wall. So...finish project right this time.
Storage Solution in Playroom - have wii now/stuff that goes with wii. Find a way to keep it out of my sight during the day so as not to make me feel like I'm in an arcade. (Though at one point in time I probably would have liked having guitars displayed on top of my entertainment unit)
Playroom Windows - window treatment. Probably colorful and stripey. Or colorful and spotty. Either way...colorful.
Reinforce Entertainment Unit Shelf - Sagging shelf refuses to safely hold both a cable box and DVD player. Reinforce.
Ballard Busy Board - or so I like to call it. This is the calendar-turned-entire-wall-of-information-and-organization that JC brought to life for me. One wall full of white boards, bulletin boards, calendars and message boards all for specific purposes. Still being perfected. Literally stopped in the middle of this one. Finish. Rejoice.
Guest Bathroom Wall and Window - Also started and stopped in the middle. Creative decorating waiting to shine. Curtains waiting to happen.
Office Organized - There are no words. Just make it happen.
Kitchen Windows - Fancy-ish curtains that fabric is already bought for. Sew (sort of).
Pantry Organized - Oy. (As in "yikes" not as in "hey" if you're British.)
Overhead Kitchen Lights - I don't actually remember...I think this is JC's project. And I think it has to do with some lights we installed that ended up not being bright enough. My house gets like, ZERO natural light it seems so the indoor lighting has to be quite good if I want to remain sane.
Front Room/Piano Room Windows - Make something flowy and grounding to make this area feel as cozy and inviting as can be.
Workout Room - Favorite project. Turn first part of 3 car garage into a sanctuary for disengaging from everyday life.
Downstairs Playroom Curtain - The little room downstairs that I hope to be for the kids what my workout room will be for me. A place to read, do puzzles, snuggle and stare up at glow-in-the-dark stars while you wait for your turn in the bath, your turn to be put to bed or to spend afternoon quiet time in. The last part of this project has been "almost finished" and "not at all worked on" for the last six months at least. Find the right moment (and the courage to possibly mess it up royally) and finish them up.
Divider For Ball Pit - Since the kids' ball pit/blow up swimming pool filled with plastic balls is in a little cove in the downstairs playroom and I'm hoping that "playroom" will be sort of a quiet type place, I feel the need to somehow separate the two. Haven't completely figured it out yet but have been trying for the last year. We shall see.
Bethany's Windows - Make the curtains she has been begging for.
Toy Storage Bags - Copy Mom's great idea of having a nice little cloth drawstring bag to keep often-used toys in. That way they can be out in the playroom all the time, not back in the toy storage closet where the kids aren't allowed to go half the time but still able to be put away. Easily, in fact. Maybe even by the kids themselves. Capital idea. Get fabric. Sew bags. Steal Mom's leftover drawstring.
Laundry Room Door - This one is all JC...I will save the story for another time...perhaps when the project is complete. He will feel awesome.
James' Doorstop - This one is not a big deal. But there is a hole in James' wall where a doorstop should be and it eats at me that there is a hole in our wall. Ooh. Which reminds me...
Master Bedroom Gap-In-Ceiling - a hole. In our ceiling. Dishwasher issue right after Ben was born. It's what you get when your dishwasher is not installed properly and leaks down through your bedroom ceiling (By the way, other than this instance, I highly recommend having your dishwasher directly over your bed. It has a very soothing sound. Plus, you can fall asleep with a sense of accomplishment, knowing you loaded and started the dishwasher before going to bed and will wake up to clean dishes. It doesn't get better than that. Well...for me.) Fix gap. Sorry, honey, this is also all you.
Outside Lights Finished - We put up a porch light and lights outside our garage door...umm...two Christmases ago that we got from my parents. They were the finishing touch on the new exterior of our house after we turned it from peachy-pink and rose to a rich peanut-y y/white combination. Unfortunately, we've yet to put the finishing touches on that installation.
Motion Detector Lights Installed - a gift from this Christmas. What JC really really wanted and did, in fact, get. So we know if lurkers or cats are in our backyard at night.
Outside Railings Scrubbed - THREE Christmases ago, I used some sort of tape to hold silk poinsettias to the railing on our porch and front "fence." Tape gunk stuck. Still there. Needs to be seriously scraped. Good news? The railing is actually steel (house built by a steel-worker...all railing in and around my house is as sturdy as it gets) so I can't really mess it up. Bad news? I will probably end up scraping a fair amount of paint off and have to add that touch-up to the to-do list.
Sprinkler System Re-routed - BIG project. Probably not one we'll do ourselves. Some of our plans for the backyard have changed. Need to . . . well . . . I don't know exactly but JC seems to. So, my job? Work on saving the money. JC's job? Hire somebody and communicate with them. Their job? Make it all possible.
One Tree Planted - This could perhaps count as an extra but I am keeping it here because I want to ease into gardening, etc. slowly so as to not get in too deep without knowing what I'm doing. But, by the time the kids are all in school full time (five years) I want to be able to hit this stuff pretty hard SO I am beginning to ease my way into hopefully having a green thumb. First thing first, a citrus tree. Easy enough. And before you know it, I won't be spending half my grocery money on the best of the best juice for my kids because voila! I will be growing it in my own backyard. So...research, buy, plant, nurture, etc.
Bush Planted in Front Yard - remember the Bush From Hell? That very large spot still stands empty. Which is better than the old bush being there, but I would still like to fill it before too long as it just looks a bit off. My neighbor, in her sweet assumption I could handle such a thing, gave me a stalk off one of her bushes which is apparently supposed to be able to become its own full-grown bush by some miracle. She gave me instructions to keep the small branch in a cup of water and let it get some sun and wait until it grows a root...then plant it. And it should grow into a bush. I'm not sure if it's really that simple or if she is just assuming that I know about these things. But...that little branch has been sitting in water that I change out occassionally, lovingly tied to a post on our back balcony so it gets some sun during the day and brought in at night so it doesn't get too cold. Okay, so, JC does all of that because I forget. This is why I don't garden yet. But, anyway, hopefully this stalk business will work out. If not, find another solution. And think of a way to explain to my nice neighbor. Maybe she will be satisfied with the fact that I at least kept all my children alive? It impresses me sometimes.
Backyard Toys, Etc. Organized - The backyard has been virtually desolate for the majority of the time we have lived here. For the first while, it was just too un-friendly for the little ones. Concrete stairs nearly impossible to gate off going both up to the balcony and down to the basement patio, poisonous bushes of our neighbors' hanging over our fence, a swing set meant for much older kids, brick planters running all along the back wall. Then, some of those things changed but little things in our lives made it difficult to spend too much time back there - - being too pregnant, it being too hot, too hard to stay on top of both older kids toddling different directions while holding a newborn (those concrete stairs are still my worst nightmare), everyone being too sick, it's too muddy, it's too hot (I know I already said that but come on, we're in Arizona, I'm allowed to say it at least three times), there's work being done back there, the grass is three feet tall (yes, actually happened once), and anyway...it is just in need of some tlc. We've done a lot to take better care of it and make it more ours but it just needs some tweaking and it will be all in order. Which is good because I plan to live out there from now until the weather gets too hot this summer. Seriously.
Shed Organized - JC has been kind enough to be Mr. Fix-it at times and also Mr. Dad/Husband...which means, he gets the work done that needs to be done and as soon as he can stop, he does and resumes sharing the load of whatever else is happening in our lives at the time. So, tools get tossed back into the shed, stuff gets dis-organized and it turns into a mess (this explanation also applies to why my house looks how it does sometimes. Do what you gotta do, then move back to the other stuff demanding your attention) But, anyway, I know he would love to get things back under control out there so I wanted this to be on the list so he knows I support him spending a Saturday morning or two holed up in his shed. :)
These are projects/plans/repairs/improvements/got-started-so-we-just-need-to-finish type things that have been born over the last three years since we've been in our home. The thing is, so have a couple babies, so you know...that came first. :)
At times, lately, parts of my house will seem so cluttered that I can hardly stand it but I remind myself that we are, essentially, still moving in. So, once we move through this list, I will feel established and then maybe...someday...we can start some new projects in making this place our own! Oh, I could make another list of can't-wait-to-do-this projects that would be a mile long...but...that's not the season we're in right now. And that's okay!
Let's get rollin...
2 comments:
I love reading your blogs. Seriously. Crack me up about the picture frames in the play room. I noticed that it was the same person in the frames on both sides, and thought that was a little odd that you would put the same pictures up on the wall....but thought maybe you were trying to balance the wall out and be symmetrical :) So glad you clarified that one for me! :) You are such a cute mom...I hope I'm as good as you one day!
Love you.
whoa, that's one big list. but i suppose if i walked around my house and wrote down everything it would be at least as long. but i'm kind of in denial about stuff. see, this is my problem. i see the WHOLE list at once, instead of just the first thing. good luck this year! maybe we'll have to come see it all when you're done. :)
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