Gray Matters

Some days it’s more difficult than others to brighten up the house. I tend to gravitate toward cool colors when I decorate and I’m happy with that until mornings like this one. Mornings like this one make me want to stop and be still in front of a roaring fire. Mornings like this one leave me a little bit stumped on where to start. Mornings like this one make me feel just a little cold even when I’m sweating. The sun is ignoring me and the rest of the sky is threatening an onslaught of sinister weather. It’s hard to wake up on mornings like this. Even after I’m dressed, fed and into my day…it’s hard to wake up…all the way.

So I’ve been fighting back. I can’t force the sun to shine, but I can force my eyes to focus. I can’t stop the clouds from covering us, but I can pull back the blankets and set my feet on the floor. I can’t stop the snow from falling, but I can keep my schedule balanced and my goals afloat.

Last week was super busy. I had several appointments, meetings, homework assignments and events to work into my typically calm life. There were a few surprises and a few set backs, but it all went just fine. I got my groceries in three separate trips. I had to divide it up because I never had time to make one big trip to get all of it. I got my hair cut (but I’m very unhappy with it and wondering if I should ask her to fix it). I got a massage. It was the necessary kind, not the luxury kind…very, very painful but worth it…I think. I went to Owen’s school chapel to see The Bowen Kids sing. I sent in my passport application for my mission trip to India in May. I got the supplies and helped Owen do the research for a homework project he turned in on Friday. I went to Bible study on Thursday and Church on Wednesday and a children’s ministry dinner on Friday. I got ready for, and pulled off a Pampered Chef party on Saturday and made a couple things to take to the super bowl party last night. Nothing fell through the cracks except my desk. I just left it in piles for my guests to judge me on. I think they still like me.

This week I expect to be a bit more normal and I’m happy about that. Soon Kris is going to be flying about the country and I will be on my own, so I’m grateful that last week fell into place before he is out of reach.

Now, I am making big plans to rennovate my laundry room. I have a decent size space and room to put a lot more shelves in there. It’s not a big room, and my plans are going to make it feel a little crowded, but it has a door that I can close. I am going to make it a pantry as well as laundry room. My current pantry is a great size, but I don’t care for the doors. They open french door style and you have to walk around them to get in. My other quandry is that I have no mudroom space, so when we walk into the house from the garage we have to walk through the house to put shoes and coats away. As you can imagine this wears on the carpet a bit, but more importantly shoes and coats don’t always make it that far and the living room furniture becomes coat racks. My solution is to take the current pantry space, remove the doors, take out the shelves and repurpose it with hooks and spaces for coats, shoes, bags, umbrellas, hats, mittens and more. I will leave the top shelf for storing the seasonal items we aren’t currently using and hope to incorporate a bench with room underneath to store crates of shoes and such. This will have to be kept in order because of that whole, removing the doors thing. I want to paint it a nice complimentary color and divide the space so that the boys each have a section that is their own. I want space for myself as well, purses, shoes, keys and other items that I need access to on my way out the door. I wish I had a carpenter in the family to assign this task to, but I don’t.

The struggle now, is keeping my mind off of what I want to do with the coat area and keeping it on getting the laundry room taken care of. I have to do that first and it’s just not as fun.

Step one: Get some paint. I’m thinking a nice apple green color will do the trick.

I plan to take before and after pictures and I don’t plan to do any of this quickly. Don’t get your hopes up. I’m not typically fast with my home projects. It took me something like three months to paint the boy’s bedroom.

Ah…blogging while the boys nap is refreshing.