Hello my blog friends, I’ve missed you. It feels like months since I sat down with you. Part of me missed the brainstorming, writing, editing, publishing and connecting thing. Another part of me fully enjoyed the time off. I had no idea how much of my time I spent blogging. Now, before you think I’ve been sitting on a beach somewhere sipping some fruity drink ….
Remember a few weeks ago I told you how that magical Prid Drawing Salve helped remove a splinter of dried grass (yes grass) in my thumb? Well apparently that was only a little portion of it. Two weeks later the rest of it finally came to the surface. It may not look like a big deal to you, but it packed a powerful and painful punch!
You’ll also recall I was struggling to gather and turn in all our tax documents before the looming deadline. Pretty sure you’ll be proud to know I met the deadline with a few days to spare! As sometimes happens—the dread was worse than the actual activity. Afterwards I decided the only way to avoid this mess next tax season was to organize the heck out of it! It’s a proven fact that things color-coded, labeled and tidy will no longer be a problem, right?
Still, with some leftover free time I had blocked out for taxes I convinced myself that painting my wood paneled office would be a great time filler. For a couple of months I have felt my office was dark, dreary and sort of a difficult place for me to write. As always, my sister was eager to help me and so began endless days and nights of office transformation. Four 15-hour days to be exact. I guess I should have dreaded this painting job more than the tax return.
I will not bore you with details of an entire day of sanding and filling holes. Nor will you hear about the two full days we spent priming and painting miles of trim, baseboard, crown moulding, SIX doors and THREE windows ... or the last day spent painting three coats on the paneled walls!!! I chose Sherwin Williams Dover White with a semi-gloss white trim, because I always felt cream and white looked cozy yet crisp side by side. The change was so drastic from all the dark wood I worried it did not feel warm. I could probably hatch eggs in my office with all the brightness now. But as pictures are hung, furniture placed and that beautiful fern plant sits beside my couch, I can feel my office filling with “happy.”
So I am writing this blog at my old desk in my old office, but it all feels brand new to me. Best of all—I feel inspired. This space feels more like who I am, and a place I can start to focus on another dream I’ve had for a very long time. I am going back to story writing. Can’t promise a finished book or anything, but I intend to be working hard at it. I am very excited for this new challenge. So ... my blogs will post up when I have something worthy to write about and the time to share them with you. For those of you that have come to count on my Tuesday morning posts, don’t worry. If you need me, I am always just an email away: astoutland@aol.com!
Always your Tuesday friend,
Moral: Be like a fresh coat of paint-brighten a room when you enter it.
A little thing I’m obsessed with: My office not only had all wood paneling but twelve brass doorknobs. Not being a big fan of brass, I decided I would try to spray them with Rust-oleum Metallic Flat Burnished Amber since replacing them would be over $250.00! Spray painting was not only so easy, but so much fun it was difficult for me to stop! I was like an animal hunting its prey, and my next victims were my ten year old generic black stapler and tape dispenser. Seriously, if it wasn’t nailed down I contemplated spraying it! Once you try it, I know you’ll be thanking me!
