Projects & Procrasting Perfectionism

Here's a picture of my laundry room taken in March, just after Easter. We installed Pergo's wood laminate flooring through out the laundry, kitchen and dining rooms. (Carpet in a dining room is ALWAYS a bad idea)

Laying the flooring down was a fairly quick project taking us a day and a couple evenings to complete.

The thing about projects is that you always seem to be short on something and it's usually money or time.... OR... money and time. In this instant, it's time.

And then there's another condition that hinders progress- procrastinating perfectionism.

What? You've never heard of it? Oh! It's REAL! Trust me! It's a condition by which one procrastinates because one desires to do the job perfectly but knows that there's not enough time available to complete the perfect job. And so the procrastination begins... putting off the job until there's enough time to finish the job perfectly. Of course, there's NEVER enough time! And that's the fuel for the cycle.


Here's another view from the end of March.

It looks very nice now but the reality is... the project is NOT finished. The stairway is now painted but there's still wallpaper to be hung. There's still baseboard and quarter round to be installed. Eventually it will be complete (emphasis on EVENTUALLY!).


This is what it looks like today.

Oh! You can't see much, you say? Well... that's because housework has also fallen victim to procrastinating perfectionism!

Settling in

What an awesome pony! She's all heart when it comes to the kids. And she's settling in wonderfully here. She very quickly learned the feed time chorus... nickering & calling to us right along with the others.

After spying Meah and Pholly grooming each other over the gate that divides one lot from the pasture, we decided it was time to integrate her into the herd. Pholly was exactly the individual I hoped would bond with Meah. Pholly keeps "GoofBall" pony in his place and I can count on her to keep order in the herd.


We discovered this week that Meah is in her element when outside for a leisure ride. She never batted an eyelash about being away from the herd or about exploring an area of our property new to her.

Happy pony... Happy kiddos... Happy Mom!!

Bugs!

Bugs! Aren't they interesting? Even more interesting is our response to them.

Yesterday we were driving into town when She-With-Once-Skinned-Knee and Hair-Tied-In-Knots discovered a bug present in the back seat with them.

Now I need to stray for a moment to tell you that our girls are not typical girls... at least, not always. Yes, they play dolls & dress-up, love clothes and girl things and are EMOTIONAL... but our girls also chase frogs in the mud, muck horse stalls, help load & unload hay, want to learn basic plumbing, help My-Good-Man-Charlie-Brown with mechanical repairs... etc. You're getting the idea...

So there's two of my girls in the backseat... who not more than 24 hours prior to this point had been wading thru slimy, swampy waters catching frogs... and there's this bug!

Being the devoted mother, I peeked in the rear view mirror to assess the danger said bug might present to my two precious girls. It was a little bigger than a firefly but with the same basic shape & style. It's legs were a bit spidery but not excessively so. It appeared harmless 'tho admittedly, I wouldn't want him ON me.

Since it's finally warm in this region of the world, we opened the windows. Maybe friend, Bug, would decide to depart using the nearest exit. She-With-Once-Skinned-Knee and Hair-Tied-In-Knots took up watch duty over the location and activities of Bug.

Suddenly... and I MEAN SUDDENLY... I hear a gasp- not a scream- and Hair-Tied-In-Knots appears to be in great distress. I mean... she looks like she's coming out of her booster seat and seat-belt. I also can't tell whether she's trying to scream, laugh or cry. That is followed by a shuddering plea for help... "THE.... BUG.....is... OOOOON MEEEEEEEE!!!"

Apparently I'm NOT the devoted mother I thought I was just moments prior because the inexplicable urge to laugh was overwhelming. And now Industrious-One and She-With-Once-Skinned-Knee are laughing. Meanwhile Hair-Tied-In-Knots is frozen in a frightened state and seems to be laughing and crying at the same time.

I know! I shouldn't have laughed. And maybe I should have pulled over. Now no one knows where Bug is. Hair-Tied-In-Knots is convinced that it's now under her. She-With-Once-Skinned-Knee is now cracking jokes about butts and bugs (I told you...not typical girls). Of course, the jokes now send Hair-Tied-In-Knots into fits of belly laughing.

We arrived at our destination intact. I apologized to my wee daughter for laughing at her predicament and gave her some extra hugs & kisses. She had recovered and was back to her usual jovial self.

Bug remained in the vehicle for several more hours. Presumably, he'd found a suitable hiding place. Hours later, while returning our video rentals, Bug flew out the window. Hair-Tied-In-Knots exclaimed, "Farewell Tom!" We didn't know his name was Tom. I guess we missed that moment of communication in our moment of laughter.

Bugs!

For Crying OUT LOUD!

UGH!!!

I GIVE UP!

You WIN Blogger!

I feel like I've had so much to say since my last post on Tuesday, April 15th. I tried to post on Wednesday and was sent into some eternal loop of frustration.... "your publish is taking too long to publish. Click here to continue waiting".... or something very close to that (I OUGHT to have that memorized by now)!

I've been posting all of my blog posts via ftp to my own webhosting site. Alas, I'm not the only ftp'er who has been sucked into the vortex of "...taking too long. Click here to wait...". I've given in to Blogger for now and am publishing via blogger's hosting... until, that is... the problem is fixed OR I find a new home for my blog.

Here's the other picture I TRIED to post in my Behind the Barn post.



Hope this works!

Testing

1....2.....3......

Behind the Barn

Got Skills?

Pardon the interuption to this post... you'll find my blog at nibbynosing.blogspot.com.... Back to your regularly scheduled post... previously aired!

I've got skills... or at least, I am getting skills! But my Dad keeps telling me, "You've got skills!"

This afternoon my task was to finish hanging drywall in a kitchen remodel we're working on. My Industrious One volunteered her muscles to help me since my-Good-Man-Charlie-Brown had to work late at his day job. (Plus, she says she "loves power tools!") No problem! I have skills!

Only one concern- a section behind the temporary sink we've installed. The sink would have to be unhooked in order to cut and hang the drywall. So I spoke to Dad on the phone and told him that I planned to measure and cut that piece but wouldn't be able to put it in place until the sink was unhooked. Dad's response?

"You can do that! You have skills!" :)

He then proceeded to explain to me what I needed to do. Now, I do have a little bit of plumbing knowledge and experience... all thanks to Dad!... so I told him I'd give it a try. I saved that piece for last... maybe I wouldn't get to it. But when you're working with my Industrious One, you get stuff done! Before I knew it, there was that section! It was the only place left and there's no way I was going to leave the job undone!

So I tackled the job! Unhooked the sink and drain, measured, cut and installed the drywall, put the sink back in place, hooked up the drain and hooked up the water. Voila! Job done! As it turns out, Dad was right! I've got skills! :)

Funny too! While I was cleaning up the work area, I thought to myself, "Gee! That's all it took was for Dad to say, 'You can do it', to give me the confidence to at least try.

It is amazing what you can accomplish when you have someone encouraging you, cheering you on, and telling you, "YES! You CAN do it."

As I am writing this, "Hell's Kitchen" is on. I'm not sure it is good quality entertainment (it isn't truly) really but it's background noise right now. What a stark contrast to the very thing I'm writing. Chef Ramsey seems to have no qualms about ripping, tearing and devouring his "apprentices". There is very little praise, very little encouragement but MUCH negative, derogatory interaction.

It's not just on TV that I've encountered that negative, destructive approach to teaching, educating and training people. Sadly, it's common. I remember overhearing an exasperated woman tell her frustrated daughter to "just quit then!" I wanted to scream "NO! You CAN DO IT! Keep trying!"

What was that woman thinking? I've been told by some that some people need that kind of motivation to get them going. You know... it's like the "I'll show her!" mentality. Well... I suppose you might see a momentary spark of determination to "show them." Still... I am convinced that the damage done to a person's confidence, spirit and mentality far outweighs any benefit that moment of rebellious determination produced.

I wonder what would happen if Chef Ramsey were to tell the gentleman who couldn't recite the dessert menu, "You CAN do it! I know you can! You were chosen to be on this show because You CAN! You've got what it takes!" Well... I guess it wouldn't be "HELL'S Kitchen" anymore would it? And he wouldn't have fired the guy either. But isn't it sad that we're entertained by the destruction of another person's spirit?

Because my parents believed in us... because they always told us to do our best- that's all they expected (win or lose, succeed or fail)... because they still tell me "You CAN do it!'... because they walk beside us, encourage us... they feed us positive reinforcement... because they don't squash our dreams but cheer us on.... they encourage us to try new things, give it all we've got and motivate us to learn.... just some of the reasons........

I've got SKILLS!