A Place Of My Own

It's done, my office that is. And I've moved in. Up until now, I shared a small corner of the front room with four kids and my hubby. Picture this, a desk squeezed between the couch and the door, stacks of manuscripts shoved under the desk, leaning on the couch, and piled on the floor. Books and pens, folders and staplers, my laptop and me, perched amidst it all. This is how I wrote, with young children tugging on my arm and sliding down my towers of papers. Adventure reigned--and not the good kind.

I wanted my own space. A place to put all my stuff. A place where my computer could live without the risk of becoming a launch (or landing) pad for rocketing children. A place where I could sit and think, and write, and plot, and create. This wish spurred months of remodeling, and now my room is done. Can you hear the cheering? Because I can. Oh, wait, that's me.



And it has a lock on the door. Heaven.

I love it. One of my favorite features is a chalkboard wall. Yes, an entire wall for me to write on, plot on, ponder on, and even doodle on. And I bought colored chalk. *Grin* It's like being a kid, but I'm bigger. And I don't have to share the chalk. He he.



Here's a list of things I won't miss.

Fickle sticky notes fluttering to the floor only to be eaten by the vacuum.
Me yelling, "Who turned off my computer?"
Me yelling, "Who erased my book?"
Me crying because someone erased my book.
Me wishing I had a room with a lock.
Piles and piles and piles of manuscripts stacked around me like I was some kind of crazed paper hoarder.
Piles and piles and piles of manuscripts not stacked around me because the kids decided to play in them.
Me thinking naughty words when I found the piles and piles and piles of scattered pages.
Me wishing I had a room with a lock.
Answering the door right after I discovered the piles and piles and piles of scattered pages.
Me thinking more naughty words.
The wide-eyed stare of visitors at the door when I answered it.
Me wishing I had a room with a lock.

Yup, I like the lock. Can you tell?

Anywho, I'm in. I'm organized, and now I'm going to get down to business. Time to write.

What is your secret, or not so secret, wish? Mine came true. At least the one about a room with a lock, I'm still working on the getting published one. Drop a comment and share your wish.

The End Is In Sight

We started remodeling/finishing our basement a million years ago. Okay, a million years might be exaggerating a bit, but only a bit. A very little bit. See, here is a before construction and an after construction pic of me--just to prove how long it took.

Before:


After:


See, it took a long time.

Okay, we really started working on it in early March. It is now July. July! That means,I've been living in chaos for almost six months. Okay it's five, but it feels like at least six. Or a million years.

How come it's taken us so long? I don't know. Workers demolished the McDonald's down the street (seriously all that was left was a hole in the ground), then they rebuilt it, opened it, and served 10,000 burgers and fries in less time than it took me to do three lousy rooms. BUT, the end is in sight.

The carpet is in. We spent the whole day yesterday laying tile, It's almost done. All we have left is one more day of tiling, two days of painting, and little odds and ends like baseboards, shower heads, and doors. I might cry. Really. I think there are tears on my keyboard right now.

Here is a list of things I won't miss about living with construction:

1: Drywall dust.

2: Plastic cover sheets spread over furniture and flooring.

3: The toilet sitting in the backyard waiting to be reinstalled. Really, you get some strange looks from the neighbors. I've lived in constant fear that one of the kids would use it while it's sitting on the deck. This is the stuff of nightmares. Shudder.

4: Having to crawl over saws and piles of tools to get to the laundry.

5: Going to Lowe's and Home Depot more than the grocery store, or any other store.

6: Parking in the driveway because the garage is full of construction equipment.

7: Bruises, scrapes, cuts, and various boo boos from hammers and saws. Um yeah. Ow.

8: Drywall dust. I know I mentioned this before, but there's a lot of it. And it won't die. Ever. Here's a pic of my hubby trying to find the laundry in the drywall dust. This is an actual photo. Really.



9: Waiting for the drywaller. For two months.

10: Not having doors on things like bathrooms. I really love doors.

I could go on, but you get the idea. There are a few things I will miss like spending time with my dad. And .... well, that's it really. Hanging with my dad. See silver lining.

Let the Mudding Begin!

Do you remember an eon ago when I posted about finishing my basement? (And you can check out this link, too. They're both about my basement.) But, the point of this is, I wrote them in MARCH!

Yes, March, and we are still working on the basement.

It's now JUNE! Ack!

Well, to be more exact, we've been waiting on the mud-and-tape guy for two months. Two full months. He finally came yesterday! I almost cried, but managed to hold it in until he left. Then I did cry because he only stayed an hour and won't be back until Friday. At this rate I figure I'll still be posting about my basement next March. Or June.

I also cried because I fell down the stairs in my excitement to get him working. It was painful and ugly, but back to the basement and the mud-and-tape guy.

I must admit I was tempted to say a few naughty words, but I didn't because that would be, well, naughty and my mom and kids read this, so it would never do.

So for now, I'll dream of the day I won't trip over 2X4s and Sheetrock. I'll dream of the day my vacuum won't turn white with drywall dust every time I turn it on. I'll dream of the day I get my own writing room. Sigh. Oh, and yes, I'll dream of the day the mud-and-tape guy comes back, because until he does I will still have to climb over construction stuff to do my laundry, and my basement will still look like this.



And I'll still look like this.



Friday please come soon.