Today, I will pay

Some days, I have no energy, and have to guilt myself into getting anything accomplished. Other days, I am so motivated that there just aren't enough hours in the day to get done all that I want to get done. This weekend, I had two motivated days back to back. I can't believe how much I got done! But today, I am exhausted! There is always a price to pay.

On Saturday, I woke up and headed outside to organize the space under our porch. It has turned into a catch-all since we don't have a garage or a shed - bikes, sleds, inner tubes for floating down the river, tools, gardening supplies, old paint, gas cans, you name it. It had gotten to the point where you couldn't even get around down there. Armed with organizational supplies I had picked up at Lowe's, I hung the bikes, sleds and inner tubes from the rafters, hung the gardening shovels and rakes on the posts, straightened up everything into some semblance of order, and loaded the back of my car with stuff that should have gone to the dump long ago. It makes me happy when my surroundings are clean and orderly.

Next, I loaded the kids into the car. One of the founders of our quilt guild was selling off part of her stash because it had outgrown her space. The kids and I made the 45 minute trip to her house on the other side of the county - quilt shop quality fabric at $4.00/yard is worth a drive; plus, she has the most fantastic sewing studio I have ever seen. She was the inspiration for me putting a sewing studio in my own basement. My loot included selected fat quarters and yardage, plus a kitchen trashbag full of scraps that she had set aside for me. The weekend was shaping up to be very good indeed!



Since the kids indulged my FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip), I indulged their desire to go to the city pool. It is so much fun to go now since they are both good swimmers. I got 14 laps in before my lungs started protesting, and then I sat in the sun perusing the back issues of Quilt Sampler and McCall's Quilting that I got free with my purchase of fabric that morning. Heavenly!

Eventually, I dragged the kids out of the pool to go home for a late lunch, and then let them entertain themselves while I primed my husband's office in our basement. (for those of you just tuning in, we finished our 1000+ square foot basement last fall, but never got around to painting it - except for my sewing studio, of course. Last weekend, I painted the bathroom. There is still the movie theater, the game room, the stairwell and the hallway to paint. When I am done, I am going to have wonderfully defined arm muscles from all that painting! At least, that's what I keep telling myself.)

By the time I finished priming, it was time to head to the drive-in movie where I volunteer nearly every weekend. Volunteers get to watch the double-feature for free, plus they get free popcorn and a drink. Add to that the fact that kids under 12 are free, and it is a deal you just can't beat! Besides, when it is free, you don't feel so bad about falling asleep during the movie, which we all did.

On Sunday morning, the forecast was calling for rain, so I headed outside to get some yard work done before the rain came. I hung some laundry out on the line. I weeded. I mulched. I weed-whacked. I brought the laundry back in dry before the rain came. Then, as the rain began, I headed back down to paint my husband's office. He wanted his office to be painted gray. "Gray?" I said. "Are you sure?" Never in a million years would I have chosen to paint a room gray. I'm thinking prison, depression, ugliness. But he wanted something neutral and manly, so gray it is. It turns out, I kind of like it. What do you think?


At this point, I was exhausted. I sat on the porch with a book while my husband made dinner, and wouldn't you know it, the sun chose that time to break through the crowds and shine on me. The weekend just kept getting better and better!

Once the kids were in bed, I was determined to spend some time sewing. My current couch pillows were some of the first quilting projects I had made, but they are now stained and misshapen and an embarrassment. They are being relegated to drive-in movie pillow status, especially since I discovered when we got to the movie this weekend that the kids had taken the pillows off MY bed to lay out and watch the movie under the stars in their sleeping bags. (Which reminds me, I still have to sandwich and tie my orphan quilt so I can take it to the drive-in with us. Maybe this week.)

Anyway, I whipped up these two pillows for my couch to the sound of my husband protesting the officiating of the Lakers-Celtics game down the hall in the theater.



I went to bed feeling very satisfied with myself. This morning, however, I am feeling like I got hit by a truck. My arms are sore. My shoulders are sore. My legs are sore. I can't stop yawning. Today, I will pay for my over-acheiving attitude this weekend!