THE BEST LAID PLANS

I have the next week off from work. I've been getting frustrated with the work I do and the people I work with and I just need a break from everything to clear my head. So, since I'm not going anywhere, I thought I'd make plans for things to do at home. I hate our house right now. Not the fact that we're on the river or the house itself, but the way we live. My excuse is that a) we work full time and are trying to keep a business afloat in our spare time; b) I hate, loathe & despise housework; and c) by the time I get home, any plans I may have made in the shower that morning are bypassed by the desire to pass out from exhaustion. My job is not physically demanding but I'm going pretty steadily for 8 hours and my mind shuts down once I start relaxing.

I read home improvement blogs and have this list of changes I want to make - I just need time to start enacting them. I could get some work done on the weekends except during the summer, I spend weekends on LBI and I'm not about to give those up. We Grahams have a line and that is so far over the line, it's not even in sight.

So I'm going to take this week and see how much I actually get done, and, by putting them out there in the blogosphere, I may hold myself a little more accountable. Of course, I may just say "the hell with it" and spend the week in the sun reading. You never can tell.

On to the list:

• we have a closet under the stairs leading to the 2nd floor. As we moved in, anything we didn't know what to do with went into that closet. It's all still there, along with multitudinous items we have accumulated over the three years we've been here. I want to take it all out, figure out what we want to keep, and organize it all.
• we also have a coat closet on the first floor who's doors barely close, it's so full of stuff. I have no idea of what is in there and I'd rather know now than when it all falls on my head some day (if only to move the really heavy things to the floor so I don't brain myself in the process. It's all about safety here!)
• I hate to admit it but my bedroom is an ungodly mess. I can't remember the last time I vacuumed or dusted it. Every time we spend time cleaning the house, all focus is on the downstairs where people congregate. Since no one else goes upstairs, it tends to be bypassed. I would love to get my room to a point where I actually want to relax in there other than using it just for the bed. I have paintings and mirrors leaning against the walls still waiting to be hung, 3 years down the road.
• NOT TO BE DONE AT THIS TIME - I want to paint our downstairs powder room and the kitchen, if nothing else. I dislike the decor in both rooms, however, since we rent, I need to get the permission from the owners before I do anything.
• even if I can't repaint the kitchen, I can still rearrange it. There is very little counter space in there and I enjoy cooking, but I get frustrated when I can't do anything because there is so much stuff in the way. The kitchen does have an island but we're using it for the store (packing, etc). I'd be more upset except that it's nowhere near the stove so using it for prep reasons doesn't make sense.
• speaking of Fragile Earth Stuffed Animals, our store, I want to spend some time writing blogs for Rupert's Ramblings, the store's blog; work on the logo so we'll have it ready for business cards for BlogHer; and go through the storeroom to make sure we have everything on the website. We've learned through bitter experience that our stuff isn't going to sell if it isn't listed.
• I don't want to mislead anyone. There will be time spent sitting in the sun with good books. As a matter of fact, there may very well be time spent sitting in the sun without good books, but rather good snoozes. It's just a question of how much time, if any, is spent in any other pursuit.

Oh, and Tuesday afternoon, I'm getting together for lunch with parents and teachers from one of the schools I taught at a few (9 - I may be ill) years ago and I'm really looking forward to that:) And there will be the obligatory time spent thinking/stressing about BlogHer, but hopefully I'll be able to multitask through that.

It's going to be busy, if only on paper. I'll let you know how far I get on my list. Hopefully, I'll be able to post before and after pictures - except of my room. I'm too embarrassed to do the before pics but I'll try to post after ones.