Things that get done (or started) when you procrastinate

I earnestly set out to thoroughly clean the house over the weekend so I would have some place to put the tree. In the past I have had two live trees and one crazy pink Martha Stewart tree but looks like the Martha will probably be the only one I put up this year because there is too much big stuff to get out of the way for one, let alone two big trees (even though I buy the Charlie Brown ones). So, when I know I have to do something, the procrastinating starts and usually something else unplanned gets done.

I've had these brackets for years and years and years. I kept meaning to put them up over the kitchen window but always stalled because of the chipping paint which almost certainly contains lead. Oh heck with it, I still know my multiplication tables, up they went yesterday. 

Years ago I had added some vintage buttons (made with chips of shell in the resin so that they sparkle). I think I have a drawer full of the things. All lime green (one of my favorite colors). Why add the buttons to something that was already pretty ornate to begin with? I think it was one of my theme years. More about that later.

The iron brackets are now hung over the kitchen window but now I have to buy some wood and sand it, prime it and paint it and add molding and put it on the brackets so that I have a shelf. Then buy a dowel and do the same sanding, priming, painting thing and make some finials and make some curtains and make something to hang between the two curtains because I'd like to block out my neighbors' many visits to their bathroom. Why would anyone design a house so that one person's kitchen window looks directly across the driveway to their neighbor's bathroom window? I think the light goes on and off over there every 20 minutes. Jeez. 

But wait, I had to spackle some Stella damage on the woodwork of the window so I'm going to have to sand and prime and paint without opening the window because if I do it today, it's like 0 degrees outdoors. So maybe in two weeks I think I'll have something to show off. If this project was on the HGTV channel, I'm sure it would have been done in thirty minutes while someone was eating a sandwich. I wish I lived in the reality of those reality shows sometimes.

Okay, the theme years. Years ago I gave up on New Year's resolutions and decided to go with theme years instead. Just concentrate on one thing you want to do or accomplish. When I added those buttons to the brackets, it was probably my "More is more" year. I had recently learned how to mosaic and I could not get enough of it. That's the perfect art form for someone who collects a lot of pretty but tiny useless stuff. I got to hear Judy Onofrio talk about her work around that time and took something she said and added it to my theme year's title. Someone asked her how she knew when she had enough things collected to start a project (This woman has so much stuff, she was actually donated the basement space in a shopping mall to store it!). This was her answer, "Enough is not enough. Once you have enough, you're just getting started." That quote really stuck in my head. So my theme for my embellishment/mosaic year was "More is more. Less is a bore. Enough is not enough. Once you have enough, you're just getting started."  I did a lot of mosaic work that year and it was FUN. 

I've had other theme years that weren't that exciting because they were things I should be doing (lose weight, get organized, etc.), not things I wanted to do. I just remembered another theme year- "100% Girl." Ha ha ha. I felt I needed to improve my percentage because I could care less about chocolate, I hate shopping, and I never quite learned the concept of accessorizing or how to apply makeup. So that was another failed theme year. I might have gone up a percentage point at the end of the year though. Ha ha ha.

It's almost Christmas and I've already skipped ahead to the new year. Okay, time to hunker down and concentrate on getting a tree up, any tree up before December 25. I grew up in a house where the tradition was that you did not see the Christmas tree until Christmas morning. It was magical and spectacular to see the tree, the presents, the full stockings, and all the things that Santa brought too. When I got older, I kind of questioned the why as to why the tree went up so late. My dad said it was an Irish tradition. I think possibly because he could get a good deal on a tree on Christmas Eve too, if not free. I think his tradition kind of works for procrastination too. Ha ha ha. Anyway, I still have a couple days before I really need to have that tree up so if any of you are wondering why I'm even thinking of putting up a tree at this point, that's the tradition in my family, for whatever reason. :-)