Getting Worse Before It Gets Better

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It’s been a while since I’ve written something that rambles on as much as this post does. But in the end, I still liked it, so I’m hitting publish anyway.

I’ve managed, nearly this entire school year, to keep myself healthy. Save for the occasional tired eyes and overall feeling of constantly needing a nap, my immune system has stayed the course. That is, until Thanksgiving weekend. I stuffed my face with my favorite warm rolls and pie, then fell sleep around 7pm (What? Doesn’t everyone fall asleep precisely at 7pm on Turkey Day?). Then I woke up early with Mom and hit the stores. There’s been a lot of murmuring going around about the stores being open on Thanksgiving Day, but I was kind of pleased about it; the lines weren’t nearly as bad on Friday as they usually are, which made the shopping trip easier. I got some pretty good deals for myself during our traditional Black Friday frenzy, and managed to buy nearly half of all of the Christmas gifts I intended to buy in a single swoop. And wrapped. Frickin’ productive is what that is.

I obviously can’t share the gifts I bought others, so here are the things I bought for myself:

• New flatware – This whole back story is going to sound weird, and completely out of place, but here goes:  In my opinion, I’m too old to buy cheap toilet paper. What, exactly, does that have to do with flatware? Very little, thankfully, but I bought these because of the same idea. Back in college, I roomed with a girl in grad school. At some point, we got into a discussion about feeling like an adult (I was just turning 21 at the time, I think). Her explanation was matter-of-fact enough to stick with me for years. She simply stated, “I just don’t like the idea of buying the cheap college crap anymore. I want the good towels. I don’t want to eat on paper plates. And I’m willing to pay a little extra for the ‘good’ toilet paper.”  As a single gal, I’ve still managed to hang on to a hodgepodge of mangled, flimsy pieces collected over the years from those bulk kitchen sets that can’t stand up to normal wear and tear in the dishwasher (and let’s face it, no one is hand washing anything in this house). And I’m tired of it. I want to throw the old crap away and replace it with something that matches that new, shiny kitchen I’m creating. But that doesn’t mean that the idea of living on a budget goes completely out the window; I snagged this 82-pc (service for 16) set for less than $50, saving nearly $100 in the process.
• A TV for the living room – The only TV I currently have at home is the one that my ex mounted onto the bedroom wall. It has since broken (the image is still visible, but the color gets kinda wonky about 1/3 of the way down), leaving me with zero well-functioning TVs. I used to have one in the living room, and am really liking the idea of having friends over for casual cooking/movie nights after graduation. Which will be kind of weird with a broken TV in my bedroom, so I have been saving up for a little while and bought while the gettin’ was good (saving myself at least $200).
• Finally, the washer and dryer set (label on the photo, of course, because of my art inspiration). After a brief panic that the ones I wanted were out of stock already (who knew so many people wanted a new set this year?), I found another set that is close enough to my budget on sale (saving about $600) to still work for the room.

Then, Saturday morning came – along with two tonsils the size of golf balls.

It hurt to talk.

It hurt to swallow food.

I spent the next two days in bed. All while trying to complete writing deadlines and staring down my last full week of school: one negotiation to execute, two papers, and two presentations to go. And a partridge in a pear tree.

I’m starting to recover, and just in time for a final push to get it all done. It’s hard to think about it being over when it still isn’t, but I know the end is very close (!). It’s both exciting and tiresome at the same time to think, just eight more days.  That’s it! I know I’ll probably lose a little sleep again, but hey – I’m also heavily medicated, so that’s fun. Guess that means no power tools for a little bit… just because I happen to like my fingers.

Completely derailed trains of thought aside, this week should be shaping up in terms of DIY as soon as these papers are delivered and I am back at 100%. I finished the drywall repair and painted the laundry room walls on Thursday morning before heading to Mom and Dad’s for turkey, so I’m looking forward to sharing those new photos with you soon. All of the pink is now gone! That by itself strangely makes me feel a little better.

The washer and dryer will be delivered end of next week, giving me just enough time to finish the grout, seal it, re-install baseboards, and reclaim my sanity. Then, it’s Christmas decorating time (which should be pretty easy, considering what I revealed in my last house tour video), going out to the movies, and maybe, perhaps, a quick trip to the spa just for the heck of it.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. And in case you may have missed it, the ol’ blog has a slightly sleeker new look – lots of improvements coming in the new year with the house tour, so I thought it best to get a jump on things and get rid of a little clutter (I liked most of the design I still had, but wanted more functionality with the project gallery and other pages). Be patient as I build it out, but if all goes to plan, this means a much easier-to-navigate site. Have a great week!