Yes, that’s really what St. Thomas looks like. We took that photo with our camera. The trip was amazing. I had no idea how wrapped around the axle I was about life in general until I got out on the beach. We arrived at the airport in St. Thomas, it took us a couple of hours to get to our hotel (there’s no sense of urgency out there), we ate, then hit the beach. I had a stack of books to keep me company though and, for the record, I did get out into the water a lot and even got sort of a tan. Not much, though. You know me: Fear of the sun. I marinated in sunscreen.
YES THAT IS ME WITH A TAN AND TOM WITH A SUNBURN! I DID GET SOME COLOR ON MY SKIN! STOP LAUGHING!
Since I returned from St. Thomas, I haven’t had the desire to do much of anything. School kicked into high gear the week after we got back and I was flung back into my overwhelming list of priorities, to-do’s and other obligations. Although I was excited and motivated to do these things previously, when I came back from vacation, nothing made me happy. I backed off of almost everything on my plate and the things I didn’t back off of were just ignored completely. It took me a while to figure out my problem, but I finally did.
I have time to do lots of little things half-assed, and zero time to do them all in the way I want them done. Everything I do feels like it’s only as half as good as it could be, because I don’t really have enough time to invest myself fully in everything. When I get an inspired moment and I want to try something new, I sort of throw myself out there, feeling around as I go, but with no real focus. It’s fun for a while, but I start a million new projects and then can’t finish any of them.
And now I’m living with the mess, unsure of what I should finish first.
I’m going to take a semester off from school. Next semester. I emailed the head of the Interior Design program about it. Though I can feel his reluctance in the email, I think it’s just something I have to do for now. But I’m not going to give up - there’s a lot of my house that I started and haven’t finished yet. For example, the kitchen. The first month we lived in the house I started ripping up the wallpaper and started painting cabinets. It’s been sitting like that for two years. Ugly. Depressing. I couldn’t stand to spend time in there - impacting my cooking and baking hobbies. I like cooking and baking, but I can’t stand to be in the kitchen. Result: No cooking or baking. Ripple effect: I haven’t posted on AwK in a long time.
On Friday, I took a half day off from work and used it to work in the kitchen. The walls are mostly painted, one side of the cabinets are sanded and primed and given one coat of paint. They need one more coat of paint and the doors are going back on.
For the record, my kitchen walls are a neutral brown/khaki color with white cabinets, black hardware and appliances, and small touches of earthy green (teapot, etc.) and it looks awesome.
One section of a wall needs to be finished in the Cliff Rock color, and I need to sand, primer and paint one side of the cabinets, but it looks so great with some color in there. I’m excited at the progress and it’s actually motivating me with other ideas on how to finish the rest of the house - but I won’t act on them until the kitchen is finished. Unfortunately I have too much going on over the next three weekends and won’t be able to get back to the kitchen until December, but I’m looking forward to having it finished before the end of the year.
Though I haven’t been blogging, I’ve been writing. While out on the beach of St. Thomas (no, I won’t horrify anyone with bathing suit photographs) I started reading some mystery books that helped me to look at story creation in a new way. I also picked up a copy of “Plot and Structure Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish” and it was really helpful. Through the summer I had been kicking around a story idea in my head, and after I got back from vacation, I had it. About a month ago I sat down to write it, and I’m already on chapter 6. This is the fastest work I’ve done to date and different than anything I’ve done yet, and I’m very excited about it. It’s first person and takes place in Rochester, NY.
More about that later.
Church worship has its ups and downs. Since we last talked I have a totally new team, and a woman who is leading worship once a month. Though she is going through the learning process, she’s getting better every time, and that makes it worth it. She is up again to lead this coming Sunday. Starting next year I would like her to alternate leading every other Sunday, that way I can start focusing more on planning and developing other people. Eventually I would like this to mean that I get at least one weekend off every month, but with Tom doing sound every week, I’m not sure what will happen. I’d like to get another sound volunteer so he can take break, too.
That’s it for now. I’ll be back with more, later. I promise.
Print
| 
Add a comment »
Posts RSS