Pinterest is my therapist
Every day may not be good. But there is something good in every day.
When I thought about it for a second, there were definitely good parts in this bad day.
- C wore the gorgeous Shwin Designs Stella Tunic I sewed up for her last night.
- I got a client cheque in the mail, plus a notification that another client is paying me online tomorrow.
- I bit my tongue and resisted the urge to snap at the kids (mostly), even when I found a stash of haircare products under C’s bed and blue pen scribbles on the walls.
- I got to interview a really awesome, interesting person.
- I worked hard in Zumba class for a much-needed sweat.
- I live in a world where there is Diet Coke.
Breathe. It’s just a bad day, not a bad life.
Yeah, it was a bad day. Bad days are going to happen, and sometimes they don’t really solve themselves and turn into good days — they suck right until you fall asleep. But my life is amazing, and I can’t let a funk convince me otherwise.
***
Pinterest, you help me decorate my house, spend lots of money on fabric and craft supplies, and raise my kids. Now you’re my therapist, too? You’re the best. (Also, do you clean blue pen off walls?)
xoxo
How to create huge, inexpensive artwork for $2.20
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| Click to view my full tutorial |
Pelmet box tutorial + frost those windows!
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| View the tutorial |
Hop over to see how I transformed the windows of our master bedroom and upstairs bathroom for just $15 each.
xo
When the best-laid plans come tumbling down …
Life has a funny way of kicking you in the face sometimes. And then knocking you to the ground, jumping up and down on your torso, and laughing while you try to scramble to your feet.
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| [photo credit] |
I blogged yesterday — literally yesterday — about how I thought we’d finally solved our ongoing problems of How The Heck Am I Supposed to Work With Two Little Kids Underfoot?
As of Tuesday, we’d started testing the idea of the kids going to the babysitter’s two days a week, rather than just one.
I wrote about how much work I was able to get done, how I could schedule much lighter workdays on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays — knowing I had all day Tuesday and Thursday to work in peace and quiet.
And then … then … capping off a spectacularly bad 24 hours, the babysitter (whom the kids adore) broke the news to me this morning.
She is not taking kids in any more, as of two weeks from today. She will be working a regular, out-of-the-home job, and no amount of my tears will change it (I added that last part).
*slumps to the floor*
*worries about her career*
*hits “Publish” and tries to resume breathing*
…
The childcare experiment
See the massive row of purple all-day entries? Well, every time I finish a task, I edit it to read “DONE” at the beginning and I change the colour to purple.
It was a superOMGcrazyproductive day.
But not in the usual throat-tightening, can’t-keep-up kind of productive-day way. I finished everything I needed to finish, and actually took 20 minutes to eat lunch at the kitchen table. I breathed. I was very, very cautious not to schedule too much. I am slowly learning that scheduling too much is hazardous for my health … and makes me a Mean Mommy and Naggy, Cranky Wife.
And you know what? That’s not all. Since I’ll be working full days on Tuesday and Thursday (for these three weeks, to start), I’m making a point of working fewer hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
As in, like, a couple of hours, max, instead of cramming in as much as possible from the minute I sit down to eat lunch (while the kids are eating in front of the TV) until rightttt before dinner is ready. That was just … not good … for any of us.
Today is a “light” day (oh dear, is my work schedule going to start sounding like a pantyliner commercial?) which means I’ll do some shooting in the morning with C while D’s at preschool, and some writing in the afternoon during “quiet time.” If they don’t nap, whatever. I purposely did not schedule much, so I can go rescue them after a while and we can do something together.
Tomorrow, they’ll be back at the babysitter’s, and I will focus on work all day long. Breathing, hopefully, in between calls and interviews and writing and emailing as fast as I can.
And then we’re all taking Friday off (from preschool, work, everything) for a rare day trip to the city for appointments, dinner with Darling Husband’s family, and probably a stop at a “fancy” indoor playplace.
Have I found a new groove for us? Have I found a schedule that will ACTUALLY WORK FOR US, in this crazy freelance/shift work life that we have chosen?
Let the experiment roll on!
xo
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