I'm Sassing Up the Table, Mable

Remember the table I was painting for Superman? (see post on 6/15/09 )









Top of table after painting slats.













Sides with base coat of decorative paint and final view of table after the stain is applied.








The late afternoon sunlight enhances the mood, and the stain softens the colors with warmth.


























And having Wonder Dog give you a smile is the perfect cap on the day.

Yikes the truth is out... This Time Tomorrow's been busted by the tabloid pawpawrazzi.....

It appears I have a blog helper here at the Tree House. Or perhaps tis' I who am the helper, personal assistant, co-author, get to "tag" along behind the real star of the show, etc....


Actually we are just getting ready to post some new paintings....

Stay tuned....

I hope by this time tomorrow to check something off my list~ being grateful to have another day is at the top of my list

It's been a really good day. I spent the day doing "healthful" things for my body and this evening doing "soulful" things with Dylan. Dylan is the best friend anyone could ever want. We are both taking flight. We are dedicated to living each moment with gusto (whoever he is...)

We decided since we'd already seen each other fly through the air at 65-70 MPH, hit a guard rail head-on, do a flip, then land under the bridge upright 70' plus below AND SURVIVE... well, we can do anything. Monday we will officially celebrate surviving. And yes, we celebrate or embrace this every single day but Monday is our one year anniversary. More about this survival story to come...

In the meantime, here is the next 10 on the 101 List ~ 61-70 ~

• Water fountain for my living room. I've had this water pump for 9 years just hanging out waiting to become a fountain one day.....
• Paint the rug for the studio
• Look up the word panache
• Design the perfect biz card that allows me to be anything I want to be when I grow up...
• Make a platform with wheels to fit under my storage chest of drawers in my studio
  
• Use one of my sketch books for a scrap book for my creative tidbits, notes on the back of envelopes. pictures torn out of magazines, 3 x 5 cards I've scribbled ideas on, etc....
  
• Actually paste, glue and organize said items above into said sketch book... (ahem...)
• Find the rhythm for my day. Dylan, my BFF, just gave me a scathingly brilliant idea today to accomplish this. Dylan knows I can overload myself with well intentions and end up looking at the clock at midnight wondering where the day went. She suggested I do what they used to do in days gone by. Remember when people actually did the laundry on Monday, the ironing on Tuesdays (huh? Ironing??) etc.... Try doing more of "one thing" a day rather than too many in a day. Thank you, Dylan... you are my heroine!! Ummm... not as in my drug even though I am addicted to your wacky sense of humor.. never mind....
  
• Get up before dawn. I have always loved his time of day best. I do my best writing early in the morning.
• Decoupage the linen closet with pictures and cork board
  

Sweet dreams everyone.....

The Duel between the Perfectionist and the Procrastinator. Maybe this time tomorrow I'll have it all done....

Somehow I think this may be a hard task to finish or accomplish or keep that way. I believe the perfectionist in me will lie to the procrastinator I'm trying so hard not to be. And the procrastinator will always want to take a nap if it isn't perfect to begin with. And so my journey creating my dream studio begins...... here are some before pics. The after pics will have to happen after it's finished. LOL




First project on my list is my studio. I'm beginning to believe a studio is a work-in-progress, too—just like me. I've only just defined a space as the home for my creative treasures, well, a physical storage-work space.

My brain is my permanent house for my studio. It's taken me awhile to figure out where to set it up and I have had it in a few places—but never finished.

I live in the perfect place for creativity. On a lake—actually on an island. I have had to deal with some rough places as a studio space in during my life but my challenge here on the lake is I have too many places to set up my studio. Challenge? Yes, too many choices can be hard. Too many places to get trapped in perfecting the spot instead of perfecting the craft. There's such a thin line between procrastination and perfecting something. I can get totally stuck in the getting everything just right before I can cut myself loose to start playing. One of these days I'm going to just cut loose and play anyway... (see I'm procrastinating)

My boyfriend, Superman, just helped me tremendously this past week. I needed him as a sounding board. I pointed out all the pros and cons of various locations to set up my studio in the Tree House (what I call my home). All had potential, promise, and all posed problems. All had bits and pieces of my art supplies strewn about like clothes in a teenager's room. Well actually kinda like my bedroom. (hehe) He liked my ideas and told me they made sense. I needed some validation. I also need a strong arm... He gave me some guide lines to work under. If it is not creative—it does not belong in my studio. Sweet! I can work with that.

Here's my usual pattern. One room, one space in my world has always been the dumping ground, the holding tank, the clutter catcher, the junk room, the room you keep the door shut at all times and pray no one stumbles upon it looking for the bathroom, “Fibber MC Gee's closet”, my shame, my lack of perfection. My nemesis. My undoing. The proof I do not have things together. I am and always have been very hard on myself about this. It seems if I had it all together, I would be perfect but to get there everything must be perfect. I hear screaming.... Oh, never mind... it's just me.

Plus, I do a bit of hoarding. Holding on to things, so to speak. “I might be able to use this sometime.” Sentimental alley. Broken babbles, and stacks of papers. I do not know how to toss things. Throw it away? Yikes!!! I have dried out paint bottles for heaven's sake! Scraps of paper that was trimmed off of something. Buttons that belong to a pair of pants or blouse I no longer own. It's a cluster fuck in my mind and world. “What if I need this?” “How could I use this?” This is a project waiting to happen.” “Wow, that would make the perfect ____, or _____, or you fill in the _____. Blankety, blank....

I have stood in the middle of one of my storage tanks of creative possibilities and been so overwhelmed I left the room, garage, etc., and took a frigging nap. I've turned in circles like a ballerina with no choreographer. My toes are raw. My mind is weary. Where do you start??? I need the peace of finishing a room, especially my creative space. It's usually the place that sits in the most chaos, and it's the place I need to be in the most to heal. I want a studio where I know where everything is. I can reach for a tool I need. I can walk in and simply begin creating.

I just want to paint and maybe that's the trick to all of this.... Just Do IT!!!

And the list goes on..... the madness inside a procrastinator's head

OK here's the start of something big. (if I can just finish it...) My list of 101 things I want to do.

It's not easy being me. But there is no one else I'd rather be. Creative people are the best. Perfectionists are the best. Procrastinators are the best. People who give stupid pep talks to themselves are the best.... Oh, ffs... just get on with it girl....

Some of the items on my 101 list I will blog about later. Either because the task needs an explanation or it has been on a previous list somewhere, sometime in my life. Or simply because this is a blog and what the frap else am I supposed to do BUT write???? This is where things get a little tense for a procrastinator. Will I actually finish this?? Oh crap. The pressure is on.

Here I go... one to do at a time. (I used to call it a "to-do-doo list"....)

• Create the ultimate artist's studio... or just finish the one I already have. I'll blog about this one tomorrow.
  

• Write daily. (looks like I will have to keep this one on my to-do list permanently)
  

• Paint the picture of the picture of my son, Jake, sitting in Panera's.
  

• Paint the picture of the picture of Ashley sitting in her closet.

• Paint the picture of the picture of the Topa Topa Mountains in Ojai, CA.

• Paint the POTP (Picture Of The Picture....geez) of Emery in the big chair.

• Read Eckhart Tolle's, "The Power of Now". (anyone else see the humor in this???)
  

• Paint the picture of Todd and Lisa's cats.

• Finish my draft of my book, "Six Days to Haight Ashbury."

• Create a children book on Pammy's bedtime story she told Ben and James.

Ten ideas. Ten things on my list... that should be enough for now. Ten ideas every day?

Yes, I am laughing friggin' out loud at what a perfect procrastinator I am....

Sigh. I'll finish it tomorrow.

Well, it's a start damn it! :-)

This time tomorrow--my favorite time to do things. A blog from a procrastinator...

Blogging.... didn't we used to call it journaling, keeping a diary? Writing secret stuff about ourselves in a secret place that we buried like cats bury poo so no one would find it, read it or see it?

I am a procrastinator. A perfectionist. Well there. I said it. Out loud. This is my blog about procrastination and perfectionism, and the life long battle I have had putting off until tomorrow what I should have, could have and needed to do today. This blog site will be a stretch. If anyone actually starts following me, I'll be held accountable and responsible. Shudder....

I'm just a girl (yes, I am still a girl, a 56 year old girl to be exact) seeking to figure out why I procrastinate and how in the hell can I fix it???? Now, it hasn't all been lost lists and never accomplishing anything--far from it. I've acquired some rather fetching accomplishments in my life. I just don't want to wake up tomorrow, out of time, or heaven forbid not wake up at all, and see all the wasted energy, brilliant ideas I had rotting on top of my grave. I know today will suddenly turn into this time tomorrow. I want to arrive there saying, "Wow! I did it! I actually finished this project that has been locked up inside my head! I lived my life in the fullest."

Now here is the kicker--the proverbial kick in the ass.

I'm recovering from PTSD from an auto accident. May 4, 2009 will be my one year anniversary. This is my journey of a near death experience, and a moment in time I saw every dream on my to-do list, hang in that moment forever--undone. I am going to live those dreams, give them flight, and maybe along the way as I blog my progress a few of you will be encouraged to do the same by the words (and deeds) I etch in time and space in a place called the internet.

I will list my 101 Things I Want To Do with my wonderful life, and will document the glorious joy of checking them off one by one. My goal is to keep adding another item to the list after I check something off. You will be my eyes and virtual cattle prod to keep me moving forward. Hey, no pushing and shoving--OK? Cheer me on! To the finish line!

I will post my list and post my projects in pictorial form from beginning to marvelous end.