honestly, i have the strangest priorities sometimes. because what am i thinking, breaking out the blackboard paint to finally make the blackboard wall i’ve been planning for the last – oh, i don’t know – three months?! seriously, all of a sudden, there’s this urge to get.it.done. never mind the gifts i’ve yet to make and the cookies we want to bake and the bathrooms i must clean. there’s a wall that needs painting!
i think the urge is in response to a behavior of mine that i don’t like…that i start projects and get distracted by the other. it isn’t behavior i want to model for my kids, and that’s on my mind a lot lately. but it’s easy to get distracted {tell me if i’m wrong}…the family responsibilities, the cleaning, the job, the self-care {what? what’s that?}. i had the best intentions when i began this project back in the fall. wood, check. blackboard paint, check. stain for the boards, check. but, oops, if you stain pine, you need to prepare the wood first or else you end up with splotches {i ended up with splotches}. that was my first setback. it meant another trip to home depot for more wood, or figuring out a way to work with the boards i’d already screwed up. i decided to work with what i had…but that meant a new stain with a new technique {which required research}, a trip to home depot for a certain grade steel wool. and then another trip to home depot for an additional grade steel wool {because, oops, i didn’t read all the instructions} {and various grades of steel wool? who knew?}.
so, you get the idea…i got sidetracked. because in and around all that was, well, the rest of life. i don’t really understand why i get so sidetracked in my projects, but i do. i get excited, i get overwhelmed, i procrastinate, i change my mind, i screw up, i get overwhelmed…then there’s the laundry and a list of ten million {so it seems} things that need doing. and here we are months later. oy. but i’m going to get this done. first coat of paint is up as i type this; second coat to follow today; boards are stained and ready to go. this project may have dragged out longer than necessary {i fully admit that}, but i’m doing it.
and then i’m going to start stitching and baking. none of it crazy, mind you…i am holding to what i wrote here and here. somehow it’s all getting done. and crazy as it seems to be painting this wall just before christmas, it also feels like {almost} perfect timing. it really does.
sending a little love your way, m
p.s. if you’re curious, i’m making a chalkboard like this one. and i made my frame look {sort of} like this.
Michelle GD 
oh, I know exactly what you’re talking about :-)
uhm, so I have half finished projects all over my house..including my house!! Kitchen still needs remodel, light fixtures need to be hung and front of house mosaiced.
YES ! I am an over achiever ….so. much to do !!
Ah, Michelle, just read that you are a cancer, that explains everything! I am also a cancer and have a terrible time staying focused on just one thing at a time. I’m like a golden retriever, my attention is always hopping from one thing to another!
well, i don’t know about you, grace, but i rather like golden retrievers! xo
are you a Gemini by any chance ;) I get distracted easily too. it’s something I’ve been trying to change forever. start something and finish it. limit ongoing projects to five at the same time. so far, it’s not working…
cancer…but the two are compatible!
if you figure out a plan, do let me know ;)
I can completely relate. (Um, half-bathroom in laundry room STILL has ugly wallpaper even though I bought all the stuff to take it off YEARS ago.) And, I can’t wait to see the finished product! We have chalkboards up in almost every room. I didn’t do them myself, but I love them! xo
It’s going to be so beautiful! I can’t wait…hope we can see it. I bet so, you will be able to write so many good things on that board! Also when the mood strikes, let it begin. I have to be in the mood or else it just wont be right. I love that you are in the mood, it will add to your festivities, like a gift to yourself and your family all wrapped into one.
oh, tracie, i like thinking of this as a gift to myself and my family…thank you for that thought!!!
I have always wanted to put up some chalkboard paint somewhere! Good for you! (And patience, most projects worth doing involve some amount of delay and distraction. You’re doing great.)
Getting “side-tracked” is my speciality!! My problem is I get too much in my head that I want to do and I just don’t know where to start! So emails, Facebook, editing images, and Instagram are real good at helping me procrastinate!!
Sometimes it seems to me that getting distracted by other projects is just a survival path to have all the to-do list done ;-)