Home Improvements = Active Boredom

There's one particular subject that I loathe reading about: writer's block. I find it a lazy, self-indulgent, narcissisic topic and resent someone expecting me to read about their slothfulness. Reading about someone else's boredom is not a treat. I have promised myself to never be that inconsiderate of my readers. So, today I'm going to write about watching paint dry. Literally.

A neighbor in Philadelphia once gave me this advice: Every couple of years, pretend you're moving and get your house looking just as you want it to. Her husband had been transferred and, within two months, they'd repainted, redecorated, and refreshed their home and it looked fabulous. When they were done, she told me she'd never felt more depressed. The house looked fantastic and they had less than a couple of weeks to live in it. Hence the advice.

Well, it's been more than a couple of years since we moved into our lovely 1920's bungalow. Okay, it's been ten years. And it's really time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Home improvement #1 is to repaint the living room, dining room, hallway, kitchen, and den. Which wouldn't be so horribly time-consuming and overwhelming if it weren't for the trimwork, high and low, that also needs attention. Fortunately, this is my husband's role in the project. I tend to paint walls like Jackson Pollock...just get the paint on there already! Get the color on the wall! I have no patience or talent for the detail work. Even though I admit I have the better end of the bargain, I still get impatient waiting for the trim work to get done and for the paint to dry so I can move on to the next wall, my next canvas.

The one thing I'm dreading--really, my brain can't absorb the idea, is organizing the den. I have an absurdly large desk with shelves and nooks and file drawers and cupboards and have been told that we're going to streamline things to simply have the computer sit on a table. What!?!?! My carefully arranged stacks of clutter cannot possibly fit on a corner of a table. Where will I put the cds I mean to listen to, but don't? My illogically arranged genealogy files and notes and post-its? My dusty: Important! Do Now! stacks? It makes no sense at all to me.

In the meantime, I'll have to figure it out while I'm watching paint dry.