Really? You don't think I'll do all this stuff? Watch me!

In my last post, I outlined a list of important things I need to accomplish before March 25th, when Eli comes home. Granted, it's an ambitious list. I know that. It's especially ambitious because at least one of the items requires creative ability greater than anything I possess. A home photo gallery collage? Seriously? So today, when Shulamith and I were driving around running various errands, she seemed to intimate that maybe I wouldn't really do all the stuff on my list. Or maybe I wouldn't get it all done before March 25th. No, she didn't come right out and say this; she sort of implied it. Indirectly.

Really? You don't think I'll do all this stuff? Watch me! You see, hardly anything motivates me more than someone telling me I can't or won't do something. One challenge with this list is the magnitude of some of the projects. I'm the type of person who likes to finish tasks. Completely. Get it done, and cross it off! I hate long-term projects and the clutter that often accompanies them. But some of these "Before Eli Comes Home" projects are just too big to complete in one day. Which is precisely why I hadn't started them.

Until today.

Spurred on by Shulamith's doubts (where is your faith, girl?), I told myself I could not wait for a time when I could finish any of these projects in just one day. Instead, I really just needed to get started. On all of them. Maybe there would be a little clutter here and there. Maybe I'd feel anxious about that. Too bad.

First off, I went to the party store and got a "Welcome Home" banner to put outside our house the day he comes home. Here is the future "Elder Erichsen" displaying it. Cool, huh?

No, this project is not finished. I still need to buy paint and butcher paper to make signs for the airport. I still need to buy balloons, etc. But this is a start.

Next, I decided to tackle the downstairs storage area. This one is particularly tough because I really need knee pads. The area is huge in diameter but only about 3 ft. from hard, cement floor to ceiling. After about 30 seconds walking around on my knees, the pain is too much to endure. So I spent a little time down there just thinking about specifically how I want to organize the space.

I decided I'm going to fashion homemade knee pads using a foam sleeping pad that I will cut to the desired size and attach to my knees with strapping tape. Pretty resourceful, huh? I teach tomorrow morning, so nothing more will happen on this until Saturday, but that is the day! I WILL organize this storage area. I WILL find all Eli's stuff. I WILL put away my multiple tubs of Christmas decorations, which currently sit in stacks in our living room. Oh yes I will.

Finally, and this one definitely triggers the most anxiety, I decided to look for frames for my photo gallery. First I went to Michael's (very scary store, almost as scary as a fabric store!), but frames there are way too expensive even at 50% off. Next stop, the D.I. There I found tons of frames, both 8 X 10 and 5 X 7. Hooray! I will need to spray paint them black, but they should work great.

Where did I get this crazy idea? From someone I barely know. Her name is Nan. Pay close attention here. She is Shulamith's husband's brother's wife's mom. Yeah. Like that. And Dawn was kind enough to include me in Rebekah's bridal shower at Nan's house. So instead of staying politely and quietly in the background among a group of people I did not know at all, I decided to stalk her house and take pictures of her wall. Because I loved her photo display that much. Here it is...

And now I'm trying to copy it.

There is much left to do. I need to paint the wall in the kitchen where my gallery will go. I need to choose photos and email them to Walgreens to print. Then I need to somehow make it look like this. Ahhhhhhhh!

I have now started three projects from my list. THREE.

What now, all you doubters out there?   :-)  :-)  :-)