Joshua turns 2 and Angie turns less perfectionistic

Joshua loves trains. I mean loves trains. So to celebrate his birthday on 05 January (being in the Southern Hemisphere, we even flip dates), we went to have a BBQ (grilled-out) lunch and watch trains.

So, with Thomas the Train clenched in his hands, we drove 30 minutes to see Puffing Billy.

Watching and waiting.

Enough to make a risk management person in America cringe — riders can hang legs and arms out the side.

I tell you, the birds here are unlike anything I’ve seen before. Exhibit A here. (Kelly Barden, John Thompton and all other bird lovers–you’d love this country!)

Happy 2nd birthday to my favorite little man!

---

[Some kind of transition needed here but it’s bedtime for Bonzo, as we’d say in the Bring household growing up.]

So…I’ve decided that there’s nothing like a big move to bring out–and then kill–my perfectionistic tendencies. You might not remember since it was two-and-a-half months ago but I’d started a project and asked if anyone had a guess about what I was making. It was, indeed, a headboard.

But it took about as long to get from dream stage to reality as it took to build the Opera House in Sydney.

I’d wanted to make a headboard (thought the creative outlet would be healthy), so I set off for Pinterest at 3am one night when I couldn’t sleep. I was looking for an option for a headboard that could be held up without nails–solely by Command Tape.

I found this, below, and loved it. How hard can it be?

Have you heard of PinterestFail.com? If you’re ever wide awake at 3am, it’s worth your time. Well, thankfully, my end product disqualifies for entrance on the site, but just by a…sliver.

I mis-measured the space between the slats and, then, one end’s side’s Command Tape said “no more” and the slat fell. Thankfully, not on us during the night. So, here it rested like this. For about 3 weeks until I fixed it. I think I missed calculating how this wouldn’t be a 1-person, 30-minute job with all the painting, drying, touch-up painting, measuring, hanging, pushing against the wall, making sure level, removing, starting over, measuring, waiting, pushing more, praying it’d stay, hoping it wouldn’t fall on our heads. Rejoicing that it turned out.

So, here’s a peek. And, yes, that’s yummy black carpet. Promise me that if you buy a place to rent, you won’t gift them with black carpet? Promise? Unless the renters will be looking for Hansel & Gretel and need an easy way to find them.

Next, in similar suit, I humbly offer you a glimpse into our living room. You’ll notice a raised-relief map that wasn’t sold to me as a relief map. Mountain ranges seem strange in the Midwest. Hope that’s not prophetic.

After getting it cut at Bunnings (Home Depot here), I paid for it at the checkout and confessed to the clerk, “I’m not sure this will fit in my car. If it doesn’t [it was 4 minutes before close] what do I do?” Barely fit.

Still not sure what happened. We spray-glued it well and carefully squigied (sp?) it to get the bubbles out. We put heavy things on it overnight in the garage to allow it to dry well.

I’m not getting any Martha Stewart award for sure. But I’ve learned to laugh a little bit more at myself these days through projects gone awry. (Both Scott and my father-in-love, Dean, are very good at this and I’d like to be more like them in this way.)

A few years ago I stumbled on a site called “A Soft Place to Land” and it stirred something in me. When I found this pillow at a local store (totally overpriced, don’t even ask how much I paid for it), I had to buy it. A little daily reminder that my home’s focus is about loving and nurturing and serving well. (Not necessarily Martha-Stewart-made furniture and perfectly-vacuumed black carpet and Pottery-Barn-creative maps.)

I sure want our home to be a soft place for our family to rest before taking flight again.

Perfectionism be gone.

Advertisement