A Lot About Very Little

Ever ask yourself...WHAT WAS I THINKING???

I'm asking that very question right about now.  Because this is what's going on in my kitchen as I'm about to hop in bed and grab some ZZZ's:

Tomorrow is the first day of school.  Not for me (Thank you, Lord), but for my girls.  That means we all have to get up early.  Some people say...Get in the habit of getting up about a week ahead of time, so your kids will be prepared.  I say...No way I'm giving up a week of extra sleep! 

Yep...tomorrow's going to be crazy. 

But back to why I'm going to bed with these kitchen shelves in shambles...

I've always been bothered by this little area of the kitchen.  There's a desk, so I feel required to put a computer there.  My husband and I use our laptops either in the office or the bedroom, but I like the idea of having a central computer for S to use in a public area.  The area around the computer is a place where I have to fight my tendencies to constantly dump school papers, things to file, etc.  I generally lose that battle, unfortunately.  I also really dislike the aesthetics of what's actually on the shelves.  So, as I walked past the desk area this afternoon, I thought...I should put something pretty on these shelves and put the cookbooks in the pantry.  Sounds like a quick and simple switch, right? 

You would be SO wrong!!! 

At this point I'd like to give a shout-out to the careless, cruddy painter who painted the shelf last.  THANKS!!!  (Uh, not really).   The reason this person is even on my mind is because as I started taking things off the shelf, little pieces of paint started flying all over the place.  Once everything was removed, it just seemed WRONG to ignore the paint chips.  So I got a sponge and started scrubbing with the thought that I could live with a well scrubbed and clean, yet crappily painted shelf.  Then I thought....it wouldn't be THAT big of a deal to just scrape this paint off.  I scraped for a bit and ended up with quite a lot of paint goop, but not all of it. 

It became apparent that I would need to repaint the shelf.  As I contemplated this, I wondered how the back of the shelf would look painted a different color.  I thought the back of the built-ins might look good painted the same color as the dining room. 

Photo from last summer, during a bridal shower is the only pic I could find of the dining room on short notice.  The color is Atmospheric from Ben Moore.

A quick trip to Lowe's resulted in some heavy grade sand paper, as well as a sample color matched to my dining room color.  The tiny sample jar (3 bucks!)  is just enough paint for the back of the shelves.  I came home, sanded the shelf, removed the top shelf and grabbed some primer. Guess what I'm out of???  Rollers.  I'll be stopping by Lowe's in the morning because there was no way I was in the mood to load up the girls and head back there.  (The real reason is there was no way I could listen to the whining that ensues when I take my girls to Lowe's.  Their feelings on a warehouse-home improvement barn?  Not so hot.) 

Which means I'm also going to bed with my dining room table looking like this:

                                      

But I have a plan for the disorganization!  A new shopping list, which includes:  2 cute boxes large enough to hold kids' artwork and school papers, 2 photo boxes, 2 magazine boxes, and 2 baskets.  I took inventory of what was getting thrown into that area and it mostly seems to be school pictures, dance pictures, class pictures, art work that I want to keep (most kid work goes straight into the trash), Cooking Light magazines, and some random craft supplies.

If all goes well, I'll go to bed tomorrow evening with that area nicely painted and in order.  Unless I get off task (highly possible).  Because I also had a little of this going on outside:

                                                                       

Yes, that would be an old wooden school chair and a can of spray primer.  I'll share more on this later.  :)

As for now, I'm exhausted from today and pre-exhausted from what is sure to be a fiasco tomorrow morning.  But I sure am excited about giving my new coffee pot a go for the second time!

                                                            

Isn't she a beauty?  I'm in LOVE!!!

                                                              

Bought the sample pack until I find out which brand I love the most.  Sometimes it's good when old things break.  (According to the hubs, 4 years is not old, but I'm having a hard time being sad).  Bye- bye, Mr. Coffee!  Thanks for all your hard work! 

Night, all!  We have a big morning ahead and sleep is required!