Lists

I made a chalkboard last summer.  Inspired by the million cool chalkboards and chalkboard walls I saw on Apartment Therapy, I decided to make my own.  I went to Home Depot and bought wood and chalkboard paint.  I got ribbon to do...something...with.  I brought it all home and set off to make. me. a. chalkboard.  RAWR!

Turns out that having the idea of making a chalkboard and actually making a chalkboard are two different things.  The biggest difference is that in my idea of making a chalkboard, I was able to cut things in straight lines.  Actually?  Not so much.

 Fortunately, the ribbon I bought camouflaged the warbled edges nicely (nevermind the fact that I intended to use the ribbon to hang it...shh) and the tip on wet-sanding totally panned out.  The surface feels smooth as slate without a trace of wood grain.  It also looks as much like part of the decor as I would have hoped.

As an added bonus, it's right by the front door, so it's very handy for reminding me of things.  Occasionally, I'll make notes about what needs doing on a particular day or places the Monkey is supposed to be.  Currently, as you can see, it's holding my weekend To-Do list.

And currently, as you can see, I've done almost none of it.  We're now at the Sunday morning portion of the weekend and all I've managed to do is read half of my homework for one class (I have 2) and mow the grass -- which was, at best, a half-hearted effort with the reel mower yesterday.

This weekend has just been so shockingly lovely that I've been stimulus bound...struck by the petals on the tulip poplar wafting to the ground and marveling that the sky looks like something out of a painting.  I'm not typically skilled in the art of relaxation (probably because I always have so many lists around)...but if this is what it feels like, I can totally see what all the fuss is about.  Now if only I could figure out how to relax without the guilt of the list...