Thursday, April 17, 2014

I have a pretty, pretty credenza

Micah spends the majority of his days crying.
For no apparent reason.
In fact he is crying right now as I type because I cleared away his empty lunch plate without his consent.
He gets easily worked up.
He is always wailing when my dad and Heather come home.
To their house.
That we have bombarded.
I have a hard time believing that they enjoy our company 100% of the time.
Which is what they say.
And I love them for saying it because it takes an enormous amount of pressure off me for the time being.
But I don't even enjoy our company all of the time.
Like right now, Micah has thrown himself on the ground and is sobbing, very earnestly about his forbiddance to the dishwasher.
I am about ready to run away.
We are loud, and by we I mean my kids, and messy, and by messy I mean my kids, and whining every minute of every day, and by whining I mean me.
I digress.
Oh yeah, so dad and Heather are extremely generous with their home, time, and patience.
But it can't be a long-term solution, you know?
I want to have my own home.
Because I am a grown adult with three children.
And as much as I would love to remain a stay-at-home mother and tend to my family's physical, emotional, academic, and spiritual needs, I can't.
Someone needs to fund those needs as well.
And that someone is me.
I used to envy Scott a little when he took off to work every morning.
He was going to be productive, and earn money, and talk to adults.
I thought to myself, "Sheesh, motherhood is such a thankless job. Even though I am "working" all day, often there is very little evidence of that. And my kids complain about my cooking."
But now I realize how blessed I was to have someone else to work, worry about our finances, and support us.
Even though he only made real money for a short period of time, I always knew he would take care of us.
I really didn't spend a lot of time thinking about how we would make ends meet.
And now that is almost always what I am thinking about.
It sucks to be the head of the household.
I don't envy the dudes anymore.
Annnnnnnd I am thinking I should go back to school.
And earn a master's degree in something in order to be more marketable in the long run.
And then I will move my keister outta my dad's guest room. #loser
Anyway, here are some pictures of a piece of furniture I was working on.
Because when I am stressed, instead of working on the problem at hand, I avoid it altogether by focusing my energy on something completely irrelevant.
Like painting furniture.
So this scrap treasure was 20 bucks and was in sad shape.
I couldn't preserve the natural wood because some of the drawers were chewed up at the corners.
And the top was tarnished and really pitted.
So I filled in all the gouges with wood filler, sanded, primed, painted, and polyed.
My dad help me retrofit the top two drawers with hinged doors, so that I could use it as a media cabinet.
It is now beautiful and I just want to rub my face on it all day long.
Because anything mid-century or even claiming any resemblance to mid-century is my cup of tea.
Me and everyone else in America.

^^ Fuuuugly. And orange. It has great lines and was a great price. Would have liked to stain it.
You know, something more the color of actual wood. ^^



^^ After the primer and shelf inserts. WTH is going on with this garage? #someonehashoardingissuesanditain'tme ^^

^^ All done with a beautiful, glossy coat in my room.
I will eventually use this in a living space. But for now it's a dresser. ^^

^^ One more look at the sexy hardware. Aren't I the trendiest? ^^
p.s. I am a decent cook. Them fools don't know how lucky they are.
Just kidding. My kids are not fools.
They are.

8 comments:

  1. I just love you, Brianne. Also love the credenza. (Where did that word come from, anyway? CreDENza. Same place as DAVenport, I guess.) Anyway. Your blog is so wonderfully written, and I thank you for putting your heart out there for all of us who care about you to see. I'm sure in many ways you feel like you are back at square one, but trust me. You are miles ahead of most of us.

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  2. This is fantastic! I'm so excited to check in here and see how you are doing. And I definitely sympathize with and understand the compulsion to focus all my stress on new furniture projects. Surely a freshly painted nightstand will change my life for the better!

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  3. Read every post this morning. I love your style! #newfollower

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  4. I loooove it! We have been on the hunt for a sweet mid-century piece to use as a tv stand for years and haven't found a good one. I love it in white and that is some good hardware!

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  5. I enjoyed this read! It took me back a few years. I remember feeling the exact same way when I was a single mom living at my parents house. And having to worry about making money to provide for my kids. So stressful!! I feel your pain. But, now life is good again. I went through all those struggles for a reason. It has made me a better person. Now I know why I went through them. And someday you will too. You're beautiful! And wonderful! God has a plan for you. Just hang in there and be patient! I think about you all the time. If you ever need anything, anything.... Let me know.

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  6. Oh, and your credenza is beautiful!! Great job!!

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  7. you are so funny! I love all of your hash tags. they're the best! and BEAUTIFUL credenza! I didn't even know what that was until now!

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    1. Thanks Andre'a! And of course I remember you. You didn't even need to explain who you are because I already stalk you on Facebook :)

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