January and February are by far the toughest months to live in New England, the cold weather and short gray days make me long for sunnier, greener pastures. sigh… just look at the bright green coast of California!
Over the past couple of months I have grappled with picking up a new hobby to fill my days. I know I am lucky to have days to myself and to live in a rich urban environment, but it seems stepping foot out of the door causes me to spend money I don’t want to. It is also tough for me to get motivated to do things alone. I thought about sewing or knitting, even researched classes, but never made any real attempt to pick up either one of these things.
My sister hit the nail right on the head when she told me, “You need to find some inspiration.” She got me motivated by suggesting I make an inspiration date with myself once a week. Libraries lend free museum passes, and most museums have reduced or free hours during the week, so why not go out and take advantage! I sat down to make a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish with my time, and wouldn’t you know it, all I wanted to do was finish a project I already started.. my bedroom!
I know, it’s not an outing, but hey I have lived in this city since 1999, trust me I’ve seen it. My bedroom on the other hand has been suffering since we bought this place 2 years ago. It came to us covered in gold wallpaper, and not just any gold wallpaper but textured, wrinkled gold wallpaper! To me it looks like the walls have stretch marks and to make matters worse the cats LOVE scratching at it (especially at night). Beyond the walls, there are wires dangling from the ceiling where a light fixture should be, and there are not one but two coffee tables just hanging out in there because we don’t know what else to do with them. (A side note about the coffee tables, we each had one when we moved in, but the previous owners left us a more appropriate one. However, it turns out that we were both attached to our coffee table and therefore can’t bring ourselves to sell them on Craigslist.)
I pulled off the vinyl wallpaper, months ago, and have been steadily working on taking down the backing. However, with my new-found inspiration (thanks Sis!) I felt compelled to get this project going full steam ahead. I finally turned to YouTube and wouldn’t you know there’s a much faster way to get this stuff down. Doh!
Let me just put this in perspective for you! I had used an everyday handheld sprayer on the backer, it took me about 2 hours to get 3 strips of wallpaper backing off and that still left most of the glue on the wall. It’s been months that I have worked on this and I am only 1/2 way done with the backing, and still have the glue to scrub off! Well I watch these videos by PremierpaintingMA and wouldn’t you know it, the guy introduces me to an air compressed garden sprayer. I feel like such a fool, these things cost $12-$20! I enlist my husband’s help and within 3 hours we got the other half of the backing off plus the glue underneath! Seriously, why oh why didn’t I watch those videos sooner…
I still have half a room’s worth of glue to remove but now I am dreaming of paint, light fixtures, and furniture! Stay tuned to this work in progress, and more tales of inspiration.
I would love to get your feedback! What inspires you? If you had a lot of time off from work, what would you do with your days?
Mrs. Pea's Perspectives 
Great post, I love the new blog! If our roles were switched, as you know, I’d try making apps for the iPhone. My inspiration comes mostly from looking for something and not being able to find it; when the missing piece relates to a skill I have, I start dreaming about how I could make my own and maybe even share it with the world. Still, I always find getting set up to start a new project to be the hardest part; until I get to a state of “mise en place,” it always feels easier to put it off till later. Once I’m actually in a spot where I can start making stuff, the energy comes in huge waves, at least for a while!
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