I am my own worst, whacked-out enemy. It’s all that planning and organizing that lurks and haunts the walls inside my brain cells. See, with Christmas stored away, now I rearrange. And it’s not the put-everything-in-its-right-place kind of rearranging you’d expect from my not-so-librarian self. Oh no! It’s the Christmas-is-safely-out-of-the-house-and-now-I-can-REDO-everything kind of arrangement! Sigh. I exhaust myself.
Sadly, this is what I have become after years of training. It hits me every year, mid January. You’d think I’d have learned to expect it by now. But no….it broadsides me yet again like a Mac truck slip-sliding in a mid-winter ice storm in Atlanta, GA! And it will dominate my schedule until I cave in and do it, just like Ella Enchanted, slave to her curse. I won’t be able to accomplish anything else until it’s done, so I might as well get on with it, right? And so I give over to writing in the mornings and the “project” in the afternoons.
Here’s what’s happened so far. All of the Peacocks are happily enjoying their new environment. They now live in the west bedroom overlooking the riverbed with Alphonse Mucha’s Dawn as their hostess. I have no idea why I thought the Peacocks would love the dining room (and for so long a spell), but the glee they feel now is beyond my wildest dreams. I suspect they remembered that story I told of peacocks being served for dinner in some book I read! Gasp! Anyway, Tiffany Peacock is shining and glistening in the sunshine. And oh, how he parades his beauty! The Peacock Illuminator had to go to the hospital, but he’ll return soon, fresh and revitalized. ; )
Then there are the Iris’. They weren’t happy at all about their move. So, I gave in and moved them back to the powder room where they blossom and grow for all to enjoy who happen by. I’ll give their walls a fresh coat of paint soon, periwinkle in color, and new towels to match. They’ll love that. Oh and they have the new Austrian Morning Glories with them now, too.
The roses are moving in right next door in my brand new office space. (WooHoo!) Surely the Iris’ will enjoy their sisters nearby. Well, that is if the Roses ever cooperate! Who knew they could be so temperamental? I mean, geeze! They push and shove and squawk at every turn to get them in. And I thought they’d love the bright sunshiny space! Well, we’ll just see who’s the boss of them! They can stick their thorns right back down to their sides, yes they can! And then there’s a lovely window seat for Pepper and Chali2Na (my cats) to lap up the warm sun while I work. It’s really all for the best….it’ll all be fine. You’ll see. I have lovely stories to tell from that room, I do!
Last, but by far the greatest project, is the Man Cave. Really, all I have to do is remove the few lingering pieces of my stuff. See, that room has been my office (if you want to call it that) for the past 5 years. It’s a dreadful room that my belongings (not I myself) occupied in the upstairs of the detached garage. My honey loves that space, so Voila! It’s his! He can take ownership and dominate that cold and leering space. Yep! It’s man material through and through! Grey and bleak, stark and detached. Ewe! I don’t want to write the stories it inspires. They scare me!
And so soon (by the end of today, I promise!!!), I myself will mingle with the Rose and the Iris, the glory of the morning shining through each day ahead, with languishing kitties and stories of love and romance coming about on my computer screen, and the business of writing filling the afternoons. And my world will be complete again. Until January 15, 2013, that is. (I roll my eyes heavenward and ask for mercy.)
What haunts your life? Are you run by internal pre-programming such as I? Do you cave to the wiring or send those whacked-out, nagging thoughts running and screaming into the night?
