I will be a Jane.

So Eric is cautiously supportive of this do-it-yourself enthusiasm I seem to have sucked myself into of late. His reservations make me all the more determined. He has a good point though - I do tend to start projects and not finish them. He said he doesn't want me to get into something and then never get around to finishing it, or get in over my head and have to call in professionals.

I mentioned in an earlier blog entry that I tend to get obsessive. Now, my obsession seems to be getting the house into shape. Last night, I couldn't even sleep. I sent Eric an email of the tape recording loop that was going around in my head last night. I'll copy paste it here:

Need to rip out carpet in G's room, then fix up floor and/or get rug, then paint trim.
Then start living room. Could I paint it myself? Sure! But would it take me a year? Could I do it in a week? It would save us a lot of money.
Why do I keep fantasizing about being a handy woman? I've been having this fantasy for years and years. So far, I've painted a couple of rooms and occasionally changed a light bulb.
I need to get our tools consolidated and organized.
I wish I had a tool belt. If I had a tool belt, I bet I could lay laminate flooring in the living room all by myself.
If the basement were organized, I could set up a little area just for tools and things.
I bet I could replace the back screen door all by myself. I bet I could replace the toilet downstairs all by myself.
I bet I could put a second story on our house all by myself.
I wonder if I could get all that done by the time the Tokols got here.
We should have a seder. I should sew a nice, elegant tablecloth for the occasion. I should set up a sewing area. We don't have the space for that. Maybe I should build an extra room off the back of the house.
Let's paint the living room red! I really want to!
Where do we move the furniture in the living room and dining room during the floor renovation? Do we shove it into the kitchen?
We should move that marble topped sideboard downstairs, it's aesthetically wrong upstairs.
We need to take a load of things to storage.
We really can't move forward on the basement until we do that.

So, damn it, the first thing I need to do is FINISH GARIELLE'S BEDROOM!!! I'm getting so close! Maybe I can work on it tonight. If I just rip out the carpet . . .

But I need a utility knife. I'm sure we have one somewhere, but who knows where. I can't buy something new when I have one in the house, right?

So I need to find a place to capture our tools and things. Maybe I should do THAT tonight. And maybe I'll uncover the utility knife in the process. And if I've gathered up & organized what tools we do have, and I still haven't uncovered a utility knife, I'll buy one.

And maybe I'll buy a tool belt.