preparing for a grad party

Yes, I know. Graduation isn't until May 2011 but trust me, it will take me from now until then to prepare.

I'm on a mission. I mentioned to Lawman in May of this year that in just one short year we, ourselves, would be hosting a graduation party for our dear Alison. He didn't see that statement quite as I did. He saw the fun part of hosting a party, I however, saw how much I would need to accomplish before that happened!

Well, I've embarked on that mission. Earlier this week one of our neighbor gals, Sue, stopped by our house for a walk through. You see, Sue got the decorating gene. I did not. Sue has this incredible knack for putting things together, making a room look amazing. Fortunately, she's agreed to help me. (Trust me when I tell you that making that call/request to her was not easy. I feel like I've really put myself out there. It's not easy opening yourself up for criticism, even if it is of the positive kind.) And, let me just say that already, I am so glad I made that call!

Sue had great ideas. She saw things that never even crossed my mind. Move this here. Switch this. Etc. She was a busy girl and her wheels were spinning. Well, when she left, the first thing I did was make a list - room by room. Then I enlisted the help of Lawman and we got busy moving furniture. Hanging pictures. I could see it written all over Lawman's face that he was not in any way looking forward to what the next several months will hold for him. I asked him, ever so kindly, to please bear with me and I promise that he will have a whole new castle by the time all is said and done.

I also love that Sue didn't come in and tell us that we need to buy anything. She's working with what we have. She did suggest that we get two pieces recovered which is easy enough and I knew they needed done anyway. She's just giving me purpose to actually do it. I have lots of wall art which needed framing. Again, she's giving me purpose to do it. There are a couple of big jobs on the list like stripping wallpaper from the main bathroom and get some new flooring. Again, something I knew needed done but unless you have a deadline, many times there's no urgency to doing it.

I've made a goal to take care of at least 3 things on the list each month. (That doesn't include the wallpaper removal and flooring because I'm going to hire help on those.) On my list this weekend is to spray paint light fixtures (if I can get Lawman to help me because he will need to remove them). (The fact that Lawman has been gone on a work trip since Thursday might make enlisting his help a little harder than usual because I'm sure he's going to want some down time v. work time.)

I had intentions to post before photos with this post so that you could watch the process being made if you were interested however, my memory card for my camera has magically disappeared. So, you may only get after pictures. And, this blog may be picture free for a bit.