In the Blink of an Eye

Life is funny sometimes. In the blink of an eye, circumstances can completely change. One more word is spoken, an impulse becomes a choice, and suddenly, life is never the same again.

It has always fascinated me to think back in time one minute or one hour or one day, and so on. Where was my life at this time yesterday? 12 hours ago? If I had done this, would that have happened? If I had said this, would it have helped? I suppose that's just the process I go through when evaluating the choices I make and the words I use, good and bad alike.

One minute, I am planning on working out troubles with my girlfriend in Florida. Sixty seconds later, I'm packing the remainder of my belongings (I had been mostly packed throughout September.....Freudian?). Fast forward one hour, and I'm at the Alabama state line. Twelve hours more, and I'm sound asleep in Texas. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly life can change.

At the time, it seemed like the worst possible outcome, but as that moment and that day have passed deeper into history, I realize that it was the best possible outcome. The worst part for me is living with the fact that I deluded myself into believing she had more depth than a plastic swimming pool sold at Wal-Mart . That, and I miss her dog. That's life, though. You place your bets on situations you believe will make you happier, and then you live with the outcome. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Estimates vary, but the average person will speak just over 123 million words in a 2.5 billion-second lifetime. It's a lot like sports I suppose. A couple plays that could go either way determine the outcome. Three words like, "I love you," change the course of life instantly, but represent a tiny percentage of the total words used in a day, Two words like, "I'm leaving," and life's trajectory shifts yet again. Five words that required all of two seconds to speak, yet had drastic impacts on nearly two years of my life. If that doesn't make you think, it certainly should.

Anyway, I'm happy to be back in Texas. I missed my family more than I knew. I missed cheap dry cleaning. I missed H.E.B. (if you aren't from Texas, H.E.B. is the greatest grocery store ever). I missed teeth. I missed seeing UT and A&M stuff because the "Roll Tide" crap really ground on my nerves. And, I missed having 8 billion items on Craigslist from which to choose, so let's get started, shall we?

I came back to Houston with one piece of furniture (a cedar chest, which hardly counts), so I'm using all of the pieces I'm posting, except for one. Nevertheless, it was fun finding and renewing them. The journey is the reward, right?

Is this really what is sold at Pottery Barn?
He had them listed as coffee tables, and
clearly, they are not.

Using them as nightstands for the time being. I need to get some lamps.

Found this gorgeous antique dresser for a song. It
was in a scary neighborhood, I didn't take my pistol,
and it was missing a handle......

....found an exact handle on eBay, painted it
white, stained it espresso, y voila!

This was the first piece I bought. I don't
understand how people can sell such
beauty for so little, but they do.

A dear friend gave me this idea, so I can only take credit for the execution.

Bought this cute desk from the nicest woman.....

.....painted it white, and used Mod Podge to adhere pages from a
19th Century Louisa May Alcott book onto drawer faces. 

There are a few other projects that I will save for the next post. I really would write more (and more frequently), but I get exasperated with the formatting issues I have with blogger.com. Until then, mind your words and value the seconds because you never know which ones will change your life.

When it comes to jigsaw puzzles, start with the edges.

Has it really been four months since my last post? How disgraceful. I'll not make excuses, but life has been complicated over the last 120 days. Much has changed, so, in my brain, the last post might as well have been written four years ago.

Imagine this scenario for a moment. It's cold outside, you're bored, and you're inexplicably struck with the urge to work on that 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle someone gave you as a stocking-stuffer 10 years ago. You sit down at a table with a glass of wine, you sort the pieces on the table, and you sort, meticulously setting the edges aside. The outline is finished in short order, and you feel like you're getting on a roll. 15 minutes pass, and you realize you haven't found two pieces that fit together. One more glass of wine, 30 minutes, and you still haven't found a pair that fits. Nothing is working, and instead of ruining your wine buzz, you leave the table, puzzle unfinished. The thoughts and ideas written in the "notes" app of my phone are those puzzle pieces. Given time and focus, they eventually fit together. Instead, the random thoughts are nothing more than powerless victims of my impatience, incompetence, and complete inability to focus.

I've written enough words over the last month to make an encyclopedia blush, but with very little coherence and even less cohesiveness, I've been loath to post anything. Even something as simple as a brief description of furniture has made me feel more lowly and inept than the most God-awful screenwriters of Mexican novellas. Frankly, and no longer privately, I've been embarrassed. This block is just not something to which I am accustomed. Something changed today. Suddenly, words are actually flowing with the thoughts. It's not a cosmic shift, but it's an improvement. Besides, I need to post something just to get these photos off my phone.

I like to reconcile. I like to finish a book before starting a new one. I like to close a door before opening another. In that vein, here are the pieces I purchased and completed during my last few months in Florida........

I don't have a before picture, but this chest was a freebie. Slapped on
some white paint, Mod-Podged some pages from Atlas Shrugged, y....

.....Voila!!

Overpaid for this china hutch, but.....

....it turned out nicely. Painted the outside cream, the inside teal, and
replaced the crappy plexi-glass with chicken wire.

Picked up this antique piano bench on the cheap......

......painted it mint green, and glued some Beethoven sheet music on the inside.

A storm was brewing, and I was down to the last 2 pieces in Florida

Overpaid for this antique secretary....loved it, and it was an emotional purchase..

...Painted the outside doily white, and the inside a celery-green. It
was an utter pain, and I will never refinish another secretary.

Paid hardly anything for this pub table set. It was in a really
bad part of town (Fort Walton Beach), and I was thrilled to escape
with this set and my life.

Turned out nicely.....I really liked the fabric. It never sold..donated it
to the Gestapo.

Then, my time in Florida was over. At just before high noon on a Saturday in late-September, I finished packing an already-mostly-packed car, and I left the Emerald Coast. I will definitely write more about that experience soon (I have a ton of notes to sift through), but I'm just now getting my writing bug back. With any diligence, I should be able to finish putting together the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle, if for no other reason than to delete this encyclopedia of notes.

Time Flies (and Drags)

Have you ever looked back a month (or in my case, 1.5 months) and think that five years have passed? Or looked at yesterday morning and wonder, "If I hadn't done that, this wouldn't have happened?" That's precisely how I feel about life since the last post. Perhaps if I wrote with more frequency, I wouldn't feel this way, but alas, life got in the way.

We bought quite a few pieces over the last 40-ish days, and as usual, I forgot to take some "before" pictures. My desire to start and complete a project always overwhelms the patience required to use 10 seconds to snap a photograph. I'm not including everything we purchased because this piece of crap blogger.com is having serious formatting issues, but I am including all of our interesting pieces and bargain buys.

Though this depression-era hutch was a really good addition, I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I overpaid a bit. I tend to lose some of my buying discipline when antiques are involved. The lady selling seemed anxious to sell, we had a good rapport, but I just paid the asking price. I didn't ask if she would take less. I felt like I had no bargaining power because she knew I had driven quite a distance for the hutch. 

$20 is nothing, but change the dollar-sign to a percentage-sign, the perceived overpay increases. That's how I think. I left 20% on the table.

Paid $100 for this lovely antique hutch

Finished product turned out nicely

Paid a whopping $22 for this pair of mid-century chairs. There were a couple
stains, so we had to paint them. In the end, they turned out nicely.

Sometimes I wonder how certain people have made it this far in life. Frankly, my thinking travels well beyond that, but there's no need to be ugly. A good buy is a good buy, and I shouldn't question the sense, or lack thereof, behind the seller's motivation.

Don't know how, but we paid $25 for this depression-era
Waterfall dresser. We earned it....the woman's house stunk,
but at least the dresser still smelled "antiquey."

One of my favorite pieces thus far.....it came out exactly
how we envisioned.

Paid $25 for this (sorry, forgot the before picture), and.....

.....paid $25 for this curio cabinet (again, no before photo)

Paid $20 for this 1951 cedar chest

Stripped some veneer, and painted it a neutral cream. Had we painted it
pink, it would already be gone. I'm still never buying pink paint.

For the most part, it was a productive and entertaining start to the summer, though not without days of severe high anxiety and stress. We are very much looking forward to finding more interesting junk during a calmer and more care-free back half of summer.