Brought to You by the Letter “D”

Oh man, this was the perfect letter for this week! You won’t believe how easy it was to choose one of your suggestions to work on for the A 2 Z installment … Decorating.

Yes, I know you’re all scratching your heads. I’m barely functioning for a month now and somehow decorating fits perfectly into my life in the midst of it all? Well, you have your ways of coping… and apparently I have decorating.

The first week or so after I had my outing was a rollercoaster. Well, it’s still a rollercoaster, but I’m at least getting used to it being that way now. The first week I was so weak and tired, but the first few doses of steroids made me so fidgety, antsy and unsettled – which is a weird combination. Couple it with the fact that I was looking around my house and realizing I was going to be looking at the exact. same. thing. every. day. forever… and you have a girl who might have been going a little stir crazy.

Stir crazy, but without the ability or energy or air to do anything about it. Not that I let that stop me or anything.

I’m someone who likes to fix things, so when life is completely unfixable I tend to look to something that can be done. I need to give myself the power to accomplish something regardless if it’s important or necessary, simply because doing is better than stewing. [That was totally an accidental rhyme, for the record.]

On one particular day, every time I had to get up off the couch to fetch something or go to the bathroom I would take decorations off my end tables and furniture, set them on George and wheel them into my main living room where I would set the decorations in the middle of the floor. It took all day, but by the time I went to bed that night all the decorations from my piano room, bedroom and red room were in a pile – and my rooms were bare.

I kind of enjoyed it for a minute because apparently, when you can’t breathe very well, having things looking cluttered makes you feel claustrophobic. Mostly, it was just good for my sanity to feel like I was somehow starting fresh.

Which is what I did the next day.

I did the same process, only in reverse. Every time I got up I would wheel George to the stockpile and try to make sure that I put decorations in different rooms than they originally came from… you should so try it sometime. It’s amazing how you don’t appreciate things that you pass by all the time, but see them in a totally different way when moved around. The “re-decorating” part took a couple of days, partially because I was getting more tired as the days went on and partially because I tend to futz about when decorating. I’m still moving little things here and there, probably more for distraction than actual aesthetics, but that’s ok with me.

Mom and Dad are going to be coming for the day on Friday and I think I might even have them switch my couches from one room to another. Not because I think they’ll look better, but because it will look Different. And right now, making things look different is making me sane.

Different Decorating.

It’s the latest in coping mechanisms… I’m sure professionals will be recommending it in no time.

Ok, people… throw me some “E” suggestions for next week in the comment section. And before we go, Riley and his cute shirt that my friend Leslie gave him would like to wish you a Happy Fourth of July!!!!

Don’t forget to “Paws for Independence!”