As I’m sitting here writing this, I’m looking out the window at the sky and the trees. This is significant because I wasn’t looking out at the sky and trees last week. I was looking at a wall. The computer/craft/guest room is actually our garage. We had it enclosed 10 years ago for my mother to live with us after my father passed away.
She lived with us a couple years then opted to move back to her nice quiet mobile home in the woods. Go figure. It has actually been a blessing to have this extra space as the kids have gotten older. They are housed in our former guest and computer rooms; their bedrooms. So it’s been handy to spill over into the garage as our house was only 1100 square feet to begin with.
I was reading an ezine (internet magazine) article where the woman who wrote it said your work space should be beautiful. She posted a picture of her work space which looked out over a forest and field or some other Zen-like environment.
I already had the blues last week and looking at the wall didn’t help my mood. I started thinking about how I wanted a beautiful work space and how I’d like to move my writing station over by the window. I don’t have a beautiful forest and field to look at, but considering we’re in the Northwest, there is always a tree in sight.
Often when I get the blues, I want to change something serious and I became obsessed with the need to look out the window. But there were logistics involved. The computer sits by a TV which is usually on when my husband is using the computer. And if we moved the computer to the window, my craft table would back up against the TV wall, which would then put the TV behind the craft table, which wouldn’t work because I like watching TV while I’m scrapbooking.
Then I remembered the TV was on that wall because that’s where the cable hookup was, which then also interrupted the internet hookup. I moaned inwardly and felt much pity for myself. Then I was really depressed. So I blogged about doing something irrational, like moving the furniture during the day while my family was at work and school. But it felt impossible because of all the logistics. So I had a pity-party for myself while I ruminated on my misfortune and I couldn’t see the literal trees through my figurative forest.
A couple days later, I was still in a blue mood and I was lamenting to my husband the tragedy of it all. Then besides the time he asked me to marry him, he said the most romantic thing he’s ever said to me, “We just need to buy a longer cable.” Talk about making my heart all a flutter. That’s as good as permission gets from my husband.
You have to understand my husband. My husband is a sweet, simple man of few words. He is not emotionally high-maintenance; he just wants me to take care of his life while he goes to work. He’s generally a pretty happy guy and satisfied with whatever I choose to make for dinner. But he doesn’t really like a lot of change; I give him kudos for getting married, buying a house and agreeing to produce a couple children. He grew up in a family where once the furniture was in place, it didn’t move until they moved out of the house. Nothing was changed or updated; it always stayed the same. So then he married someone who constantly becomes dissatisfied with her environment and is constantly changing things. So in that moment when he simply told me we only needed a longer cable, I fell in love with him all over again.
So on Saturday morning we were in the computer/craft/guest room discussing the logistics of the room “if we were to do the project.” And just like the many other household projects I set my mind to, the next thing my husband knows we’re tearing apart the room to rearrange it.
The room was fairly organized to begin with, so I didn’t need to buy shelving or anything expensive. We’ve only purchased a couple cables and a TV wall mount; so overall less than $100. That is my romantic gesture to my husband.
And the best part is, now I can see the trees through the forest.
Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. She’s committed to writing about the humor amidst the chaos of a family. You can read more of her writing and her daily blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com.
