End of Week 7, and it actually looks like I've gotten something done.

For what started out as a slow week, one which left me less and less motivated after every frustrating day at work, I am absolutely amazed at the progress that was made last weekend. And even though I have spent what will most likely be my last dollar on apartment "stuff" for quite a while (and took the drastic measure of freezing my credit card in a hunk of ice), I am pretty content. The only things that would make me entirely content right now would be painted walls in my bedroom and a sofa.

Basically the biggest deal was getting my living room back by finally taking care of the mountain of crap I'd accumulated in my "outbox". Yes, it was great to get rid of things that did me no good and just took up valuable space, but staring at said crap for weeks on end, and seeing it first thing when I walked in the door or out of my bedroom was completely depressing. Now all my stuff (well the stuff that isn't in the basement storage waiting for one or ALL of my sisters to move out) is on it's way to a yard sale fundraiser for Illinois' favorite Jr. Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate. Excellent timing.

I swept the living room FINALLY, and finished (mostly) arranging my new entryway. I could use about $50 in final touches, but I'll deal for now. One totally free thing that made a big fat difference was bundling up all the cords under my desk and by my phone, and running the DSL phone line under the baseboard and neatly tacking it around the walls and doorway. It looks a lot nicer though I wish I had some way of getting rid of all the wires once and for all.

I also framed my cool 1899 map of St. Louis and hung it up in a nice conspicuous spot. And I learned that by taking the time to hang things at the right level (approx. 57" from the floor to the center of the frame) can really make a huge impact. It may seem low, people really have a tendency to hang things up high, but the point is to be able to look at the piece straight on. Apparently that's how art galleries do it, and I'm not gonna argue with them!

So now it's just time to clean things up (again, but it'll be easier with less junk in the way and less than 8 weeks worth of dirt), and come up with one consolidated list of things to do and things to buy. I have scraps and lists and ideas everywhere and I'd like to get it all together so that when time and $ allow, I can jump right into a project or go right out and look for a specific item. Then the secret is to simply keep up with things. Maybe that's easier said than done but once you have a vision and have invested a little sweat equity, it's not as hard to keep going.

Alright, off to bed, if the neighbor's pug upstairs has finished running laps around their 18 x 13 living room, that is!