How did I get here?

A short time ago I got laid off.  It was a bit of a shock to the system.  It's not that I necessarily defined myself by my job, exactly.  But I did define myself as a career woman.  And now I'm unemployed.

On many levels, it's not such a bad thing.  I am one of the lucky ones.  My husband is still employed, thank goodness.  We need to cut back but we're not in desperate straits just yet.  But from a psychological perspective I know that I have to find good use for my time while I'm looking for a new gig.  If I'm going to be out of work, I'm gonna make the most of it and take advantage of the gift of time that I've been given.

I decided to start this blog to document what I accomplish during this time.  For me, it's important to feel like I'm making a contribution to my family.  While I know that those contributions have always been more than just my income, I do feel that I need to find ways to compensate for the lack of it.  So now, I'll have different contributions.  It might be home improvement.  It might be trying a new recipe. It might be organizing something that's gotten out of control during our busy lives.  But the goal is that each day I will find something new to stretch my abilities and try to make our lives a little bit better.

My first project was to paint and decorate the master bathroom.  Of course, being out of work means that I'm on a very tight budget.  And I'm not a carpenter so don't expect HGTV-type renovations here.  Unfortunately, now that I have the time to do these things I don't have the money to do everything exactly the way I'd like.  But therein lies the challenge.

Not knowing I was going to start this blog, I didn't take "before" pictures of this particular project.  Which is a shame because, trust me - the difference is dramatic!  Picture blah white walls that hadn't been painted in probably 20 years (we've lived here for nine).  Picture ugly glass shelves.  Picture a medicine cabinet with a corner of the mirror broken off.  Not pretty.

I chose Martha Stewart colors matched in Home Depot paint.  Lily Pad for the walls and Heavy Cream for the ceiling and trim.  I hated the green at first.  But after it dried I liked it more.  And now that I have accessories in, I love it.  Take a look:

I'm not quite finished.  New towels would be nice but that's not going to happen until I'm employed again.  I need to find some artwork but haven't found anything I like in my price range yet.  And today I purchased some fabric to make window treatments:

But that's a project for another day.