a most special day

Today is a special day. On this day, in 1932, one of my favorite people entered the world. I would not be the same without him. (You can read more about him here.)

Here’s a big happy birthday to one of the best people I know and the person who believes I’m capable of just about anything: my grandfather.

Thank you for imparting your sense of humor to me, along with your love of coffee. The world would seem so dull without them. And the world would seem so dull without you. Thank you for understanding me in a way no one else could.

refinishing

As you can no doubt tell, I’ve been a bit busy lately.

What have I been up to? Well, there’s work — that outside-the-house, 45 hours a week type of job — and then there’s the whole revising a novel thing and preparing for a writer’s conference (ordering new business cards and whatnot). And then there’s our house, what with the painting and cleaning it needs.

Here’s one house thing I’ve been working on: an old desk of mine. Used to be a basic wooden desk. Here’s what it used to look like (not the best angle, but you get the idea):

Desk - Before

I got tired of the sad, worn-down desk. I mean, it’s a pretty shade of wood, but not really my style. So I went at it with some spray paint. And more spray paint. And ended up with spray paint all over my arms and legs, because, well, I’m a whole-hearted refinisher. If I’m going to invest my time in something, it’s not gonna be a half-hearted effort.

So after several weekends of being covered in spray paint and getting polyurethane all over my fingers, I ended up with… (more…)