How Many Narcoleptics Does It Take To Do Interior Decorating?

Hi again! It's been ages, I know. But before I launch into The Life Summary Of Stuff, I feel like I should explain the title.

You'd think I learned from the whole lightbulb experience, but what can we say. My girlfriend (now fiancee) and I have a rented house now, and me being my artistic self, I always want it to look interestingly decorated. Her being her, she gets tired of having the furniture the same all the time and has tons of fun finding new ways to rearrange everything as often as possible, which then gets me rearranging everything on the walls to match.

Most of the time I manage just fine with tacks: I have unframed paintings on canvases that can just sit on them, and lots of dreamcatchers that tacks are perfect for. But every so often I do have something more complicated than that.

And so, I find myself precariously perched on a stool and an armchair, swaying dangerously, trying to hold up a framed drawing to the wall to see where I should put in the nail. Of course it's the kind of frame that has a little notch in the middle of the back that you are expected to (somehow) fit over a nail in exactly the right way so that the thing doesn't fall off on you. I figure out where I need to put in the nail, which I have ready in an attempt to only have to get up on the stool once (a somewhat dangerous operation in which I have to arrange feet and weight properly), so I go ahead and put it in. Now somewhat tired from holding up a hammer over my head, I sit that down and get the frame. I hold it over my head, which is difficult because it's heavy, and attempt to peer into the space between it and the wall in order to carefully slide the slot over it, which is pretty hard without depth perception- I can't tell where anything is unless it's right in line with the angle I'm looking at it. I try this about ten separate times, only to have the frame slide off each time. By now my arm hurts. Then it occurs to me that I probably nailed the nail in too far so it doesn't catch on the frame like it's supposed to, so I pull it out more and keep trying. Several minutes later I realize the nail itself is too small- it isn't going to stick out far enough. So I get down (now exhausted and sore) and go get a bigger nail.

This time it works as soon as I get the nail in, fortunately, because it's all I can do to hold up the hammer and the painting each one more time. Sometimes I can be pretty silly about wanting to finish something in one sitting...

So the answer is, one Narcoleptic, but you'd think she'd learn to take a nap in the middle.

Well, a lot has happened since I was here last. My girlfriend got hired for a part-time high school teaching post in middle of nowhere, Iowa. She drove out on a Thursday (it was seven hours away), got interviewed on Friday, was given the offer at the interview, which she accepted, then drove back that afternoon, knowing she was starting a week later. And then insanity ensued, eventually ending up with us here the day before she was to start inservice days, in a borrowed RV with our two dogs, living at a campground until we could locate someplace to rent.

Several months later, it's all settled down, just like the snow, which is currently blanketing everything and looking spectacular. Part of my reason for leaving this blog was that I ran out of stories for the time, but now I have a whole bunch lined up again. So I'm not going to spoil them all in one post. :D I'm doing fine, though, better in some ways then others. Overall life is good.

Stay tuned... XD