Y’all know I need to finish the back hallway.
But that’s a whole thing now. Who would I be if my hallway was finished? We’ll find out when I finish it. There are a few bits I need The Mister to do for me, and one day he will graduate and he will do them. But that time, no matter how close, seems like a dream. It’s been a long time since we had a life where evenings belonged to us. Ah, I remember it well. He’d fall asleep on the couch, I’d cook dinner, we’d all eat at the table together, we’d read or watch something, take a walk, sit on the porch, play a game. We’d enjoy our kids and pets, take to our bed at a more reasonable hour, night after night. If we wanted to have guests for dinner, we could. If we were invited out, we could go. If the kids had performances or games, we’d both be there. And, we had the option of one parent here and another there.
Sometimes when a class is canceled, he’ll remark about all the time he’ll one day have to enjoy his hammock, or read for pleasure.
Right now, it’s more like he comes home when we are all in our pajamas and Moo is sometimes already asleep. His dinner is in the oven. He has to read, study, write.
“Hey. I need you to listen a minute.”
“Hold on.”
“K.”
… … …
“What’s up?”
“I am going to buy some plant hangers and I need you to put the bolts in the ceiling.”
“Okay.”
“This week.”
“Okay.”
“I need you to commit ten minutes one night this week.”
“Okay.”
Baby steps.
The man has no time.
We all admire his dedication and his success, but we miss the time.
Projects around the house appear to be what I relinquished when I took my job. I don’t go to school and I occupation about a third as much as he does, and I can honestly say the projects I set for myself have changed priority and are finished at a slower pace. If it doesn’t get done in the morning, it doesn’t get done. Even mini-projects like gardening and baking aren’t done with as much frequency.
It’s how things go, these chapters in our lives that get us to the next. They’re markers. I have many of them: when I was single, when we were neighbors, when I worked full-time, when my parents still lived close, when I worked part-time, life before babies, deployments, times where we lived elsewhere — and I’ve found time marches on and all the projects eventually get done.
I’ve discovered I can live just fine with sample colors painted on my walls for years, that I can endure crooked doors, and that seeds still grow when you plant them a year later than intended.
Life is the project.
Saturday Stream of Consciousness — SoCS ‘project’ is brought to you by LindaGHill
joeyfullystated 
If all those projects were done, you might get bored. You guys always seem busy. I can’t see you just sittin.
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Yeah, we don’t sit much. The Mister’s a better sitter than I am, but we’re restless types, and we would get bored, Dan, you’re right.
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Oh how I remember those days. Working, schooling and fixing up an old farm house. Hey those times are not for the weak. Good luck to the Mister and you. It can be rough but it is worth it.
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Thank you 🙂
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Good point, Joey. Life is the project! 🙂
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Thanks, Judy 🙂
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Interesting. I smiled as I read this because my post is equally on the thought that life is a project and incomplete projects are purposes set for us to keep working at.
Great post
I am hosting a blog party and would like to invite you. Here’s the link
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Thank you, Jacqueline, I look forward to reading your post 🙂
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Oh, I have lived in a house full of projects for longer than I care to remember. The reality is, life is full of love and that is what matters. You are my 35th blog, 500 is daunting. 😂
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LOL! But look at you go!
Life is full of love, indeed ❤
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62 now. The trouble is, when I comment, people comment back. Yes, that’s wonderful, but keeps me from continuing. Also, there are pages I read and don’t want to comment on because -really? I can’t comment. Why do people post strange things? Such a challenge I know I will fail, but it is worth trying.
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Well yes, some of them are horrible blogs, I’d bet. Whenever we do A-Z in April, I visit sites that are… why are these people trying to write anything? what the what is that? But you know, when I found the good ones, they shined like diamonds 😛
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Don’t know how I found you, but – yep, some are silver and some are gold. Considering many of our “friends” seem to comment on the same posts, I think we found each other naturally.
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May your projects never get completely finished. Life is the project…very profound, well said. 💖
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Thank you very much ❤
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It is a lot of fun to learn how to do your own projects, including the workshop-type ones. My dad didn’t teach me (the eldest of his five daughters) because girls in Mexico didn’t do those things. But husband is no more father-educated than I was (his dad was into machining, but husband left home for college at 16), so, when we bought our first house, we had a ball learning how to do things.
I still do, when I can. A couple of books, and, nowadays, a couple of Youtube videos, some tools, and you can learn to do just about anything. I always said (it’s on my About page) that I would tackle almost anything short of HVAC (and some of those chores, too).
I miss that.
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Haha! This wonky Diva Furnace we have, I’ve learned ALAWT about HVAC! Like 1001 things you totally never wanted to learn! Haha!
I agree, the YouTube tutorials, and the entire internet, fantastic for learning new things! I have hand issues that prevent me from doing the things The Mister does in our projects, but I still manage quite a bit on my own. 😀
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It’s always something, isn’t it? Sorry about the hand issues – I can see how that would be a problem for working with a drill over your head.
Sigh – sorry for useless ‘advice.’ You need your Mister.
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No worries. I do — when he wasn’t available, I had my dad, my son, FIL, and a few handy girlfriends, and when all else fails, and it just can’t wait — call a handyman 😉
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It’s amazing. When the last of the kids moved out, we thought we would have all this time to ourselves. Hell, I don’t know how we did what we did with kids when we don’t have half as much time as we thought we would now by ourselves. I hear ya, Joey!
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I believe you! I think similarly about times before now, so I totally believe the future could hold the same for now.
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And even if they don’t get done when you want them done, it’s not the end of the world.
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Oh they never get done when we want them done! I’d be twitching my nose for NOW! 😛 Haven’t worked that part out, must do the things to be done.
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I remember feeling too busy to think when the kids were young. But you make it sound all fun and nostalgic. Some things wont get done. But you have a happy family. I’m remembering that scene from It’s a wonderful life, when George kisses the loose ball on the stair case railing. The one he almost threw when he was mad. The kiss is around 2:45 into this clip: https://youtu.be/mrmUipa1kc4
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I love that part of It’s a Wonderful Life — now they’d say George embraced the wabi-sabi of his life 😉
I do find it fun and nostalgic and it does always get done — Happiness first 🙂
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So very true. And it does all get done in its own time, so why stress over it?
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I don’t know.
I do better than I used to, I’ve relaxed, cause therapy etc — Except…when my parents come! 😛 It’s like they’re their own markers of time. I imagine my dad yelling, “And the back hall is still yellow?” Like he would. As if he cares. LOL
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I understand about the time at home issue. My husband’s an IT guy. 🙂 As for our house, it only looked its very best when we had to put it on the market. But we loved it even when it was a bit shabby and projects were always in the works.
janet
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True story. I loved our house before she was ours, I love her still, and more with everything we do to make her more our own 🙂
Sorry your husband’s gone a lot, too.
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He works from home now, so I wouldn’t mind if he left once in awhile. 🙂 But he works insane hours as do many IT people.
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And there are always things to do next. Many times I think I will be content when this or that is complete and then when it’s done it is a bit of let down and something else takes its place. Now I am looking forward to going out to my postage stamp sized garden, pulling a few weeds, planting the citrus tree we bought a couple months ago, and enjoying my other plants…and enjoying life at a slower pace…I hope. xo
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Oh, working in the garden is THE BEST! I hope your citrus tree brings you much joy 🙂
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Thank you, Joey. The tree looks pretty nice so far. ❤
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Life is the project. OMG Joey, I feel like this all the time! And, hey, are you busy? I dunno is that a trick question? Im almost always DOING something, but that doesnt mean Im busy. SO MANY PROJECTS. And my blog, I need to get back to that. Its seems like my life is so much nothing, and then, BAM. I think about all the things Ive done, all the things Im doing, and all the things Im setting myself up to do..Its almost all too much.
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Right? When am I not doing something? Like, even those five minutes before I fall asleep, I’m still thinking and feeling things…
I don’t understand people who are bored. I need more time, not more things to do! You and I will always have this in common. ❤
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This SoC hit me really hard. “Life is the project.” Yes. So much yes. All the yes. Always yes…
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Alice, I was dusting my bookshelves yesterday and I thought of you when I saw a title, and I wondered, have you read The Revolution of Little Girls? Blanche McCrary Boyd is the author, and I think you would love that book. It’s fiction and it’s an easy read, but it has so many deep, cutting lines and well, you should check it out. That book may be your spirit animal.
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I’m not familiar, but I will put it on my list! Thanks for thinking of me.
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🙂
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Oh, thanks, Joey, I needed another book in my TBR pile. ~mops up the dripping sarcasm~ JUST BOUGHT IT ONLINE — DAMN YOU, INTERNET! DAMN YOU TO HELLLLLL!
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OOOH!
Lemme know if you like/love/hate it 🙂
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Life is indeed the project. My frantic Type A personality tends to forget that.
When we’re younger, we have the energy but not the time. Busy with jobs, children, relationships.
When we’re much older, children and jobs take more of a backseat, but the energy isn’t quite the same.
Seems to me there’s a message there … 🙂
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Somethin about spend time, money, and energy with purpose? 🙂
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Sounds good to me 🙂
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Finish one project and another one always seems to pop up. Btw love that sign on your door.
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Thanks 🙂
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What will happen to you when he finishes? How will things change?
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Well, if I knew how things would change… I don’t know that he will stay at his current job, for one. He will see what they offer, but there will be many more possibilities elsewhere.
And when he’s not going to school, we can GO PLACES.
Aside from the time we’ll get back, those are my top two.
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Oh, I like that, Joey. Life is the project!
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Thanks 🙂
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Our house is always one big continual project. My mom says she doesn’t know what we’d do if we didn’t have a house project in process, since we’ve had one in each house the entire time we’ve lived in said house. lol
Life does seem to move in those segmented ways when we look back at them. Life here…and there…alone…together…kids. 🙂
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Thank you for understanding 🙂
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I remember when our kids were young: each day was a collection of projects, and each evening was a catalog. Meals cooked, eaten, cleared away. Homework completed, with or without tears. Quarrels resolved. Baby fed, given naps, burped with or without spit-up, put to bed — for the time being. Then the same projects the next day. Now that they’re grown and gone, the projects are more long-range and less important. Sometimes I miss the urgency of dealing with things RIGHT NOW that could have long-term consequences, the satisfaction when a situation was handled well, the intense scrutiny of a disaster to see how it might be handled better the next time — knowing there WOULD BE a next time. Great post, Joey: as you do so often, you’ve touched many hearts and minds.
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Aw, thank you, that’s so kind ❤
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Thank YOU for the reminder. Things I’ll maybe get back to… improving my house is something I never have a chance to think about anymore. When I moved in I wanted to embark on so many projects. Now, washing the dishes is a project. My hierarchy of needs is closer to the bottom than the top, but I’ll get there. Sure I will. 🙂
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The house will wait. (Even the dishes will wait, but I recommend soaking.) Kids and bosses won’t wait.
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…unless the kids are waiting for food… 😛 😉
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Life is the real project, just added one extra word emphasized. Joey, I think it is hard going to school. Working full-time, (preschool with special ed) waiting tables 2-4 nights a week and going for my Master’s was what my female minister called “barely treading water.” I will keep the Mister and you, your family in my thoughts, sending you hope for easier and nice relaxing nights. 🙂 ❤
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Oh that would definitely be barely treading water! WOWWW.
The Mister’s got the Senioritis and it’s quite cute. Been awhile since I’ve seen it! lol
Thank you 🙂
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