Making Shit Happen

I had some very deliberate intentions of writing a couple of blog posts last week with the updates I've been making to my place for The Everygirl photo shoot, plans for the new year and other projects I have in my back pocket, but Tuesday morning, bright and early at 7am, the shit hit the fan.  No, literally, it kind of did.  Due to the extreme cold weather temps we experienced here in Chicago, the pipes below me froze in my condo and since I am the last unit before you hit the garage, I got the back up.  There's nothing like the sweet sound of waking up to a waterfall and thinking you are in a cabana in South America and your handsome masseuse is on his way to…well, you catch my drift.  Instead, reality hits you like the 2 inches of sewer water you plunge your feet into to turn off your water and watch as your scale drowns right in front of your eyes (there's a new year's resolution slap in the face).  Luckily, (yes, there is a bright side) I was repainting a few of my walls (see, another update) and had drop cloths down to which I pushed aside and piled to blockade my bathroom door and contain the nasties that continued to come up my toilet for several hours.

So, instead of going to work on the mural project I had scheduled (and again, wanted to share last week), I spent the day bailing poopy water into my bathtub.  My how life can throw you a curve ball.  The rest of my week was consumed by cleaning and finishing said murals in time for a two year old's birthday party on Saturday.  My body ached by the bending and bailing and painting and ladder climbing and standing for longer than I'm used to, but through all this, I kept reminding myself of one of my words for 2014: Perspective.  Yes, I didn't have any usable facilities for a day and a half, but I did and do have a fantastic neighbor that let me come and go as I needed and let me shower at 10 o'clock at night in the most cleansing shower of my life.
Yes, I've never felt so helpless with the ringing question, "What do I do?" resounding in my head, but I had a mom that came over right away to help me with the dirty job and disinfected my place like it was a part of her Reenie Rose resume.
Yes, I put in an almost 13 hour day of mural painting that involved ladder climbing and reaching and movements that my muscles were screaming at me for, but how awesome is it that I can grow a tree in someone's house.  Really, these are the things I am trying to focus on this year….perspective.  I have a couple other words and phrases I'm trying to focus on, but I think I'm going to put them into my studio makeover somehow and show them off to you later.

So, for now, let me share with you the light at the end of last week's tunnel and all the beauty I was able to create out of a very poopy start to my week.

Before

During

After

Chalked in tree

Looking back to last week, things can only go up from there!  Happy Tuesday!