When we bought our house, I quickly claimed the smallest bedroom for my office. In our apartment, my husband and I split the extra room down the middle and each had our desks and computers in it. My desk was a child-sized hand-me-down, so I did most of my computer work while sitting on the couch in the living room (thank goodness for laptops, eh?).
I was so excited to finally have a room of my own, so to speak, when we moved. I got to pick out the paint color (Dill Pickle by Benjamin Moore), the bookcase and the desk. In the beginning of May, J even surprised me with a Pottery Barn rug that I had been dreaming about to complete the look.
Sadly, I never use my sweetly decorated office. I still sit on the couch with my laptop and clutter the coffee table with my magazines and notebooks. On the days I’m home all day I like keeping the television on for company–and there is no TV in my office. The dog has his crate and his toys downstairs, and I like spending time with him. Plus, in the living room, I’m close to the kitchen… Mmm…
So yesterday I did what I thought was the most logical way to break my bad couch/laptop habit: I brought my desk downstairs and planted it in the living room. I’m not sure how my husband is going to feel about this when he returns home from his deployment next week. In truth, I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. The look of it is going to take some getting used to. But as I’m writing this post, the TV is on over my right shoulder and the dog is lounging on the couch over my left. I don’t feel as isolated as I did when I tried doing work in my little office.
Check in with me a week from tomorrow; I’ll let you know what J thinks of the new arrangement. I have a feeling he may not be as keen on it as I am…
Where do you work on your computer? In a home office, in your kitchen or on your couch?
And now a lighthearted post after yesterday’s heavy-duty introspection.
It’s not just the flowers in my yard that are beginning to bloom; several trees are producing beautiful pink and purple blossoms. It makes me sad that the colors are so transient. I imagine that soon they will give way to green leaves that will shade my lawn.
Here’s a confession: I am plagued by worry thoughts. I worry about my husband’s job. I worry about my career. I worry about my misbehaving dog, about our finances, about when we will start a family, about the health and happiness of my family back East, about the strength of my friendships and more.
Only with a tiny handful of my closest friends do I really open up and confess my deepest worries. Normal behavior, right? You don’t have to complain about life to everybody you meet.
But my problem is that when I’m neck-deep in worry (and frequently I am), I have a hard time finding joyful — or even banal — things to talk about. So I shut up. I don’t call friends, even my close ones, and I don’t call family. I don’t want to burden them with my stress, so I don’t talk to them about the things that are bothering me…or about anything. I basically shield them from all aspects of my life.
I know that what I do is harmful to my relationship and maybe even to my health. I need to keep the lines of communication between my family and friends open at all times. Even if I have nothing positive to say, I can still listen. Maybe they have exciting news they want to share. Maybe they have frustrations they’d like to vent. Better yet, I need to get over my fear that I’d be burdening my friends and family by talking about my worries… and that I’m being judged for having these types of thoughts.
What do you do when you are bogged down by worry thoughts? Do you share them with family and friends or do you keep them to yourself? Are you able to engage in lighthearted chatter when your mind is focused on whatever it is you’re fearing?
(image source, via pinkshirtsandcarwrecks)
Question: What do you get when you try to capture Briscoe’s paw print with orange paint at Spring Bark in the Park?
Answer:
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