Thursday, January 13, 2011

Sidetracked......

I love reading blogs by other artists.  Madeline wrote about  getting back on track.    So I thought I'd write about getting sidetracked!

It doesn't take much, but this year is starting out with a major sidetrack - Kerry is having spinal fusion in just two weeks.  Two operations.  One on 1/31 where they go in from the front, and then the second surgery on 2/2 when they will go in through the back.  He will probably be in the hospital until 2/9.  The hospital is about an hour from our house.  And then a couple of weeks of physical therapy every other day - a trip to the hospital here to do that.

I feel like I'm so sidetracked that I've gone completely off the tracks!  LOL!!!

But I promise I AM being creative....just in very different ways.  I'm creating a comfortable space for his 8 month recovery.  Yep, he can go back to work in just a few weeks, but we will have therapy, exercises and recovery until September.  I'm trying some ideas that an occupational therapist friend of mine suggested.  I think they will help. A chair inside the front door with a bench to set things on.  A wheeled chair close to the bathroom sink.  Little stands to set things on here and there.  A lot of little changes that will hopefully help.

So, here, I took a "craft" item and turned it into a rack for screwdrivers.  They need to be inside the house, not a trip to the garage every time he needs one.  This is really meant to hold paper punches.



Jetmax at Michaels has these fabric bins. Who says they are for craft rooms only?  They are holding all the puppy dog stuff. You'd be amazed at how much stuff can go in a single bin!



And do you have a mess in your utility room?  I did - until I put some smaller cubes on the shelves.  Great for things like light bulbs, sunscreen, shoe polish....all those things that tend to tip over or that you pile other stuff on top of.  I'll bet I have twice as much in this cabinet as I did before!


I hung shelves up on the opposite wall and had one left over.....so put it over the sink.  A perfect place for the rechargeable dremmels and all the bits and burs that go with them!



And I didn't buy a thing.  I'm just cleaning out the basement studio and reusing everything I can on the main floor - in non-studio ways.

So while I've definitely been sidetracked from crafting, I'm being space-creative.  Did you know that one of those wood 2-shelf shoe racks makes a wonderful pot and pan rack in a kitchen cabinet?  LOL!!!  And I used another one of the Jetmax bins to store all the attachments to the vacuum cleaner, carpet shampoo machine, hand shampooer....under the utility room sink.

And yes - I know I'm "nesting" - getting everything ready for his surgery.  But definitely sidetracked! And not even going to think about getting back on track until about the middle of February!

In all that cleaning out, I came across an old wedding dress.  What do you do with an old wedding dress?  Stay tuned!!!

1 comment:

madelinesthoughts said...

First, thanks Jen for the link up to my blog. It's amazing how getting "off track" or "sidelined" can happen. Through the ups and downs of everyday family situations, it's good to find time for creativity. Doesn't mean we have to tackle big projects.

I find the cleaning and organizing helpful to getting myself on track. In the process of several of those things now. You get to a point when you can only push everything out of the way for just so long. Good luck with everything.