Fast Paced Fall

I read somewhere that August is the Sunday of summer … it really is.  There is a laid back, relaxed vibe in August.  It feels less rushed than July … Like summer is hitting its stride.  

As August ends and September starts, the energy changes.  Projects that were on hold during the summer become top of mind … life’s pace picks up … everything starts to feel busy. 

That’s where my mind has shifted too … To all the projects I paused as we moved into summer …

Painting touchups, sanding and repainting the balcony railing, filling the holes in the front closet door and mudding around the hallway sconces - the new ones don’t quite cover the holes made for the last ones.  

I don’t relish the idea of painting … The smell of paint bothers me, but it needs to be done.  Putting it off seems silly - afterall, the need won’t disappear and the list of things will only grow, best to get at it while the list is manageable, before it becomes overwhelming or urgent.  

Funny thing - I saw my neighbour sanding and painting his balcony yesterday.  I couldn’t quite figure out what he was doing at first … he was moving furniture and taking down his privacy screen … prepping for the sanding and painting.  

Now that the humidity is gone, the paint should dry relatively quickly.  It’s also warm enough that I can keep the windows open and turn the fans on to clear out the smell of the paint.  

A random side effect of the migraines - aside from the obvious … My sense of smell is heightened. Certain scents feel like they are assaulting me physically - think the smell of paint.  Other smells are nice but only if in small doses, think cinnamon, cloves and citrus.  It’s why I don’t burn candles or incense, the scent is overpowering and too much for me.

Certain things I will need to figure out, like mudding around where the light fixture goes.  How to do the wood filler - although I suspect it’s similar to mudding holes in walls.  I assume these things aren’t overly complicated and I can figure them out.  The painting touch ups should be relatively easy.  

I’d also like to better organize my closets, they are the standard rail with overhead shelves design that most closets have and strike me as wildly inefficient.  I mean, I live in a climate where winter is an actual thing, read: hats, mitts and scarves.  Why do front hall closets not have drawers?  My brain can’t fathom this.  

Given my last foray into closet re-design and the utter disaster that was … I’m in a holding pattern there.  That might require tools, which I don’t have and someone with actual skills, which I also don’t have.  

Admittedly, the skills I could research, I could ask around, I could probably learn - read: figure out.  Probably.  Sadly, tool libraries don’t exist or if they do, I am unaware of them.  Nevermind, I just did a google search and apparently you can rent tools.  Now I’m re-thinking this whole thing.  I need to really think through the design of my closets and then decide if carpentry is something to add to my list of skills development.  

Hmmmmmm …

Went down a bit of a rabbit hole there - without warning.  For what it’s worth, more times than not they throw me off, distract my brain equally as much - if not more - then it distracts others. 

I also have a couple of culls left to make.  I will have to do the winter/summer clothing rotation - but that’s still a month or two (hopefully two) away.  I’ve also got my Christmas decorations to sort through.  I opted to move everything and then go through them while decorating.  Until I was in the process of putting things up and/or out I wouldn’t really know what did or didn’t work … Thankfully, that’s also a few months out.  

As much as I’m not sentimental, I’m also very sentimental.  I like my Christmas decorations.  Giving those up will be hard.  

Lastly, I want to create a picture frame that can be hung over the electrical panel but opens up when I need to access the panel.  I’ve seen this hack all over my for me pages, so I know it can be done.  It also looks reasonably easy to do … Fingers crossed. 

The fall does feel like a Monday.  Back to busy, back to work, back to execution of all the things.  Maybe that’s why it feels like the start of a new year.  The transition between August and September feels noticeable, feels different, feels like a natural new beginning.  

Whatever the reason, we are in that place - or at least I am - where the pace is quickening and the lazy days of August are gone.