Finding Fulfillment in Living With Less: Finding Nemo

VBS Program= one happy little boy

I have a running mantra that I repeat over and over when I run to keep me going. When I’m a few miles into a run and want nothing more than to quit I keep telling myself, “just keep chuggin’, just keep chuggin’, just keep chuggin’. It’s kind of “don’t stop moving,” a popular running mantra, meets the Little Engine that Could. Well I’ve got another mantra that I’ve adopted also, but this one doesn’t apply to running. I often find myself saying out loud, “You think you can do these things, but you can’t Nemo.” Clearly, this is a quote from the movie Finding Nemo and it couldn’t be more perfect for all those times when I try to take on tasks that I have no prior knowledge of or experience with.

I’ve told you all about cleaning my septic tank filter, but what I didn’t tell you was that I was feeling particularly apt that day so I also layered my own hair. Why? Well because if a hair stylist can do it, so can I. Never mind a hair stylist goes to school to learn to cut hair, but really, how hard can it be? I have also taken apart and tried to fix my toilet, changed my own car battery, and dressed my own 2^nd/3^rd degree burn. I also bake and decorate my kids cakes and paint my own art, not because I am creative or an artist but just because if someone else can do it, why can’t I? Even yesterday I had to yell my “life mantra” out loud after I attempted to jump onto a 30” box. If Tim can jump on a 30” box, I can too. Again, never mind he is a foot taller than me and one of the strongest, most agile people I know. Needless to say, I didn’t quite make the box and my shins ended up bruised and bloodied. And that’s a short list of all the crazy ~~stupid~~ things I have attempted to do myself.

Trying to save some money ;)

There are MANY other things that I should have called in professionals to do but I just haven’t. Maybe because I’m cheap, but probably because I’m independent and don’t like to rely on others. The worst part about all of this is that I never seem to learn my lesson. Yes there have been failures, like the toilet debacle that took me, two professionals and three other grown men to finally solve and of course my hair cut the other week, but there have also been enough successes that keep me coming back for more.

So here it is, my next project. This time I will take on reupholstering. If someone else can do this, why can’t I?

I've got big plans for this reading corner!

This chair was at my in laws and when we cleared out there basement in the winter this guy was going to go to the dump. It wasn’t exactly what I’d been looking for, but I had been scouring the internet and local thrift shops for a wing back chair for sometime so I told them I’d take it and recover it. On their last trip here they brought it with them and now it’s time to get started. The best part is I have a bolt of the perfect fabric that I found on the curb in someone’s garbage (see that lamp in the picture that needs a shade? That was also in the garbage). The problem is that I have a little less than 3 yards of the fabric and everything I’ve read online says I need at least 5 to recover a wingback chair. Hmmmm…one would think that lack of experience and fabric would keep me from trying this, but nope, I’m ready to give this a shot. I can already hear myself saying, “You think you can do these things, but you can’t Nemo”