Someone once asked me, having been subjected to probably far too many Lyssa stories, "Do you really have that many adventures in your life?!" I laughed and replied, "Probably not, but if you look at life that way, it's a lot more interesting, and you laugh a lot more!" To this day, I still believe that, which is why I'm writing these down- hopefully I can bring a chuckle to someone who needs it on a blah day. That and I'm sure many of you can relate to these stories.
That being said, on to the storytelling!
As a place to begin, I find it interesting that boring, ordinary days can be so wildly different from each other. Yesterday, after a late night performance on Friday, I wanted to do absolutely nothing, so that's what I did. My Saturday was spent sitting in front of the computer, emailing people, checking out new things, refreshing old
acquaintances, and just generally relaxing. Unfortunately, I did this so well that I forgot I'd eaten all my food that day, so this morning I woke up to the breakfast options of cereal (yummy, but not filling), oatmeal (filling, but not yummy), or a strange concoction of whatever was in the cupboards that looked like it could go together. Being as that I've been there and done that with some pretty disastrous results, I decided to have a bowl of cereal and go grocery shopping before I starved too much.
Unfortunately, one of my bad habits is that I hate going out for just one thing. If I go out, or go somewhere, it better be darn productive and worth my time! So my grocery shopping turned into a trip to the store for summer clothes... and a hat... and some wood from Lowe's to fix my saggy bed... oh and a flowerpot for some seeds I'd gotten... yeah, that's the kind of person I am. All the little things pile up until I have a reason to go do them all. Needless to say, I was quite hungry by the time I got home, but I felt accomplished, and the day wasn't even half over! Yesss!
I did have another dance performance to go to, though, so I put everything away, and went to do half an hour of high-energy dancing in 90 degree weather. Who plans these things?! Last year, it poured for the festival, this year it baked us. Ah, nature... never a dull moment. Got home, tired but happy, and took a shower, then decided to fix my bed before I got caught up in something else and ignored it for another day.
In a nutshell, my bed had chronic sag syndrome. The rails were held together with very small, flimsy clamps, and would slip out at the slightest provocation, such as someone being in the same room and breathing. Since re-clamping them meant taking off the bedclothes, mattress, dust ruffle and box springs, finding a screwdriver, unscrewing the clamp, repositioning it, screwing it back into place as tightly as possible... then RE-assembling all of that... only to have it shift as soon as you lay on it... I didn't fix it often. I just got used to a slightly u-shaped bed, and learned to sleep angled towards the middle or perched on the side rails. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it worked.
Well no more! Today, I vowed, would be the end of all of this! I went to Lowes and bought an inexpensive 1"x6"x4' pine board, sawed the sucker in half and sanded it to within 1/16th of its life (also known as, the size I wanted it)! I tore the bed apart, ripped off those blasted clamps, and shoved 3' of board under each flimsy rail, daring it to bend this time! The rails supported my full weight on top of them without sagging, and no more clamp meant no more squeaking when getting comfortable at night. In a haze of pride and success, I reassembled my bed, thinking of peaceful, stretched-out nights of pleasant slumber to come. Fortuitously, my common sense circuits cut in before I put the bedclothes on, because in my slightly addled state, I'd neglected to put the dust ruffle back on. I've learned to step back and evaluate a project one or two steps before it's done, because I've invariably missed one step on the rush to finish. So re-remove the mattress, fix the problem, re-replace it, and then, oh then, could I finish making the bed and stand back in victory!
Un-fortuitously, however, my common sense circuits decided at that point to join forces with my lazy circuits, and suggested that I lay down... just to test it out. You know, make sure it doesn't shift when I lay down, so I don't have to deal with that tonight. Logical, right? Until I laid down on my now-amazingly-comfortable-and-supportive bed... and realized I completely and utterly had no desire to get back up. Early morning shopping, a meeting before dance to discuss an upcoming sewing project, a dance performance, and dismantling a bed all caught up with me at once, and held me hostage (totally against my will, might I virtuously add!) for at least 20 minutes. Heroically, hunger decided to join in the fray, and proceeded to tell common sense and laziness to take a hike (ha). I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed, made food, and addressed that issue, and have since been sitting here diligently... well... telling stories. It's a hard life, but someone's got to do it.
See? Any boring, simple, routine day can become interesting and a reason to smile if you approach it right. Do I have huge adventures? Well yes, sometimes. But mostly, I just like to keep things interesting for myself, and try to cheer other up. As I said before, stories make the world go 'round. Cheers!
That being said, on to the storytelling!
As a place to begin, I find it interesting that boring, ordinary days can be so wildly different from each other. Yesterday, after a late night performance on Friday, I wanted to do absolutely nothing, so that's what I did. My Saturday was spent sitting in front of the computer, emailing people, checking out new things, refreshing old
acquaintances, and just generally relaxing. Unfortunately, I did this so well that I forgot I'd eaten all my food that day, so this morning I woke up to the breakfast options of cereal (yummy, but not filling), oatmeal (filling, but not yummy), or a strange concoction of whatever was in the cupboards that looked like it could go together. Being as that I've been there and done that with some pretty disastrous results, I decided to have a bowl of cereal and go grocery shopping before I starved too much.
Unfortunately, one of my bad habits is that I hate going out for just one thing. If I go out, or go somewhere, it better be darn productive and worth my time! So my grocery shopping turned into a trip to the store for summer clothes... and a hat... and some wood from Lowe's to fix my saggy bed... oh and a flowerpot for some seeds I'd gotten... yeah, that's the kind of person I am. All the little things pile up until I have a reason to go do them all. Needless to say, I was quite hungry by the time I got home, but I felt accomplished, and the day wasn't even half over! Yesss!
I did have another dance performance to go to, though, so I put everything away, and went to do half an hour of high-energy dancing in 90 degree weather. Who plans these things?! Last year, it poured for the festival, this year it baked us. Ah, nature... never a dull moment. Got home, tired but happy, and took a shower, then decided to fix my bed before I got caught up in something else and ignored it for another day.
In a nutshell, my bed had chronic sag syndrome. The rails were held together with very small, flimsy clamps, and would slip out at the slightest provocation, such as someone being in the same room and breathing. Since re-clamping them meant taking off the bedclothes, mattress, dust ruffle and box springs, finding a screwdriver, unscrewing the clamp, repositioning it, screwing it back into place as tightly as possible... then RE-assembling all of that... only to have it shift as soon as you lay on it... I didn't fix it often. I just got used to a slightly u-shaped bed, and learned to sleep angled towards the middle or perched on the side rails. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it worked.
Well no more! Today, I vowed, would be the end of all of this! I went to Lowes and bought an inexpensive 1"x6"x4' pine board, sawed the sucker in half and sanded it to within 1/16th of its life (also known as, the size I wanted it)! I tore the bed apart, ripped off those blasted clamps, and shoved 3' of board under each flimsy rail, daring it to bend this time! The rails supported my full weight on top of them without sagging, and no more clamp meant no more squeaking when getting comfortable at night. In a haze of pride and success, I reassembled my bed, thinking of peaceful, stretched-out nights of pleasant slumber to come. Fortuitously, my common sense circuits cut in before I put the bedclothes on, because in my slightly addled state, I'd neglected to put the dust ruffle back on. I've learned to step back and evaluate a project one or two steps before it's done, because I've invariably missed one step on the rush to finish. So re-remove the mattress, fix the problem, re-replace it, and then, oh then, could I finish making the bed and stand back in victory!
Un-fortuitously, however, my common sense circuits decided at that point to join forces with my lazy circuits, and suggested that I lay down... just to test it out. You know, make sure it doesn't shift when I lay down, so I don't have to deal with that tonight. Logical, right? Until I laid down on my now-amazingly-comfortable-and-supportive bed... and realized I completely and utterly had no desire to get back up. Early morning shopping, a meeting before dance to discuss an upcoming sewing project, a dance performance, and dismantling a bed all caught up with me at once, and held me hostage (totally against my will, might I virtuously add!) for at least 20 minutes. Heroically, hunger decided to join in the fray, and proceeded to tell common sense and laziness to take a hike (ha). I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed, made food, and addressed that issue, and have since been sitting here diligently... well... telling stories. It's a hard life, but someone's got to do it.
See? Any boring, simple, routine day can become interesting and a reason to smile if you approach it right. Do I have huge adventures? Well yes, sometimes. But mostly, I just like to keep things interesting for myself, and try to cheer other up. As I said before, stories make the world go 'round. Cheers!
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