Inspired by Virginia...

Well, revisions have been turned in which means it's time to catch up on some things around the house before the edits roll in. My men were all gone this weekend, so, after reading the post about Virginia's reading nook, I finally tackled the one thing that's been hanging over my head for months--my office. 

I needed to purge and I needed to paint. 

 This is what my office used to look like.

The shelf never did really find a purpose, so I removed it months ago, repainted it and gave it a new life in the dining room where it now proudly displays my collection of teacups.

Oops, I didn't even realize that Christmas decoration was still up there. Guess I'd best put that away.

This is what my desk looked like during revisions.

What a mess!

I used to watch a home decorating guy who said, "A cluttered space is a cluttered mind." 

Well, let me tell ya, honey. :)

Oh, and see those curtains? Gone. Not sure where I'll use them, but I think I'd rather just go with a valance. 

But tackling a job like this takes strength and stamina. So it was important I fortify myself with a hearty breakfast. You know, oatmeal has gotten a bad rap. And I can totally understand why. When I was a kid, oatmeal came out of a packet. Not the flavored kind, I hated those, but just the plain stuff, which was kind of like powdered oatmeal. Then I'd add some brown sugar and milk. That was it.

No wonder I hated the stuff.

Today I start with a third of a cup of  old-fashion style oats.

Then I add two packets of Splenda (I'll be looking into Truvia as soon as I run out. Thanks, Jan), a couple dashes of salt and some cinnamon. 

Now I could stop there and it would taste okay, but I don't want okay. I want spectacular.

So I add a few raisins. I like the golden.

And then, for a bit of texture, I'll add some flax seed or pecans.

Love me some pecans!

Add two-thirds of a cup of water, microwave for two minutes and voila!

Okay, so it still doesn't look like much, but it tastes wonderful. And the cinnamon smells so good.

Yum!

Now to get started on my office.

For me, the painting is the easy part. The purging? Not so much. I wish I were an organized person.

But I'm not. So, I put on my big girl panties and plowed headlong into the mess that was my office. I tossed, I shredded, I dusted, I wondered how in the heck some items had come to live in my office. 

But in the end, it was all worth it.

The rest of that far wall will soon have a very large white board. I'm a visual person, so I like to plot out my characters/story on a white board with lots of different colored markers. The hero is blue, the heroine is pink and it goes on from there. 

Notice that I also painted the wicker chair in the lower right corner. I did that back in the fall. Spruced that tired old garage sale find right up and added a pop of color to the room.

And I can now see the top of my desk.

I've still got a few things left to square away. Like that webcam there to the right of the monitor. My husband gave that to me for Christmas 2012 and it's still in the box. The worst part is that I asked for it! I've just been too afraid to hook it up. I need to grab one of our techie friends and hop on that.

All in all, I'm very pleased. Matter of fact, I think I'll just stay in my office. 

Because the rest of the house...well...

What a mess!