Oh, bother

I was talking to a friend a while back who was sure she would never learn any of the handicrafts. "Sure you will!" I consoled. "You're just too young. I didn't start crocheting until after college. And I never seriously knitted until I was 30. And sewing? Sewing is a breeze when you have a decent machine!"

I gravely misspoke.

Sewing shirts, and baby pants, and small children's nonessentials is a breeze. An enjoyable, refreshing breeze.

Other things are a major pain in the neck.

Take the curtains for the boys' room. No, don't. They're finally done and they're going to hang in that room until we move.

But those things have been a real booger to put together. Part of it is the fact that I decided to do lined curtains, and part of it is that the two fabrics I decided to use have different stretch to them, and part is that I decided to do two panels per window (meaning each panel needs to match the others in width and length, and supposedly this should be more than just in theory), and part of it (I just figured out, having finally finished the last panel) is that I'm working at a desk that is too tall to use as a sewing table.

My shoulders and back do not thank me.

But in the end, it was the sight of the ironing board in the living room for the eighteenth??? day on end that finally pushed me over the edge. The ironing board was only there because I was too lazy to constantly move it back (save for company coming) when I knew I'd need it to finish those ridiculous curtain panels.

So they're finished. The first two are decent and have been hanging in the boys' room for a couple of weeks. The panels for the second window are ... indecent ... and will be strategically hung to hide their many flaws.

These were a true test of persistence or, to put it more to the point, in putting an end to procrastination. I felt hot just thinking about them, the kind of hot you get after a page of math or five minutes of piano practice.

And to my friend, who may never learn handicrafts? You may be a wiser, happier person for it!