For the last 2 days, I have struggled to get through to Lilly’s nap time, so that I could also nap. Struggle I did, and nap I did even better — two hours each day and I still woke up zonked and ready to go back to bed. Needless to say, my to-do list was sitting stagnant.

Today, expecting the same lack of drive, I set my expectations low. Buy my brother a birthday card and maybe, if I was up for it, get to the grocery store. Instead, I found myself at Wal-Mart where I never, ever go. And I know people always say that they don’t shop at Wal-Mart, but I really never go there. Seriously. Not only do I have a beef with the company model, but I also have to drive past two other superstores to get to the closest Wal-Mart, so it just doesn’t even cross my mind. And I can never find anything there anyway since the layout makes no sense to me and I have had nothing but bad customer service on the few occasions when I have gone. So, really, not a Wal-Mart fan.

Alas, I’ve been having a problem — a ridiculously, large and rather annoying problem — finding curtains for T. Rex’s nursery. And having run out of options a few days ago, I called my sister to get suggestions of someplace - anyplace - else I could try to find what I wanted. Later that day she emailed me a link to some curtains at walmart.com that could possibly fit the bill, but the color was questionable. I had to see them in person.

Fast forward to today, I found myself mildly motivated to check them out. Turns out, they won’t work. But I did find curtain rods that would work, which had also been giving me problems. So while I was on a roll, I took a gander at what else they had.  I ended up in the fabric and sewing section. Alarm bells were ringing in my head.

Step away from the fabric! You only have 19 days (or less) until T. Rex arrives! No time for a spontaneous and poorly planned craft project! Step away, woman!!

And then . . . there it was. My fabric. A perfect match for the nursery I’ve been piecing together. Exactly what I needed to give the room the added color I’d been craving.

I knew it meant more work than I’d been planning to do and I hadn’t even measured the windows for homemade curtains (although I had a pretty good estimate in my head) and I already had 2 sets of curtains that could potentially work en route to my house from amazon.com that were set to be delivered today and I’d yet to stay awake past 3 p.m. without a nap so far this week. This was NOT a good time to take on my first DIY curtain project.

Some rough math, a call to my sewing god (a.k.a. Mom), another frustrating encounter with Wal-Mart staff and 8 yards of fabric later, I was headed home to start T. Rex’s new curtains.

Truth be told, randomly-hatched, poorly-conceived craft projects is kind of what I do. But here’s where the shocking part comes in. The motivation never stopped. Before picking Lilly up from school, I managed to get the hardware on one window and definitive measurements. I picked up Lilly and went straight to another fabric store to pick up the blackout fabric I needed to line the curtains. Check.

After lunch, I brought Lilly home for a nap while I got started on sewing. Lilly did not nap, but I still managed to get through about 1/2 of one window panel before I started feeling guilty about her watching TV on a gorgeous autumn day. So we headed outside for a play break. While Lilly kept herself busy playing hopscotch, I started sorting through some stuff in the garage, when I came across some wall pegs I’d been meaning to re-paint for the nursery. Lilly moved on to the sandbox. I grabbed a sanding block and spray paint and went to town on the pegs.

Lilly and I played outside a little longer before I started to get the itch to stitch again. We headed back inside and I went back to my curtains while Lilly worked on her “fabric” (construction paper).

I finished one panel while simultaneously making dinner. Ate with the family. Cleaned up. Bathed Lilly. Went through our bedtime routine. Installed the hardware on the other window.  And now I’m writing this post.

I have to admit, sitting still for these few minutes, I realize I’m probably done for the night. But not bad for one day’s nesting (or caffeine jolt). Keep your fingers crossed I get at least another day or two like this so that T. Rex has a complete set of curtains by the time he arrives.

And if you’re in the market for new curtains, there will be a tutorial for DIY simple blackout curtains coming soon. ‘Cause I did most of that today too.

The Christmas after Hurricane Katrina, my mother-in-law gave me a fancy new sewing machine after my old, classic, hand-me-down one was ruined in the flood. I was pretty excited. I’d been meaning to get back to sewing for a while and I was more than a little inspired by Project Runway to learn some new skills. Maybe experiment with some fashion instead of just pillowcases and the like. Well, once I pulled out my newfangled sewing machine and realized there had been quite a few innovations in the decades since the only other two machines I’ve ever used were made, I became discouraged and put that on the back burner.

On at least two occasions, my mom and I took a look at the machine and tried to figure out all the “convenient” auto-features without the manual, which I had promptly lost. No dice. Then, two weeks ago, I went online and found the manual for my machine so my mom and I could work with it while she was visiting last week. But since I lost ambition before getting to the store to buy some thread we had nothing to work with, so that didn’t happen. FINALLY, on Friday I got motivated. During the day, I picked up some thread and some remnant material to play with once I got everything up and running. That night I pulled out the machine and the manual, figured out my automatic bobbin winder, all I had to do was figure out the automatic needle threader and we were in business. But then — three and a half years after my warranty expired — I discovered the most basic lever on the whole damn machine (the presser foot lifter) is broken and I would need three hands to continue the threading process. Damn. DAMN! I finally get around to playing with my “new” toy and it’s broken straight out of the box! So the machine is packed up again and sitting next me so that it’s ready when I find some motivation to sew again sometime in the NEXT 3 years!

Then there’s the blog. You may have noticed that I’ve been fiddling a lot with the appearance lately, but not so much with the writing. Not really a good way to run a blog. But I just haven’t been moved by anything in particular lately. Lilly’s great, but who wants to read nothing but a mother gushing. I STILL haven’t finished my Hemingses book to write a review. The news is the same old same old. Enter wannabe-reality-family-and-balloon-boy. I mean, seriously. If this messed up family is not deserving of some MushBrain commentary than who is!? I had all sorts of things to say about how this bizarre event, while sad and a total waste of law enforcement’s time, is not really so bizarre when you consider the fact that our society devours reality TV. And about how it’s not really surprising that someone would be so desperate to throw their family into the spotlight when just about every network on TV has a show that glamorizes some odd family’s willingness to bombard their children with cameras to make good TV and lots of cash. Etcetera, etcetera.

With lots of ideas flowing about what balloon boy says about modern American society, I was feeling pretty good that I had a topic for the blog. So, I plopped myself down on the couch last night (because of course I decided to put off the actual writing til today) only to flip on CNN and hear Anderson Cooper saying exactly what I was planning to blog about. Damn you, Anderson, for scooping me!! Shouldn’t you be focusing on more important things? Like Afghanistan? Or health care? Or the economy? All I wanted was balloon boy! Is that too much to ask?!

Then, last but not least, I missed the bus on one more opportunity this morning. Elliott and I had been thinking about putting Lilly in a preschool or “parent’s day out” program for a little while now. I was not too excited about dropping off my little girl to play without me for a few hours 2-3 times a week, but the idea of having more time to get things done and maybe even do some work was intriguing. And I agree with Elliott that she’s ready for some more socialization and should get used to being without me at least for short periods. So I did some research on local programs for 14 month-olds and found only one that I was really excited about. I visited and the kids are happy, the teachers are warm and fun, the school is safe and clean. Perfect. It is on the other side of town, but I was willing to use close to a third of that free time driving back and forth just to have her in a preschool that seemed right.

Whether it is smart or not, I was sold on this one preschool without feeling the need to see any others. When it’s right, it’s right, right? But everyone else seemed to think that “we” should check out some other ones first. And when I say “we,” I, of course, mean “me.” And since I didn’t feel much need for that, I was a bit unmotivated about the whole thing. So 3 weeks went by, I hadn’t visited any other schools and I began to worry that the few remaining openings at the preschool I liked might be taken.

Then, by sheer coincidence, I met a woman at lunch on Friday who is a class mother in the very same class I hoped to get Lilly into. We had a nice chat, she confirmed that the school is wonderful and she told me there were still spaces open as of class that morning. So, I told Elliott that I was just going to enroll Lilly and I don’t care if I haven’t seen any other schools. He agreed. The school doesn’t have hours over the weekend so I planned to call Monday. It slipped my mind Monday, so I called first thing this morning. Guess what. The last spot was taken yesterday! Damn! I can NOT catch a break this week!

So all I can say is “message received.” I’ve missed three opportunities too many this week and I’ve learned my lesson. I’m putting these mistakes behind me and moving on. To the sewing machine repair store.