Happy New-ish Year

Happy 2010 everyone. Wow, a new decade already?

Please pardon the dirt under my fingernails. That would be the after-effect of clawing my way back up the cliff I appear to have plummeted from approximately 3 weeks ago. While the holidays were much needed time off, I didn't intend to vacate the blogosphere for quite so long. Unfortunately a nasty virus got the better of me and I spent two weeks exhausted. Every free moment (read: every moment Bunni was asleep) I collapsed into bed -- woozy, weak and very down on myself for my lack of productivity. I couldn't even get it together to post Photo Finish Fridays! But here I am, back and maybe even better than ever. Well, that remains to be seen, but wouldn't it be nice?

Now that I have energy again, here is what my creative itches are propelling me to do of late:

1)Re-arrange the living room

Because it is an easy, recession-proof way to feel better about where you live. Because it is always a great idea to begin fresh, as it were, at the start of the year.

Though spacious, my living room is a particularly unwieldy shape: the front door opens smack into the middle of a double-wide space, prohibiting many desirable furniture arrangements.
But after 10 years of living here and countless attempts to solve the conundrum, I sat down with a piece of paper and drew out a solution:

It is genius, if I say so myself. The only downside is this solution requires six pieces of furniture we don't actually own. Though I know how to find a bargain, the cost of six new pieces of furniture will prohibit an overnight makeover. The new arrangement will just have to trickle into our lives slowly.

2) Uphoulster pouf-shaped ottomans in Baja blankets

One of the pieces I'll be looking for is the ottoman, also known as the hardest-working piece of furniture in the house. It earns its keep by multi-tasking, standing in for a coffee table (just plop a tray on top), extra seating, a footrest, even a toddler toy. I'm combing Craigslist for just the right shape pieces (if I was super- handy, I'd build my own) I can take to the upholsterer to re-cover. My fabric of choice will come from my collection of striped Mexican blankets, of the variety frequently sold at the border, because of its durability, stain-proof quality (hello, unnatural fibers!), and cheerful color scheme. Viva la revolucion!






3. Get back to work on my book

My writing group re-commences tonight after a long hiatus. I was on the fence about whether to re-up, as I didn't know what to submit for workshopping. I was feeling crappy about the master's thesis-turned-memoir-turned-novel I'd been editing last year. But having barely survived the funeral pyre after receiving an uncomfortable comparison to a romance novel, the pages beckon again. Wading through an exhaustingly cerebral novel helped; its utter lack of emotion inspired me to decide to tackle my book again, this time with a commitment to making it a memoir and telling (yikes!) the terrifying truth.

SO. Enough about me. Let's hear about you. What creative impusles drive you at the moment?