Unfinished Buisiness

From where I sit, I can see the beginnings of a yarn-wrapped wreath perched atop our bookshelf.  I started that project when we still lived in our old apartment...over an entire year ago.  Then Eric told me it looked like a hemorrhoid donut.  In fairness, it totally does.  There it still sits...waiting for the day that some poor hemorrhoid-ridden soul turns to it for comfort.

This is just one example of the myriad of unfinished projects that clutter up my life.  In spite of my inherent laziness and propensity for letting laundry pile up until I run out of clean underwear, I have a hard time sitting around doing nothing.  Alas, this does not mean I fill up my hours with useful household chores and paper-grading.  Instead, I busy myself with the kind of silly projects that keeps Martha Stewart rich and allows Pinterest to take over the Internet.

The problem is that I have a hard time finishing a lot of the projects I begin.

Take the charming, pink, homemade teepee...darling of the Internet....that I created for Madeline last winter.  I was so inspired by that project that I finished it in a single evening.  At least I thought it was finished.  I was thrilled with the outcome until the entire thing collapsed upon itself about fifteen minutes after setting it up.

To this day, I have not figured out the mystery of getting homemade teepees to stay upright.  Either Pinterest is lying to me, or I'll be the first to be eaten during the zombie apocalypse because while everyone else takes shelter in their homemade teepees, I will be exposed to the elements.  Meanwhile, the teepee lives rolled up in the corner of Madeline's bedroom until I find a solution...someday.  

When I decided to stencil the office this past summer, poor Eric thought he'd be living in a disaster zone for the rest of his natural life.  While I'm pleased to report that I did finish stenciling, the room itself is far from finished.  I need to retouch the ceiling.  I need to hang shelves.  I need to finish organizing our filing cabinet.  I'll get to it....eventually.

During Hurricane Sandy, I spontaneously decided to make Madeline a quilt out of her old baby blankets.  I made solid progress, but packed the scraps away last week  in order to turn my attention to a more urgent project...Madeline's advent calendar.

It seems advent calenders are the new hot trend in Pinterest land this Christmas.  I've been bombarded with adorable, simple calendars made from boxes, envelopes and clothespins. 

Unfortunately, I was not acquainted with the magical time-suck that is Pinterest, when I began lovingly piecing together Madeline's advent calendar the fall I was home on maternity leave.  While my project is still pretty adorable, it's also been a lot more work than the equally adorable clothespin version I saw online this morning.

I did not finish it in time for Christmas 2010.  Nor did I finish it in time for Christmas last year.

This year?  This year, my friends, I will finish the advent calendar.  As God is my witness.  After all, Madeline is finally old enough to enjoy it.

I've only got a few days left!  Better get stitchin'!