Forcing myself out of procrastination

We moved into our current home almost two years ago.  The first two weeks we were in this house I was like a machine working night and day making this house ours.  The previous owners left a layer of filth that penetrated much of the house to a degree that was simply unreal.  During those legendary first two weeks in this house I scrubbed the house from top to bottom, painted 4 rooms and unpacked all of our stuff.  I'm still not sure what Bryan did while I was doing all of this.  He did unload the PODS and our storage unit, and I recall him watching the girls when I was painting. I was focused on getting our house ready for Elisabeth's second birthday party.  We spent close to a hundred days waiting to get into this house and I was determined to make sure it looked the way I wanted it to when friends and family came to the party.  The amount of work I put into this house in just the first week alone was unreal.  By the time Ellie's party rolled around I was burnt out.  I managed to force myself to finish our new fireplace mantle in mid-August (a month after Ellie's party) but after that I couldn't bring myself to finish the huge task of transforming this house.

Last Summer, I decided that helping Bryan replace our deck, which had been the food of choice for a ravenous group of carpenter ants, would be more entertaining than say touching up the paint in the rooms I painted the year before.  So to this day, I still have some areas in my family room and kitchen that need to be painted.  I didn't have small enough brushes to get into the tiny spots when I originally painted the rooms so I left them undone.  I find every diversion under the sun to avoid having to finish the job.  

I added to my list of things to procrastinate on last Summer.  After the deck was replaced (still not stained since the pool construction got in the way) I had Bryan start on replacing the ugly doors that were in this house.  I now have 5 closets that still have need or replacement doors.  I have no doubt that they would have been replaced by now if Bryan didn't have a mishap with a chisel last August.  In a food deprived state (I had dinner waiting for him) Bryan, determined to finish the final regular door, gouged his finger with the chisel instead of using it on the door.  He's not exactly motivated to pick up a chisel these days and I can't say that I blame him.

My current list of things that need to be completed around the house is growing.  I am beginning to hit that frantic work mode as Madeline's First Communion rapidly approaches.  We're having a brunch back at the house after Mass and I want the main level of the house and the front yard to look nice.  I would love for our deck to be stained, too, but I'm sure that's not going to happen before May 9th.

Today I took the first step towards completing my long to do list.  I painted the baseboards in my entryway.  Now that I've done that, I have no choice but to paint the trim around the doors and the new doors that were installed last summer. If all goes according to my plan, I will have my kitchen baseboards painted tomorrow while Ellie is in school. I may attempt to paint around some of the doorways, too, if the mood strikes me.