My Marathon Hour



This new school year brings me an extra hour of "free" time thanks to Beckett's later dismissal time. From 2:15 to 3:15 and have a new plan that will hopefully save my soul. I'm sure you're think I'll sneak in an hour of Yoga or finally start my Tracy Anderson Metamorphosis CDs you have all been hearing about for 2 years. Nope. I realized what will make my weekday afternoons and evenings at home with the kids significantly easier.

That hour I will spend at home racing against the clock to accomplish a multitude of things, which I can do since I multitask so God damn well. With that hour counting down I will: unload dishwasher, start dinner, put out table settings for kids to set table later, load of laundry, tidy up, walk Scout, make my bed if I hadn't already and oh yeah- use the bathroom - alone.

If you have these daily tasks already nailed down and figured out, well good for you. It helps me to put this hour's worth of duties down on virtual paper so it seems real and possible. I know I can do it. I did it yesterday and it changed my world. Homework started, dinner started, all without my attention being pulled in 8 directions.

So from 4:00-7:30 I'm hoping to build in a family walk, maybe a game night, a movie night and even sneak in some playtime. That's my Metamorphosis, Tracy.

The Makings of a Headboard

I thought I'd walk you through a really easy project I finally completed. I had made a smaller headboard for Beck's room, and loved the way it made the room feel a bit more "done". I took all the measurements, headed to Home Depot for 3/4" plywood and then to Joann Fabrics for the grey felt and batting. I double up the batting for a thicker headboard. I first thought I wanted wool felt, but it was so scratchy so I went with a much softer thick felt.

The plywood comes in 4 X 8 sheets and since I wanted my headboard to span 9' I had to add on and here you can see the band aid strip of plywood to join the 2 together. I mounted another one on the opposite end to make even distance once hung on wall. The batting is folded over for 2 X thickness.

I cut the corners at a diagonal.

Fold in one side and staple in place.

Overlap the other side until it is a tight corner.

Then go to the center of each side pulling very tight and stapling as you work your way around.

Here it is ready for the felt layer, which is stapled on in the same way.

Holy crap this thing is so much heavier than I expected. I would have used 1/2" plywood, except I didn't want it to warp over time since it's so long.

I had to change the way I had planned on hanging it due to the weight. My father suggested this way: cut a long strip of 2 X 4 at 45 degree angle. One piece is mounted into many studs along the wall....

and the other to the back of the headboard. He's pretty smart. This technique could hang an elephant from your wall. Be sure your screws do not go through to the other side.

Before.

After.

PS- 1. The mirror is only there because it fell off of Beckett's door and we just haven't gotten around to re-hang. It wasn't a design decision. 2. I still have to patch the holes just below the window from the track lighting the previous owner chose to hang. I have nightmares spiders crawl out of them.