My office has a door!

I have been needing a door on my office since we moved in this joint. I have tried very hard to schedule most appointments for the daytime when everyone else is gone at school/work so that we have privacy. Now, that won't matter as much! The doorway is quite wide, but not quite double, so it was going to be difficult to fit it with a door or with french doors. Then, on Pinterest, I saw the sliding barn door! BINGO! We finally built one (and by we, I mean Joe did most of it and I just helped with the heavy lifting).

We used 8 foot long car siding to build the door. Joe fastened 7 of them together and put supports on the back side of it. Then he had to trim it up quite a bit because we live in a short-person-house.

We got the sliding track and hardware from the local farm store.

Ta-da!!!! Privacy in my office is now a possibility!!! We plan on adding a handle and a latch, but I am thrilled with it for now. We are also going to live with it for a bit before deciding if we should paint, stain, distress, or just leave the wood how it is.

 Edie was very excited to be the first to actually use the door :)

This also can count towards my New Years Resolution to complete 5 pinterest projects this year :)

ETA: This entire project was only about $150. Not too shabby!

Life is just overwhelming at times

I am sitting here, all jealous, of some friends who recently posted about their runs. One had a baby a few weeks after I had Fritzy (yes, you know who you are with the new shoes) and I feel like I should be out there running too! Damn it! I was going to run a marathon this fall and I haven't been training at all. Of course, I can't find the time right now. Like, legitimately, cannot find any freaking time for anything other than work and renovations and then one day a week we frantically try to catch up on dishes, laundry, groceries, bills, etc. Each night when the older kids all collapse into bed, Joe and I sink into the couches for me to start an episode of Mad Men and the nursing marathon that Fritz makes my night.... the kid eats NON-STOP until dawn. As in, the other night, he only slept from 5am-7am without a breast in his mouth.

Normal people would just see this all as a phase in life and understand that you simply can't do it all. I would remind any friend or client of mine of this as well. However, I expect super-human things from myself and therefore I am mad that I cannot renovate a home while also caring for 4 children while also logging 25-50 miles a week in running while also working fulltime. Forget reading a good book or really having anything of interest to talk about other than paint colors. I can hop online while the baby nurses, but that is really my only "free" time. Even as I type this I am nursing this child of mine.

Lately, I have been daydreaming about quitting my job. I think it is just that I really miss my little strawberry blonde boy while I work. That, and my job can be super stressful at times. I can picture grad school and my kids and home renovations. I am not quite sure how we would pay our bills without me working, but I am right now pretending that giving up Starbucks would be enough to make the difference :)