I will never joke and say death by chocolate would be a good way to go again. Not after just reading an article about a poor guy who really did die after falling into a vat of chocolate! The weirdness of it just leaves me speechless, almost. How do you even begin to tell someone’s family? It would be bad enough to be the person to have to report a work place death to family, but to have to say, “He died after falling into the chocolate…”?! This has depressed me. I may not eat chocolate again for like… twenty minutes.
Some time ago I blogged about one of my favorite spots in this house. It’s in the kitchen at the booth the previous owners had custom made to fit right underneath the windows. My 5am wake up always consisted of getting my first cup of coffee, turning on the local news on the tiny tv in the kitchen, and sitting here at this booth with my laptop on, reading the news as well as my favorite blogs.
Then I blogged about how I decided to remove the tv from the kitchen because the kids had developed the terrible habit of gravitating to it, sitting at the booth, and snacking almost nonstop. I probably should have enforced some sort of rule without depriving myself of my routine, but I didn’t. So I ended up basically following the same pattern every morning but in the location of the reclining couch in front of the big screen tv in the family room.
And that’s where I’ve gone wrong. I sit my ass down there every morning, and I’m always so tired anyway, that the comfort of the couch and the lull and hum coming from the tv makes it almost impossible to perk myself up and start the day positive and energetic. It takes me twice as long to get moving physically and mentally. I’m not saying my blog has ever been very interesting to anyone who doesn’t have a personal interest in me, in general, but I’ve decided this new beginning is an even better thing than I realized. Simply because going back over the posts after moving into the family room… oh my gosh, they.suck.ass.
The thing about sitting here at this booth, I’m not sure why it’s so different. I think it’s a combination of things. I’m forced to sit up straight. There’s sunlight pouring in the window. I look out and can see the neighborhood going about their busy day, never slowing down. It all adds up to an atmosphere more conducive to a positive beginning to my days.
I’m moving back to my booth. I’m not putting the tv back, though. I’ll just have to do more news reading than watching. At present there is only one tv in this house connected to our satellite service. There are mot tvs than people in my house, and as dumb as that is, I can rectify that stupid decision some. They can still play their video games on their tvs, even slip in a dvd to watch at the end of the day if they want. But no one is getting cartoons or sports beamed into their bedrooms 24/7. It’s a start.
Add that to the fact that I’ve cut out all their caffeine and much of their sugar, and I just might be an okay parent someday. Hell, they might even end up being normal children.
Trying to get years of sewing, knitting, crocheting, and just about a dozen other hobbies into a spot this small has been challenging, to put it mildly. That slanted ceiling right there didn’t help any. I finally decided to put it all in this particular place because I’m tired of moving it from one room to the next, every time my family shrinks or grows. This way it isn’t taking up any space that might eventually need to become a bedroom. (I type that knowing damn well I probably just guaranteed needing this space for something very soon.) When David was here a few weeks ago, I took him upstairs to show him how everything was utter chaos from recent renovations. He’ll be able to testify that getting all that stuff that was blocking our path organized and arranged attractively deserves an award of some sort! Fortunately I take pride in accomplishing tasks like this, and the satisfaction of knowing the few material things that are important to me are neatly tucked away and cared for is all the reward I need. 
Now you have to realize when I say “material things”, I’m not talking about expensive things. I think the most expensive thing in my corner is probably the table my mother-in-law bought me for Christmas this past year, and I’d been looking at the exact same table for around $150.00. My favorite possessions are books, cds, and yarn. I know, I know… I lead such an exciting life. Everyone wants to be, don’t you! If I was a person who mistakes chaos for excitement, I would be convinced I lead the most exciting life on the planet! However, I know better. Again… it’s unfortunate. (By the way, I realize how dumb it was to take that picture with the window, laptop, and lamp glaring like that, but I realized it too late, and I’m far too lazy to retake the dang picture.) 
