New floors! New stairs! New paint!

We're getting new floors installed in the house!

We moved in to this little townhouse in October 2009. The house was in great condition, and we got it for a song. But one of the most awful things about it was the flooring. The carpet and linoleum flooring were 17 years old. The carpet had a nice gray walk pattern and bewildering red stains that looked like deep, dark rust. They changed and grew every time we washed it. The kitchen had the linoleum that was chipping. The design on the linoleum had indented stripes that held onto dirt and grime, and after 17 years there was just NO removing it.

So, FINALLY we found the flooring we wanted, and someone who could install it. And this weekend was what I've called "Demolition Weekend" We spent all day yesterday, with the help of my mom and sister, emptying the room of all our possessions, moving ALL our furniture to the garage and tearing up the carpet.

On top of that, I've always wondered what our stairs looked like under the carpet. So, once we were almost done, we started pulling edges of the carpet up just to peek, and what we found was AMAZING. Well constructed stairs, with rounded edges and a proper nose (or lip, or whatever).

Unfortunately, I didn't take any full BEFORE pictures, but I DID take some "in-progress" pictures.
Today, we finish clean up, make sure every last thing has been emptied from the 1st floor, and keep pulling out staples on the stairs. If I have my way, I'm going to start sanding ASAP.

On top of that, we have a painter coming today to give us a quote to have our living room/stairway painted. We have gigantor ceilings and there's no way Mike and I could have done it without dying.

The floors are being installed Monday-Thursday and I CANNOT WAIT until I can see the finished product. And to have the 30 boxes of Pergo gone.

BECOMING adult.

So, when I was in college, I was all "OMG, I can't wait to be done with school so that I don't have to do anymore HOOOOOOOOOMEWORK. Life will be all fun and games because all you have to do is work, and the rest of your time is YOURS!!"

Little did Ashley Version 2006 know that college was the closest I would get to a nap, ever again. Once I crossed the stage and manhandled my diploma, GONE were the days of watching 6+ hours of The Hills marathons. GONE were the days of staying up until 2am facebooking, AIM chatting and drinking my face off.

I was under the impression that 1) after I got my diploma magazine editors were going to be kicking in my door to work for them (a la The Devil Wears Prada) 2) I was magically going to have a splendid wardrobe and 3) once I came home from work, I was going to have all the time in the world to do cool adult stuff - like watch rated R movies and eat buckets of ice cream.

It's taken me, what? Like 3 years to realize that - OMG, being an adult takes practice. I've spent many, many hours over these last three years beating myself up becuase I didn't feel adult enough. I felt like everything was falling through the cracks and that I was just BAD at being a grown up.

But lately, and I mean VERY lately, it's dawned on me that, just like every new skill, becoming GOOD at being adult takes practice. And, this realization came because I started to feel comfortable being an adult. Yes, I fall off the wagon and leave dishes all over, and my floor is a little dirty, and sometimes I don't make it to the bank in a timely fashion...but everything, and every DAY is an improvement.

Most days, I am able to get out the door for work, look decent(ish), make it home to make dinner, and make the house presentable. I've gotten comfortable with this routine. So now, I feel like I need to step it up a notch, and part of that will be the goals I outlined a couple of days ago. Mainly, I need to exercise more, watch TV less, and spend a little more time nurturing my creativity and reconnecting with my books.

All this? It starts tomorrow with getting up at 4:50am, so I can be out the door and jogging at 5:00am. Cross your fingers that Sleep Ashley doesn't turn off the alarm until 6:00am.
(She's known to do this in the past. And by "past" I mean this morning)

I am accepting that it takes a little longer to learn to juggle all the responsibilites that I've been putting into practice since I graduated, and because of that, I'm beating myself up less. Life is pretty chill these days, dudes.

Has anyone else had this realization? How are you adjusting to adult life? Has anyone just kind of been like "this is easy" - warning: I might eat your face.

In other news:

* I have set beer traps in my garden to try to stop the damn slugs from eating MONSTROUS holes in my sunflowers, green beans and radishes.
* I did my hair all Rosie the Riveter style on Sunday morning. I spent Saturday night watching Mad Men and pin up hair tutorials - and LOVE IT
* I realized how awkward I am at taking self-portraits. OMG. Makes my skin crawl!
* Mike has given me the go-ahead to get a cat, if I really want one. We've talked about it since before we got Maddie (hell, we went to the shelter with the intention of getting a cat, not a dog...oops), and I waffle back and forth. Worrying about the pee, mainly. But lately, I've been watching videos of Maru, and watching my neighbors fatty orange cat from a distance, and now I'm thinking this is kind of a great idea. I've ALWAYS had cats, and I think they're lovely.
* I need to start working on my 25th year life list! My birthday is coming up, and I need to make sure I do something awesome with the year. Additionally, I think I need another birthday tattoo. Maybe it's time for some Harry Potter love?