DIY Wrap Up: Things I Didn’t Do Because I Was Sleeping Edition

UPDATE: Now with actual links to the Bob Vila articles (seriously, I have no idea what I’m doing anymore) and the Found Magazine site was down yesterday but should be back up now.

For the last year the thing that usually startles me when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror is a huge spot of paint on the side of my head (because apparently I sleep on my paint rollers when not using them) or a patch of wood shavings clinging to some odd part of my body (what? You don’t roll your elbow around in the sawdust pile?). But for the last few months I’ve actually had to stop myself from doing the duck-and-cover when I walk into the bathroom, because on more the one occasion when I saw my reflection for a split-second I thought there was a zombie about to come through the mirror and eat my face off.

Yes, that’s how bad the circles under my eyes are. It’s frightening.

So I made a pact with myself for the next three weeks to try and get at least eight hours of sleep a night, and guess what I found out… I actually need the extra hour or two (or three) that I shave off of my beauty rest every night to edit photos, or draw up furniture plans, or update this website.  Do I feel better physically? Yes. Do I look less like a flesh-eating zombie? Marginally. But I’m also in a constant state of panic because I don’t feel quite on top of things as I usually do… so if you sense an underlying note of laughter-about-to-turn-into-hysteria in my writing, now you know why.

The good news is I’ve got some time off of my Actual Real Job coming soon and I expect to have things under control after that.

Until then, here are some things I actually did over the last couple of weeks (besides building this awesome thing):

• My all-time favorite mention of a “self-service wrenchette” on Bob Vila’s blog
• Hey look! I installed a light fixture without electrocuting myself.

Even more impressive is what other people have been doing while I’ve been getting my beauty rest:

• From found magazine, you have to read this letter that was found in the wall of a house during a remodel. It’s funny because we’ve all been there.
• Check out The Turtle House… new bloggers who are taking on a crazy big project, and I love how it’s coming along.
• Proving I’m not totally crazy to want to be buried with my drill. Guess what author was supposedly buried with his power saw?
• By far the most impressive kitchen makeover I’ve seen in a while is at The Bee Hive (which I found via Curbly)
• Kids that absolutely put me to shame by spending the last few summers building an authentic log cabin. I love it.  (found via fellow Bob’s Blog writer Monica Michael Willis)