Ellyn the Post-Grad

My first task upon returning to my parents' house as a college graduate was to paint the room I've occupied since the summer I turned 13.  Today, after much frustration and hard labor, the task is complete.  My room is by no means perfect; there are poorly spackled bumps where huge screws used to hold shelving, annoyingly imperfect lines where paint leaked under the blue tape (a particularly strong pet peeve of mine), and a million tiny white splatters on the wood floor that I will never discover the end of.  But it's very, very pretty.  I owe endless hours to whomever invented those sliding paint edgers to go in corners and along the wall.  As a result, my coral accent wall is flawless (relatively).  I've been making excuses to enter the room so I can admire my work.  Sometimes I just stand there and look around.

Now, if all goes according to plan, I'll only be living in said room for the summer, so it really shouldn't matter whether I like the decor at this point.  But (shhhhhh don't tell) I may be trying to cope with the complete return to parental dependence.  It's a new and more mature color scheme, so I'm not exactly right back where I was 9 years ago, right?  Ummm... Okay so it sucks.  But I'm trying to focus on the positive.  Mainly, I'm just really proud of myself.  I didn't let the man at the hardware store convince me to buy the more expensive paint (an extravagance we Drathrings are staunchly opposed to).  I only had to ask for help once, when some screws proved too stubborn for my girlish muscles.  Overall, I persevered through scorching temperatures, sleeping in the basement, and the pressure to plan a garage sale and finalize grad school paperwork, to finish the job in three days!  Sign me up for the Ass-Kicking Club.

What does an amateur ass-kicker do next, you might ask?
This weekend:  Execute killer garage sale and make dollas.
This week:  Be the best Graduate Assistant Dr. Shweta Singh ever had.
Next week:  Begin Operation Master of Social Work.

Now, perhaps one day I won't have to rely on garage sales to finance an ice cream date with my BFFs.