Return of the Mack ...

YAY!  I have returned!

Okay ... so everyone who has ever read a blog post on here knows that I have an issue with procrastination.  I can have a project mapped out ... to the point I know that x number of items must be completed x number of days per week ... and every day I will find myself adjusting that formula.

I decided I wanted to make a throw for our friend's daughter's first birthday last Saturday.  I saw a neat pattern about a month ago ... and knew I had plenty of time to crochet the individual flowers and then put everything together.  But, as usual, I found myself moving that line ...

"If I skip tonight, I'll just have to do two extra flowers tomorrow."

"Okay, so I haven't done anything in three days ...
that just means I'll work a little harder this weekend."

It ... is ... ridonkulous.

It was so bad that last Monday, I realized how horribly I had botched this up.  I was so far behind that I was considering texting Stoney and calling an audible.  There was no stuffed animal or toy at Toys R' Us that was too expensive ... finishing this was simply not possible.

But I made a deal with myself.   Work hard ... as hard as you can ... and if, by Friday, you know you can't get it done ... then tell Stoney and you can shop Friday night.

And with that, I started crocheting flowers.  Flower after flower after flower after flower.  I got off work and I crocheted until ten or eleven.  I woke up and crocheted a flower before work.  Slowly but surely ... I was getting there.  I didn't go over to Stoney's to visit ... I didn't even go to his house on Friday night.  The finish line was in sight, and I knew  could make it.

As usual, I wasn't finished until the last possible second.  Friday night I stitched the last flowers together ... and whipped a basic, one-layered border around the edge.  The perfectionist in me is not happy.  I could've made a border with leaves .... I could've done something really impressive.  But ... sometimes we have to make do with what we have.  And I have no one to blame by myself.

Here's the almost finished product ... right before I put the border around the edge.

I'd like to tell you I've learned my lesson.  I'd like to tell you that I won't procrastinate or dawdle next time.  But there's just something wrong with me ... and there always has been.  When I was working on art projects ... even back in school ... I would say, "I work best under pressure."  And it's true?  I suppose?  I did paint some amazing things ... I made gifts ... I did all these great things at the last minute.  But only because I don't have the discipline to just get it done when I should.

And so ... the party went wonderfully and another project is behind us.  Now ... if I could just get that afghan done that I started for College One's wedding ... two years ago ...

Return of the mack
It is
Return of the mack
Come on
Return of the mack
Oh, my god
You know that I'll be back
Here I am

Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack