The First Time

When I was a kid, I was fearless (I, and about six boys from grade school, have the scars to prove it). As I grew, the pain started to filter through, sending a Bat-signal to my brain that called rationality and "grown up" to the forefront. Seems like a good thing, right? But is it?

The first time we do anything is new territory. Because of our childhoods, because we all have some version of the warning siren in our heads, the first hint of pain sends us scrambling. And it doesn't have to be physical pain - I'm the Empress of allowing emotional (pride) pain end something before it's even begun (pefectionist, hello). Even if I make it past the first physical or emotional hurdle, if any hint of the beacon sounds I run like the girl I am.
Not lately, though. Oh, I dithered, procrastinated, and excused (my usual avoidance-dance), but the last few weeks have seen ... completions - in plural.

I'm stunned. This year's theme, "house to home (for almost free)" was one I just knew was doomed before I began. And yet ... I still put the raspberries on The List, and though it took three days of one-to-two-hour-shifts (my hands) and much whining, I not only finished it, I finished it well. And then the cabinets ended up rough draft (and hand-painful), too, but though they took twice as much work as I thought they would, I finished. Again!

I didn't think I would, not after that first day with them - I did it the "right" way, using the template provided by the manufacturer, making my little marks and hammering a nail into the cabinet (because I couldn't fit a drill in there). When that initial drawer finally went it, I thought "oh, crap" because the idiot thing was too far back - and I really did follow the directions to the letter (if only because I'm allergic to mistakes)! Anyway, I pulled the whole contraption out, used a bit more common sense (I laid the rail and "drilled" the first pilot hole in place) and it turned out perfect. The second went easier and faster, and the third took me no time at all. Even the swap out and the pull to clean beneath the oven (which hadn't been done since it went in a decade ago) went quicker because I wasn't intimidated anymore.

See, the first time is always the worst time. Once we figure that out, once we realize we know more (or have learned more) than we thought we did, the rest is cake.

Or a well-organized, fabulous-looking set of cabinets: