Decision Impaired
There are four different colors of yellow paint on my walls right now. The first was painstakingly painted by Trent over a year ago (he hates, absolutely hates, those paint bobbles that show up on the ceilings or sides of walls after a paint job is completed).
Even though I liked the color when we picked it out, it's never looked quite right on the kitchen walls. For over 365 days, we've looked at it, trying to figure out what was wrong. About a month ago we made the final decision: the lemon tone, albeit perfectly painted, had to go.
I brought in Sally Jo, an interior decorator friend, who scrutinized our lemon flavored walls and suggested that I match the walls as closely as I could to the yellow in my kitchen curtains. Ever obedient, I did what she said. I brought home the color that perfectly matched my curtains and painted about three quarters of one wall. This peachy hue of yellow was also analyzed thoroughly and, alas, ultimately rejected, yet not removed from the wall.
Yellow colors #3 and #4 were added yesterday after a carefully thought-out trip to the paint store with my friend, Suzanne, a color expert who has just enough patience to stare at a wall for several minutes (or hours) and decide if the hue is right or not. Suzanne and I came home with "straw" and "barley" yellows and slapped them on the only remaining white wall. When Trent came home from work, he, too, stared at the walls and we discussed the positives and negatives of the respective colors; however, we did not make a final decision.
Thus, I now sit in a room with 4 different yellows on my walls. When Katherine, a student whom I tutor, walked into our sunroom today, it was hard not to miss her raised eyebrows as she observed the rainbow extravaganza going on. "Um, we're trying to pick a yellow," I lamely explained. "I can see that." said Katherine.
Now, let me tell you another story. A month ago Trent came home with news. BIG news. It's a long story. I'll give you the short version: this, that, and the other at his current place of employment had all combined to create a decision we had not been expecting: leave the job that brought us out here in exchange for a new job with greater opportunities (and greater risk) or stay. Staying meant safety in the form of less risk, but fewer opportunities.
Oh, how we waffled! Oh, how we've wandered! Every day has been fraught with analysis and introspection. Stay or Go? Oh, let's stay. No, wait, let's go. No, let's stay. Uh, maybe we should go. Should we stay? Maybe let's go. I think we should go. Okay, let's stay.
In the middle of all the madness, I said to my brother-in-law Alex, "You know, it's not like we're decision impaired or anything; we're just having a hard time making up our minds..." Alex stared at me like I was daft and said, "Isn't having a difficult time making up your mind what being decision impaired means?!"
Okay. Point to Alex. We did struggle mightily with this decision, almost to the point of impairment. And we are those people who spent 2 years dating after realizing individually that we had met "the one" after our first date.
And we are those people who currently have 4 different colors of yellow on our walls.
Last Tuesday Trent finally made up his mind. He's moving on to a new job. The one with more risk but with greater opportunity. It leaves us in here in Upstate, NY for the time being, but opens the doors for some awesome career experiences for Trent. I'm thrilled for him.
Now all that remains are the walls. This morning I decided that our walls will be painted with "straw" yellow.
Or maybe the "barley"...
Wait, no, the "straw"...
Even though I liked the color when we picked it out, it's never looked quite right on the kitchen walls. For over 365 days, we've looked at it, trying to figure out what was wrong. About a month ago we made the final decision: the lemon tone, albeit perfectly painted, had to go.
I brought in Sally Jo, an interior decorator friend, who scrutinized our lemon flavored walls and suggested that I match the walls as closely as I could to the yellow in my kitchen curtains. Ever obedient, I did what she said. I brought home the color that perfectly matched my curtains and painted about three quarters of one wall. This peachy hue of yellow was also analyzed thoroughly and, alas, ultimately rejected, yet not removed from the wall.
Yellow colors #3 and #4 were added yesterday after a carefully thought-out trip to the paint store with my friend, Suzanne, a color expert who has just enough patience to stare at a wall for several minutes (or hours) and decide if the hue is right or not. Suzanne and I came home with "straw" and "barley" yellows and slapped them on the only remaining white wall. When Trent came home from work, he, too, stared at the walls and we discussed the positives and negatives of the respective colors; however, we did not make a final decision.
Thus, I now sit in a room with 4 different yellows on my walls. When Katherine, a student whom I tutor, walked into our sunroom today, it was hard not to miss her raised eyebrows as she observed the rainbow extravaganza going on. "Um, we're trying to pick a yellow," I lamely explained. "I can see that." said Katherine.
Now, let me tell you another story. A month ago Trent came home with news. BIG news. It's a long story. I'll give you the short version: this, that, and the other at his current place of employment had all combined to create a decision we had not been expecting: leave the job that brought us out here in exchange for a new job with greater opportunities (and greater risk) or stay. Staying meant safety in the form of less risk, but fewer opportunities.
Oh, how we waffled! Oh, how we've wandered! Every day has been fraught with analysis and introspection. Stay or Go? Oh, let's stay. No, wait, let's go. No, let's stay. Uh, maybe we should go. Should we stay? Maybe let's go. I think we should go. Okay, let's stay.
In the middle of all the madness, I said to my brother-in-law Alex, "You know, it's not like we're decision impaired or anything; we're just having a hard time making up our minds..." Alex stared at me like I was daft and said, "Isn't having a difficult time making up your mind what being decision impaired means?!"
Okay. Point to Alex. We did struggle mightily with this decision, almost to the point of impairment. And we are those people who spent 2 years dating after realizing individually that we had met "the one" after our first date.
And we are those people who currently have 4 different colors of yellow on our walls.
Last Tuesday Trent finally made up his mind. He's moving on to a new job. The one with more risk but with greater opportunity. It leaves us in here in Upstate, NY for the time being, but opens the doors for some awesome career experiences for Trent. I'm thrilled for him.
Now all that remains are the walls. This morning I decided that our walls will be painted with "straw" yellow.
Or maybe the "barley"...
Wait, no, the "straw"...
If you look carefully past the now croup-free Lillian, you can see the two yellows on the wall. She hasn't forgotten how to smile, she's just mesmerized by the camera; or possibly the abnormally huge black bow that I have plopped on her head is preventing her smile from kicking in.
In any case,
Happy Halloween!
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