My name is Monique and I am a HGTV crackhead

I started a 12 step program. I mean I formed it, and then became its first member. It's new, but I think there are millions suffering from my addiction - I Burn Through Home Projects Like Chocolate Covered Crack (Deep Fried.)

It started with a simple desire to have the home ready for Terry. Call it nesting. But replacing the lamp shade led to painting the side table, which led to realizing the matching lamp was still in the box (since Jan) which meant I needed to get another side table, which meant I had to move the plant, etc. etc., to the point that I no longer eat and I'm up till 2am doing the laundry that should have been done during the day when I was dragging my children to every home and garden store within a 20 mile radius twice a week (after swimming lessons of course.) Exhaustion and starvation forced me to look at my list and ask myself, "If I were a man leaving a year of 130 degree heat, doing his business in a bag, dodging snipers and IEDs, would I care if that particular lamp shade were 12 inches or 11 at the base?" Probably not.

But just to be absolutely sure, I asked him what his expectations were. This was his answer, "I want to not be constantly on edge for fear of my life. I want to eat steak and ice cream and drink a beer. I want to lots of sex. I want to sleep for 13 hours. I want to not be sweating my balls off."
And with that kind of eloquence he won my heart. Anyhoo...

To wean myself off the HG Crack, I made one last trip to IKEA to find an end table for that lamp. And while I swore to only buy a cheap end table that would be nicely hidden by the couch's extended, sloping arm, I ended up at the cashier with that, four seat cushions, four placemats, and a kiddie bench with room for baskets underneath. I put the cushions and placemats back. Progress!