I got the upper bar cabinets painted and it was time to put everything back together. So in went the glass shelves. There was a hiccup. The glass shelves weren’t fitting. So I tried again. Another hiccup. I knew I’d only added two coats of paint and that it wasn’t that thick, so what was going on, for cry-eye? I tried again. And again. And when I thought just break the damned shelves and then they’ll bloody well fit, I knew it was time to walk away. Which I did.
I went into our room and started folding laundry. I also began counting backwards from 100. 99, 98, 97… Fold, fold, fold. 56, 55, 54… Fold, fold, fold. I kept at it, and when I reached zero, I was still perturbed so I started again. 100, 99, 98… There was plenty of laundry to fold, so that kept my hands busy. Counting backwards was occupying my mind and helping me to calm down, but it wasn’t kicking in as I’d hoped. After counting backwards from 100 – twice – I was still miffed at those glass shelves. So I started again and counted backwards a third time.
By the time I was thinking 10, 9, 8 – Marilu Henner popped into my head. Do you know she’s got near-perfect memory? (Technically, it’s called hyperthymesia and you can read about it here.) If you ask her what was happening on August 12, 1999, she can not only tell you specific details about that day, she can also tell you what she was wearing and what she ate. It’s crazy. People with this blessing/curse are being studied by doctors and researchers and Mister and I saw a story about them on “60 Minutes” years ago. It was fascinating.
Anyhoo – once my mind had wandered far enough away from the janky shelves to visit the land of Marilu Henner, I knew I was ready to go back and tackle the shelves once more. I calmly maneuvered each tempered glass plank, one after another, until they were all in place and ready to house their contents. It took me a while to put everything back in the cabinet, but that job was made easier because I had taken photos of the full cabinets before I emptied them for painting. So I knew where each item went. Then I re-attached the doors and the upper cabinet project was mostly finished.
I still have touch-ups to do, and that will probably wait until the lower cabinets are finished and need their touch-ups. Which is fine. I anticipate the lower cabinets will be a bit less daunting, as painting projects go. Which is also fine.
For now, I think I made the right choice to go (boring) white on these cabinets. They tie in with the fireplace shelves and they don’t clash with the adjacent camel walls. And perhaps the very best thing about getting this far on the project is the fact that I did not break a single glass shelf. For that, I have to thank Marilu Henner. I don’t know why she showed up in my mental sphere, but she did. And she calmed my mind and soothed my frazzled nerves. Kudos, Ms. Henner. Kudos.