On being a perfectionist

My friend Lindsey in Dallas got engaged a couple of weeks ago!  I'm so excited for she and Chris.

 

We have been exchanging some emails talking about wedding planning and all that surrounds it.  I told her my best advice was that it was difficult and crazy at first but then calms down.  Her response was that she is glad because she is such a perfectionist and she doesn't want to get overwhelmed. 

 

It really got me thinking when she wrote that. 

 

Truth be told, I've struggled a lot the past 3-4 months because of perfectionism (is that a word?).

 

 

First with Kevin - don't you all want to be perfect to your significant other?  I do.  But I can't.  And he can't be with me.  We can try, try, try but the reality is, we aren't perfect people.  Can we work hard at our relationship?  Yes.  Can we be perfect?  No.  And that's a hard concept for me to grasp.  I'll still keep trying! 

 

 

Second the wedding - well I've had almost two years to plan it so I'm okay with things on that.  And actually I'm more low key about things than I thought I would be.  Let's talk again on March 15th about that haha!

 

Third the house - oh my gosh. I had no idea what a huge stress it would be.  Especially at first.  The first month was CRAZY.  It was Fall, we had a gazillion leaves in our yard.  We didn't have carbon monoxide detectors (with lots of gas appliances), we didn't have working lights, the house was DIRTY when we bought it, our garage door openers didn't work, the heat wasn't working right so we had to get new thermostats, one of the burners on the stove wouldn't work, we couldn't get our cable to work, we had to buy a new TV, washer and dryer, fridge, dishwasher. 

 

I could go on and on.  It was overwhelming.  And it still is.  I feel like it needs to be perfect.  NOW. 

 

But the reality is, it won't be.  We'll have to deal with a muddy back yard because we have two many trees to grow grass.  We'll have to deal with the ugliest master bath in America.  We'll have to deal with a nasty floor in our laundry room that has a burn on it from a bad appliance the woman before us had.  We'll have to deal with an ugly kitchen light and backsplash.  We'll have to deal with literally no furniture in most rooms or sunroom.  We'll have to deal with no grill. We'll have to deal with no pictures on the wall until all the painting is completed.

 

But the good thing - the shell of an amazing house is there.  It is going to be gorgeous when it is all completed.  You know, in like 10 years.  We have a list of what we want to do for each room.  And we'll keep knocking stuff off the list when we can. 

clearly i didn't know Kevin was taking a picture but isn't this so cute of Mills sleeping?  his face gets so wrinkly!

Fourth the pooch - Mills was a surprise to me.  And I'm SO glad that Kevin gave him to me.  But I'll be the first to say - it has been a difficult adjustment having a puppy to house train.  I have been so frustrated by him not "getting it" and then he has been sick so he's been high maintenance. 

 

I was so glad to go to Maryland for the simple reason of getting Mills healthy (which he is now) and house trained!  Nannie and Poppa put him through an intense training course which he graduated from.  He has relearned what to do in Charlotte and is well on his way to being perfectly house trained.  THANK GOODNESS.  I thought I was going to go crazy there for awhile!  He's good as gold now!  He was laying across my lap last night watching TV and Kevin and I were talking about how cute he is and I just told Kevin, "I'm so glad you got us Mills."  He agreed.

 

So there you have it.  I want to be perfect at everything.  I must realize that isn't reality.  Easier said than done.  Any of you all feel the same?