I found out that I was pregnant with Martin about five minutes after we moved into our first home in a new city, about three months after we were married.  It was kind of a shock, all of that, all at once.  It was also a very busy time for me at work, having to travel for a few weeks in a row to launch a product I'd worked on for years.  And yet, despite all that was on my mind, I started imagining the baby's room almost as soon as the + sign showed up on the pregnancy test.  I thought of all the things I would make, the way I could make it feel special for our little one.  Here I am painting some boards we made to create a wooden border around the baby's room:

Side note: I posted this picture for my sister-in-law Carrie who is now about six weeks from delivering their first baby.  Because Carrie?  I know that I look huge in this picture, but I was exactly SIX WEEKS from delivering at that point.  I KNOW.  I just wanted to make you feel a little better.  Now, back to the story.

It was the first room decorated at our old house, and I took care to make sure that it was special.  When we moved into our second house, Martin was almost two years old and I was in my third trimester with the second baby.  I was heavy, moving was difficult, and I was very tired.  I unpacked as much as I could, hanging art on the walls anywhere that a nail was already in place.  I didn't do any decorating, only unpacking.  In the three years that we've lived here, I've taken wallpaper down in four rooms and had them painted, sort decorating as I go.  Last Spring Martin's room was stripped of its wallpaper and painted... and then that was it!  I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do to make it fun and comfy and cool for him, so I just left the walls blank.  And it felt empty, despite all the mess contained inside.

So this weekend we started a project to fill the space underneath one of his windows.  I had been thinking about this for quite awhile, but kept coming up against hurdles in the project plan of my mind.  This happens to me a lot.  I can visualize what I want, I know just how I want to make it, but I lack technical skills and tools.  The biggest roadblock that I always face in the projects I imagine always involves a mitre saw.  I don't have one, I don't know how to use it, I'm not good at measuring or assembly.  Little things, really. 

Despite my shortcomings in skill and tools, I decided to move forward anyway and created the:



A board that hangs on the wall under the window - cars with magnets, strips to make roads and paths, arrows to direct traffic, road signs.  And one happy, busy boy.


Right now the only drawback is that it's not actually hanging on the wall, more like leaning up against it.  And laying on the floor.  And moving from room to room.


My original vision was to have a five foot long section of metal, framed in old worn wood and surrounded by tiny car parts glued to the frame.  This is the vision that's been in my mind for months.  But after considering my actual abilities and the resources at hand, we modified the plan and came up with this compromise.  Should you find yourself in a similar situation, I'd recommend the following*:
- Need to cut indoor/outdoor carpeting?  Use a poultry shears.
- Need to cut sheet metal?  Poultry shears again (watch for the edges and duct tape them immediately).
- Can't find the big wire cutter?  Handy dandy poultry shears.
- No clamps?  Put a big box on top of the whole thing and stack the card table chairs on top.
- Wire won't lay flat?  Hot glue gun, baby.

*Please note: these methods should only be used if the construction project is a decorative one, not anything that is required to function or hold weight.

So far, the speedway is holding together and everyone is enjoying it.  We haven't finished decorating it yet but have at least covered a few walls.  We added some art (one by me, one by Martin, one a gift from Martin's Great Aunt Eilleene), a cowboy hat, a picture of his pal Sunny, a cowboy rope, two clocks, and a large poster of Vegas-era Elvis.  Next on the list = window treatments, assorted car parts, paintings of construction vehicles.  Guess I better put that mitre saw on my Christmas list.