Thanksgiving Break

I am officially off for the rest of the week! I only had one class this morning. Very few people showed up so as a reward the professor told us all of the rest of our homework for this term. He showed us how to do the hard project and then told us what else we needed to do.

I left school and went to a new shop I had found one day when I was too busy to stop and look. I bought a few things including a couple of gifts. I then decided to go home instead of continuing with my errands. Number one- I wanted to fix Tim lunch for a change, number two- it was storming and number three- I decided I could come home and finish all of my homework in computer and have one less thing to worry about in the next few weeks!

I did my hard excel spreadsheet project. I can do spread sheets because of show choir, believe it or not! I have to do them every year when I am going to tabulate the scores at the South Central Classic competition. So this has not been as hard on me as it has been for some. Then I went to send it in and do the other labs and guess what? The University of Montevallo site is unavailable! So I guess I am officially through for today. I tried to do the right thing but…

My other aggravation of the day was also caused by The University of Montevallo. In order to have a better flow of traffic for the box office, we rearranged the lobby of Reynold’s Hall. Not only did we make space for our table but also left more room for a line and a clearer path to the bathroom during intermission. It was also roomier for when families want to see the cast after the show. It worked well. Over the two weeks I was stuck down there selling tickets I continued to tweak the design. There were too many patterns, and not a good blending of patterns but a hodge-podge of every color you can imagine. For a pretty room with good bones and some expensive pieces it was a jarring mess. I moved some of the patterned pieces that really did not fit into the back room and pulled some of the back pieces to the front. I moved some slipper chairs with a chinoiserie  fabric to the back because they had some pink in them and some other side chairs back there, while a completely different style, at least also had some pink in them. I did them in separate groupings at least. I pulled some red chairs that were a tad more traditional into the big room because the rug had some red in the border. At least the red chairs were solid so they did not add to the dozens of mismatched patterns in the room.

I also made nice seating areas so everyone was not sitting in a big circle, like before. And in the back room, which is open and mostly visible to the lobby, I made lots of seating groups including a small desk area and an area to eat. I took great comfort in the fact that throughout the week I saw students using the area the way I had envisioned. It was prettier and more useful- that is what good decorating is all about. Believe me, I know it is not perfect! I think a large round table under the chandelier as you walk in would be a lovely addition for magazines and a large floral arrangement. It would also be handy for meetings. I had already thought about looking at estate sales and maybe contributing that to the room. But for what I had to work with, I really liked it.

On the last day of the show I asked my advisor if I had to move it all back. I knew it was better and I hated to put it back. She told me to check with the people in the alumni area who had offices around the lobby. She was fine with leaving it but felt it only right to check with them. So I tried. On Friday I went before class and after class, but the offices were dark. I went yesterday and again no one was around. Finally today I decided to make a last attempt. There were people around and I asked in the appropriate office for the person I had been instructed to check with. She was not there and the girl who was told me she did not care but to walk back and check with Brenda. I did and Brenda was in a meeting. Her assistant/ secretary decided to walk out to the lobby and make her own decision.

Now this woman had greasy long hair from the 70’s and was wearing a baggy pair of mom jeans and a sweat shirt. At her age! In an office! Needless to say, I was not going to take style advice on ANY level from this chick! On the walk to the lobby she told me they had had a meeting in the space and noticed it was different. She told me that it had worked well for this meeting. Then she proceeds to tell me to put it all back. I told her I had moved certain things for better flow, more groupings and to try to keep the patterns more cohesive. She blankly looked at me and said to put it back. She then said they had put the red chairs in the back to go with the blue and pink already back there. Red with pink! I knew right then I was beating my head against the wall. I told her about the round table idea and she said, “If we had money for a table we would redo the whole room.” Obviously she has no idea what furniture costs. Then again, if her wardrobe was any indication she probably could redo the room on what I would spend on a table!!! Can you imagine what THAT would look like!

I pointed out that the area that I had made more open was now filled with boxes and a lady was busy sorting t-shirts in the space. I suggested that the space seemed to be being used- again. I told her if she insisted I would wait until Monday to rearrange because I could not do it with all of the boxes there. She said that would be fine.

Trust me, I will NOT be putting the room back exactly like it was before. That would go against all of my sensibilities not to mention good taste in general! And if you think I would even begin to consider buying anything for that room now you are nuts! Those of you who know me know I have spent years studying decorating, probably as many years as some people have spent getting their degrees. You know I love the challenge of  making a space beautiful, comfortable, useful, interesting and harmonious. You know I move furniture constantly and I know when it works and when it doesn’t.You know I have helped friends decorate or rearrange.  You also know I do not respond well to people who obviously do NOT know things yet exert their opinions just because they can. I left there in a bad frame of mind. Coming home to my cozy, beautiful home, freshly cleaned and rearranged helped but I am still pissed off at whoever this chick was!

Oh well, tomorrow I head to three days at the spa for massages, facials, lovely food and relaxation with my guys. I will quickly forget about her and the non functioning computer system at the old University of Montevallo! I was hoping to be a remarkable alumni someday, after all the University of Alabama likes us pretty well and Birmingham-Southern loves us! But it is hard to support people with old technology and no vision for change! I need a break!