Finally something new???.....not so much

So, quite obviously, I have not been posting to my blog...actually I haven't posted since 2010. * awkward pause* so now I will give you a set of excuses that 'kept me from this' including (but not limited to) : I'm a full time student!!! I work 20+ hours a week!!! I need to have me time!!! OK, now that thats done let me be frank...I am failing as a housewife! And mostly for lack of trying. Although truly, the 'roles' in our house have shifted a little so its not entirely my fault! Jon is now home almost every day and I'm at work or school everyday so it just makes sense that he would cook...after all he's home and he's a heck of a lot better than I am! But no more excuses. Soon (hopefully, fingers crossed) Jon will be working more, I'll be working less and the whole "make dinner, keep the house clean, etc" will fall onto my (slightly unwilling) shoulders. So I better get started. I have a few home type projects I want to do over the next few weeks (which would be incredible if I did, seeing as how they've been on my to-do list since mid-July) and I am going to give it my all to complete said tasks. Ok, maybe give it 85% of my all for the first few days...I'm trying here!! So the list is as follows
1. My neighbor threw a shelving unit away (in the summer, its been in my closet ever since) and the shelves are in good condition, aside from the paint. They are half pepto-bismol pink and half lavender. Not exactly the easiest color scheme to work with. So the plan is to sand these down (only if absolutely necessary) and repaint them black. maybe even do a shiny/lacquer type coat...but I don't want to get ahead of myself here, after all I do have a few more projects in the works. So paint shelves. easy right? Lets hope so.
2. I have a calendar of Marilyn Monroe pictures. I am completely obsessed with her....ok obsessed may be a bit dramatic, but I do like her. so I want to put these pictures (the good ones) in black frames and make a sort of Marilyn collage (with a few other selected pictures) to hang up. Maybe in the bedroom so people don't think I'm too weird...then again I am posting this on the world wide web so maybe the living room would work... either way....cut out pictures, put in frames. Easy.
3. This should be the simplest of them all. I have an old expo white board from work and I want to paint it over with chalk board paint. I figure, the board was free, the paint's like 8 bucks and the kids would loooove it! Grandmas chalkboard is a hit, so I should have one..right? This should easily qualify as the quickest task...so maybe this one first?
4. The most difficult, and the one that will probably take more than a few weeks to finish.... I found a couch on the side of the road (this side of the road thing is becoming a pattern....come to my house sometime and ask what furniture I "found"). Anyway, the couch has a beautiful frame and is very 'sitting room in France circa 1930' (actually google '1930 couch' and you'll know what I'm talking about). The only (minor) problem with this couch is the fabric is a little worn. So I want to reupholster is. *GASP* (Sorry, the sheer magnitude of this project just hit me....). This is the task I am looking forward to the most/dreading more than all the others. It will take a lot of time but I feel like the end result will be so rewarding!! I can say "like that couch? yeah I did that". I'm going to qualify this one as too difficult to focus on but has a promising future.
So people, there is my (some of it at least) to do list home wise. Hopefully this weekend I can start on some of the projects. I'll post before (because i know your dying to see the pastel splashed shelves) and after (because I want to prove I can reupholster a couch) shots. Wish me luck!!! The adventure begins.