I’ve become Rodney Dangerfield

I can’t believe I’m doing this, but no turning back now… I’m going back to school. Again. Crap!! Well, not really crap – but I wish I’d known back when I was in University that I would want to be an interior decorator one day. Then I wouldn’t have wasted 3 years at Uni for a BA in English. Which has been pretty useless as a career tool, let me tell you. And then I wouldn’t have wasted another 1-1/2 years going back to school to study Technical Writing. Actually, that could have turned out really well – I landed a job at Nortel before I even finished the program. It was a dream job – great pay, interesting & challenging work, good people to work with, pretty much every perk you could want… and then reality came barging in eight months later when Nortel started its spiral down the crapper. Thank  you, John Roth, for ruining my newfound career barely after it started. And then giving yourself a nice multi-million dollar bonus. Booooo!!

(And if I’d planned it better, I could have gotten my awesome Herman Miller Aeron chair…)

So anyway, I have my first Basic Drafting Skills class on Monday. Since when does school start in August?? Ugh!!

And then in two weeks, my Colour in Decor class starts.

I know I’m going to learn a lot, and I’m sure both classes are going to be fun – but it still feels weird to be 41 and heading back to school. I’m starting to see senior prom in a whole new way…

Now here’s a dilemma I’m having – what do I carry my school stuff in?? I want to buy a new cool bag…

Not for school, but this dog bag is just too adorable!!

Hubby says my Roots backpack will be perfectly fine…

But it just doesn’t scream “interior decorator in training” does it?? Oh well…

Check these out – over at Oops, I Craft My Pants {Off} (love that blog name!!), Erika created her own personalized notebooks and pens with paper…

Pretty cute, eh?? :-) Much more fashionable than a plain old notebook and pen.

So in two more days, I’m going to officially be a student. And as much as I’m whining about going to school again, I’m really looking forward to it. And whether or not they know it, there are some bloggers who inspired me to do it…

Maria at Colour me Happy — Maria’s knowledge of colour is amazing. I share her love and passion for colour, and I want to learn everything about colour that Maria knows :-) So I had to register for Colour in Decor, even though it means having to give up my step dance class.

Michelle at A Schematic Life — Michelle does the most amazing renderings. She also creates fabulous interiors and exteriors with her pens. I’m not expecting to be able to draw anywhere near as well as Michelle draws after one semester of Basic Drafting Skills. But it’ll be a step in the right direction :-)

Donna at dh designs — Donna recently graduated from the same part-time Residential Decor program that I’m taking. We got together a couple of weeks ago, and babbled for hours-literally!!—about everything from the decor classes to dogs to daiquiris. And freak us both out – Donna was best friends with one of my cousins years ago when they both lived in the same part of Montreal!! Donna takes fabulous flower pictures…

Paul at Kitchen & Residential Design — Paul is just the nicest, most generous guy. He’s been helping me redesign my kitchen via e-mail for months. He sent me tiles samples. And he isn’t afraid to tell me that my cabinet colour sucks!! His amazing generosity inspires me to learn as much as I can about decorating so I can pay it forward like he does :-) Check out this cool floor transition he designed…

My blog partner Victoria — She started the DesignTies Smackdown a few weeks ago. So seeing as she wants a competition, I’m going to take more classes than her and get smarter that her!! ;-P

And really, ALL of the wonderful designers and decorators and decor lovers and bloggers we’ve “met” since we started DesignTies eight months ago have inspired me. Your talent and kindness and generosity have encouraged me to follow my dream to be an interior decorator :-)

So to all of you, a big Thank You!!