Remember back in September, when I talked about this? It’s been a few months, and a few delays due to trying to coordinate two busy schedules, one of which includes the schedules of two busy little kids, but finally my friend and I hooked up and managed to nail down a day to get started on the next phase of the tree in the breakfast nook.

After church we all went out to lunch and then she and her kids and her large and impressive container of paints and painting paraphenelia came over to our house. The kids immediately busied themselves with the various toys we’ve collected for precisely that purpose (we may not have kids of our own, but we try to at least be prepared to keep them busy when they come to visit!) while she and I got to work. Or rather, she got to work and I sat on a chair and watched her in awe.

She is one of these people who can just see things that I am completely incapable of seeing. She’s the type of person paint chips were meant for – she can take that teeny tiny square of color and not only envision the entire room in that shade, she can also toss in accent colors and techniques and know immediately how it will look. I, on the other hand, am one of those people who still has a hard time determing if my top matches my pants when I get dressed in the morning. This, obviously, is why she took over on the tree once I dutifully painted in the outline she so nicely drew for me.

The trunk is completely detailed now, and it looks amazing. She even thought about how the light comes in from the windows so that it will look ‘natural’. And then she dragged out smaller brushes and showed me how to do leaves because despite my complete and utter lack of artistic talent, the leaves get to be my responsibility. Of course, just like with the trunk and branches, I’ll put the splotches on the wall and then she’ll come over for one more round of detail work to turn my splotches into something looking less like a preschooler was let loose with a bucket of fingerpaint, and more like…well…a tree.

I cannot even begin to tell you how exited I am at how this thing is turning out. I may, currently, be hopelessly intimidated by the prospect of having to 'leaf' this whole thing by myself, but I am telling myself, much like the Little Train That Could, "I think I can, I think I can", and if I keep saying it long enough I'm sure I will convince even myself.

In the meantime, however, I give you the tree, phase 2.