"You...
you...
you're coming when?!" I stammered into the telephone.
I was talking to my mother-in-law who had just informed me that she was visiting next week.
I tried to slow my racing heart and sweaty palms; the house was a mess and I hadn't even started putting together the nursery! I was six months pregnant, and although I was overcome with anticipation and excitement for my first baby's arrival, I was a diehard procrastinator.
Despite the nervous breakdown I felt coming on, I managed to get it together enough to assure my mother-in-law that I was looking forward to her arrival.
I hung up the phone and paced the length of the kitchen.
What was I going to do? I walked up the stairs and straight into the nursery.
As I scanned the room, my heart sank.
There was no way I was going to be able to get the room looking anywhere near my mother-in-law's expectations in a week.
Although the floors and furniture were in place, the walls were a pale, boring yellow.
For months now I had been planning to start decorating the walls; I was an artist and had big plans for the room.
However, my mother-in-law was one of those people who never procrastinated and always had everything ready to go; she probably had the toothpaste on her toothbrush for when she brushed her teeth tonight! Not to mention her luggage packed for her visit next week! I couldn't leave the nursery looking like that.
Half an hour later I found myself Googling, "nursery room decorations.
" I glanced over the search results when the words "nursery wall decals" caught my eye.
I clicked on the link and was taken to a site that offered nursery decals that were cheap, easy to install, but most importantly, were absolutely lovely.
Being an artist, I wouldn't settle for anything less than perfect in my child's room.
"What the heck?" I asked aloud to myself, "Might as well give it a shot!" Three days later my new nursery wall decals had arrived.
Excitedly, I opened the box and to my purest delight saw the butterfly trails nursery decals that I had ordered.
Thirty minutes later I had applied the nursery decals to the wall.
I stepped back and admired my work; the pink butterflies on the yellow wall gave the room a warm, vibrant feel.
Satisfied and relieved, I walked back downstairs to continue preparing for our visitor.
Two days later, I escorted my mother-in-law to the nursery.
As I opened the door she gasped, "Oh, how lovely!" and looked around the room admiringly, "Did you paint these?" she asked.
I smiled and replied, "No, I wish I had, but they're actually nursery wall decals.
" Judging from my mother-in law's reaction, they passed inspection and were certainly on my list of top quality products.