I love the natural pace, the way the sunlight changes hourly, the quiet, the household smells. I love seeing the animals' faces all day long, knowing they are okay. I love being here in case my husband or his Dad need something. I love the freedom to choose recipes that require many hours instead of stopping for take out. I love having time to bake and run long miles. I really love being caught up on the necessary things like grocery shopping, laundry, and ironing, so I can pursue other things like sewing aprons and painting lyrics on the bathroom wall. And making paper flowers. And maybe blogging.
The natural flowers are loving this soft rainy day.
The paper flowers, less so.
But in the midst of so much peace and order, I am discovering a troubling fact about myself. I am a hoarder. Of the weirdest things. Today, straightening the kitchen pantry and the laundry corner of our garage, plus a few other spots, has revealed an embarrassing arsenal of purchased goods. I'm admitting it here in hopes that getting it out in the open will be the antidote to future hoarding.
Here are the things I have accidentally collected in excess:
- fabric softener (Even with three people in the house household now, I only do four or five loads of laundry per week. I need significantly less fabric softener than I am buying.)
- fabric spray starch (See above. Only once in my married life have I ran out of starch and really REALLY needed it. It must have been a scarring experience, because I swear I will never run out of it again.)
- lasagna noodles (Seriously confusing. Who is buying this?? I don't even remember putting it in the buggy. I only cook lasagna like three times per YEAR. Why is there so much in the pantry? Is Handsome buying it secretly as a hint that he wants it? Doubtful.)
- spiral notebooks (Shocker.)
- garlic (Another big surprise. But at least I stopped buying dried herbs.)
- raffia and white twinkle lights (I own enough of these things for like three more houses.)
- Scentsy wax thingies (Save me from myself.)
- bananas (We could survive all winter on banana bread just from what I have in the freezer.)
- cans of crushed pineapple & cream of mushroom soup (???)
- conditioner for my hair (I have three big bottles, and that's just upstairs. It doesn't count the half-bottles I donate to the guest bathroom. Pretty sure it's a fragrance thing, but it needs to stop.)
- chicken scratch and protein feed (Yes, this is necessary stuff, but for a few months now I have been buying too much, and it's piling up in the barn. The funny thing is that the yard birds are omnivorous and easily the most flexible eaters on the farm. I could lighten up there.)
Whew! I feel better. With a little discipline I will find good uses for all of this wonderful excess and stop the weird purchases.
What things do you buy out of inexplicable habit? I would really truly love to know.
Thanks for Listening.
xoxoxoxo
