Surprise! It’s a Wednesday blog!
I just realized it has been over a week since I published a post. This has NEVER happened in the history of my blog! I’m really sorry. I’m a bad blogger right now.
Right now life is consumed by work, which is getting into its busy season, and by the excruciatingly slow progress on our new house. They still have to rough in the plumbing before they pour the slab, and that is not scheduled to be done for another week. At this point, I’m wondering if we may not move in before the one-year anniversary of our impulse-purchase of this thing in August.
Don’t mind me. I’m just being jaded.
In addition to that, my very somewhat compulsive brain is currently obsessed with all things decorative. I spend hours browsing Amazon and all the home goods sites you can think of, in addition to poring over Pinterest obsessively. If my personal Pinterest boards are any indication, I’m going to need to win the lottery to decorate the house the way I would like.
As we all know, there isn’t a fat rat’s ass in hell chance of that happening.
So, I’ve also been obsessing over Pins that show you how to DIY and craft your own home decor to imitate the expensive stuff, and this has my creative juices really flowing.
Unfortunately, when my brain starts obsessing over something, it leaves little room for other interests, and my writing has suffered. For that, I sincerely apologize to the three of you who still read my blog regularly.
Aside from the fun of decorating a house that hasn’t even been built yet, I’ve got to figure out what to do with all the crap in the house I currently live in. Since I can’t afford to throw it all on a bonfire and start over, I’m tasked with sorting through it and deciding what to keep, what to donate and what to sneak out when The Husband Dude isn’t looking and throw away.
This shouldn’t be such a daunting task, considering we’ve only lived here twelve years, and there are people who have lived in homes much longer, but other people are not hoarders as sentimental as “some” of the people I live with.
Do you get what I’m saying?
El Esposo Dude es un hoarder grande.
Yes, I know that was a horrible example of Spanglish and I can do better, but it’s my blog and I’ll suck if I want to.
While he is focusing on lovingly taking down his Farrah Fawcett poster from the garage wall and carefully packing it, I’m trying to figure out how much the movers are going to charge me to haul the twenty tons of stuff he has been collecting since 1970.
I’m not much better, really. I mean…we eat our daily meals on those unbreakable Corelle dinner plates, yet I’ve got three freakin’ sets of china and a whole collection of Depression glass.
It’s not my fault. My mother insisted I register for wedding china, even though we eloped in a cheesy wedding chapel behind a flower shop in Joplin, Missouri. I did register, and all her friends and family gifted me the china. I’m eternally grateful and love it, but then after Mom died, I inherited her Christmas china that we had all been gifting her over the previous twenty years and all the china she had been gifting my grandmother for forty years and that she inherited when my grandmother died. And on top of that, my mother had some pieces of Depression glass she inherited from both of my grandmothers, who bought and were gifted the Depression glass when it was actually the Depression and it was just glass.
And it’s pink, and I don’t even like pink!!!!
Do you see how ridiculous this is getting???
One day on the drive to school, I was muttering aloud about all this crap I inherited from my mother that I couldn’t really part with, and Shane looked at me sideways.
Shane: Wait. Does that mean that I will inherit all that crap after you die?
Me: Well…I suppose so…
Shane:
I realized pretty quickly that no seventeen-year-old boy wants to hear about all the pink and flowery dishes he is going to inherit someday, so I assured him that it would probably go to his sister and nieces or his daughter if he has one, and he wouldn’t need to concern himself.
Instant relief.
For him. I’m still trying to figure out just how many boxes I’m going to need.
Are we absolutely sure we can’t have a bonfire?
Ernie says
March 4, 2020 at 5:10 amI have lived in my house 12 years too. I have this overwhelming urge to go room to room and eliminate or start over. I said it was an urge- in reality who has time for that? When we redid our kitchen the time I wasted searching for the best light fixture. Oh it makes me shudder. Note I did not say best and most affordable. I stopped myself, because who am I kidding. That dog gone internet. Too many choices. Good luck!
Kat says
March 4, 2020 at 11:57 amI have gone through phases like that…I just get an overwhelming urge to clear a room out, redecorate, reorganize. But there isn’t enough time or money for that! LOL
MamaTrek says
March 4, 2020 at 6:14 amOur “good china” was actually a set of heavy ass cheap ceramic Coca-Cola dishes from Target, IIRC. We got rid of them like IDK..5 years ago because we never used them.
Kat says
March 4, 2020 at 11:58 amProbably a smart thing to do! There’s so much sentimental value attached to these dishes, though. I use the Christmas dishes at Christmas and my grandmother’s china at Thanksgiving, but it sits in a china cabinet the rest of the time. I should probably just take it out and use it more!
M.L. James says
March 4, 2020 at 8:59 amKat,
I so feel your pain. Remember my old art studio that my daughter lived in for about three years? Well, she moved home roughly a month ago and she’s still bringing stuff back. Most of that stuff is mine that I let her use while she lived there. I understand that she has at least one more carload of stuff to bring back home. Fuckity, fuck, fuck! At present my front room is filled with about 10 boxes, bins and black bags that contain Ry and Lauren’s childhoods because it was their stuff that I couldn’t part with. Ten boxes doesn’t sound like that much, but they are BIG boxes! I figured that when they became adults, I’d give their stuff back to them and they could decide what to keep and what to get rid of. That day has come. Only, they are just as overwhelmed, and so all of it is sitting in my front room and no one wants to go through any of it. Damn, that 1,200 square foot house could hold a ton of shit! (Hmm. I should blog about this. Oh, right. I think I already have once or twice.)
Anyway, I’m excited about your new home being built. I so understand about checking into pinterest, etc. I don’t know what style you appreciate most, but I love Jan Barboglio. (Can you say expensive as shit!) I also love Perigold’s website and also Sundance and Arhaus. And I love the old Restoration Hardware catalogs. They have really cool stuff in them even if they don’t sell that stuff anymore. As if I had room for one more thing. Ha!! I got excited when you wrote depression glass until you mentioned it was pink. I think the green depression glass that looks like it’s glowing is amazing! I mean, I don’t have any nor could I use it, but I do appreciate it. Have you considered finding someone willing to buy some of your antique dishes and glassware? You could probably sell it to just the right person and get enough money to buy something really special just for your new place. Just a thought. Sorry, I don’t know anyone.
Keep writing when you can, por favor. I know you’re busy. Me too. That’s why I’m on hiatus. It’s too hard to do everything I’m doing right now and write. I’m trying not to overwhelm myself with too much. It’s bad for my health and I’m trying to make my health a priority at present *as I sip my Coke at 8:52 AM.* Baby steps.
Anyway, just know that I will continue to read you (even if sometimes I’m not able to comment) as long as you blog! Looking forward to your next post. One of these days, I’ll get around to my next post too!
Love ya, Girl! Thanks for the mid-week post! Mona
Kat says
March 4, 2020 at 12:02 pmThanks, Girl. I will definitely keep writing. I just hate that it has fallen by the wayside, so the speak. I am seriously considering selling some of the antique glass. The only pieces I’ll for sure keep will be the ones that were given to my grandmother for her wedding (a bowl and platter that were purchased for $0.50 at the five and dime in 1935!) and a cookie jar that belonged to my other granny. Everything else is just stuff Mom bought here and there at antique shops, and I guess it’s hard for me to let go because I was there with her when she bought so much of it! Oh well…guess THD isn’t the only hoarder! LOL
Mary Johnson says
March 4, 2020 at 9:45 amBeen reading you about 6 months, 1st time comment. I have been in my current house 5 1/2 years, the one before that 20 yrs. I really tried hard to sort out unneeded stuff for this move. However, there are still many, many boxes in the basement that are unpacked. I don’t need or use that space, so therefore…… I have no motivation to go unpack, BUT I NEED to do so. And yes, I have dishes, glasses, etc from my mother who has been gone 15 yrs. Plus I am a big reader and have many books that need to be donated to someone or somewhere.t doubt that my brother, nieces and nephews car a whit about.
What I am saying is…….DO AS MUCH as you can before the move. Otherwise you will be just like me – OH MY GOD!!! don’t do it.
Enjoy your blog lots and lots. Always glad to see a new post from you. Found you thru the Bloggess.
Kat says
March 4, 2020 at 12:05 pmWell, first of all…thank you for reading! I really appreciate you!
Yes, you are definitely right about getting it done before the move. I didn’t do an adequate job of that before moving into THIS house, and didn’t do a good job of organizing as I unpacked, so 12 years later it’s still a mess! And yes, I have things I’ve never unpacked, so clearly I don’t need that stuff anymore! LOL
Thanks again for reading! 🙂
Morningstar says
March 4, 2020 at 9:52 amTheres our Angel! Know you have alot on your china plates and your depression glass is overflowing…..so really glad to hear from you.
Why pack the corelle? Give purpose to the lovely china dishes. You can use and enjoy them every day.
DYI decorating is right up your alley. You are so creative you could totally make your new home look FABULOUS. Materials are abundant at your current abode …..recycle, reuse, refurbish. You won’t be moving “trash” you’ll be moving your new decore.
Remember, I’m available to help.
Miss you. Love you.
Kat says
March 4, 2020 at 12:08 pmThank you, my friend. I do actually use the china sometimes. The wedding china is almost gone because so many pieces were damaged and broken in daily use for so many years. I put the last of it away so it wouldn’t be obliterated. I am already on the lookout in my china cabinet and dark corners for things that can be repurposed and used for every day decor in the new place. I will definitely have fun trying to make my house look like my imagination!!! I love you and miss you too!