I have an affinity for stuff. It's uncanny. I can walk around my house, looking at things that need to be done (the endless renovation) and be instantly updating my mental shopping list. I did some yard work earlier this week, therefore I now want a Collapsible Wagon. Why? Because it would be super convenient when picking up yard debris and hauling it to the compost pile. Sure, we already have a metal wagon (two, in fact) but those take up so much space that they get stored outside (or off-site)...often with heavy things on them...so they aren't available for hauling the debris without moving other stuff. And it would be great for camping too. Not that we camp...but we could. Especially if we had a folding wagon. So you see my problem.
Speaking of camping, there's an Instant Cabin Tent that I want too. You know, for that one time a year my family goes to the races and might want to stay overnight. Or for sleepovers. Not that my son has people sleepover. But if we had one, he could. And if we get the cabin, we might as well get the cots, the folding camp kitchen, the solar shower, the portable potty. Of course, then we'd need a place to store all that...like a new shelving unit for the garage. This is what I call the "exponential wanted item," it starts with one thing and becomes...the entire REI catalog.
The list goes on. A cordless dustbuster. We aren't lacking in the vacuum cleaner department. We have a Kirby with all the attachments and three shop vacs. They just aren't convenient for the stairs, which are the center of my house and the first thing you see when I open the door. The stairs really should get vacuumed daily...but I hate to vacuum. The perfect gift for me would be the robot vacuum (this one), but it doesn't do stairs either. So I almost need a dustbuster, really.
I'm not talking about the well-planned and thought out remodeling list. Those are things that are integral to the final look our house will have when I'm done renovating. Things like lighting, new ceiling fans, the remaining components of our entertainment center from IKEA...those are actual, justifiable wants. I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to them.
This is different thing altogether. This is some kind of super-procrastination-rationalization-consumerism thing. And it's a problem. I can't walk into IKEA or Costco without instantly acquiring things that I didn't need until I saw them. Things that now require storage space in my home, something this house is seriously lacking. Now the things that should be making my life simpler are spilling out into the way of living and spawning guilt when they aren't utilized to their full potential. By that, I mean the new wagon will require that I reorganize my side of the garage (again). Yet I'll feel guilty next Spring when I realize that we still haven't gone camping, despite me buying the instant cabin on Black Friday. Because what says "Thanksgiving" more than a place to let 8 - 12 teenagers sleep in your back yard, with a folding wagon full of snacks and a cordless dustbuster to control insects? I can't think of anything. But if I do, it's going on the list.
