Monday, March 2, 2009

TREATING MYSELF

I got paid last week. (Yea! Bells ring, confetti falls.) I don't get checks all that often (and this one was for Bookplate Special, which comes out in December), so I decided to hold back a few bucks and really treat myself to something nice. In fact, more than one something nice.

The problem is ... I don't know what a treat is any longer.

On Saturday I had to run an errand and stopped at K-Mart. Once inside, I immediately made a bee-line for the household section where I secured something I've been dreaming of for weeks: a kitchen waste basket with a foot pedal. Yee-ha! I will never have to touch the garbage can again. (Or at least for the life of this waste basket.) Then I sauntered over to the kitchen towel section and treated myself to 25 kitchen dish cloths. Ha! I will overcome my compulsion to pull a piece of Bounty from the roll to mop up a spill.

And my last stop? A.C. Moore -- where I bought a package of kitty stickers. (I put them on the outside of envelopes for people who request a bookmark.) Total amount of my fabulous shopping spree? $24.78.

Wow--so this is the glamorous life of a New York Times bestseller. (I are impressed.)

The reality is that the bulk of my income this year will pay taxes (to the Feds, the State, and the County (for property taxes)) and my dentist.

But say I suddenly had a few thousand to blow, what the heck would I buy? I'm kind of surprised that I can't think of anything I really want. Okay, maybe a few more books and CDs ... but nothing big.
What I would like is to suddenly become organized. Or find the interest and energy to clean and do laundry. I guess that's just something money can't buy.