Followers

10 January 2012

That's not thunder you hear . . .

it's coughing. Coming from me. I think I might be getting better, but I'm not sure yet. I've been sick since last Tuesday. Left-brain brought this home, he had it first, was out of work most of last week, got better, then I got it. Much worse than he did. One of the things I've realized over the past week is that, if you are not 100% healthy to begin with, all the cold remedies that they have that are safe to take don't work for anything. Or my body doesn't want them--Robitussin did not agree with me. My doctor gave me cough medicine with codeine, but I can't take that and drive, so I can't take that that much, since I practically live in my car. Left-brain said I need to take a day off work and rest, since I will never get better just "go-go-go." I rolled my eyes at him. But I can almost pull a full breath today. That is an improvement!

I haven't been stitching very much as a result. I did finish my Secret Needle Night kit on Saturday, right on time. I'll try to get a pic of it, without the beads and buttons since I am changing those out. It's OK, but I can't think of anything to use if for myself, so it's out the door as a gift for a friend. I pulled out an old JAB Co Stitch Every Day kit, called Lucky Dog, and I'm working on that one. I used to order these all the time, and really not sure why I never stitched them. Probably for the same reason I never stitched all the Secret Needle Night kits, I just got overwhelmed and gave up trying to do them.

I wonder if we super-stashers could be labeled as some type of hoarder? When I look at my sewing room and think of all the money that has been spent of charts and threads, is it really that different than those people on A&E? I'm not saying that my sewing room is full of trash and feces, and dead animals (scratch that, my sewing room does have a dead animal in it, but does it count if it's the cremated remains of my dog and I do actually know where she is? She's on the bookshelf.), but, seriously, if someone came into your stash storage area and said, "You need to let this go, because it has no value," would you docilely agree, or would you kick and scream and try to explain why your world is a better place for having every cross stitch magazine ever published? Do hoarders ever feel that momentary guilt when they look at their stuff that occasionally runs through me, like, "You could probably have a really good stock portfolio or a nice down-payment for a house if you hadn't bought all this stuff?" Fortunately, that guilt is quick and goes away.

One of the things that I am going to keep harping on myself about this year is to become a better caretaker of my things. To have more respect for them and to be a better steward of the blessings I have been given. So far, that has manifested itself in this determination I have to consume less and use what I have, since what good is it to have a pretty chart and never stitch it? And I am proud of myself--I'm planning to stitch Hallow Eden by Plum Street Samplers as a wedding sampler to display during the fall, and part of me says, "Don't dig through the giant tub of floss, or the bobbin boxes, buy new, get the rush, you know you wanna!" and, thus far, I've been able to tell that part to shut up. Sometimes it's not that easy. But, thinking about using the $4 saved from using floss in my stash to frame the finish, and being a good steward of both the floss I have, and the money I could use for framing, that helps a lot! Don't get me wrong, our CVS is by Michaels and it was quite a fight to not walk into Michaels after picking up my cold medicine on Saturday, but I felt pretty good when I got home . . . and it wasn't because of the codeine, LOL.

Does anyone else ever have this internal conflict? I know a lot of people have shied away from S.E.X. in large quantities, but it makes me wonder if I'm a freak or just normal . . . whatever passes for normal.

11 comments:

Susan said...

I get what your saying. I have been on the abstinence wagon for a long time, and just recently acquired some new charts for Christmas. Fortunately, charts are small, and most of all of mine fit in one medium sized tub.

My mother has "shopping" issues since my dad passed away 18 years ago. She buys for the thrill, not because she needs it, and when my sister comes down, she wants to help clean up her house. My mom gets a little cranky, and when thinking about your explanation about our stash, I can understand why.

Thanks for the Tuesday morning thought! Have a wonderful day!

riona said...

I suspect I don't have enough stash to qualify as a super stasher but I do have enough charts, books and magazines to keep me busy for the next 3 or 4 years. Which is why I have been trying to stash from stash for the past several years, allowing myself only five new purchases a year. In 2012, I am taking a more radical step: NO NEW CHART PURCHASES. And I will be doing as much substituting floss and fabric as reasonably workds before buying fresh supplies to stitch what I have on hand. I figure my main stitching expenses this year will be for framing and the one retreat I allow myself each year. As to your question: are you normal? Probably not, but if it's any comfort, I'm right there with you!

Besides, normal is boring!

Annie said...

I'm not a super-stasher, mostly because I don't have enough room! But my 1-br condo is filled to the gills with stuff. I hate that, but I just can't be a minimalist.

Hope you get all better soon. Being sick is just no fun!

Mother of Mayhem said...

Rachel, I keep my supplies in my bedroom only (until I get a stitching room to myself) and it all fits in one rolling cart with ten smallish drawers, one medium-sized bin and a couple of tote bags, including a Salty Yarn messenger bag which I love! I do have accumulated stash hiding in my closet, but it is all kits (I bought kits when I was too naive to realize that patterns existed out there!) I cleaned out all of my British cross stitch magazines and the patterns I kept fit in two pendaflex files. So, I am not exactly a hoarder, but I do have more than enough projects to keep me occupied. I have fought with myself to keep from going on ebay to find OOP charts and I am limiting my new chart additions to my birthday in July and September (when we vacation near the Salty Yarn). I am like you in that I have a good "angel" on one shoulder and a bad "devil" on the other when it comes to purchasing stash. You are not alone.

Take care of yourself,
Karen in Maryland

pandy said...

I don't consider myself a super stasher, and I sort of feel that as long as my stuffs stays in the drawers I bought for it, I'm doing ok! Sometimes I do look at all my things and think.. did I really need to buy that 5th pair of scissors? or the 3rd or 4th pair for that matter? But what is done is done and I'm actively trying not to buy any new stash this year, and quite possibly the next one too.

I have this horrible habit of rationalizing my purchases, thinking that if I'm ever seriously out of money, I'll always have something to do. I am so scared of being both poor AND bored. lol

Carol said...

My sons would say I have way too much stash, but compared to what I see on others' blogs, mine is quite small. As a librarian, I love organization so it's pretty neat and filed away nicely.

Hope you feel better soon, Rachel :)

kimstitch3 said...

Hoping you are all better soon girl.((hugs))

Pumpkin said...

Yuck! I hope you feel better soon. You might want to listen to DH and take a day off.

I'm overwhelmed when I look through my stash but I still want more ;o) It's really the only habit/hobby I have so why not? ;o)

Sweet Shadow said...

i am most definitely a stasher- like my father, i have a great deal of paper files and books everywhere, some of which i have never read.
so, i should start reading them.
or putting them on amazon, where someone else will give them the loving that i have not.
thanks for this bit of a kick in the hindparts!

Meari said...

Super stasher... I love that term. Hello, my name is Meari and I'm a super stasher.

I have stuff in almost every room of my house, all fairly organized, but I need to do better. I haven't bought much in the last several years. It's nice, though, to be able to pick fabric and fibers from my stash when I start a new project rather than go to the store.

Cindy said...

I have slowly been making progress on thinning / organizing my stash. I only bought a couple of new things last year...but really didn't stitch / finish much either. I also went through all of the magazines and ripped out the stuff that I thought I might actually stitch in the future. I hated to do that, but got on a roll once I started. I need to keep going on the organizing!

I do my thing and you do yours. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, then it is beautiful. If not, it can’t be helped--Frederick Perls