Living with the junk

Years ago, when Maverick and I were building our first home, an friend told me it took her 10 years to buy living room furniture. I thought she was off her rocker. How could it possibly take that long to get around to it? That would never be me, I insisted to myself….

And now 8 years later, I find my living room empty, aside of the pool table that fills the center in a feeble attempt to deny myself the fact that I still don’t have furniture yet either. Just last week, I had company in for a visit and that finally prompted me to redo my guest bedroom.

The weekend before my friends arrived, I was aghast at the realization that they would be sleeping in a room still filled with my old college furniture. And truth be told, some of it was even older than that. It was embarrassing that after all this time, we were still “making do” with the junk we brought with us to this house. Now it was time to move on.

So I ran around like a lunatic, found new bedroom furniture and redecorated the room. It looks terrific. Now, of course, I’m looking around the rest of the house, ready to “fix up” everything else that needs to be finished or even started for that matter.

I walked from room to room, tearing my house apart in my mind and thinking about all the things I would like to do if I had the opportunity to start over (with a chic decorator, of course!) As I passed by the family room TV, my first thought encompassed the beautiful new flat-screen television I’d place there. Then I noticed the CNN news anchor talking about the rate of foreclosures and the stats of how many people have lost their jobs and their homes….

It was depressing news. I shut off the TV and thought about how my good my life is, and realized that all the other things can wait. I’m thankful for the nice things I have, along with a beautiful home that we’re not in jeopardy of losing. My life is not as hard as others have it right now. I can live with the rest of the junk for a while longer.