If Wishes Were Horses...

we would have to move, because you can't keep them in the city.

We had to get out of the house yesterday, so after the library and Sears Optical (who hasn't gotten the frames in to replace the ones she broke when she was mad ), we mysteriously found ourselves in Target.  I no longer enjoy going there when I have no money to spend.  When it was just Mickey and I, my average Target bill was between $30 and $40; when the girls came along, it went up to a solid $60.  While I am not shopping for average, the budget is skin tight. BUT IT WAS FINALLY WARM ENOUGH TO GO AROUND WITHOUT A SWEATER AND I WASN'T GOING HOME YET. I took a little turn down the magazine aisle, and then it hit me...

What I need is a wish list.  To prioritize my discretionary money, to give to the people who want to give me something "fun" or "just for me"(or perhaps that season of my life is over?), to remember what it was that I was going to do with that big gift card I get for answering the survey on all those receipts.

Really, I do remember quoting a Bible passage about coveting...  I hope this is not that, but it may be(the blog is called crazybeloved after all, not perfectbeloved or even sortofbeloved).  What I am hoping for is that the list will get the "Throw-money-at-it" and the "When-you-don't-know-what-else-to-do,-bring-more-junk-into your-house" under control.  Whether I am or not, it is still okay to dream...

1) When I leave the house to go to the airport, I want to be carrying such an insane amount of reading material that I will not even notice the at least 24 hours of travel time.  This reading falls into two main categories:
     a. Magazines like...Bliss Victoria,Veranda, Southern Living, Mixing Bowl, and Mary Jane's Farm.  And many others.  The Magazine addiction is alive and well...Money and Smart Money(yeah, I am pretty sure the smart money is in owning the Magazine--not buying them) and Consumer Reports.  I mean a big, shiny stack.

OR/AND

     b. Books.  The books have caused a lot of thinking.  Some people buy their books at the used bookstore and leave them behind in China(making room in the luggage for the things you will bring home).  Some people carry a Kindle or Sony Book reader. I am not attracted to the concept.  And.  I don't have the money.  My purpose is to be engrossed in something during travel, and to have something to do with my jet lag.    Still, I TOTALLY get why someone would want to carry something really tiny and have a dozen or more books in it rather than lugging them on your back.  I think I have located an excellent source of free used books, freeing the cash.

2)A good camera.  Recently, I have begun to covet(no question about it) a better camera.  After consulting with my friend, who is an exceptional photographer, I know that what I am looking for is a 
Canon EOS 7D Digital SLR.
It is, apparently, the last camera I will ever need to buy and is easy enough for an amateur while producing photos of such high quality that one of Mr. N's friends, who is one of the most well known wedding photographers in the country, uses it most.


Focus.  We are wishing here.  My alternatives are my completely sufficient Canon PowerShot A570 IS which takes perfectly serviceable photos, or/and taking Mr. N with me to China.  It may be slightly less expensive to bring him along.*


3)Totally overhauling the girls wardrobes and rooms.  I am tired of looking at the whole mess.  They are for it.  I am for it.  Target has some insanely cute stuff including tote bags so the girls can drag their gear and maybe not leave a trail Elmer Fudd could track.
     They absolutely need bunk beds , as this brother thing means they are going to share a room again.  A plan we abandoned because one was neat and the other one didn't care.  That doesn't seem to be such a problem anymore.     We got out the spring/summer clothes, and found that they had, indeed, grown so much that one of the girls had only one pair of shorts that she could wear.  The sister was the beneficiary of almost the entire warm weather wardrobe including the shorts she is wearing today, about which she has not heard the bad news that they are tighter than Catwoman's costume and she will not be a damaged comic villain this summer.


4)Shoes.  Need them.  I put on my Danskos in China in July and have not worn anything else since then.  While the Dansko is comfortable all the time.  I feel a little like I am in a communist barracks, looking down at the functional neutral color all day every day. Flip-flops, rainboots, dressy shoes, athletic shoes...yep.  Need 'em. There is good news, though.


5)Clothing and accessories.  I have nothing to wear.  A pair of light tan dress pants that show my underwear, no matter what kind I have on and my crack if I don't.  A perfectly fitting pair of brown dress pants that are made for a girl 6" taller.  And two pairs of jeans. I was completely dressed for church on Sunday and completely disrobed and started over.  I asked Mickey if the reason he waits to tell me I look nice until we are in the car and moving down the street is because he is never sure if I am actually dressed until then.  He commanded me to go buy clothes. "Everyone's needs are getting met but yours...you have to have something decent to put on."  MY SISTERS.  How bad can it be that he is saying that to me and not the other way around????  That is the good news.


6) A sewing machine.  I don't need this.  But I cannot stop thinking about it.  I have two broken ones that it would cost more to fix(one of them) than to buy a new one.


7) New Luggage.  I have a lot of random pieces from the "Urban Refugee" line.  One of the outer flaps is held shut with a safety pin.  "Mm. Mm. Ghetto."  I want to be "fabulous".  I also know this is not a need.  Oh yeah, and they are mostly in red and green, so it looks like I am Mrs. Santa on vacation.


Thank you for listening.  This is the "Dream Away, Lady" list for today.  I think now that I have told you, I am better able to put it out of my mind.  I noticed that all these things are shaped around the receipt of TA(travel approval) in our adoption. 

What do you wish for?






*because the lens that comes with the camera in the package requires upgrading.  According to Mr. N who is merely sharing his best advice with me and whom I trust.  You may find that the package lens fits your needs.  Mr. N is not asking me what I think, I am asking him what he thinks.  If this relationship sounds like a dad to a daughter, you are pretty close.