Reflecting on the New Year

Happy Almost New Year! It is time for my annual “I am delightful and will not change!” resolution. Not in so many words, of course. I try to stay humble.

I am just the person who decided years ago that instead of claiming I am going to change all the things about myself — I’m going to just focus on keeping it real.

First order of business. I just swept out under our washer and dryer and am just going to face the fact that my clean person facade is a fraud. There were socks under there that I forgot we ever owned! Wild. Truly. It was like dust bunny wilderness under there.

Second order of business. I am bad with budgets. I just am. I own it. Mr. Wonderful is the reason I don’t live in a box under a bridge. I am good with paying bills and don’t run up credit debt. I am just bad at resisting whatever my current obsession is. Since I tend to prefer shopping second-hand, antiques, and thrift stores I can justify that I don’t spend “much.” That doesn’t mean, however, that I don’t reach near hoarder status on whatever I’m into at the moment. My obsession used to be throw pillows. I felt you could not have too many down insert, high-quality throw pillows to arrange on beds, sofas, chairs, and for some inexplicable reason, baskets.

Obsession

As it turns out, I was wrong. You absolutely CAN have too many. I am currently shoving pillows into a closet and hoping the door stays closed, lest they escape and smother us all. I have a plan to spirit them out a few at a time to my kids’ homes. Wish me luck. “No, you’ve always had seven pillows on your sofa, you just don’t remember.”

My latest obsession: mirrors. I love the way they reflect light and add a classic flair. I also have a well-established adoration of gaudy and unwieldy large items. Mr. Wonderful knows if it weighs a ton and takes multiple people to move it — I probably want it with all my heart and half my soul.

In the last thirty days alone I have purchased not one but two mirrors that are each well over six feet tall. Go big and come home with me! That’s the way I roll. Preferably with a dolly and three strong men.

I fell in love with my recent acquisition, an eight-foot-tall pier mirror, after spying it from afar at an antique mall. I had my girls with me — GirlWonder and BeautifulFiance, respectively. They both agreed with me that it was MAGNIFICENT. We gazed in wonder. I took photos. I left. I was committed to being a STRONG PERSON who didn’t make impulse buys days before Christmas.

I made it a whole 24 hours.

Then, my “self-proclaimed bad influence” GirlWonder and Parter-in-thrift BeautifulFiance both encouraged me to not let it get away. Edwardian-era pier mirrors aren’t exactly rare — but they don’t come around every whip stitch either (I’ve thrown in some early 1900’s slang for ambiance here).

So I called the store back and not only was my now-precious-to-me-mirror still in stock, but it was on SALE. Clearly, the mirror and I were MEANT TO BE! All this to say that we own that adorable hall mirror now.

It is a rule of marriage for us that we don’t generally go hog wild with spending without touching base with one another. This, however, was ON SALE. I had to have a 93” tall hall mirror immediately. Obviously.

Not to mention it also has a tiny little marble shelf that sticks out just enough so we can smack our shins every time we pass. It’s awesome.

This is when Mr. Wonderful’s past comes back to haunt him and help me. “Hey, remember that time you bought a plasma cutter? And then that other time when you bought a powder coating booth? … and I was very supportive because I love you so much? Well, about my sixth (or seventh?) mirror this year …”

Mr. Wonderful is a cool guy. He is also very patient. His only question: “where will you put this one?” Little does he know that he will likely be removing the super tall mirror he installed LAST month to put this EVEN TALLER ONE in its place.

True story: I received a message from a seller of another pier mirror ON THE EXACT SAME DAY that indicated that one we had previously discussed was now available for an excellent price.

I’m gonna pass though. I don’t want to seem like I have a “problem.” I can quit anytime. Probably, but let’s not test it.

Eventually, we will live in a house of mirrors. Just like the circus.