If I hadn't resolved to be less acquisitive (and to put more money in savings than I currently do) I'd like to order a bunch of stuff
from The Unemployed Philosopher's Guild

I did spend a fair amount this weekend. I decided I needed a "fluster" (this is supposedly a German custom, according to my dad, but no one else I've talked to who is German has even heard of it). A "fluster" is a small gift when you have gone through something painful or unpleasant - for example, when my brother and I were kids, we used to get some small cheap toy after vaccinations. And I remember getting Snoopy paperback books after having to have plantar's warts burned off with liquid nitrogen.

Anyway, I bought myself a pair of "spa slippers" from Bath and Body Works. They are big foam-padded white chenille scuffs. I really needed something to wear on my feet in the house (bare feet + wood floor + not-so-assiduous housekeeping = beat up soles covered with house dirt). So I decided on them. They were, like $25. Yes, I cringed, and I thought how I could make something similar myself - but I'd have to buy the materials, and find the time, and the slippers in the store were what I wanted, and I wanted them now, not at some undefined future time when I'd get a pair sewn up.

So I'm going to try to be good now. I'm not visiting any of the .com web sites I ususally visit (like Amazon or Powell's or Elann or Equilting). I have told myself that if I'm good between now and the first Friday in August, I will treat myself to another trip to McKinney, to buy some more candles and foo foo type stuff.

I'm really a materialistic girl, you know that? I like stuff. I like things like candles and pillows and expensive nice soap. If I see a book I want, chances are I will buy it. I own more fabric and yarn than I will ever use.

I don't know where this comes from. It's not like I had a deprived childhood. If anything, I had too many toys and clothes as a kid.

The funny thing is, I hate shopping for clothes. If I need something, I scope out where it's most likely to be sold, go there, find the one in my size, try it on. I don't like spending hours trying on clothes I probably won't buy. I'd much rather shop in a bookstore or a home-accessories store than a clothing store.