I stood in a grocery store aisle for nearly 15 minutes choosing a bag of flour, and I don’t even bake. I’m not sure what psychiatrists would call this, but I call it selective, an illness that comes out when I believe a purchase is “long-term.” Flour is a long-term item to me, as my lack of baking skills qualifies it for a several-year tenure in my cupboard.
As of yet, I haven’t used it.
I purchased a house when I moved to Kalispell and have found that buying small “long-term” items for the house is much more overwhelming than promising my soul to a mortgage lender in California. I mentally prepared myself for the mortgage, planned carefully and knew exactly what I was getting into when I entered the deal. But the naked bathroom wall blindsided me. Towel racks?
House shopping is full of surprises. For example, I went to Costco to look for a coffeemaker and walked out with four pounds of bacon instead. I found this surprising. My friend pointed out that he’s rarely seen me eat bacon and I thought he was missing the point. The point is that it was on sale.
Also, impulse shopping is more fun than buying things you need. It’s how we live on the edge in Target. Wild spontaneity.
I still don’t have a toilet paper holder, though I do have a funny little toothpick holder that looks great in the kitchen. I have no toothpicks.
Moving is exciting. Buying your first house is exciting. Filling the house is not. I’m fine with this reality. It’s all part of the process and no process can always be exciting. Maybe I’m finding out the point. Maybe this has nothing to do with bacon.
Maybe the point is that I’m happy to have a house in the beautiful Flathead Valley, and no bag of flour or naked wall can change that.