Barbara J. Hamby

sign-up for our email list

Die, Die, Old Habits

Old habits formed during years of pinching pennies don’t go away easily. I have a bed skirt, the color I want to use, but it’s fastened to a flat section of cloth and has to be placed on the box spring. Then the mattress has to be placed on top of it while trying to keep it in place so that the skirt hangs as it should. I can buy a new one with an elastic band that fastens it around the box spring and doesn’t require moving the mattress. The mattress in this case is over a foot thick with a pillow top. Part of me wants to alter the old one and try to make it do and the other part says, Stop Doing it the Hard Way, buy a new bed skirt and give the old one to Goodwill.

I think that’s what I’ll do so I can start forming some new habits. However, I don’t intend to do as a friend did some years ago when she inherited a couple of chunks of money. For a while, I thought she was single-handedly attempting to improve the economy of the entire country with her purchasing. When she moved away, I helped her sort through closets and cabinets of stuff, some clothing still had labels dangling, small appliances were still in their original boxes, etc. I never did understand that modality.

Every time I’ve put on shorts on warm days since the first of October, I think it’ll be the last time. Now we have a forecast for next week with one day’s high at 76 and another at 78. I haven’t had to run the heat much and haven’t been inspired to try the fireplace yet. The brightly colored leaves on the trees say it’s October, but the weather could sure fool us. I suppose it will turn cold just before my California sister gets here the end of this month.

Permalink