The money pit

Actually, I think that a house is more of a money vacuum, really.  Things just fall into a pit, but they get sucked up by a vacuum.  I am very much a list-making type of person, and here are a few lists to illustrate my point.  

First, a list of things we have bought to appease the Lares of our new house:

a welcome mat

special picture-hanging devices

a big mirror for the entryway ("foyer" is far too grand for this little space)

frames to match the mirror

a big bookcase

two smaller bookcases

a plant stand

a sage green tablecloth for an end table

a breakfast table and four chairs

a china cabinet (okay, my mom and grandmother paid for it, but it was definitely a sacrifice to the new house gods)

tablecloths to fit the new table

tablecloths to match the dishes to go in the china cabinet

a big new bed

sheets for the bigger bed

bedskirt for the bigger bed (from my mother-in-law)

curtains for the master bedroom (of course, none of the curtains we already had would fit)

curtains for the master bath

pink rug for the master bath

hand-crochet rug for the master bath

pink dishes and jars for the master bath

blue bowls and boxes for the guest bath

blue towels for the guest bath

blue soap dispenser for the guest bath

pillows for the guest bed

decorative but useless pillows to go on top of the real pillows for the guest bed

magazine basket

wood for the new fireplace

fake logs for the new fireplace

extra fire extinguisher to put right beside the new fireplace

carbon monoxide detector, so we don't kill ourselves when we try to use the fireplace

outdoor broom

snow shovel

hose (which we have never actually gotten to use)

water-gun type attachment for watering plants with hose

extra fire extinguisher for new garage

flowers and vases for the new house (I think the spirits of the house especially like offerings of flowers)

mulch for dead tree out front

topsoil for dead tree out front

stakes for dead tree out front (I think dead trees look much nicer standing up than falling over, don't you?)

cover for grill (which we have also never used at our new house.)

flower and herb seeds for spring, if it ever gets here

tulip bulbs (which didn't get planted before the group froze)

spade for planting bulbs

wreath for front door

grab bars for both showers

Things we still need to get:  (or just want)

curtains for living room (we need these before summer, since the living room has big south-facing windows)

curtains for ugly sliding-glass doors in breakfast room (I hate sliding-glass doors.  I wish I had sprung for the cute little French doors.  Even if the swing of the doors would take have taken up half of the room.)

little stick for opening and closing curtains 

boot-scraper for front door (preferably before the spring rains hit)

flame-resistant hearth rug (I think it is much better to burn tiny holes in your hearth rug than to burn tiny holes in your living room carpet, don't you?)

area rug to go under dining room table, preferably before someone spills red wine on the carpet

grab bars for very deep tub (I just know someday I will find myself saying "oops...yikes...splash!)

window covering for guest room (I bet if anyone stays here, they will expect a curtain on the bedroom window, won't they?)  It might be easier to find this if I could decide how to decorate the guest room.  Maybe peach and black with Japanese accents.  That seems to be the theme of the objects that have already migrated there.  

bamboo rolled blinds for the office.  The office faces the street and I feel like people can see me goofing off when I should be working in there.  (Derek would say the obvious solution isn't curtains, but rather to stop goofing off!)

recycling bins.  I feel a bit overwhelmed by this prospect.  All we've been recycling so far is paper and cardboard.  And I take ink cartridges to work.  But the other stuff is much more complicated.  I think I need 6 containers for all of it.  And the necessary categories vary depending on where I decide to take it.  Should newspaper be segregated from white paper?  Can post-it notes be recycled?  Does it really save the planet to use gallons of water to get glue off of a tiny jam jar?

tiny bench for entryway--it must be big enough to sit on to remove boots, but small enough that people can still go in and out.  There may not be such a bench in the known universe.

cheap but not too ugly and also washable rug for the entryway.  Again, this object may be imaginary.

a new light fixture for the breakfast room.  This one is certainly a want, not a need, but the light fixture is seriously ugly.  It looks like it should be in a 1980's fern bar.  That is not a compliment.  It might be at home over a pool table.  It needs to go.  I have tried to talk myself into covering it with a fabric shade, but I fear that solution would present a fire hazard.  Did I mention it is also a very inefficient light source?  And ugly.  Did I mention it isn't very attractive?

A life.  Yep, need to pick up one of those at CVS right away.