1. Write a blog post about something you collect or used to collect.
I started accidentally collecting mugs a while ago. We would go out of town and I would just have to pick one out at a gift shop to commemorate the trip. And you know, Target comes out with super cute mugs for every little holiday and they’re usually marked down to 3 bucks or so…how can I resist an “I love you a latte” mug for Valentine’s Day?
I can’t tell you how many times Pat has rolled his eyes at me. Reaching for a glass, he’ll rummage around all the mugs and be all, “ugh…why do we have so many mugs??” and I’ll be all “well that one is from Valentinnnnne’s Day, Kainoa painted that one, that one was from our little Thomas the Train ride…don’t you remember our Thomas the train ride?” But of course, by that point, Pat has completely tuned me out and filled his glass and walked away as I continue shuffling through my memories via mug.
“You don’t need another mug Kat…” he’ll say as I quietly handle the Seattle mugs in Starbucks while he orders and I’m all, “Oh hush honey, look how happy it makes me!” And it’s true. There is a very brief moment of joy when I reach into the cupboard for a mug and have so many adorable faces looking back at me.
“Pick me! Pick me!” they shout through my half-sleeping stupor. Why would anyone want to steal that joy from me?
But something strange happened the other day. I was driving and thinking and this moment of clarity just knocked me over the head. “Why do I have so many mugs?”
Why do I have so many mugs?
Technically, I only need maybe two. Why am I continuing to buy decorative cups that hold coffee? What a ridiculous thing to waste money on!
I got home and headed straight for the kitchen. I boxed up all but two mugs (the “I love you a latte” and Seattle Starbucks mugs STAY) (and of course my Pat needs a mug so I kept two out for him) (and I kept the mugs the kids made for hot chocolate and whatnot) but I removed the way oversived NYC mug and every mug that wasn’t big enough to accommodate creamer and I set the box in the garage.
When Pat got home from work I showed him my sacrifice and he sort of wondered what hit me upside the head to change my mug hoarding habit when he had been mumbling about it for years now.
“I just see the light now. I get it. I think there’s something about living life as a minimalist you know?”
Then Pat was all, “now let’s talk about all those cats you seem to be collecting…” and I whipped my head around and said, “DON’T YOU MESS WITH MY CATS!”
I love my decorative mugs, but I might love my foster kitties “a latte” more.
Now it’s your turn!
Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back to add your name to the link list below. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!
The Prompts:
1. Write a blog post about something you collect or used to collect.
2. Tell us about the best book you’ve read so far this year.
3. Write about the last time the power went out.
4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: spring
5. Share something that you worked on this week.
6. If you could make one superficial wish today, what would it be and why?
John Holton says
We got rid of a lot of our mugs a while back. I have a couple of travel mugs for coffee and lemonade, and Mary has a mug for coffee, but a lot of them went to the parish garage sale. (I think the pastor kept the one that said “Irish diplomacy: The ability to tell a man to go to hell so that he looks forward to the trip.”)
That is an absolutely adorable little kitty. Is he/she a current resident?
Abby says
Good for you for getting those mugs to the garage! More room for foster cats!