So You Think I'm A Hoarder?

Okay, so you save things you think you might need one day. I am not a hoarder, but I do have a collections of things I will surely need one day....with the emphasis on "one day". I've got great collections of thread and things like rick-rack and double faced satin ribbon I bought during a going out of business extravaganza. They will be there waiting for me when I finallly need them

Collection of Scissors

I have a few old dollar coins in my glove box in case I run out of gas (like a few coins would even buy enough gas these days to get me to the next gas station). Everyone has extra change in the car, but I have been carrying these dollar coins since the seventies. With each new car I've bought, I've transferred the coins to the new glove box along with other useful things I've carried around in my car for an emergency. Take my vintage sixth grade Girl Scout knife and compass for example. The knife had a bottle and can opener on it and a nice leather punch I might need for some other reason than punching leather. My father found my knife in the glove box and was compelled to sharpen the blade for me. The edge on this knife can cut paper.

I Collect Dust for Scientific Purposes

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Collection of Fabric



Another Collection  -  Thread

Other things I have on hand around the house and in the car would probably awe and amaze you, but being a good Girl Scout, I strive to be always be prepared.I have a collection of newspaper headlines (only if the letters are very big)

While having a marathon phone conversation with my cousin Laurel from Pennsylvania one Sunday morning this past spring,  she mentioned that someone  had stolen the metal  urn from our grandparent's grave and she was so irritated that someone would do such a thing. The marker now sports a gaping hole. The cemetery office offered her few options. Basically, your going to have to hire a full time guard if you have headstone concerns and they were not responsible for stolen grave site items.
So much for that.
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When my cousin expressed her anger over the missing urn in Pittsburgh,  I let her know that I just happened to have one of those urns in my garage. That afternoon, I packed the heavy bronze urn that belonged to Lon's father's marker in a flat rate mailing box and shipped it to PA. After the winter was over, my cousin planned to take the urn from Florida over to the cemetery in Monroeville, PA on Memorial Day to see if it would fit into the vacant hole the metal melting thieves left in my grandparent's marker. Not surprisingly, the urn from Florida was a perfect fit. I'm so glad Lon saved that urn. You just never know when you might need a replacement part like that.

Now I wonder and worry about whether I will end up  featured on A&E someday. My husband believes that if it wern't for him, I would. Of course, I disagree. Those people have lost it for sure and I feel their pain.  At least, I try to have things presentable for the Orkin man. But it is not easy. It seems to be part of my inability to control compulsive behavior and I am the only one who can remedy this situation. 
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What causes me to save things for the future?
I didn't grow up like this, In fact, my parents had only one of those stacks of things that grew slowly out of control under one of our end tables. We just waited until it would no longer stay stacked before we went through it and threw the LIFE and TIME Magazines in the trash. We did have one of those kitchen drawers that collected things like egg separaters and odd cooking utensils my mother had carried around all of her life. I think it's important to have a drawer to rummage through.

I am in the process of getting ready to move 27 years of stuff into a new house. As I stare at my collections of "stuff" I wonder how I am ever going to make the the move into the new house.  I am going to make the most of my new sewing space and wonderful kitchen cabinets. I am not going to have anymore tupperware avalanches or brooms falling out of the closet on my head. I am going to have my shoes put away, my clothes hung neatly and I am going to awe and amaze my friends and family.I am turning over a new leaf and begin a new way of living. I promise.

Meantime, if you need anything like warped records, a new purse,  bon-bon dishes, elastic, velcro, pins, beads, old matchbooks or cookbooks from days of yore,  come on over and lighten my load.

Just stay clear of my fabric. I am saving that for beautiful quilts to come.