The Reason I Can't Have Nice Things

Photo credit:  An interior designer who's website is no longer registered.
So how am I supposed to credit him or her?  HOW?

It was another weekend spent on a home improvement project.  If it's not the dogs peeing the carpet down to the subfloor, it's the kids putting hot corn cobs directly on the kitchen & dining room tables leaving a permanent ghostly white heat mark.  So there's actually two reasons I can't have nice things.  Kids and dogs.  Oh, wait, there's actually 3....me.   (Remember that bamboo phone case I had?  I shattered it.  Three times.  And the third time was the charm.  I now have a cork one.  And as you know, cork is a renewable resource, thank god.  Because it's likely I'll find a way to destroy this case too.)

In my 20's I couldn't afford nice things.  In my 30's I had young kids.  And in my 40's I have teenagers who won't stop growing, so they need new shoes almost every month.  So, I'm come to the realization that I'm going to have a beautiful, scratch and fur free, clean, uncluttered living room like the one pictured above.  EVER.  Because, I figure, once the kids have left the nest and the dogs have gone to dog heaven, it'll be time for grand kids.  Or a puppy.  

Those windows though!

Oh my...the lust!

But, even though I envy and fall in lust at first sight with beautiful windows and perfectly polished floors, I know it's just a fantasy.  And an unfulfilling one at that.  Because if I had all that stuff, I'd have to take care of it.  And clean it.  And learn how not to become a klutz.  And at this late stage, I'm not even sure that's possible.  But, I am positive it's not how I want to live my life, consumed with consumables.   Because stuff doesn't make people happy.

Experiences make people happy.

Pfffffffffffffttttttttttt....who needs beautiful windows to look out into the world when you can be out in it yourself?  Because of the settling issues in my house I'd settle for windows that actually close and keep drafts out.  But, regardless,  of whether I ever get them,  I 've been fortunate enough to have more than enough experiences to keep me happy for a lifetime.  Fur tumbleweeds drifting through my  drafty hallway of unmatched and unclaimed socks strewn about and all.