NEARLY OBSESSED

There are a few issues with which I would consider myself "obsessed". No. 1: That sentence. It is grammatically correct. How seldom I see sentences constructed thus. *sigh*

Things with which I am obsessed and not going to discuss here/today: Children's eating and sleeping patterns -I have opinions on that subject, but I'll leave them to rest for a while; Children's names -read "the bizarre names people give their children"; and any type of schooling/education -I compiled a list of all the ways I would change the public school system if I were the superintendent AND another list of the ideal education system I would wish for my children. Obsessed, but that is for another time.

My current obsessions -the ones I feel comfortable talking about because I know they wont alienate anyone or open up heated debates- involve my wardrobe and books.

Minimalism 
I have been flirting with the idea of a minimalist wardrobe for the past couple years, I started to like like the idea when we packed up our apartment and moved across country, I started to fall in love with the idea when we moved to Texas and it was so blasted hot, and I became stalker-creepy-obsessed with the idea when I was pregnant and couldn't buy clothes.

Sometimes when you sub you have a lot of downtime. This is especially true when the teacher didn't want to make lesson plans for you so the kids are taking a practice STAAR test or watching a movie (which equates to you watching a movie about water conservation 4 times, and by the end you want to cry). During this downtime I would often read, or sketch out how I wanted to plant my garden. And one day I was struck with the obsessive bug to actually plan the minimalist wardrobe that I wanted for myself. I made a list of all of the clothes that flatter me best (in styles and fabrics that would be suitable to a mostly-summer climate. I was thorough.) and how many of each item I would need.

I started with a 100 things plan, then a 10 of each thing plan, then a 5 of each thing plan and then just a what looked best on me and how little could I own and realistically get by on. *First World Problem* I reworked this list several times, and then I drew it out. Yes, I drew every piece of clothing that I wanted to own in my wardrobe.

I outlined in black pen the items that I already owned. Items that I owned but wanted to replace were then outlined in blue. Items that I wanted to buy were left in pencil with the plan that when I bought them I would outline them in black. This is completely sane and non-obsessive behavior, naturally.

Here is what this foray into Russel Crowe "A Beautiful Mind"-type obsession taught me: Shopping is so much easier and more fulfilling when I have a plan. I don't buy things unless they are on my plan. If I find something that is similar to something that I already own I can either leave it, or buy it fully committing to giving/throwing away the item I already own. Because Texas is so warm for most of the year, this wardrobe plan will be fine for 9 out of the 12 months. I have a smaller "winter" plan drawn on the back. I only need to buy one long-sleeved black shirt to be completed with that plan.

Before I could buy anything on my plan though, I had to fully commit to purging my closet in the most determined way. It was very hard, but being pregnant taught me that I could seriously live on a very limited wardrobe, so I took the plunge.

Now I have a goal when I online or window shop. If something is slightly more expensive than I wanted it to be, I feel ok with that because I know it will be one of 3 pairs of pants that I own.

And happy day for me, I just happened to stumble into the mall during Memorial Day Weekend Sales, and JCrew was 50% off the entire store. Yes, those who know me, I nearly cried.

So did Baby Vera. But that may have been more because she was hungry and not too impressed with the JCrew. You'll learn soon enough baby girl.  And my wardrobe is coming together nicely. I was a bit inspired by Husband's ability to grab any top and any bottom in the closet and it would look awesome together. So little thought went into it and he usually looked better than I did. I feel like I'm getting there. That sale though, it really saved my biscuit a ton of money.

Books

This will be a less verbose obsession.
A thought that irks my soul longingly is that I will never know all the books that I have read throughout my life. This makes me shudder and yearn to have that list! I want to know! I'd wager that every book has left some minute imprint on the way I think or speak or walk or form thoughts or how I remember things. The idea that I cannot go back and reread all these books and see just how they have altered me makes me sad. I just want to know! I'm sure there are memories that I have that are colored with the mood I was in while I read some book, but I'll never be able to account for from where all the pieces of me came. (again, that is correct see No.1 obsession above)

As Vera and I walked to the library today to get a few books I started to think about this. A small part of me wanted to take upon myself the task of cataloging every book that was read to/read by my baby and give her that list. But she will probably only have a small portion of my special brand of crazy and will think that that list is a waste of time. But because I cannot fight the urge, these are the books I have read/are reading to her (mostly to me but aloud) in her 1 month of life (celebrated on Memorial Day) (SO MANY PARENTHESES!): The Great Gatsby, Uncle Tom's Cabin, too many blog posts, scriptures, and picked up at the library today The Minpins and The House on Pooh Corner. I'll try not to keep tabs on this, but I probably will -at least until my life gets busier and I can't find time to be bothered by the minutia of my strange obsessions.

One last thing, I have never been able to successfully grow dill. Snails and bugs destroyed it in Utah, and now I have massive fat caterpillars decimating my lovely herb garden. After I sent a photo of one to Husband and proceeded to run over most of them with the stroller, Husband said they would be butterflies and to leave them alone. Well, I was not about to leave them alone to eat all my dill, so now we have some new pets.

Apparently one of the only things they eat is dill, so I am sacrificing some of it to their metamorphosis. I could not remember that word for about 45 minutes. I kept wanting to say "evolve" like the pokemon caterpillar. It evolved into a butterfly. But normal caterpillars go through metamorphosis. These fat fat caterpillars will become swallowtail butterflies that are actually quite beautiful (ps Husband is going to pin some if we're successful, so we're keeping them as pets to kill them, sorry). And I don't feel bad sacrificing some of my dill for beautiful butterflies, but this way I can control how much they eat -supplemented with parsley.

If you read all of this, wow. I probably wont even go back and proofread. It ended up being very long. I suppose that's the thing with obsessions though right, you have a lot to say about them?