Sunday, February 8, 2009

Run Away With Me

Uh oh. I shouldn't be surprised, really. I know all about the 4 hours of sleep I got last night, and the 5.5 hrs the night before. I remember all-too-clearly the ugly scene I made at bathtime about the kids choosing to fight with each other about who gets the 'good' end of the tub. I should have known when the Cheer Me Up cup of vanilla ice cream didn't work.

And now.... we're in the waning hours of Sunday night. Torbjorn is away for a business trip. The bombsite, I mean, OUR HOME, needs to be - ahem - tidied. The list of calls to make stretches out as I scribble in my notebook about the upcoming week.

Here we are, fully in the throes of Woe Is Me. I am remembering the Spell-A-Thon I haven't been preparing Cecilie for. I think about how I left Annika to cry it out at bedtime because I. Just. Couldn't. Be. Near. A. Kid. Another. Moment. I'm thinking these brand new pants are too short because I've been a little too enthusiastic about returning to eggs & dairy. I'm reading other people's blogs and comparing my life/my kids/my home/my creative efforts - never a winning proposition.

SO ANYWAY. Run away with me, for a moment. Play a silly little game, won't you? Recently Amanda posted a fun thought on her blog, about spending Brewster's Millions. Amazingly enough, I'd been thinking along the same lines. When I puddle along through my day, I ask myself:

"What would I do with an extra $200 today?"

It's a silly number, of course. These days, the answer could just as well be "my groceries" or "my late fees at the library," but that wouldn't be in the same spirit of escapism, now, would it?? But I like the $200 limit. It's far too little to pay off debts (at least too little for me!!), too little to 'buy my friends and family a house', too little to "travel travel travel" (unless you count driving to, oh, Lebanon, MD or something.) Of course not too small a sum to make a difference in someone's life who's on the streets, but work with me here: we're running away.

Fun money. You can't do anything USEFUL with it - you must be willing to do something to chase away the February blahs. What'll it be? 10 lipsticks? That deep freezer at Costco that you've sooooooooooo been coveting? A serious caffiene binge at Starbucks? A lovely dinner at your romantic French restaurant in the next town? Ooooh, maybe a massage?

I'm also going to pretend, just for tonight, that I have a crazy popular blog like Dooce or Pioneer Woman with lovely readers from all over the globe. Oh wait, I do have lovely readers from all over the globe. All 10 of them. Anyhoo, if you're reading this, I need to hear from you, Internet. Play the game, escape for a few seconds. The Polly Pockets an laundry will still be there when you wake up.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I spent about 200 this weekend on my trip to Gothenburg with girls. New boots (cool and uncomfortable), wining and dining and - woosh - the money is gone. But, oh so worht it!!!

Amanda said...

Hmmm, let's see, what have I been wanting? How about all new, luxurious bedding because we have a British duvet (with an ill-advised cover) on an American queen-size bed and it is makes me crazy because it does not fit. Something that would look fantastic and crisp and NEVER have to be ironed would be just the ticket. With matching curtains.

And p.s., I read that post on the "Dooce" blog entitled Newsletter: Month Sixty and the tears are still drying on my cheeks. I'll resist the ever-present mommy urge to wax overly sentimental, but I will definitely be visiting that site again. Thanks for the tip. Do you know her?

Jen C said...

Well I'm late but I wanna play. What would I do with $200 cash money?

Hmm....I would buy myself a cute little dress.
http://tinyurl.com/dkz7qx or
http://tinyurl.com/adx8ps or
http://tinyurl.com/bkgwne

Now I have absolutely nowhere in which to wear it. And naturally I'd have to go barefoot as I wouldn't have any shoes that would match. But for a barefoot girl at home, I'd be looking pretty snazzy.

Juggler said...

I would buy those weirdo masai running shoes that look like orthopedic shoes. I think $200 would buy one! I hear that wearing them is like exercising.
I will do anything to avoid exercising.

kirsten said...

Amanda - Dooce is one of the original blogs. She's huge huge huge, at least in the US. Gets invited to all the conferences on blogging/bloggers/new media, etc. And sadly, I don't know her. Actually, not so sad, b/c if I did know her I would feel inordinately inadequate. Doesn't hurt that she's like 6 feet tall and STUNNING.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to buy a Roomba!

L-A said...

There's a local dinner theatre company that's currently putting on Lost In Yonkers. I was this close to buying tickets for my DH and I for Valentines Day before remembering other, more functional financial responsibilities. That $200 would just about cover it, with some extra frills.

hezro said...

Hey Kirsten, I stumbled onto your blog through Torbjorn's FB page and I love it. You're a great writer! In fact, both of you are incredibly funny! (I need to add your blog to my "blogroll" so that I can easily check in more often.) Anyway, on to the topic at hand. Lately I've been "window-shopping"...browser windows, of course. :) But everything I'm lusting for is more in the $500 range. I want a new lens for my camera. I want a scanner with an automatic feeder. Hmm...how about a polarizer filter for my camera. I think that's what I would buy if I had an extra $200 kicking around. :)

hezro said...

And P.S. Love Pioneer Woman! (And she has some awesome free photoshop actions at her site!)

kirsten said...

Well hey there Hezro, welcome to the party! I get a little bit (ok, a lot) excited when new people stop by to see what nuttiness we are living through at the moment.

As we are contemplating an upgrade in camera ourselves, your input is most timely!

hezro said...

Are you thinking about a new camera or adding to your existing equipment?

kirsten said...

I think it would count as a new camera, as our existing 'equipment' consists of a very basic Canon point & shoot (digital, but still...)

any advice?

hezro said...

I've always been a Canon girl myself but my husband, the master researcher, is the one who bought my DSLR. It was my Christmas 07 gift...and 08 gift, come to think of it. haha! Anyway, like I implied, he did a ton of research and finally decided on the Nikon D40 which I have to admit, I do love. My only beef with what he got is that the kit lens (18-55mm) isn't VR (image stabilization). So I'm tempted...very tempted...to get the 18-200mm VR lens. Meanwhile, I have a 70-300mm VR lens that I LOVE. It's great for taking pictures of the kids when you want to just sit back and let them do their thing but still get awesome close-up photos.

After I'd had my camera for about a year, I stumbled onto this site: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/recommended-cameras.htm. and I was delighted to see that he also recommends the Nikon D40.

Are you members of Costco? They frequently have D40 kits for sale online. Or you can check out B&H or even Amazon. I periodically look at eBay to see what that 18-200VR lens is going for...but I'm a little nervous to buy a lens on eBay.

Roland said...

We have had the Nikon D40X (upgrade to the D40) for awhile now and have been very pleased. We wish that we had gotten it earlier because the camera takes pictures much more quickly and you catch the moment. The quality of the pictures is also much richer in both depth and colour. That said there are many realy good cameras out there. I know that Jamie got a new camera not to long ago (sony if I remember correcly) and it also takes amazing pics. So have a good time shopping.

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