on buying stuff

There is something about moving that seems to result in the acquisition of more stuff. I get rid of stuff, then I move, then I buy more stuff right after the move. It doesn't even necessarily have anything to do with the new house. It did in New York, since that was the first place I lived after I sold all my housing accoutrements and went bopping about the planet, but not really in North Platte, or here. I guess I have reached the limit of house-necessities for a place this size (except for maybe a couple of sawhorses and a door for an adjustable work table, which maybe I can get on freecycle or craigslist. oh and a frame for my diploma). In North Platte, I was externally limited by the fact that all the stores there suck. However, that didn't seem to stop me from buying plenty o' Wal-Parts crap or lots and lots of garage sale shopping.

This time around, I have been trying to limit this phenomenon, to pretty much no avail. All the stores in Omaha do not suck. With the exception of two slip-ups, however, I am keeping a good lid on buying stuff I don't need (or so I reassure myself) (except for cloth).

Weirdly and wonderfully, the most expensive thing I have been wanting for the longest time (other than a car and a house), a digital SLR, just fell in to my lap in the form of a long-term borrow--so I feel good about the temporary freeness of that. This also frees up my mental purchasing power for a sewing machine (not yet, but soon, soon, my precious) and a (I am so excited about this) digital-radio-ipod-alarm-clock. I can wake to the dulcet tones of NPR and put away clothes (a task that seems to haunt me) and sew on my future machine to the dulcet tones of whatever I want. I hope once I get the sewing machine there won't be anything else that pops up as a critical purchase.

If anybody has any sewing machine recommendations, or pos/neg opinions regarding particular features of her own machine, I'd be glad to hear them. I have an antique sewing machine now, which works ok but is very heavy and not particularly versatile. It is fine if all I want to do is sew straight seams. If I want to learn to do any fancy quilting or sew zig zag lines, as all the patterns seem to call for these days, it is not fine. I think I am going to put off the SM purchase for a while, but I'm going to work out which one it'll be in the meantime.

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