A few of my favorite things (aka obsessions)

Just like everyone else, I have a few quirks. There are things of which I prefer certain brands. That's in this post. That's not what this post is about. This post is about a few of my obsessions. Things which would practically take control of my life if I let them. (Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration.)

These obsessions I speak of are things that I spent a lot of time thinking about, a lot of time researching, and spend quite a bit of money on. (Which would likely be higher if Seth didn't reign me in!) The people that know me really, really, really well could probably guess the things I'm about to write about. The rest of you probably don't know that these things would consume me if I let them. Think: crazy lady who has 4 million cat statues doing nothing but taking up every square inch of space in her house. They'd consume me like that. Hoarder-esque. At least, I think. Thank God for Seth!

The first is the most challenging one. This is the one that I have the hardest time controlling under most any circumstance. Pens. Colored Pens, to be exact. If I see a package of colored pens in the store, I stop. I look. I oogle. I drool. I imagine all the fun I could have with said pens. And, particularly if I don't own them already, they'll come home with me. I don't even look at the price tag. I usually pride myself on buying things only when they're on sale, but that doesn't apply to my list of obsessions.

Note: This does not include Sharpies. Of which I have 50+.

Secondly, I have a thing for water bottles. Think 'Nalgene' and you'll get an idea of the kind of water bottle I mean. (For the record, though, I don't really particularly like the Nalgene brand.) I bought a water bottle as my souvenir from Hawaii. Seriously. Seth is constantly on my case about how I don't need another water bottle, but I'll see one out somewhere which appears to have 'promise' and I have to strain to tear myself away. I will literally size up each and every water bottle on the shelf in the store, imagining how it would be to use. I have several requirements which each water bottle must meet, but sadly most don't, and thus checking out new ones is something I'm constantly doing. I'm always in search of The Perfect Water Bottle. I don't bring home new water bottles as often as new colored pens, though, because they are much more costly, and the accumulation is too much even for this water bottle-obsessed chica.

The current Perfect Water Bottle is the green in the front left. I have to note, though, that this is significantly fewer than I normally have around. I purged the inadequate ones a few weeks ago. Seth wanted me to be sure to tell y'all that this isn't as many as we normally have.

Thirdly, notebooks. I have a drawer of notebooks. This is an obsession that has an origin of something like the pens and water bottles combined. I imagine how wonderful it would be to use, and dream of all the writing I could do if only I had this perfect notebook. I have several requirements for them, though, so I often spend time in the notebook section simply checking to see if any would be good enough. And sadly, I often do. And then it comes home with me. Likely to be added to the drawer because I'm currently using a notebook and nothing kills this OCD-tendancy person faster than having several of the same product 'going' at the same time. Can't have two notebooks in use at the same time. (Unless they have very specific, different purposes.) Can't have two shampoo bottles in use at the same time. Can't have two pens going at the same time unless they're both serving a purpose. Etc.

This is one of the more-hidden obsessions. Even Seth didn't know about this one. ... Because I keep them unused ones hidden in a drawer.

While 'researching' this post, Seth commented about this other obsession of mine. The final one I will mention here. Pumpkin Spice. I LOVE the smell of Pumpkin Spice. I love it so much I almost named our dog "Pumpkin Spice!" I typically buy 2 or 3 pumpkin candles in a season, and love getting them as gifts. My all-time favorite, though, is the Yankee Candle jar candles. I think they burn the best and smell the best. If you come to our house sometime in the fall, you can be sure you'll smell pumpkin spice somewhere inside.

My stash is currently quite low on pumpkin spice as I worked hard to 'use up' the batch last fall. Guess what I'll be buying as soon as one can reasonably burn fall scents!?