Ready, set, GO!

When Linda first moved in I couldn't believe how much she wasted. I spent many afternoons grumbling as I picked through the trash and recycling to pull out bottles and jars with 1/2-1" of jam, shampoo, and peanut butter still inside. At first I would quietly put everything back on the shelf, then I talked with her about wasting. Then I realized what was really happening.

I started to figure this one Saturday while she was flipping through the Meijer ad. She likes to circle the items we need to buy, but that week she asked me for help. "Do we need toilet paper? Laundry detergent? Bacon? Should we go shopping?" No, no, and no - we had some of all of those things, though we didn't have a lot. I wondered though, does she really want those things, or does she just want to get out of the house?

One of Linda's favorite reasons for visiting Vegas.

The full revelation came when we were preparing for our trip to Las Vegas. After two months of snow (almost five feet of it) and ridiculously cold temps (more -20 degree days than 20 degree days), we were ready. Linda didn't just bring it up daily, she mentioned it almost hourly: "I can't wait to get to Vegas." After two glorious weeks of sunshine, we were back in Michigan and it started again, "I can't wait for summer. When do we go back to Vegas?"

That's when it clicked.

Linda's not a waster-she's EXCITED! She doesn't throw away the last inch of body wash because she doesn't want to use it, she's just so excited to start the next bottle that she can't wait! She knows that we have bacon, but she wants to make sure that we don't run out, that there's some in the fridge for next week, that she wants to go shopping RIGHT NOW.

I can relate. As a lifetime journaler, I start twitching when I get to the last 10 pages of my journal. I'll even write larger and about unnecessary things just to fill the pages so I can move on to the next book. I love the thought of the next, new thing, and apparently I'm not alone.

All of the best reasons for visiting Vegas.

I still regularly check the recycle bin and trash can for partially full rolls of paper towels, but I don't mind. I can understand the excitement.