Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Just Stuff

As I was unpacking from our almost evacuation, I thought more about the issue of stuff. It's everywhere, it takes up space, and we are constantly trying to figure out ways to organize and store it so that it doesn't look like we have as much as we do. Some of our stuff will never be given away. I have a quilt that my grandmother made, old family photos and even some jewelry. We saved the little shirt that Luke wore his first few days in the hospital and his little ankle bracelet. Some sentiment I just can't think about parting with. I have a tendency to save bits and pieces from my life with the thought that I will someday become a master scrapbooker, but I have yet to glue even one photo in any sort of photo album. We have been married for three years and I still haven't seen all of the wedding photos. (In my defense, there are 800 of them.) Do I really need ticket stubs from every train we took in Sweden? Why am I saving this British Airways toiletry kit? This is just the sentimental stuff. Then there is the stuff that is just, well, stuff. Things you buy because they are on sale or because you might need them one day....maybe.

This morning I was looking under a kitchen cabinet and there it was. The mini-scone pan. When we got married we registered at Target and William-Sonoma. I love to cook and I really love kitchen gadgets. We have a very small kitchen at the moment, so I am pretty restrained in that area. I have my stand mixer and a few other essentials, but nothing that would be considered unnecessary. Except this mini-scone pan.

Useless


All I could think when I looked at it was, "What the fuck was I thinking when I registered for this?" When I was pregnant and registering for my baby shower I had a real feeling that I didn't belong in that baby section. It was surreal. When I was engaged, though, I was a mad woman with that gun. It was like a drug and I was high as a freaking kite! I have never made scones. I don't even really eat scones, although I think they are good. What was I thinking? Why did I register for that? It has never, I repeat, never, been used. Not even once.

Is it just me? Am I the only one who gets carried away when tempted with stuff? If you are married and if you had a registry I want to know what item you registered for, and got, that was, in hindsight, the most useless. Please, don't let me feel alone in this. If your answer is really good, I might send you this mini-scone pan. Or maybe something else from my registry......

(Maura, you are not eligible.)

20 comments:

MrsSpock said...

I have a glass cake dish, like the kind you might find at a nicer Mom and Pop diner, that sits on my counter and collects dust. It has never housed a cake in over 2 years.

LBluca77 said...

I am like that too when I order clothes on-line. I forget all about it then months later I see it and wonder what was I thinking buying this ugly outfit.

Marissa said...

I didn't register for weddings or babies but I, too, am a collector of stuff. Clothes, shampoo samples, make up, baby gadgets, etc etc etc... I can never get enough.

I need Too.Much.Stuff.Anonymous.

That scone pan would make some kick ass brownies, think of all the crusty edges there would be!

Shelby said...

I registered for sooo many things that I haven't used. My favorite would be the ironing board. Which attatches to a door and folds up? Yeah, it's still in the package, and I've been married for 6 years. Like I ever thought I'd iron clothes? Ha!

The best thing I did register for and am so glad I did, was the electric knife. My husband thought I was nuts to register for it, and was glad when we didn't get it. But then the %10 coupon came after the wedding and I made sure to get the knife as soon as I walked into BBB. We use it all the time now. So while he thought it was silly, it's really the best thing we got from our registry. Even if we did buy it ourselves.

Mazzy said...

Breadmaker. Who the hell uses them and why did I want it so badly??!!
Also, although I love my gorgeous ivory Lenox wedding china with my life, I haven't used it once in 3 years. It sure looks purdy in the hutch in the formal dining room, though!
I agree with Marissa's suggestion on brownies with the scone pan... the edges are the best part about brownies!!

AwkwardMoments said...

i have a 12 piece full china set still in boxes, the ugliest bedspread set, fry daddy, sandwich press ... all never been used ..6 yrs later

Maura said...

I'm banned from the competition?
THIS SUCKS!
As a protest I am making scones tonight. You heard me. Scones.
Harry-n-freaking-David-Lemon-Poppyseed-no-pan scones.

... I'll make sure to send some to you through M.

By the way- 1 bottle warmer. Apparently not practical with twins. Who knew?

Amanda said...

It wasn't so much that I registered for useless crap, it's that people don't really stick with the registries. That's why I have a crystal platter, a crystal punch bowl, crystal vases, some salad bowl thing with tarnished metal around the top, and a weird salad bag kit. All of which has never been used. We just aren't fancy crystal people. And I don't understand the salad bag.

Anonymous said...

oh sister I hear ya...loud and clear! That is why Craigslist is my new best friend...I'm trying to declutter my damn house. It's not working - for every 2 things I get rid of I seem to bring 4 more in ~ but I'm trying. I didn't register for much useless stuff - but have to agree with Amanda - what's with all the crystal? We are beer on ice in coolers and burgers off the grill type of people - we have no use for multiple pieces of crystal - one piece nicely houses M&M's...more than that...useless.

Anonymous said...

I have a lot of stuff too that I just push to the side and then a few times a year I will go through and throw a bunch of crap away!

The only thing I registered for and haven't used are the Lenox picture frames. Isn't that strange, I know. A picture frame can be used for anything buy mine are sitting in the closet-four years later!

Teal Marie Chimblo Fyrberg said...

I have some serving dishes I got from my bridal shower with my FIRST fiance (15 years ago), that I just finally unpacked and LOOKED at with my new fiance...and then we packed them back up again.

Anonymous said...

Let's see, the wedding was a little over a year ago and 85% of the presents are still in boxes at my parents' house because nothing fits in our bitty condo (except the everyday dishes and silverware). So technically my answer would be everything. However, I think at some point we'll have a house and start using the stuff (if it still works).

However, I got the most grief from the now husband for my desire to register for a cupcake stand. His arguments: I don't bake, we don't have cupcake parties, and I am generally useless in the kitchen.

PS. Marissa, brilliant with the scone/brownie idea! I love the crusty part of brownies! I would put chocolate chip cookie dough in the scone thing and make choc. chip cookie crusty brownies. Delicious.

Kellie said...

We've been married for 2 years and there are 2 things I can think of: a coffee bean grinder and a hand held mixer. I always buy pre-ground coffee. Maybe I thought I'd get the beans and make it fresh every morning so I registered for that. Yeah, right. And the mixer, I totally forgot I even got it until about a week ago. I don't bake much anyway, but maybe I'll have to make a cake or something now that I found it. The hubs would like that!

Anonymous said...

The only thing we registered for, but haven't used (as we approach our first anniversary) is the ice cream maker attachment for our Kitchen-Aide mixer. We LOVE ice cream, so I thought it would be fun to make our own... but we haven't so far. The stuff at the grocery store is just too good and convenient. Maybe for our anniversary...

And, yes, we've used our china. Any excuse to "celebrate", we get it out and use it. I didn't want it to just sit in the cabinet and it makes dinner fun. Whenever a friend comes for dinner, we use it. (Of course, we don't have kids yet, so that may change soon.)

Chris said...

this is so funny that you brought this up. i purposely took some time off of work to go through our 'stuff' and make our kitchen more user friendly. i came across our electric knife and waffle maker from our wedding 5 years ago and haven't used yet. thought about giving them away, but figured there would be that turkey dinner that would cut so much easier and hung on to the knife. the waffle maker was missing the instruction booklet, so i really thought about ditching that, but i mixed up the recipe off the bisquick box, sprayed pam on the iron and gave it a whirl. Well, we had waffles for dinner that night(love breakfast for dinner) and made more for brunch the next day. Only took 5 years, but loving it now!

Sorry this is so long, but we haven't ordered pictures from our wedding prints yet to give to people. Granted, we were given all the pictures and negatives, but just one more thing to do 'someday'.

How was Luke's 6 month check? Joe's 9 month is today.

Unknown said...

I think we used our bread maker once. I remember thinking we would eat fresh bread every day when we registered. You are certainly not alone.

Anonymous said...

Well in all honesty I really don't cook, the husband does. It's not that I can't, I just don't. So you know that gun you speak so highly of? I didn't even get to touch it. He picked everything out! And our kitchen was pretty well stocked to begin with, so our registry list was pretty short and everything we got we wanted and use.

I guess I really shouldn't have answered but I wanted to send ya some luvin :)

Cheryl Ann said...

Hi Kate! Thanks for stopping by my blog - I'd love to help out. E-mail back when you get a chance.

docgrumbles said...

I was very cautious about what I registered for, but I did receive plenty of un-registered-for useless items. I have a fondue pot, a sandwich maker and plenty of unattractive serving pieces gathering dust.

Katrina said...

I am a tad envious of your mini-scone pan. If I had run across such a thing when we were wedding registering, I would have added it. As it was, we ended up with things like a deviled egg platter that we didn't regiser for.