... is that you forget what you ordered, so when it arrives it's all a surprise!!!
That happened to me today. I placed an order with Herrschners back on the 29th. I had been waiting for a free shipping offer to place my order for the yarn to finish Derek's Popcorn MAM. That morning I got an email from them announcing a 29% off sale for that day only to celebrate the leap year. I knew that the discount would more than take care of the shipping costs, so off to their web site I went to place my order.
One item was a given... the yarn I needed for Derek's afghan. Pretty much everything else was optional, so I began the process of putting things in and taking things out of my cart while I made my final decisions for my purchase. I chose two different crocheted sock monkey kits; one was a pair of mint candy-striped regular-sized dolls; the other was a set of 6 ornament-sized dolls. I also ordered an embroidered pillowcase and thread kit to make for Derek's room out at the mines. These had been in my wish list/ shopping cart for some time, and I had planned on adding these to the next order I placed. The rest of what I wanted to order went in and out of my cart so frequently, that I couldn't remember what all there was.
Today Derek made the trip to our post office at lunch time and came back with a notice card. He asked me if I had ordered anything. I told him, "yes, I told you I ordered the yarn to finish your afghan, remember?" After the lunch break, he went back to pick up my parcel. When he came through the door, he teased that he nearly needed a fork lift to bring it home (referring to a joke I made with my daughters about a very heavy Knit Picks order I had placed with many books). When I saw the size of the box, even I was astonished at how large it was. He asked me what I ordered again... your yarn, and a few other things... He accused me, rightly so, of forgetting what I ordered. I had to agree, but I really didn't think I had ordered THAT much!! At least not enough to fill that box.
Well, after taking the required photos with my phone to send off to my bff, I opened the box and dived in. It turns out that the box wasn't completely outrageous in size after all. Derek giggled at my reactions as I pulled item after item out of the carton. Of course there was the items I had remembered (or at least half remembered), but the fun part was the items I had completely forgotten about! There was a latch hook kit of a breast cancer ribbon (no explanation necessary to him on that at all!). There was a huge project bag filled with yarn, that I remembered was a crocheted afghan kit. The final item that had both of us puzzled was a plain white box. It wasn't until I began opening that I remembered... it was a crochet thread ball holder! Derek just shook his head and laughed at me.
In all honesty, the only thing I really needed to justify in any way, shape or form, was the afghan kit. It was the only thing in the order that was completely extravagant as far as I was concerned. The 4 balls of yarn were to be able to finish his afghan in the colours he wanted. The pillowcases were meant to be a surprise for him, as a piece of home in his room at the mine. The sock monkey kits were cute, he knows I can get them finished fast, and were mostly intended for one of the teenagers. The latch hook was simply because it was a pink ribbon item, and even if it's never made, he would never complain about my buying it. The thread holder is to make using my large balls of crochet thread easier, something that I have in vast abundance after cataloguing my stash previously. That leaves us with the afghan kit... I purchased it because I really liked it, knew it would be a relatively fast and easy project, and came with a pattern booklet with 3 other patterns. I justified the cost by showing him the savings on the invoice, and how it nearly covered the cost of the kit.
All that being said, I really am blessed. I don't need to justify any of it to him at all. He just likes seeing me happy, and knows how my crafting makes me happy. As long as our bills are paid, there's food in the fridge and cupboard, the kids have clothes, there's gas in the truck; it doesn't matter all that much to him where I spend the rest. I guess my biggest obstacle is me! It just kills me that I'm trying to knit and crochet through more than what I buy this year, and that afghan kit alone is just shy of 6000 (yes, SIX THOUSAND) yards!!!
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