It was in me all along

In the basement of my apartment building, just outside the laundry room, there is a magical table. On this table, seemingly out of the blue, lovely, glossy mags appear. It's so awesome. Occasionally there will be a whole stack! Everything from the Canadian fashion mags to Toronto Life to Vanity Fair and Vogue. Also a lot of decor mags. (I think they come from the local TV personality that lives in the building.) Often they are a few months behind, but every now and then I'll stumble across something that's still on the newsstand. It's my favourite part about doing laundry, which is really the only reason I have to go to the basement.

I had high hopes this evening. Or, rather, slightly desperate hopes. My winter blues are gaining strength as the deep freeze continues. Knowing that I was heading home to an empty apartment - the boyfriend was working late - I felt the pull of the mall. I needed a pick me up! What could it hurt?

Wow. That sounds so familiar. I'm pretty sure that was my mantra for a really long time...which explains why I'm in this predicament. Time to change my thinking. Spending money does NOT equal happiness.

Anyway, back to the magic table. I had been avoiding a few loads of laundry all week long. Towels and sheets and stuff. So I put aside my blues, grabbed the detergent, and headed downstairs.

Nothing. Well, not nothing, but just a few uninspired, not very glossy mags. And many Avon catalogues.

But here's the funny thing. Since there were no lovely mags to devour, I had to fill the time between laundry loads with something else. So I cleaned the kitchen and changed the sheets and made pancakes for dinner. (People, I'm suffering from the blues. Let me eat my pancakes in peace!) And at some point I started to feel better. And now I feel pretty good, plus the apartment is much cleaner. And when I remember the fact that I didn't go to the mall and randomly spend money on something that I didn't really need, just because I was feeling a bit down, I feel kind of great.

Let's hope I can remember this feeling.

I had lunch out today with some of the wonderful women that I work with. (And one who was coming back to visit from her new job.) Mine was a huge portion of very tasty Tamarind Chicken. And I ate the whole thing. (See yesterday's post.)

Total debt: $11,000 and change
Spent today: $9.95