What's in Your Junk Drawer?

Okay, fess up. You collect junk, too, right? But you don’t want anyone to know that you've become a psychotic hoarder of useless items. Spring cleaning is just around the corner and that's when I go through drawers and cupboards, hoping to gather a collection of junk I can finally bring myself to toss out.

The other day I took inventory. Here's a few of the items I found in the laundry room drawer: old cell phones--(three of them. That means I've kept the phones for six years). House keys from our two previous homes. Two combination locks that I don’t know the combinations of. Keys to a paddle lock I can't find. Spools of weird-colored thread. A collection of buttons I've retrieved from the bottom of the wash machine throughout the year. Several single strands of various colored shoelaces.

Sitting on my kitchen counter is decorative catch-all metal purse I bought at a flea market years ago. This holds papers I'm too lazy to file. Every Tom, Dick and Harry's business card. Take-out restaurant menus from places I'd never eat at. Last year's association pool passes that went unused. A Dick's sporting Goods discount card, same for Dominick's, and PetSmart. Also a card for Albertsons grocery store from when we lived in Texas. Expired coupons, the kids' school photos from three years ago, old ChapStick and Realtor magnets--to name a few things.

Beneath my bathroom sink are several plastic baskets containing: trial-sized perfumes, expired wrinkle creams. Eye shadow colors I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing. Nail polish that's at least five years old. Sponge rollers, sparkly hair clips in all sizes, a diffuser for my hairdryer and a waffle iron I could never figure out how to use.

Here's what I think: I keep some of this stuff for so long because once I throw it away, I have to admit that I wasted my money and never should have bought the items in the first place. As long as I keep the stuff and there's a chance I might use it one day…then I didn’t waste my money. How's that for self psychotherapy?

Anyone else want to share what's in their junk drawer?

Marin
A Cowboy's Promise *Men Made in America* April 2009
Samantha's Cowboy August 2009
www.marinthomas.com