Staying and Browsing

I feel a huge sense of relief. Clarity at last! We have decided to stay in the valley and keep our house. This is a huge deal, as those of you who have travelled with me for a while, might know. DH and I have lived with a "bird on a wire" sense of impending change for many months now. In some ways that's exciting; in other ways, deeply unsettling. It was very hard to move ahead even in ordinary things: every time I wanted to do anything, I would be stopped in my tracks by the knowledge that everything might change any moment. For example, I have paintings to hang but felt I shouldn't make holes in the newly painted walls. I wanted to redecorate my bathroom but felt, 'what's the point, really?' Lots of stuff like that. Now I am free to explore all kinds of possiblities To get involved, to start projects, to let my ruffled roots settle again. One of my projects is (don't laugh) to learn to browse. (The link is: I can browse for this house) During my early years, I had to exercise great restaint as a shopper, being always in varying stages of broke-ness. So I have been a 'target shopper' - "Enter shop, keep eyes under rigid control, buy only what you need, leave. Looking at other stuff is only going to make you discontented, so don't." I have taken this too far, for too long: so now, I have ' browse dates'. Rules of browsing expeditions: *No buying of necessities *No rushing. *Being sensible is not allowed. *Handling of interesting items is encouraged. *Talking to shop owners, craft marketeers, fellow browsers, is practically mandatory. It is really so much fun. Browsing might seriously rival blogging and painting as a hobby in times to came. Tally-ho!