Too Much?

"Perhaps too much of everything is as bad as too little." Edna Ferber, American novelist and playwright (1885 - 1968)

So I've decided to work my way through a list of writing exercises that I read in Oprah magazine over the summer. "O" is, regardless of what you think of her show and persona, a magazine full of great articles and interesting reading. The suggestions appeared in the sidebar of an article called "How to Write Your Own Memoir," and while that is something I'm not planning to tackle any time soon, I thought the there were some great 'writing starters' that I could use here.
"Write two pages of what you have too much of." Well, one thing I know about being grown ups--once you've reached your 40's in America, most of us have too much of something in our lives. Even though my hubby and I are not 'pack rat' people*, (well, ok I am a little. He will throw out a magazine before I ever open it if I let it sit out in the open too long!) I realized there are things I have that most people would probably consider just too much.

Hmmm...2 pages sounded daunting and not really in keeping with blogging style, so I decided to take pictures to illustrate.

We own quite a few DVD's. Hubby buys most of them and often gets them for gifts. There are 3 main criteria:
1. They have to be big blockbuster type movies and/or
2. They have to be sci fi or fantasy type, or a major pixar-type animated movie
3. They have to be ones we can imagine watching more than one more time

There are a lot like this:









There are not nearly enough like this. Anybody want the Pilates for Dummies?







We also have a lot of 80's and 90's music CD's. Ugh. Bruce Hornsby, anyone?









Doesn't everyone have a drawer like this now? Too many old power cords and adapters and where is that one I need for the charger....??






Now it gets a little more personal.
I probably have too many jackets.
These are not all mine, but they are also not all of mine.
We do have a VERY small coat closet.
Together we have enough that they spill over into other spots. My reasoning for having so many? We live in Michigan! You can always use a jacket!

Sandals! What can I say? I have shoes issues--as in difficulty finding a good fit--and sandals are just more accommodating. According to FashionBlast.net, a recent study revealed that women over the age of 40 own an average of 19 pairs of shoes. I guess I'm above average there, although it also says that women over 40 own an average of 11 handbags--a figure I come no where near! Add to that the fact that I do a lot of clearance, sale, and Salvation Army shopping and I don't feel too bad about this "too much". It does sort of run counter to the whole "we live in Michigan" jacket justification though.


I have too many earrings. I've even added a third hole just to give me somewhere else to stick them. 99% of them are costume jewelry and not worth much at all. They do have sentimental value though, because I often buy them on vacations and they remind me of the trip. I love funky, handcrafted, and unusual styles. I don't own many necklaces or rings by comparison.

The world's most expensive earrings ever made cost 8.5 million dollars.

But enough about my self-indulgence! I'm probably worse than some women, better than others in this department.

I have TOO MUCH RED TILE!!

This is my bathroom. It came with the lake house, which had way too many other things that needed repair. There was no time to spend on tile that was in great shape, but it's just hideous. I sent in pictures to one of those ugliest bathroom in America contests once, but got no response.

There is soooo much of it! We have to do something about it soon. It's beginning to wear on me. It hurts my eyes. It's orange in some areas. And the question that really haunts me is, "who does this to starts with?"













And that's how we are--happy with too much of some things, frustrated with too much of other things. Lack of contentment coloring it all. In this case in an all too bright shade of red.

What do you have too much of? Come on....'fess up!

*There's a pretty good book out on this subject if this is really something you struggle with called "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh.