There's a commercial currently running on the boob tube with Dennis Haysbert. I think it's for an insurance company. There's a a bit where he narrates something like, "Will this be known as the Great Recession? or the recession that made us great?" I love that ad. I'm very curious about how people respond to tragedy and difficult times. Do they get irretrievably broken, or stronger?
I know my spending habits have been forever changed by this recession. I will never spend as recklessly as I have in the past. I had already stopped using my credit cards for retail therapy by the time I lost my job, using them infrequently and paying off the balances every month.
After I found out about the job loss, I drew in and stopped spending on frivolous things. I cook dinner almost every night and we go out to eat perhaps once a week. I stopped buying DVD's and books and downloading whatever I wanted from iTunes.
In November, during which I lost enough weight to necessitate the purchase of a pair of jeans, I bought a cheap pair from Kohl's. Generally, I buy my church clothes at Talbot's and my casual clothing from L.L. Bean or Lands End. Almost without fail, the clothes from these places last. I still have the first turtleneck I bought from L.L. Bean back in 1986. That was in the days when you would fill out an order form, write a check and snail mail it to the company. I still wear that turtleneck.
Well, my jeans from Kohl's already---already!--have two holes on the backside.
So, I'm going to do what I've never done before: patch them.
I just can't bring myself to toss them. I'm living in a new kind of austerity, so those jeans will be patched, probably very badly, since I'm no Suzy Homemaker, and worn for many more months.
Until I lose more weight. Then, I might just spring for some L.L. Bean mom jeans.
I'll patch the holes in your jeans. Bring 'em out to my shop. Got a nail gun out there. You'll want to take them off first, though.
Posted by: The Village Carpenter | 24 January 2010 at 09:49 PM
Haha! Kari beat me to that suggestion! It's like that Dutch (and probably every other language) expression--cheap is expensive. Mom jeans--phenomenal! Please tell me that they're not that horrific kind with elastic on the waistband.
Posted by: naomi | 25 January 2010 at 08:15 AM
Mom jeans=pleats. haha
Posted by: The Village Carpenter | 25 January 2010 at 09:40 AM
If you can make them wearable, VC, you're welcome to use the nail gun. Naomi, elastic on the waistband sounds pretty sweet. No pleats, however.
Posted by: presbyfruit | 25 January 2010 at 10:29 AM
i keep thinking i'll hold off on another pair too--until i'm not size 16 anymore. and i wish they'd take the spandex out of the levis. though i do love quilting, i rarely sew on a button and have no idea how to really patch.
i'm glad you got my gift, and like it. maybe it could be positioned so that the holes are hidden behind it.
Posted by: angela | 25 January 2010 at 09:45 PM
Angela, I LOVE the scarf and had a good laugh thinking how I could wear it backwards to strategically cover the holes on my rear end. Or, I could wear it like a giant sash.
Posted by: presbyfruit | 26 January 2010 at 03:39 PM
You cook dinner every night??? ;-)
Posted by: Wordsmyth8 | 28 January 2010 at 08:49 AM
She doesn't cook dinner anymore. I had to ask her to stop because the meals she was making tasted too good and I was putting on weight!
Posted by: The Village Carpenter | 28 January 2010 at 01:20 PM
What did you sit on that made you get holes in your jeans? Are you dragging your butt on the ground or something?
LOL
Go to Target and buy jeans from the mens section - good ol' rough and tough Wranglers!
Posted by: Shazza | 21 February 2010 at 01:45 PM