The Chronic Consumer

I make no secret of the fact that I have to nap every day in order to be able to function properly. I excuse it by pointing out that I go to bed very late and get up very early, so taking a nap just gets me to eight hours of sleep per day.

Anyway, I’m now thinking of adding a large roller shade to the large window in the master bedroom to help block out the sunlight. The curtains do a decent job, but I think a roller shade would help a lot and allow me to catch my afternoon snooze in almost complete darkness.

Plus, roller shades just look nice and will perfectly complement the decor I already have!

I need a new laptop, as my old one unceremoniously died on me. I still have a netbook, but it’s a cheap-o model that isn’t capable of doing everything I need it to. So now I’m saving up my money and will try to get a laptop as soon as possible.

I’ve been looking at a few different Sony VAIO models, and like what I’ve seen thus far. That’s one option. I might also lean the other way and go with Apple — either by getting a MacBook or an iPad. I don’t know enough about either of those products yet to make a decision now, though.

Guess I’ll have to keep researching until I have the money to actually buy something!

The new price drop on the Kindle kind of had me thinking that it would be nice to upgrade to the second generation model instead of continuing to use my first generation device. But the more I thought about it, the more I decided it would be a waste of money. After all, my K1 works perfectly fine, so what would be the point of having two of these things?

Instead, I’m now thinking about buying a B&N Nook. There’s only one reason I want a Nook, and that’s to be able to read free
EPUB books from the library. My Kindle can’t do this (yeah, yeah, I know there are hacks and whatnot, but most require running a Python script, which is well beyond my capabilities), so if I want to read ebooks from the library, I have to do it at my computer, which totally sucks.

I know there are drawbacks to the Nook, such as its lack of a web browser. But I don’t mind that at all. Honestly, it’s not as though I find myself wanting to take a break from reading a book in order to start checking out alli reviews or whatever. It’s not as though I need every single device I own to have the ability to connect to the Internet!

This isn’t a purchase I’m going to be able to make soon, but I’m keeping it in mind for Christmas or maybe my birthday.

OK, I have tried to hold off as long as possible, but I can’t stand it anymore. I want an iPad!!! There, I said it. I’ve seen so many people with iPads, and have even had a chance to try a few for myself. These things are awesome! It’s just too bad they cost so much. I’ve heard of people getting them as graduation and wedding gifts at this time of year, but I’ve got nothing like that coming up. Mother’s Day came and went without a hint of an iPad, and Christmas and my birthday are just too far away. Ugh, how can I get one?!

I’m going to try to start saving something like $20-$50 per week. I know it’ll take me forever to make it to $500, but I’ve got to at least try.

Now that the Chicago Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup, I am looking for a few decent souvenir items to buy to commemorate the season. I won’t go crazy and spend hundreds of dollars like some folks, but I will get myself a few things. After all, this team really means a lot to me — to the point that my eyes were leaking like a Grohe faucet after Patrick Kane scored the game-winning goal!

One of the leading souvenir candidates so far is this championship t-shirt that says “Stanley Cup Champions 2010″ on the front and has the full team roster on the back. Something like this would be cool, because every single guy on the roster contributed in some way to the wins.

I’m not done shopping yet, but this shirt is on my Wish List for when I figure out my final order.

I am really thinking about ordering some monogrammed handkerchiefs to carry around. The problem is that I’m tired of going into public bathrooms that don’t have working hand dryers and are out of paper towels, leaving me to dry my dripping hands on the back of my jeans. How disgusting! If I had a handkerchief or two in my purse, I’d at least have a decent way of drying my hands. Sure, I guess they don’t have to be monogrammed, but I love monogrammed items, so why not!

I have so many things on my Wish List that it’s kind of hard to keep track of them all. Of course, there are some things (like this diamond pendant) that I’ll probably never end up buying because of the cost, and others (like some of the colon cleanse products I’ve looked at over the years) that I’ll just completely forget about. So I decided to post a quick update of my Wish List to reflect the five items I want the most right now.

• Jonathan Toews Blackhawks jersey
• Ally McBeal Complete Series DVD set
• Chanel No. 5 perfume
• iPhone 3GS (or 4G by the time I buy it)
• 2nd Generation Kindle

We took our son to Disney World for the first time when he was four years old, and he absolutely loved it! We rode all the rides, stood in line to take a picture with Mickey, and just had a wonderful time in Florida. We haven’t actually been able to take a decent family trip since then, but we definitely deserve a break and want to head back to Orlando. That’s why I’ve been keeping an eye on the price of Disney vacations recently to make sure I’m aware of any good deals that come up. So far I haven’t come across anything in our budget range, but I’m not giving up yet. Hopefully we’ll be able to take our trip sometime before summer vacation is over!