A while back I was talking with some friends about all the moving we've done since marrying soldiers. After going through our best and worst duty stations, we started talking about the various apartments and houses we've lived in. Then, the conversation turned to the furnishings, etc. we've gone through over the years.
One spouse laughed as she recalled buying a super-sized shrunk ensemble at their first duty station only to move to teeny-tiny base housing two years later. The shrunk had to be placed on the wall where the windows were so there was no natural light in the living room. Once she had the shrunk, sofa and love seat in the house, there was barely any room to walk around. And it was dark. She recalled being slightly over their weight limit twice. Her husband argued it was the shrunk. She argued it was his "professional" books.... Regardless, she said she never would have purchased that shrunk early on in their military career as it's been a nuisance to them with each move. Currently, it's sitting in a storage unit where it's been for years. So not only are they not using it, but they're paying to store it.
One of my worst purchases was a huge weight-lifting station.
I had to have it because I didn't have time to go to the gym and I just knew that if I had a home gym, I'd use it all the time. Oh, how convenient it would be. I could work out anytime I wanted to without even leaving the house. Plus, I'd look like Cory Everson in no time at all... Somehow it didn't quite work out that way.
Years later, after getting rid of that monstrosity, my husband bought an elliptical machine. To be fair, he did use it, but then we moved, and you guessed it, there's no space for it in the new place. It's now sitting in the garage. It's taken a long time for me to learn to evaluate purchases with an eye on the future. Namely that we don't know what the future holds. We could be in a very spacious house next time, or we could be in an apartment the size of a postage stamp.
Remember when I wrote about "Furniture Shopping - Military Style?" Well, I did buy those bar stools. And they're too high for the bar in this house.
Lovely.
Anyone need some tall bar stools and an elliptical machine?
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