I didn’t post about it at the time, but my suitcase went missing into the nebulous ether that planes fly in on our trip back from Maine. “We’ve found your suitcase!” the airline kept calling me to tell me, only to attempt to deliver a bag that wasn’t even close to mine. Sigh. I’m still in rounds with them about settling for the value of my baggage.
The finances, with my income being all Student Loan since Asher arrived, are also strange. We get financial aid in spurts, and there are tens of thousands in the bank that are supposed to last us six months or more. By the end we are usually scraping a little… able to pay all the bills but not able to make any extra purchases. Like a new wardrobe, for instance.
It wasn’t that big a deal, I didn’t think. Yes, I had brought all the clothes I actually like to Maine. Yes, I had lost all my fun book tees that solidified my status as a literary nerd. But it wasn’t like I didn’t have stuff to wear. I just didn’t have cute stuff to wear. I bought a bra, a pair of jeans, a few target t-shirts, and made due. I felt frumpy, but I chalked that up to being a tired mom.
Brian’s financial aid came in this week and I was able to buy an actual wardrobe today. While I bought several shirts and another pair of jeans, I spent most of the money on stuff that no one would notice: tank tops, underwear, bras, pajama pants, slip shorts. I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER. I feel like a complete person now.
I have never before appreciated the luxury that is being able to pull a tank top from the drawer to put underneath a low neckline. I no longer have to choose between underwear that has holes and unraveling elastic or the ones that settle onto my c-section scar and rub all day. I can wash my jeans without having to wear fancy dress pants as I wait for them to dry. I have shorts to wear under the few skirts I still have in my drawer (chub rub is real, guys, and deodorant on the thighs only cuts it for so long). I do not have to wear a bra that I have worn for five days in a row in 100+ heat.
Is this TMI?
In short I’m happier, less smelly, and infinitely cuter.
This is where I’m supposed to have some sort of witticism or Deep Thought about clothes and who we are. But honestly, I’d rather just go enjoy my soft, soft pajama pants that have pockets. Appreciate your clothes, guys. I know I’m going to, simple as they are.
Casey E. Hamilton 