muscadine | Friday Five on Possessions

1. What is your most prized material possession? In terms of how much I use/enjoy it, probably my computer. Runner up would probably be my collection of books, if that counts as a "possession." In terms of something I have for its appearance/beauty/memories, well, there are family/friend pictures of course. I have lots of knick-knacks, but nothing especially stands out more than other things.

2. What item, that you currently own, have you had the longest? Good grief. I'm pretty sure I have some things I "owned" when I was born, but they are mostly put away in my parents' storage. I also have a few things, my framed map of Mississippi (where I'm from) comes to mind, that were technically my mom's growing up, but that she gave me at some point and I now have in my home. A couple of things I have now, that I know I had in early/middle childhood, are a small pewter statuette of a boy pulling a poodle in a wagon (from my grandmother, who had a poodle) and a Norman Rockwell plate that I think is called "The Student" with a boy studying on the floor while his dog sits in the chair (from my mom).

3. Are you a packrat? Hell, yes! Specifically, I am a collector. I have collections of books & magazines, pens & pencils, rocks, playing cards, stuffed animals...tons of different stuff. I am trying to reduce my dependence on material things, though, especially with an anticipated move soon. We cut down on our living space already and I got rid of a lot of papers and knick-knacks. But I have the feeling it's going to take me a while to really go cold turkey.

4. Do you prefer a spic-and-span clean house? Or is some clutter necessary to avoid the appearance of a museum? It depends on the room. I like a clean, uncluttered kitchen and bathroom. If there are a separate living room, dining room, and den, the living & dining rooms should be relatively uncluttered, but the den can be more "lived in." Bedrooms and studies can be somewhat cluttered but should be clean.

5. Do the rooms in your house have a theme? Or is it a mixture of knick-knacks here and there? I may have a theme for a shelf or set of shelves, but rarely for an entire room. We do try to match furniture via color schemes. And at the apartment we did do the bedroom in a Noah's ark/wildlife theme for a while, since Allen likes Noah's ark stuff. Now with the limited space most of that, like many things, is put away in boxes.