5 Things I Thought I Had to Have by Melinda Curtis

Life is a roller coaster of wants. The hard part is knowing what you want is really what you need. At various points in my life, I've thought I wanted something - really, really wanted something - and then later realized I could have lived without it. Here's my top 5 list of mistakes:

1. The sweater tube dress. It probably looked better on this woman than it did on me. And it was hot and itchy and I always felt as if it was riding up in back.
2. Rollerblades. I was going to skate with my kids all around our neighborhood. The first time I fell on my behind, I realized that I'd much rather ride along on my bicycle.
3. George Foreman Grill. Sorry, George. I never mastered the craft of George's grilling (some of you might have better luck at it than I did). It was hot on the counter. It was messy. And I always overcooked my chicken on one side in two minutes.
4. Any cookbook. They always include lots of seafood and fish. I'm allergic to iodine (an integral part of seawater and its bounty). I always feel as if I'm not using the book to its full potential. And then I pull out a box of Hamburger Helper.
5. A piano keyboard. I grew up with my grandmother's baby grand piano in the living room. I know how to play the most fundamental of tunes by memory and can read my way through a piece. When my brother claimed the piano for his, I guess I was feeling nostalgic. I haven't felt nostalgic enough to play it with any regularity.

Now, as you may have guessed, it's your turn. What are some things you had to have, only to find it wasn't really what you really needed?

In my March Heartwarming release - One Perfect Year - Gage falls in love with Shelby the moment she steps into his high school science class. But being a man of science, he didn't act on those feelings while his best friend did. Now years later, Gage has a chance to think about what he really wants - being a race horse veterinarian in Kentucky or staying in small town Harmony Valley with Shelby.

This month, readers who sign up for my emailing list will receive a FREE sweet romance novelette: Cinderella Fell for a Fella. You can sign up at www.MelindaCurtis.net. In the meantime, maybe think twice before you follow a trend or try to recapture your past.

Comments

  1. In response to your question, new toys for our dogs comes to mind, probably because we were in a pet store yesterday, and yes, they each have a new chew toy. Did they (we) really need them? No. Did they make them happy? Of course. Well worth the expense!

    Congratulation on your new release, Melinda!

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    1. Thanks, Kate. You're always so down to earth that you'd never follow a trend...

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  2. Oh, what a fun post. Mine was a bread machine. I think I used it three times. And, way back...WAY back, I wanted leg warmers. Finally got them. They itched.

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    1. My husband had to have a bread machine and a rice maker. Total waste of money, but he is a wannabe cook with absolutely no talent. No one will eat what he makes, but he is perfectly happy dining on his own creations.

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    2. OMG! The bread machine! I had one and could never get the middle of the bread right. It was too much work.

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    3. Hey, I got a bread machine for a wedding gift. I'm 100% I put it on the register. We've been married 14 years. Yup, the bread machine is still in it's original box.

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  3. Mel, love the post. The really big thing I can think of that I wanted so badly and still have to deal with--a leather sofa and love seat. The dang things are heavy and are cold in the winter. I have to cover them with blankets so a body's behind doesn't get cold. A car cover was another thing I thought I couldn't live without when we only had room in our garage for 1 car. Putting the darned thing on and off, especially in Washington state if it snowed was a pain. It got stiff and cold and was worse to manage than putting on chains.

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    1. Roz, many times Mr. Curtis has mentioned the desire for a leather sofa, and many times I've told him exactly what you found out - they're cold in winter! LOL! Thanks for sharing. Good thing you have children to help you lift that heavy furniture.

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  4. OMG, leg warmers and tube dresses are bringing back memories! I fell for making t-shirt dresses (sewing the bottom half of a colored t-shirt to the bottom of a full t-shirt to make it dress length) and they really were comfortable...but the look could not have been that flattering...especially topped with a frizzy perm. I'm kinda glad I don't have a photo to share lol.

    And Mel, I'm already in love with Gage. I can't resist a veterinarian hero. I can't wait to read the story!

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    1. I forgot leg warmers! My list could have gone on and on! I'd love to see a picture of one of your t-shirt dresses...

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  5. Great post. Thankfully I can say I never wanted a sweater dress or leg warmers. LOL. But if I looked back, I could probably find a major fashion catastrophe. Congrats on your new release!

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    1. Tara, could it be that being from the south it was too warm for a sweater dress or leg warmers? What about a jacket with shoulder pads...?

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  6. Melinda, you made my morning! I'm still chuckling.... There are several to choose from including an electric toothbrush and Doc Martens. But I'm going to go with an electric ice cream maker. Anyone who know me knows I LOVE ice cream. This contraption works like a dream--so simple and you just fill it with the yummiest, creamiest ingredients of your choosing like cream and whole milk and chocolate bits and almonds etc... Why would someone who has no self-control when it comes to ice cream get one of these things? I had fun with it, but ten pounds later I'm thinking... At least with the old-fashioned crank one you had to work for the prize. And if I stick with having to buy ice cream at the grocery store it's so much easier to resist in the moment. Alas, I felt my only choices were to "retire" the ice cream maker or join a self-help group....

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    1. p.s. LOVE that Harmony Valley! Looking very forward to this one.

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    2. Carol, that is exactly the reason I've resisted buying an ice cream maker! I did buy a wafflemaker once. Am constantly amazed how at a hotel all the men want to make those waffles at the breakfast bar when at home my man won't touch the thing.

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    3. LOL. I won't keep ice cream in the house because I can't seem to walk past the freezer if I know it's in there.

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  7. Uh-oh. Now I have to have an ice cream maker!

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  8. I absolutely had to have every vintage barkcloth panel I ever saw. 27 giant plastic bins of fabric later, I know that was a big mistake. If I ever have time I'll open an Etsy store.

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    1. Oh, Kristine. I'm so there. I have a bin of quilting fabric just waiting to be made into a quilt.

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    2. Melinda, I probably shouldn't confess I had to have a fat quarter of every Kaffe Fassett quilting fabric ever designed.

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  9. You touched on so many things I’ve wanted. I met my husband in my brown sweater/dress with its batwing arms, back when I had a figure. Maybe that’s what started the romance. Roller skates - last time I went on those, I scared myself. It just wasn’t as easy as I remembered when I skated back in high school.

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    1. Oh, Marion. I took my friend, Ruby (age 65), to a spin class the other day. She claimed she couldn't remember how to ride a bike...and she was right. Some things we just shouldn't go back to!

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    2. Marion, I had that dress too! I'll bet we looked gorgeous way back then in our high fashion outfits with the short skirts!!

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  10. I'm so laughing because aside from the roller blades, I've done all those!! I still buy cookbooks tho--they're a weakness . I think my personal weaknesses are kitchen gadgets--I always thing I'm going to use them, but turns out, you really don't need more than a good pan and wooden spoon. :) Can't wait to read Gage's story!

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    1. Anna, you are always my go-to person when I write a story with interesting recipes. Please don't stop buying gadgets!

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  11. Melinda - what a riot! Not even kitchen gadgets make me want to cook, so I never made those mistakes. But I made a doozy with platform shoes. Remember those? Probably an inch of wooden sole, and three or four inches at the heel. Made me taller than Ron. I fell off them one day, and it was falling off a two-story building. Didn't break anything, but lots of bumps and bruises.

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    1. Forgot to congratulate you on the book. Love the cover. He's so cute, and I like the color of her jacket.

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    2. Thanks, Muriel! I do remember platform shoes! And leather purses with your name on them.

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  12. Arg, I had the sweater dress back in Nebraska. It was hot and itchy! Never master rollerblading. The regular skates are soooo much better. Now, I do take issue with the George Forman grill. You clearly purchased a lemon. Try again. I'm on my third. I wear them out. I love, love, love cookbooks, and as I tell my husband. Someday I will use them. Really. Let me quit work and stay home, and I will use them.
    Learning to play the piano is on my bucket list.

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    1. You won't use those cookbooks even if you stay home and write full time (says the author who does that) - but you can always dream!

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  13. The more time passes, the more and more I become a gadgeteer. But one of those shifts-by-itself/automatic bicycles I bought proved to be my undoing. One ride, a bad fall--and it has been sitting in the garage ever since. My bread machine doesn't seem to be turning out good bread anymore. Re Hamburger Helper: I love the Stroganoff version. Congrats on your new book, Melinda. Sounds terrific!

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    1. Hey, Leigh, I only ride a stationary bike at the gym anymore - much safer. I hope you are completely recovered by now.

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  14. The bread machine!!! I had one, too. Still do somewhere around here. I do love my George Foreman for when it's too bad to grill out. Me, I'm a sucker for any new pottery tool or yarn. Right now I've made a deal with myself not to buy any more yarn until I work up what I have.

    The book looks great. Can't wait to read it!

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  15. I asked for a bread machine when we got married and wisely took it back before I used/didn't use it! Great post, Melinda. Can't wait to read the book :)

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