That's Very Pinteresting

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm attempting to have a little time to myself, which in my normal reality is about as rare and possibly non-existent as a unicorn. Time to oneself is a little hard to come by when one has a small boy in their care in addition to living in a 950 square foot house. But, said small boy is snoozing in his room and said husband is watching football and will be snoozing before too many more [insert random football terminology here} have taken place.

I've been a little distracted lately and haven't made my way over here to my blog as often as I'd like to, despite its fancy new design. (Thanks to Carolyn V). If I were someone who didn't feel any moral compunction about lying, I would tell you that the aforementioned distractions have included visiting widows and orphans, adopting animals from the local shelter, cooking meals for the homeless, growing organic vegetables and reading my Bible late into the night. BUT, because I am, or try to be, an honest woman, I will tell the truth here and possibly give you reason to avoid me at Bi-Lo next time you see me. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you can decide for yourself.

About a month ago, I discovered something. It was unassuming and even a little hard to figure out at first. But, it didn't take long before I had gotten the hang of it and every time I thought about it, while I was washing dishes or grocery shopping or putting Sam down for a nap, I felt a tiny twinge of excitement. Usually, I'd be sure to get the toys put up, the dishes washed, the laundry done, my emails checked, etc. before allowing myself to go there, but sometimes, the pull was too strong and the temptation too overwhelming. Before I knew it, with chores undone and phone calls unreturned, I would find myself, hours later, still pinning. Pinning, you ask? That's right. Pinning.

Perhaps you're unfamiliar with Pinterest. And maybe it's better that way. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can visit my page here: http://pinterest.com/darar/ It's hard to explain the draw of Pinterest until you've experienced it yourself, but be forewarned, once you start pinning, there's no turning back, my friend.

Essentially, Pinterest is a catalog of images that you can select, or pin, to a page that collects all your personal favorites. In the magical world of Pinterest, you'll find photos of food, fashion, travel, home, art, etc. Basically, it's an online folder for stuff you like to look at, dream about, hope for, and possibly covet (but, that's another whole issue).

There's something fantastic about being able to peruse perfect bathrooms and comfortable living rooms and dreamy kitchens for hours upon hours. It's hard to pull myself away from the plethora of neurotically organized linen closets and pantrys (anyone know the plural of "pantry"?) and bookshelves. Who knew that you could organize all your books by color or label all your pantry items with chalkboard magnets? Pinterest is heaven for those of us with slightly organizationally compulsive natures.

I confessed to my husband this morning that I "love" Pinterest. He wasn't shocked, maybe just confused by this sudden admission. It's been added to my list of daily website visits, along with Facebook, Yahoo and embarrassingly enough, People.com (that was actually hard to confess.)

I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to have to deal with some coveting/discontentment/comparision/identity issues at some point and find that Pinterest may have a little (or a lot?) to do with these. But, for the moment, I can't tear myself away from all those lovely Mason Jar table settings, DIY birthday party favors and handmade skirts with secret pockets.

An intervention may be necessary before too long, but I'll worry about that later. Right now I have some pinning, I mean, laundry to do.