..........

I HAVE AN ADDICTION.....

and the majority of you are not aware of it. I hang my head in shame as I admit publicly, for the first time, ever, ANYwhere, that I am a compulsive "hotel/motel room amenities hoarder." I even go so far as to retrieve the soap that's only been used TWICE in the shower, for goodness sake, and wrap it up in the plastic wrap I tore off of the plastic glasses. These little bars of soap are just the right size for the soap dish in the bathroom at home. And I convince myself that the granddaughters will be unreasonably ecstatic when I present them with a tiny bottle of hand lotion. And since I'm the only one at home who drinks coffee, I have a tiny 4-cup coffee pot.....just the right size to use those coffee thingies they put in most of the rooms. And the plastic cups?? They might come in handy in the kitchen and they're fun to play with in the tub. Tub toys for cheap. And the pens and pads of paper. Now who DOESN'T need all the pens and scrap paper they can get their hands on? How could anyone walk away from all that??? And, besides.....I PAID for all that stuff, didn't I? It's all included in the price of the room, isn't it? It's MY STUFF!!!

For a while, I had a handle on it. Once, when I was cleaning out the cabinet in the bathroom and found the gallon plastic zipper bag full of midget soap bars, I realized I had a problem. When I opened the linen closet door and was nearly knocked senseless with a shower of tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner and lotion and mouthwash and shower gel, I realized I had a problem. When I found myself washing the plastic glasses in the kitchen, I realized I had a problem. And I quit. Oh, not cold turkey. I would take the occasional bottle of lotion to drop in my purse. But I was getting better.

Then we went on the cross-county trip of a lifetime. And we stopped at several hotel/motels. We had to. We didn't make plans to sleep in the car. And it was on this trip that I noticed it. The soap bars were bigger. And you didn't just get a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of lotion. You got a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of lotion AND you got a bottle of conditioner and a bottle of mouthwash and you even (sometimes) got a bottle of shower gel along WITH the bars of soap. (BONUS!!!) And, once in a blue moon, you might hit the mother lode! As I did when we stopped in Reno and stayed at the Silver Legacy. In the picture below, you will notice that there is a bottle of body lotion, a bottle of shampoo, a bottle of conditioner, an (empty) bottle of BUBBLE BATH and TWO bottles of mouthwash. ALONG WITH.....a shower cap, a sewing kit and two GINORMOUS bars of soap. Oh, and NOT in the picture??? Two pairs of (cheap) slip-on houseshoes and the mandatory pens and notepads. (Believe it or not, we paid less for the room in Reno than we did for most of the other rooms we stayed in on that trip.)

What it boils down to is the fact that I fell off the wagon. So, if you find yourself in need of a bottle of lotion for your purse or a sewing kit for your desk drawer or a plastic cup for your kid to play with in the bathtub, I'm willing to share. I am totally aware of the fact that I'll never use all this stuff. But I still can't bear the thought of just leaving it in that room for the maid to take home. I am SOOOOOOOOOO lucky that they don't give away those tiny bottles of booze on the airplanes.

BE SURE AND.....

check out the 1150 Riders' website. Jeremy has posted some pictures from the Memorial Weekend. (Oh, and if you click on the little picture, it becomes BIG! Aren't computers just plumb magical?)

TYLIE SAYS.....

to all who participated in the 2nd Annual Willie Walton Memorial Weekend and Ride. And, ESPECIALLY to the 1150 Riders and their families for all the hard work and long hours that went into this year's weekend.....a big HUG!

Here's a picture of the 1150 Riders and Tylie.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!