Size DOES matter . . . aka Trying to get 3 more inches

We have moved to a new house in Santa Cruz. Actually, it's a new home to us but an old house built in the 1920s. You know the story: lots of charm, wood moldings, basement right from the set of "The Wizard of Oz," yada yada yada. But the kitchen is also from a bygone day and so one of the perks when Massimo took the job was that we would get a new kitchen. We're in the midst of demolition right now which has introduced me to a whole new set of insects that I never knew existed, but that's another story.

We had to get a new stove and refrigerator and scurried out of the mountains to the Sears Outlet to make our selection. That's when I discovered my buried attitude of "bigger is better."

Massimo, the newly-ordained Watcher of the Budget, kept his eye set on the price tags. He conducted inner debates between two refrigerators that were $40 apart. He pulled on drawers, jiggled handles, scratched at the little cosmetic dents that sent these rejects to the Outlet in the first place.

I, on the other hand, zeroed in on the dimensions of each fridge searching for the prized 22'.

Once Massimo located the best price and value, my true feelings surfaced:

"This is the one," he declared.
"But it's only a 19'," I pointed out.
"So?"
"So, it's smaller." Did I really have to state the obvious?
"Again, so?" I felt like he wouldn't be saying that if we were talking about a car engine.
"This one's smaller. The 22' is bigger. I want the bigger one."
"It's $100 more! You want to spend another $100 for three more inches?"

Ouch. I'd been discovered as a size snob. What was the big deal? What was I hoping to achieve by getting an extra 3 inches? Adding one more stick of butter? Maybe another Tupperware bowl of leftover peas that gets thrown away the following week?

The event made me look at my other size wants. I'm always more impressed with the bigger house, knowing full well that it's a bigger pain to clean 10 rooms than to clean five. I am a tree hugger, but love those fat old' SUVs like it's nobody's business. Even my Christmas Tree needs to to touch the ceiling (if not actually bend a bit). And I'm a walking commercial for Costco where for $5.00 more I can get the 50-roll package of toilet paper instead of settling for those puny 20-roll packs from Safeway.

So we came to agree on the 19' refrigerator and that I will seek counseling.

Hopefully the office will have TWO sofas.