Most of the receipts from 2005 were from Potsdam favorites such as Eben’s Hearth (big beers & wings), Maxfield’s (beer), P&C (beer), T&R (liquor), and Sergi’s (fat bags). Looking back on it, I can see where my spending and temporary drinking habits started, as illustrated by the daily Maxfield’s receipts between April 1st and May 8th and the weekly trips to Eben’s before COSI meetings that spring.

You can even see how my habits have changed. There are plenty of receipts from Starbucks and the Eveready Diner in the fall of 2005.

There are better ones too, like December 17, 2005, when Stacy and I went to New York City for the first time. The receipts reveal the plans for the day: a train ride down & back, coffee at Dean and Deluca, cheesecake at Roxy’s in Times Square, dinner at Planet Hollywood (it sucked), a quick stop at Starbucks, and then Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway. Reading through them the whole trip came back to me.

Stacy always asks why I keep receipts. Now I have an answer. Because they’re just as revealing as photographs.