Yesterday I wrote about how the process of halving my stuff was bringing me down. I was beginning to feel some doubts about what I was doing. I tackled a really hard job yesterday - going through boxes in my storage room under the stairs to the basement. This was stuff I'd already gone through in the process of cleaning up my house to get ready to show it. That means I'd already decided once it was worth saving, even though that meant it sat in boxes cluttering up the house.
I started off in trepidation and my worst fears were soon realized. There wasn't much I wanted to give away. I can't very well part with DVDs of all our family movies, can I? Or my photo albums and boxes of photos?
Then I got to a box holding a bunch of videotapes. Yes! We don't need to keep copies of old seasons of the Sopranos and The Wire - you can get those at any video rental place. A whole carton disappeared like that.
And wait, I'd used old stuffed animals to cushion some breakable knick-knacks. That meant dd hadn't noticed their disappearance in over a year. Gone!
Picking up speed, I went through my bins of fabric. Do we really need a two cubic feet of felt scraps no bigger than a postage stamp? We do not! And so it went.
I started out with 10 boxes, 3 large storage bags (think the mega-ziplock ones) and a plastic lego tub filled with stuff. When all was said and done, I just had five boxes. (see them up top) Yeah - now we're talking!
Oh, and along the way I discovered something that turned my mood right around. It was a box of photos, pictures and doo-dads I really love, but have no place for in my current house. Not because my house is too small; because it's too big! They're small, delicate pictures that look ridiculous on the huge expanses of wall we have here. Once I move to my smaller, funky cottage they'll look fantastic and I will truly feel more at home.
(Here are some bags of stuff on their way out!)
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