For the last seven months or so, Lindsay and I have been in a constant state of unknown. Each time we head out on a trip to visit a property, although there is a slim chance of it going through, it always exists, just enough to make us constantly aware that we may need to pack up and move with a fairly short notice. As we started evaluating that, we realized how much junk we own. We're both collectors, be it books, magazines, toys, yarn, art supplies, CDs, DVDs, Candles, you name it. If it's something that interests us, we have a lot of it, and having as many hobbies as we do, that adds up! We currently live in a good sized 3 bedroom house with a garage, office, 2 storage sheds, and a couple of large closets, and as we started contemplating a move, we realized how things had started to fill up over the last few years in this house.
So we started trying to whittle it down. This is no easy task here, as just with our DVD collection alone, we have close to 4,000, many of which we've bought to watch and have yet to do so. Although we currently have no sound destination, we've started packing and condensing our lives into boxes. At my work, all of our prescription vials come in the same, uniformly sized boxes, and I've started taking every empty one they get, in the hopes of using them almost exclusively. They're a nice size, well suited for moving, both large enough to fit a decent amount in, but small enough to still carry easily. As we pack, we've started throwing out things, attempting to streamline and condense our "stuff." Some of it is easy, we've thrown out old clothes and adapters to things long lost and broken, some of it is difficult. I had boxes of magazines that I'd saved for some inscrutable reason, and I've spent months now slowly browsing through them, cutting out anything I think is truly worth saving and disposing of the rest. I'd estimate that something close to 10 large boxes of magazines has been condensed into one large and heavy one. Some things we haven't shrunk at all, like our books. Though some are certainly disposable, most are either worth reading one more time, or they're things we could possibly sell used in the lobby of our motel when we find one.
Unfortunately, while all of the work is rewarding in a way, it also has a side effect of making us feel very out of sorts, kind of transitory with no goal in sight. It also makes me a bit nervous about fitting all of it in a moving van if the time comes....
Sometime in the next week or so, we will have definitive word back on a property we are working with. If it is positive, we'll have to be fully packed and ready to roll within 3 weeks. This is very exciting. If things go south, in a way this is exciting too. We've decided that after this property, if it falls through, we are going to take a break for a while, lick our wounds, pay off some debt and try to get our enthusiasm back for the hunt. This current place looks pretty good, so maybe we wont have to worry, but if it fails we're kind of okay with that too, because at least then we know what we're doing for around a year. It's not what we want to be doing by any means, but at least it's a solid goal, and we can plan around it.
Of course, that means we have to unpack everything......
1 comment:
Belinda and I have lived in the same house since December 1986 so you can imagine all the things that have accumulated. Our one brief fling with "spring cleaning" came in July 2006 when we had to make room when Grandpa moved in with us. I can't tell you how many boxes of magazines and collectibles were thrown, but I really haven't needed them or missed them. We have closets now that could really use a "going through" but there are lots of reasons not to do it. Good luck as you await word on your future. I enjoy your blog immensely and can't believe all I've learned about the world of hospitality.
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