(no subject)
I am an organized, mostly neat person. All my incoming mail is opened and tossed/shredded/filed right away. I know where things are and what shape they are in. And I still managed to get rid of about 18 inches of paper from my little two drawer, under the desk filing cabinet. This means I reduced it's volume by half, in one longish sort. I do not need credit card receipts dating back to the beginning of my credit history (I opened the card I use now in 2001. And could tell you what the first purchase on it was, if I hadn't tossed the file this morning).
I ran my cute little shredder for a while, before remembering that one of my jobs on the phone-answering days is running paperwork through a shredder which can do quarter inch of paper including staples in each bite. Rather than over-heating my own shredder, I collected about 8 inches of old credit card receipts, etc. which will be going to work with me on Tuesday. I also have a suitcase of white paper (some in manila folders, which - thank whoever - are recyclable in the same bin) ready to go to whatever post-consumer use it can find via the local recycling bin.
I went into the attic and brought down three large rubbermaid tubs (my family is tote-addicted, so I come by it naturally): two of kitchen stuff, one of "framed" photos (mostly under glass, in these neat black plastic boxes). I managed to reduce my volume of kitchen stuff by half again, to just one tote. I got rid of so much stuff when I sold the house a year ago that the nice ladies at the local Salvation Army suggested I just jack the house up and drag it over, to save myself the trips. Then I went through the kitchen totes in the fall, to pull out my favorite mugs and got rid of a bunch more stuff. And then, today, I got rid of a another huge volume. It amazes me how that works, but I feel good about reducing my possessions. I don't need the food processor my mom passed along to me which I have since replaced, most of the glass stuff (I brought glass kitchenware across the country once already. I am not doing it again), a set of dishtowels I always hated, etc.
I popped most of the art and photos out of their cute but cheap frames, and am sending the frames to the thrift store. The stuff in real frames and that which is too big for the accordion file into which I was moving the art now take up one "Flat Rate Priority Mail Box" three inches thick.
I am moving empty totes back into the attic, but not the full one. I got them up there under my own steam last time, but the hatch is very small and I have to wedge it through while balanced on a rickety stepladder. Getting them down today was almost disastrous, and I had to let Kevin take the heaviest one off the tall shelf in the closet, after I brained myself with a lighter one. I do not enjoy having to ask a big, strong man to rescue me, ever. And having to borrow the big, strong man from my roommate feels even sillier (he was super nice about it. And RHeather told me to come get him anytime to lift things off shelves. It's my issue, not theirs). This heavy tote can just live on the floor of my closet 'til May.
I wish it wasn't Sunday. I want to take the bags and boxes to the thrift store, shred the paperwork that needs shredding, drop the recycling, force Becky to take her two boxes and giant afghan, etc. so I can be free of all those things forever. KM is driving north today, and I am making her meet me on the way out of town to accept my pizza stone and all those books on tape.
I still have little tub of photos to sort through and two eighteen inch tall piles of notebooks, binders, and paperwork I yanked off the bookshelves and out of the other filing cabinet last night which need to be sorted, but after that I am as ready to move as it is possible to be without actually putting things in boxes and selling furniture on Craigslist.
lycantras is coming to visit as of Friday, and, hearing about my last two days, she asked, "are you going to be down to sleeping on the floor in a tent by the time I get there?" I have promised that wont be the case, and I want life to be comfortable for the rest of my time here,so the getting rid of stuff is about over.
I am free of the things I dont need, dont love, and dont use. I got rid of all the stuff with lingering emotional baggage (a particular blanket, the snowboard I never use, etc.) which I was keeping for practical reasons (blankets = good) or with the idea that I might someday sell (snowboard set-up). I went through all my textbooks and listed those with value on amazon.com and either bookmooched or donated the rest (some are much too heavy to justify mailing). Those kinds of things were sticking points - looking at them made me tired. I am glad to be free of them, and excited to be headed into something better, which I am hoping will present itself soon.