Thinning the herd
Hubs left for Gainesville this morning, under a Fay-less sky, to take JM the remainder of all almost all of her worldly possessions. She officially moved into her apartment last night, classes start bright and early Monday, and she wanted the rest of her stuff and didn’t want to wait until Labor Day weekend. The Honda was stuffed to the roof (should have taken a pic of that), and I gave up my TV and a good deal of my kitchen utensils.
JM has a new room to decorate and I have my junk room back. For the next few days, I’m taking advantage of the newly open spaces to do some much needed Back-to-School thinning of the herd.
I used to think that we needed a bigger house. Then I came to the cringeworthy realization that it’s not that we don’t have enough space, it’s that we have too much crap. Honestly, do I still need to hang onto my maternity dresses? Subconsciously do I think JM will want them in, oh say, 6-7 years from now. Probably not.
Do we still need our college sweatshirts? Not sweatshirts that proclaim our love for our alma mater, but shirts we actually wore in college… more than 20 years ago. I think not!
I hate to admit this, but we still have boxes in the garage that we never unpacked when we first moved in ~ 13 years ago!
If I’m not around for the next few evenings it only means that I’m hip deep in out-dated, out-girthed, and out-rageous junk that we I need to finally jettison. That means shirts, shoes, coats, dresses, anything and everything that either doesn’t fit (and still won’t six months from now), hasn’t been worn in years, or I just can’t stand to look at again, is gone. If it’s still in fairly good shape it’s going to Goodwill, the Waterfront Mission or the Methodist Church Thrift Store, but it’s outta here!
Now, if I can only get Hubs to agree to let me tackle the two-car garage that we can’t even walk through without turning sideways.
Maybe I should rename my blog to Pack Rat Mom…
An amazing thing happened recently. My #1 son (26 and still lives with us – don’t ask) actually cleaned our two car garage and now, NOW, we can actually put one of the cars in the garage. It is SO COOL.
And I am so guilty.
[Tara R.] Lou… does your son hire out… I could use some serious help in our garage.
Have fun cleaning out, I think today is a cleaning out kind of day. I’m cleaning out and we just moved into this house. It’s amazing how we tend to accumulate shit.
[Tara R.] Allie… I actually excited about getting this done. It’s been needed for a long time.
I’m in the process of getting rid of stuff, too! I might be happy if our house burned down – it would save me the trouble! You will feel lighter when you have less stuff and more space, I think.
[Tara R.] W. shoes… I know what you mean. A fire sale would be welcome too.
Just think of how spacious and organized your house has the potential to feel. Better than that, think of the money you could maybe make off of a GARAGE SALE!
[Tara R.] Zoeyjane… I’m going to be brutal and take no prisoners.
Glad you made it through Fay! Ya know, as each child leaves the nest, I find that I have more and more room. It’s that old physics theory: The more space you have, the more junk you’ll store, right?
[Tara R.] Veggie… I found that the more space I have, the more junk my peeps accumulate.
I’m on a mission.
I don’t understand spring cleaning. End of summer/beginning of school year cleaning makes so much more sense! Happy de-cluttering!
[Tara R.] April… exactly, you then know what you’ve got that’s still good and what you need. I’ve already cleared out one side of our bedroom. Now, on to the closets.
ME!!! We just had this discussion the other night. We have a decently sized house for the three of us. I still remember thinking what the heck do two people need with four bedrooms, a basement, a den, living room, dining room, kitchen . . . TWO?
Well, low and behold, apparently it isn’t about US, it is about the stuff. Throw a kiddo in the mix and viola! We are surrounding by STUFF!!!
It drives me nuts! Thankfully, I don’t QUITE have a room ready for that Clean Sweep show, but I’m surely getting there . . .
[Tara R.] Laskigal… I LOVE that show, I want to nominate us for it. We need serious professional help. It is just stuff… too much stinkin’ stuff!
I just did this. I cleaned out my closet and attic. But, I only did so because we were getting a new bathroom and the contractors were going to be in the attic and bathroom. My house is immaculate on the outside, but watch out if you open any closet or drawer. Yikes!!!
[Tara R.] Converse… I feel like the little kid who stuffed all her junk in a closet then tells her mom she cleaned up her room. We are busting at the seams and I’ve got to get rid of so much stuff.
When the kids were little, we had a small-ish car that never seemed to hold all of our stuff for the family vay-cay. As they grew, we grew, too–finally purchasing a mid-sized SUV. Well, our junk grew, too! I’m not sure what “principle” that is, but we’ve got it, in spades! I keep telling Ella Numera Dos that I’m turning her room into an office when she goes to college–I think I’m half-way serious! BTW, don’t forget it’s Sunday, and you know what THAT means–S4 is underway today!
[Tara R.] Melissa B… I also thought that as my kids left the nest, that accumulated amount of stuff would dwindle… no such luck. If nothing else we’re becoming a free storage warehouse. AAarrghh!
My father still has boxes that his movers packed up with random papers from his table and stuff when he moved to Colorado still in his garage. He moved 23 years ago. We found a coupon to KFC from 1983. AWESOME.
[Tara R.] Mr Lady… I knew I could count on you… that is awesome.
I am SO with you! I did some purging this summer, and believe it or not, Mr.4444 is outside AS WE SPEAK, putting the camping gear away AND straightening up the garage, which was hideous! Good job!!
[Tara R.] Forz… the Hubs is a terrible pack rat… he hates to get rid of anything. Makes me nuts. I may have to wait for him to go out of town to tackle the garage. Hope you had a great camping trip!
Heh. I wish I had this problem. I wish I could get rid of half the stuff I owned – but only because it was hand me downs and I want my *own* (or at least stuff that fits my style). Mostly just my style. I love finding “deals” and stuff at the thrift stores.
One day, right?
[Tara R.] Ashley… the biggest problem is that we never get rid of anything. We have clothes which we have not worn in years, but won’t get rid of, but know we won’t wear it again. It just takes up space.
Oh, I remember the days of packing the car full of stuff for college. Such an exciting time!
I hear you on the crap build up. I’ve moved about a dozen times, and still have things in boxes, that were never unpacked each time…and I no longer even know what’s in them
[Tara R.] Sandy… JM is very excited about her first apartment. We’ll see how long that lasts when she has to clean it. The first day of de-cluttering went really well. Now, I just have to get rid of it before Hubs gets back.
I like what you said “Thinning of the herd”. We did that too. Both kids are out of college and on their own now…but I miss them!
[Tara R.] Leezees… we just have so much junk. The house is a good size, we have it crammed with stuff we never use and need to get rid of. I still have a few years before we have a completely empty nest.
TARa!
hehehe. throw those maternity clothes out girl!
you are preaching to the choir here in this post. amen sister! i need to purge more often. i could have written so much of this post, too!
it felt so neat to go through photos and all that good mail this morning from my grandmother. it was awesome to see and touch everything. and i had fun taking pictures of some things and sharing them on my blog post about her. thanks for your precious note to me. you touched my heart.
we can purge together girl. sweet dreams my friend, beany bear
ps. you rock!
[Tara R.] Beany… I hear ya sista! It’s gotta go. I loved all the old photos you posted with your story. Such sweet memories.
I’m glad you’re finally Fay free. Good luck on that decluttering thing. When I was expecting my first (in 1996), a sister-in-law decluttered and gave me her maternity clothes…from the seventies. Polyester bell-bottoms! One particular outfit sported patriotic red, white and blue that I would’ve worn as a joke to the family Independence Day celebration if I could have fit into a size one. Seriously, who’s a size ONE when she’s pregnant???
[Tara R.] Angela… the de-cluttering is going well, and I haven’t found any size one clothes. What is with that?!
This post made me feel better about not going through boxes in the basement from our last move. Since it was only 2 years ago, I don’t feel so bad now
Just now getting around to checking your blog – glad to know ya’ll made it through Fay in one piece and not too wet. It’s like that here in the winter when they keep telling you 6-10 inches of snow is due and then nothing. I’ve learned to expect it when I look out the window and see it!
BTW – you do know Hubs gets his “pack rat syndrome” from “you know who” don’t ya? hee hee
[Tara R.] Dina… Hubs and ‘you know who’ are more alike than they will EVER admit. Who do you think has the biggest pile of ‘giveaway’ and oldest clothes?
This is the ONLY reason I can find that moving every so often is a good thing! When you move boxes you haven’t unpacked three times, you get the message!
Ah, Gainesville! Godspeed to your daughter. And, NO, she will not want your maternity dresses EVER! Give ‘em to Goodwill!
Purge, Sistah!
[Tara R.] Nola… Goodwill LOVES me. I take a couple boxes of clothes there every year. The kids, mine, Hubs when I can wrestle them away from him. Yeah, the maternity dresses are gone.
morning sweet TARa!
awh, thanks for saying that. going through my grandma stuff and also seeing your post inspired me to purge some stuff…save the best .. get rid of the stuff i don’t need/want/use .. i love keeping certain things that hold sentimental value, but i don’t want to keep everything. i want less, not more in life.
great day girl,
beany bear
PS. and your post title on your newest one cracked me up. i’ll come back later and read. gotta get ready for work in a minute. **hugs**
[Tara R.] Beany… even going through all those old clothes brought back some fun memories. I’m still keeping a few thing, just for sentimental reasons.
I am a reformed pack rat.. well I try to tell myself that I am. Over the last two years I have tossed/sold stuff that I have not touched in over two years..that was the rule..if I had not touched it or wore it in two years it was gone.. **EXCEPT my jean collection.. well that and all the kids favorite outfits and every school project.. yeah.. I am still a pack rat..who am i kidding? lol
[Tara R.] Kim… I guess you could call me a pack rat enabler since I don’t insist on getting rid of stuff until we are overrun. I hate clutter, but can’t seem to get away from it.
Warning: this is TOTALLY not related to your post.
I want to try your recipe for making chicken with italian dressing in the crockpot….but I can’t find it! Can ya help me out?
;0)
[Tara R.] No problem… take a few chicken breasts, usually I use 4 (these can be either boneless, or bone-in), put these into a crockpot and pour bottled Italian dressing over them, stirring to coat. Then cook on low for 8-10 hours. Check them around 8 hours and if the meat separates easily with a fork, they are done. Enjoy!