Moving/Movement

As I have already mentioned, we have been in the process of moving from one home to another. Did you know that belongings clone themselves as you pack them up? It's true! I could have sworn I had less stuff.

Not only have we been moving our belongings but we have been moving our bodies; a lot. Although I have been working out for two years, I still got tendinitis, also known as tennis elbow. Ow. We are exhausted but we have to keep on cleaning out the old place before the closing date.

What's amazing is that I don't feel anything but relief living an apartment after having lived in a house for nineteen years. It feels like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I broke down briefly last week - only once - and then I was over it. No more worrying about where the money will come from for the roof, the foundation, the overgrown juniper bushes that hurt to touch.

Yes, I feel relief. ~heavy sigh~ Good bye, old house. You served us well.

Bye, Bye Baby

As I mentioned in a previous post, after nineteen years in one house, we are moving. Today, with the help of a dear friend, I went through all the pictures I had stored in my bedroom closet.

When I say "bye, bye baby" I really mean it. My friend told me (didn't suggest but told me!) to separate the pictures and make a box for each of my two children (this included baby pictures). "You took the pictures for them to have memories so give them the pictures!" Have I mentioned that I have brilliant friends? It took more than two hours but it got done. My daughter said, "How can you get rid of pictures of your kids?" Translated that means, "I thought you would hold on to as much as possible so I don't have to." I have learned that one has to be merciless when moving. There is very little room for sentimentality. Hey, it's all going to burn some day, right? blessings, g

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

No, not Himself and me. We are moving and moving is not for the faint of heart. We have been in our house for over nineteen years but it has become too expensive for us to be home “owers.”

Today, a friend helped me go through some things that were stored in the boiler room/basement. Everything is being divided into keep/donate/toss. After forty-five minutes, we had three garbage bags full and enough dust to keep us sneezing.

Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to explain how I am feeling. There is so much to do and so little time to do it (closing date is April 23rd). Even so, I am happy to be purging. The older I get the less clutter I want around me. Local friends, stop laughing! I know I tend to have a clutter problem but I am trying to reform!

A very important tip I want to impart to you is to not allow a spouse who is over sentimental to be a part of the purging. Himself doesn’t want to get rid of ANYTHING! We have black bags so he can’t see what is being thrown out.

If I could give one piece of advice it would be to never bring something new into your home without getting rid of something else. If you haven’t used it in a year get rid of it. If you don’t love it get rid of it. Oh, that was three pieces of advice. All three will help you to not have the overwhelming task I now face.

One of the biggest gifts my mother ever gave to my siblings and me was to get rid of everything in the ways mentioned above. She had seen a relative die and leave a mess of a home for the kids to take care of and she didn’t want her children to go through the same.

Another thing Mom and Dad did was to make advanced directives and living wills and to give us copies. They have told us what they want done after their deaths (cremation, no wake) and chose the child they thought would be able to handle the estate the best to be executor of their wills. When their times come, we won’t have any guess work.

Don’t make the mistakes I have made. Streamline your “stuff” and don’t let it take over your life!

Blessings all, g