Monday, May 16, 2011

the great purge of mid-2011

Oy with the stuff already. We have so much of it.

Now that I can breathe a bit easier (as far as my time goes), it's time to get serious about the stuff that is constantly threatening to suffocate us. So, stacks of paperwork from five months ago? Into the shredder with you. Power bills from two years ago? Please get in line.

I finally went through Pic's clothes and cleared out anything with a 3t or 4t on it. (Why 4t? I always thought the t stood for toddler. Are four-year-olds still toddlers? I stopped considering Pic a toddler when she turned three.)

We took four kitchen bags full of stuff to Goodwill on Saturday. The Game of Life? Gone. Four pairs of shoes I no longer wear (including two pairs I barely, barely ever wore)? Gone. A good chunk of Cardo's wardrobe? Off to Goodwill with you.

Yet, no matter how much we've gone through, we still have tons and tons more. So much more that this is really part of a life-long project. If only we'd stop bringing stuff into this home. We're working on it. If only my paycheck-earning enterprises didn't entail so many pieces of paper.

The compost is going to be overwhelmed with shredded paper. We'll have backup for years to come.

2 comments:

Kat said...

I have SO much paperwork from teaching. Stacks of student papers that I feel obligated to keep for at least one year. Tons and tons of copies and handouts and schedules. UGH! The trees I have killed: Numerous.

BTW: I often feel like tossing out the Game of Life ;)

v said...

Oh, the trees. I know. There are lots of times I wish I was much more comfortable with just doing everything digitally, not manually. (And, now I'm thinking "with my fingers and not my hands.")