Saturday, February 13, 2010

things i found while purging....{bin #3}

So over the years (my many years--as my 26th birthday is looming) I have collected and kept lots and lots of STUFF. I used to organize is and keep it nice and uhhh??? neat?? But when I got married my parents decided my stuff needed to go with me. Ok that was fine. So i put it in the basement of my new house. Well, then this whole thing happened where I had to merge four years of college stuff, with all the stuff at my married house, with stuff from a condo, and move it all into a UHaul. From there my precious stuff had to ALL some how fit into one TINY crawl space. Hmmm.

Now as you may or may not know, the prospect of moving again to another home to start my residency, is quickly approaching and my Stuff is looming. and growing. and spilling out of the crawl space. More than that, it has taken over our "office" which has never been used as such since we moved in three years ago. We both have known for awhile that I needed to downsize my stuff.  ((All you family members that pick on me can stop celebrating and singing the hallelujah chorus!))  I'm not sure, unless you have some hoarding/pack ratish characteristics of your own, that you can understand how hard this is for people like me.  My stuff, isn't just stuff.  It's me.  Pieces of me that I've kept over the years. It's not easy at all, but I've made the decision to do it. So now that I'm on a rotation that has given me a little time to myself, I've told the hubby, that i'll do at least one, maybe two, bins a day as long as he gets them out of the crawl space.

{{I'M PURGING}} there i said it, and its now in print. I've been doing good so far, just ask the hubs. I'll let him share with you, all about the AWESOME bin that I that we went through last night. OH EM GEEE! We were literally laughing soooo hard we had tears in our eyes. That my friends, is why I keep these things, to relive my moments. For the laughter, and the tears that they give back to me. I thought i'd continue to share my purging journey with you guys--you'll help me out right?! walk me through it?! Trust me you all don't want to miss this either because, well the best way for me to put it is....I'm a freak. Yup. It's true.  I keep the. most. random. things.

My bins as packed full as they may be....are virtually time capsules in themselves. Treasure chests of memories. So judge me all you want. I'm purging and laughing, and cherishing all the precious crap that i've kept over the years :) so onward to bin number 3.  Don't worry this was a GREAT one to start with....

a set of rabbit ears for a tv
a nextel cell phone
a pet rock named "rocky" given to me by my sisters cat, flower.
a cookie monster key chain
a canister full of pogs and slammers
a "Complete Home Medical Guide"
21 computer disks for which i no longer even have access to a pc with a disc drive
porcelain doll stands
a Santa doll
some orange pop lip smacker chap stick
a picture of my grandparents
a silk drawstring bag full of matchbooks
a leather coaster that i made
a frank sinatra cd
a coaches whistle
two painted flower pots
my favorite rose oil from the renaissance festival
a funnel for a flask
$0.52
a DZ turtle ornament
A university of Kentucky baseball cap
a bag full of replacement pegs for my lite-bright
a pair of old glasses
two rolls of 35mm film, one a B&W roll
a crocheted angel
one sock
an mp3 player
2 clinque bags
a beaded earring kit
my entire flattened penny collection
$7.18 in encore rewards for Off Broadway Shoes
and among a few other things....
a pebble, 2 marbles, one dice, and a button.

I'm guessing your response right about now is one of a few options....

1. you are staring at your computer. dumbfounded.
2. you've gone through the list going wtc? are you serious? oh man, she's got problems.
3. you've been saying Oh! I remember that, or I had one of those oh i want to look for it....
4. you've been bored out of your mind, and agree with that freak statement.
5. you've had a good laugh, a really? and a huh? and maybe an omg?! but you're pretty impressed with my progress and hope I make it through the other 20+...oh who am I kidding...50ish bins left.

So which one are you?  Please leave a comment, I'm gonna need the encouragement. (oh and I'd love to know what number you are! lol)

eta: Oh man. "Cleaning out bins is fun!" 
haha that's the text message i just found myself sending to my sister. 
I almost....ALMOST...used the word liberating! 
What is happening to me....ahhhh NO!! NOO!! 
I'm turning into my mother. 
ah crap.

7 comments:

leslie said...

It's pretty strange how much stuff we have in common. I guess that makes me a freak too...OH WELL!!!

Also, Off Broadway will honor the encore rewards. No expiration!!! I too found some the last time I was forced to purge. LOL

Anonymous said...

#6-DO NOT THROW AWAY! I STILL have lots of "stuff"...unicorn eraser from 2nd grade, rabbit foot keychains, lunchticket from HS....the kids love to sit with me & relive my memories every couple of years when I go through my bin!

KEEP, KEEP, KEEP :)

~Hope

Anonymous said...

Liberating!
Baby Steps. Set a goal. Say, you are going to take everything in the 50ish bins and get it down to 5bins. That is the stuff that you want to keep forever. You want to show your kids some day.
Myself on the other hand probably has the opposite problem... I get rid of everything!
We love you, hording and all! Erin

Anonymous said...

Baby I love you. You are doing a great job. I'm kinda scared that the floor of the house might fall in. No I'm kidding. But we did have a good time last night going through a couple bins.

Anonymous said...

I'm proud of you! When you finish with the 50ish we have a few in our basement that have Matt and your names on them.
Beth

-erin m said...

Ah crap.
Beth-thanks. i'd totally forgotten that i still have more "stuff" stored in alternate places. if we're being honest I still have some at my mom's house as well.

Hope-I don't think you are helping lol. you enabler haha!

Erin- 50-->5... girl are you kidding me? I doubt i'll be that good at purging :)

Cindy said...

Erin,
I am so proud of you....See you now have photos of these things. Keep the photos. They store so much easier.

Love, Mom

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails