In April, we shipped 25 boxes full of what we at that time thought we would need and want in Morocco, in August.
Now, it's time for the rest of the stuff. We have four family members so that will make 8 checked bags total. (We need to buy some suitcases. Big ones.) I'm not really thinking about that yet.
No, it's the rest of it. There are two categories for the non-suitcase bound items:
1) Stuff that we will sell in a garage sale.
2) Stuff that we will put into storage.
Those are the two categories, and we have assigned a room to each. Fine, in theory. Now, then, there is the basement.
Item: two-inch thick file of receipts from 2004. Maybe a few were tax deductions, I don't know. Store it? Trash it? What about personal/financial information...better shred it. That is a lot of shredding. And, along with so many similar files, a lot of space in a storage unit. I don't want to deal with it, I'll put it in this growing pile for "later."
Item: My tassel from college graduation. I'm too old to put it on my rear-view mirror. Besides, it's pink. That's what happens when your undergraduate major is music. Save it. Sentimental value. Yeah, but it has mold on in from storing it in a box in the basement. What if the mold spreads to other stuff? Just throw it away. Well, I'll think about it. I'll put it in this growing pile for "later."
Item: 1000 piece puzzle, still in shrink wrap, a memorial skyline photo of the 1997 "handover" change of government in Hong Kong. We were there for that. (I used to have a tee shirt, too). The puzzle is a limited edition of 10,000. Smells a little musty. Save it? Finally take it out of the box and put it together? Sell it on E-bay? Who knows, maybe it is worth something. Then again, I doubt it.
I think you get the idea. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of "items." Each requires more thought than I want to give it.
After we are through, it will feel good. A few nostalgic visits to times gone by, and a profound liberation (remember--it's...ONLY...stuff...); less stuff = good!
Still, maybe I'll just sneak away from it all in the middle of the night.
Things like the tassel that you can't save in a scrapbook (for fear of the mold) you should just take a picture of... then you have the memory and can feel ok with tossing it. Other things that can be scanned and kept digitally (records/financial data)can be stored easily online or on external hard drives! Good luck!
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