Monday, March 28, 2011

Purge #3

This purge comes to us in two parts, and boy, let me tell you, it's getting harder.  I thought I would be able to come up with 100 items no problem, but here we are less than two weeks away from my deadline and I'm not only about 75% there.  So I'll show you what I have come up with to get rid of now, and I'll need to be relentless in the next few weeks as I find my last few items.  If you suddenly flash to an episode of hoarders in your mind, well, we probably aren't that far from the truth.
Here is the breakdown of what you see, part 1:
  • 4 gift bags
  • 1 old Christmas ornament
  • 1 half burned candle
  • 1 small decorative bag
  • 1 decorated tin (an old craft project)
  • the letter K (another old craft project)
  • 1 old scrunchie that is probably from middle school
  • 5 things of old makeup found in the bottom of the bathroom drawer (ick)
  • 1 old candle plate, waxy mess included
  • 1 pair of winter gloves
17 more items, bringing the running total to 66.  Oh but wait, I found a few more, so here now is part 2.
And now, what you are looking at in part 2:
  • 1 (more) gift bag - these things just multiply!
  • 3 gift boxes
  • 1 lunch bag
  • 1 teapot
  • 1 painting hat (why?)
  • 1 massive collection of a zillion paint samples (counting as one item)
  • 1 massive collection of a zillion Broadway show playbills (also counting as one item)
I have a couple of notes that I feel I must share.  First, the teapot is in perfectly good condition.  I thought that when I got married I had to have one.  I forgot about the fact that I hate tea.  That is getting donated to Goodwill.  Second, the paint samples.  Did I think I was collecting my own little paint chip library?  Yes.  Did I think I had that many rooms to paint?  Maybe.  Was it hard to trash it?  Yes.  But somehow I manage.  And third, the playbills.  I am a huge musical fan and am extremely grateful for the amazing shows I've been able to see, but I no longer feel the need to keep them all as a souvenir of my experience.  Especially now as I am preparing for baby, I feel differently about the things that used to consume my free time in the past.  Hopefully, even though this was a little hard for me, it will be cathartic.  I have new experiences to look forward to ahead of me, and I want to carve out time and space in my life for those.  I feel better now.  Hopefully you will forgive me and my hoarding tendencies.  Altogether now we are at 75 items after three purges.  Math alone would lead me to believe that this is achievable, but I'm still scared.  I'll just keep repeating it to myself...be relentless...be relentless...
Purge #1
Purge #2

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