Yes I am. Still at it. For the past week, I have spent at least four hours a day decluttering my basement. Hard to believe, but I have made only a small dent. Slow but steady progress.
Although two of us live here, I must admit that most of this stuff was accumulated by myself. (As my husband often reminds me.) I have finally realized the awful truth... I am a packrat! I have boxes full of socks, scarves, gloves, boots, and shoes. I have ten boxes full of tablecloths and place mats. I have boxes full of old magazines and newspaper articles. I have another box full of Absolut Vodka ads; some have been pasted into a scrapbook, others are loose. I have every card my mother has sent me since we moved here almost five years ago. Sentimental me.
Not to mention my sewing stash... fabrics, thread, trims, patterns. Knitting supplies, embroidery supplies, buttons, appliques. Books about sewing, quilting, knitting, decoupage.
Oh, and boxes full of photos and old negatives. More boxes full of cassette tapes and video cassettes. Lots of out-moded stuff like that.
One whole storage room is full of holiday decor. Outdoor decorations, indoor decorations, special plates. special napkins, special tablecloths, aprons and towels. If you name a holiday, I have something to decorate it.
Four hours a day, pulling out boxes I haven't opened since we moved here four and a half years ago. Finding things I had forgotten I had. Some of it is worth keepng. Most of it I will never use again, so I am not keeping it. I will be making many trips to Goodwill. I told my husband they will probably ban me from bringing in more. They might have to expand their building to hold all my stuff!
My husband is very much a pack rat. He has taxi/restaurant receipts from 2000! I tend to throw out/recycle stuff on the sly.
ReplyDeleteI was tempted to go peek in our garage... reading your inventory list, I thought perhaps you had snuck in to our home and were going through MY pack-rat stash!
ReplyDeleteYou are brave and wise for going through those boxes and purging. I am in the same process and I hate it. I whine about it, and suffer, and feel horrible pangs and regrets and shame, and yet I know it is necessary. Some day you and I will feel lighter, and be lighter, and I like to think of the happy souls that will delight in finding something good at the Goodwill, thanks to our good will.
Bearette, I have magazines from the 1960s. It's kind of funny to see the fashions and the ads!
ReplyDeleteNatalie, I appreciate the feeling of comradeship that you give me, knowing we have matching pack-rat stashes!
You've no idea how relieved I felt after reading your post - it's not only me! Interesting to read about other people's "can't get rid of items". I'm really enjoying reading about your self-improvement aims and achievements.
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