Those who know me best know that I am NOT the queen of organization. Not even a little bit. I always have fabulous intentions about organizing, really I do; but I either 1- don't keep up with it, or 2- get the stuff (plastic box, drawer compartmentalizer, shelf, shoebox, etc) to organize but never actually implement it.
This leaves me in somewhat of a dilemma when it comes to packing for the move.
I've long since given up the "you need to hang on to those cute jeans because some day your butt will fit into them again" pipe dream. So I'm already in the process of doing a clothes purge. Some will be going to folks who can use them, some to consignment stores/Goodwill. Got that part covered.
Books- We're keeping them. It's what we do. We're book people.
It's the rest of the stuff that is posing a problem. I can't figure out what to do with it all.
The hoarder in me who has a slight Pinterest addiction says, "You will repurpose that cracked picture frame, thereby saving it from the landfill to which it's most certainly otherwise bound."
Yeah... I have a box FULL of stuff that somehow made it to the "Repurposeable" category instead of the curb. When I put it there, I had really good intentions of actually doing whatever it was I thought I could do with it, but that box has been filling up for oh, I don't know, 9 years or so. Pretty sure said picture frame is in the bottom of it. SMH
The you-might-need-that-one-day side of me is screaming that I absolutely cannot throw away the power cord from the cell phone I owed 14 years ago. The fact that I still own the cell phone is beside the point. Not really sure what to do with it either.
The frugal, don't-want-to-be-wasteful side says, "Somewhere out there is a person who needs all these plastic containers that got warped in the dishwasher, sippy cups that are missing lids, and various doo-dads in the junk drawer; I can't just toss them! Post on Freecycle that it's at the curb. *Someone* will come get it all, right?"
Then there's the I'm-far-too-busy-for-this-nonsense part of me that is yelling, "Toss all of that crap in the trash and pray the garbage man picks it all up!"
Then there's the other stuff. You know what stuff I mean... the milk frother/smoothie maker/frappe mixer contraption thingamajig that I was given 7 years ago at some Christmas party, used it once, decided it was a pain in the butt to clean, and stuck it on a shelf in the garage. Pretty sure it has all the parts. There's nothing wrong with it. I simply don't want it anymore. And what about that As Seen On TV Slap Chop that seemed like such a great idea? I may have used it twice. Once to chop nuts because Vince said "You're gonna love chopping his [sic] nuts", and the other time to chop celery for egg salad. Yardsale? Donation to a local charity that supports cats?
What about the 19 bottles of red nail polish that I bought on sale because they were only a dime a bottle? But there's really no way I can possibly use 19 bottles of red nail polish before the polish gets thick and gross. So what do you do with them? I refuse to fill up my new house with that junk. And I do not have a burning desire to pack it all up and schlepp it over to the new house either.
This is my inner struggle, ya'll. And I know it's totally a First World kinda problem. There are poor people the world over who'd love for this to be their only problem. I get it, really I do, but that is a subject for another blog entirely.
Do you round up the 7 discs for that computer program you used twice in 2001 and try to Ebay it?
Do you put the bed frame that's been in the garage for 2 years on Craig's List or think twice abt Craig's List because it's a teeny bit creepy?
And what abt those purses that are dusty because they've been in storage that were super nice and pretty darn expensive at the time, but are now old and out of date? Do I take the time to clean them and stick 'em on Ebay, Virtual Yardsale, (actual) yardsale, or in a consignment shop? Because I know the guilt I would feel over simply tossing them in the trash would be far worse than the guilt I felt for paying THAT much for a purse to begin with.
This is where the argument for a swap meet comes to mind. "Hey, I can simply avoid a yardsale, Ebay, Craig's List, Virtual Yardsale, or consignment shop disaster, and have a swap meet at my house. I mean, really, who doesn't love a swap meet? It's fun and free! I'll put all my stuff in the living room, invite some friends to bring their stuff over, pop open a bottle or wine or three, and we'll all swap our stuff. Sounds like a fabulous plan!!"
Then reality smacks me in the face with that annoying little fact about swap meets: True, you get rid of your crap. But you end up stuck with someone else's crap in the process.
Do you sort out the junk drawer; tossing the old batteries & empty Tic Tac containers, but keeping the random coins & the nifty little tape dispenser that fits over your hand because you'll need it at Christmas? Then putting the refillable air freshener thingy & the sunglasses with the tiny scratch on the lens into a yardsale box but separating the washers & screws and the attachments for the gadget you no longer own into a Freecycle box because "someone might be missing *that* one particular piece" and you'll be "doing them a favor" by giving it away? Because right now, I'm considering dumping the whole drawer into the trash and calling it a day.
Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated because right now, I feel like I'm drowning in my house.
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