Pack up and Ship out

It's time to get serious and start packing the house. I bought, yes bought, moving boxes to put things into. I have used one so far for part of my book shelf. The others are where they were put as I walked into the house. The cat thinks they are fun, to hide behind and to use as a scratching post! Have I mentioned that I hate to pack almost as much as I hate to move? Well, I do. But .. darn it.. I have to do it again.

This coming Saturday we will be cleaning out the shed and the area surrounding the shed of its clutter. I have been told it will take about three trips to the dump to haul it all away. Hopefully the good weather will continue and it will be dry enough to do this without getting covered in mud. Before Saturday though I really ought to go thru all my "stuff" and get things sorted so that I can make the best use of the dump runs. I am determined to go thru boxes of "stuff" that are stored in the shed, and get rid of "stuff" that has not seen the light of day for 10+ years. It is going to be very hard for me to do this.

I am an OCD packrat of the worst sort. Getting rid of things is like pulling my legs out of the hip socket.. very very painful. Some wise person said that you cant take it with you... and Jesus asked his disciples to leave all their "stuff" behind to follow him... I am going to try to make Him proud of me.

There are, of course, some things that I will not be able to part with. One of those will be my set of china, which is used once a year, if it is lucky. I have the Old Country Roses pattern which I love. I am also going to keep the ancient waffle maker that weighs about 20 lbs, and the turtle cookie-jar that we found at the flea market.. it is the same as the one that I had when I was a kid.

Let's face it though, I can get rid of the Harlequin paperbacks, and even some of my hardback books that I will never read again. I don't know if I have ever read some of them, but darn it, they look real nice on the book shelf. And those JC PENNEY catalogues, and pizza coupons, and Oriental Trade flyers that come in the mail every week... do I really need them back to pre-2000? NAH! throw them OUT!!!

What about the set of maraca's that Dad brought home after one of his vacations to Mexico? Or the brass cats that I got from my sister-in-law Sue? Or the cheesy flower prints that I got from a yard-sale that fit great in the bathroom at the house I lived in two address's ago? (actually those may go bye bye)

The "stuff" we all have is "stuff" that we either got from someone and so it holds a special place in our hearts... or we picked it up for a song because we liked it... or we paid a large sum because we just had to have it could not live without it. Everything is in my possession for one reason or another, but some of it has lost its meaning and is just taking up space, so why keep it? It is still hard even with sound reasoning to let go.

Reminding me of the great 12-step mantra: Let Go and Let God!

It's just "stuff" and new "stuff" will take its place soon I am sure.

In His Loving Uncluttered Arms...

Time .... is not on my side..

I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but I am a member of my regions Women's Ministry Council. I am responsible for upkeep of a website, which I am finding quite hard to do for a few different reasons. You may be asking : "You have time to blog, so why not to update the site?"

Well, thanks for asking!!! Blogging takes very little time, just a thought and speedy fingers. Updating the site requires sometimes hours to get things to look just right. I know I have mentioned before the lack of phone service at home, because I owe money and until I get it paid off it is just how it is. So, without phone service I have no internet service from home.

I keep hoping for a phone call at work asking me if I want to go home on e-time... excused, unpaid time off... when we are slow. I rarely get this call because there are so many other reps who start work earlier than I do so therefore get called before me. If I had a couple hours to devote to the website then I could update it in the time between getting off work and picking up my son, Charlie, from school.

I use the computers at work when I am able to. I could also use my dad's computer however his computer is one so ancient that it hardly runs at all much less allows me to do anything at a rate of speed close to tortoise-speed. I have tried to use other people's computers, but some people do not like to have you touch their equipment, fearing that you are a bumpkin who will break it into tiny little pieces, so I don't ask those folks to help me out anymore. Sigh, Sigh, Sigh...

This too shall pass.... while being held...

In His Loving Arms