A Thought About Packing

You know, if we moved just the things we needed or actually used every day, the moving would be very short. This will be our third move in two years time, and you'd think we'd have gotten it down now. There's just soooo much stuff we don't need. Why do we keep this stuff? We're dragging it around like we're actually going to use or need the stuff, but really - - I DO NOT need that 2004 Federal Income Tax Code. I don't. Really. If I ever did Tax Law, I'd shoot myself. I don't even do our taxes. I only took it because it was on the Oklahoma Bar. And besides, the tax code changes every year, so even if I used it for reference, it's not current. And yet, there it is, on the shelf, weighing the household down. Just like the selected excerpts from the Bankruptcy Code. Not even relevant anymore, after the October 2005 law changes.

So why do I drag these books around? I can't give them to Goodwill - who wants to purchase a tax code at your local Goodwill store? I can't bring myself to throw them away - I paid $40 for that tax code! I can't even sell them on e-bay - they aren't current. So I guess they will sit on the shelf, looking impressive but being really useless.

I'm tired of useless stuff cluttering my life and so this weekend is Goodwill Extravaganza. We will be getting rid of any clothes we've outgrown, worn out, haven't worn in the past year, or are out of style. I'm not even going to hesitate giving clothes away, thinking that I might actually have a place to wear that light blue suit (even though I don't have any shoes to wear with it) or that white sundress that's just too short for someone my age now and I haven't worn in 10 years.

I'm hoping to make a big dent in useless stuff, clothes and toys this weekend. I kind of have the feeling that I'll be surprised at how much we give away and yet how much remains. No more stuff! We are having a moratorium on stuff! New rule: If someone brings stuff into the house, one must donate, throw away, or otherwise dispose of an item of unneeded stuff.

We'll see how that works.