Getting Ready

So for the past week or two(as I briefly mentioned in an earlier post), I have been purging my home of excess stuff.

I suppose I should mention that I was partly inspired to do this by some news stories I had seen about people "downsizing" and living their life with less stuff.
Some people the news stories highlighted actually went one full month wearing only 6-8 items of clothing - washing them, of course, and finding new ways to pair the items for different looks.

While I am not inclined to go that far, I was convicted by the stories on how this country is obsessed with "stuff".

That, and the fact that I could not get past the doorway in my storage room.

So I took several truckloads of stuff to the donation boxes. And several more loads of things to my shop. Several boxes of things were photographed and put up for auction on eBay. Some of you friends of mine may receive surprise packages in the mail. I have gone through every box, bag, pile, closet, shelf, and dark corner of this house and threw out every single thing I knew I would never use, didn't need, or didn't like anymore.
I cleaned out my pen holder, even.

I feel liberated.... I feel back in control of my things and my collecting habit.
I have never been forced to confront my stuff - I have never had to move far away, or to a smaller house. So for three years, I've just accumulated.


Another reason I had to do this is because I am hosting my whole family for Thanksgiving diner again this year. Because we have a huge yard/farm for roaming, and because I have more space in my house with just 2 of us living here, it makes more sense to fit 25+ people in here for the big day.

So now that the junk is out, I get to clean for the next two days. Then bake and set up on Wednesday.

I LOVE Thanksgiving! And this year, I am thankful for having less junk in my house, and thankful that I got the courage to let stuff go. :)

(PS - I just did a spell check on this post and there were NO MISSPELLINGS found! I am so proud of myself. :) )