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Stuff, Stuff, Everywhere

Lately, I've been in the mood to clean. Not the "wipe down the bathroom counter with the towel I dried off with" kind of cleaning. I'm talking about the "pull everything out of the cupboards and change the shelf paper" kind of clean. So far I've emptied the desk in the guest room, rearranged the hall bathroom closet, cleaned up three kitchen cupboards, organized the cleaning supplies, and straightened the dining room buffet.

What has struck me most today is how much stuff we have. I'm not a pack rat by any stretch of the imagination. I have no use for gallon size Ziploc bags filled with old twist ties. I don't reuse cottage cheese tubs (mostly because I can't stand the thought of using a plastic tub that was growing mold in the refrigerator). My guest room is not a museum for my childhood toys. Basically, if I don't see a use for something in the near future, we don't need it.

That's me. I married into a family that I sometimes swear grew up in the Depression. Here are some of the treasures that secretly found their final resting place in the trash can today: a broken glass candle holder, rusted containers of cleanser, 15 to 20-year old addresses of family members and friends, moldy rubber gloves, a 15-year old bottle of self-tanner, cracked taper candles, and a ripped shower mat. None of these are mine. All of these items are things I have tried to throw away before, but was met with the "but we might need it one day" protest...or it belongs to my in-laws who left it here at my house two and half years ago. Yes, I see how precious this stuff is.

Here's my real quandary. Just how many glasses and plastic cups do we need? There are over 50 in my cupboard. What about vases? I have about 10 in various sizes. Table decorations? Polyester table cloths? Bottles of Resolve? I look around and see the excess—items I bought because they were pretty or I didn't realize we already had because of the clutter. It's a good feeling to get rid of the excess. It's a really good feeling.

Comments

Christy said…
Cleaning out drawers and cupboards is one of the best feelings in the world. I'm totally with you on that. I lean a little bit more toward the pack rat side, though. I feel good about my junk, as long as it's neatly organized :)
7:11 PM
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