Finding stuff...

A sure sign that I have too much stuff? Opening boxes that I haven't opened since we moved here, for one. It's a bit overwhelming. I am off again to the Goodwill today. And I've been finding stuff that I've been looking for as well. It's the boxes that I packed up last in California that didn't get marked so well, as I was getting "rushed". And it's the stuff I packed last, that I've been searching for. Example? I had a box of shoes (yes, a whole box), that half I inherited from my Grandma...and half were of the mild weather (California) variety. I looked for them all summer...and thought I'd left them in SF. (I even had my brother keeping an eye out!). I found them...in an unmarked box in the basement. I even looked in the box after we'd arrived here...as it was opened. That was why I was sure I'd seen them. But in the rush of getting this place in order, I opened them, put them aside for later, and forgot about them.

Which brings me to the next predicament. Sentimental crap. Why am I lugging around all this junk? Because my "Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, brother(s), fill in the blank" gave it to me. It's ridiculous. It's also a problem when you've been the same size your whole life pretty much, and so you don't out-grow stuff. Like these jeans I wore when I was 18. Or my addida-baseball shoes (with the rubber cleats) that I wore in the fifth grade. They still fit me. But I never will wear them again. So what's the point? Luckily I'm annoyed enough that today these two items and a bunch of others are making their way to the Goodwill.

It's good to pack by myself though. Mike would give it all away. He doesn't get too sentimental about stuff. And there is some stuff worth keeping even if I don't have "good use" for it. Like letters from my Grandma. I used to write her every week. And she would write me back. I can recognize her writing in the boxes, and I spent the afternoon yesterday reading her letters and wearing her shoes and clothes (we were both small-ish in size). I was very close to her---and I cried...but a good cry, as I read about how much we talked about about.

In one of the letters, she was telling me about how they'd just moved into this "grand place"...on the top floor. My Grandpa didn't like anyone's footsteps walking above him. But my Grandma didn't like going up the stairs and she wanted a unit (they were huge ---like 3000 square feet) on the ground floor. Grandpa said, No!". So while he was on a business trip in New York, she moved without telling him! It was great remembering that! And that feeling is worth lugging around. So in a box they [letters] went...for the next time I unpack them.

Sydney and I both are very ready for Mike to come and get us. Even though we talk on the phone 3-10 times a day, it's just not the same. anyway---just taking a little time out for slacking, I really need to get packing some more. It's already Sunday....