*stuff*

Living near my parents is a mixed blessing when it comes to *stuff*. On the one hand, I have extra storage space to put all the things I don't need but don't want thrown out. And as I come to need any item (or just want it around), it's a matter of a 15-minute drive to retrieve it. Over the years it's been more of the latter than the former. So you can see that, on the other hand, occasional car trips--a vacuum cleaner here and a few books and albums there--really add up to a lot of *stuff * over the years!

Packing to move was a real process. I brought smaller, more manageable boxes home from work. Somehow, I thought all my *stuff *would fit in a half dozen of them. Then my stationery alone took up two! So I brought home more boxes. And then more, just in case. And I used them all (about 24? or more?). And I brought home the dolly.

DC -- and, at least twice, his parents -- helped me move the packed boxes from my apartment to the purgatory of his garage. A longer process because it involved stairs. Man, I wish I'd taken a picture of everything that got put there; altogether, I'd say that all my *stuff* is the size of a sedan. (DC would say that's an underestimate. Che!)

When we got back from D.C. on Sunday, we stopped off at his place and picked up only the basics of toiletries and clothes for the work week. He's actually encouraged me to take my time and go through everything, to eliminate the *stuff* I don't need instead of truckin' it over to my new place. I think that's pretty good advice.

And I admit: I don't need the box full of empty Japanese confections boxes (but they're so pretty, and I can wrap my knitted gifts in them, and it's so wasteful to throw them out!), and I should work on hemming and repurposing the pile of old clothes, and the yarn does need to get knitting into something.... And there's other *stuff* that I don't use on a daily (or monthly, or yearly) basis, but that I don't want to get rid of. Albums and scrapbooks. Handwritten letters. Really nice dishes and vases purchased abroad (and painstakingly taken back home). Do I make space for them in my apartment and lug them around with me each time I move? Do I leave them at my parents' place? Do I "go digital" (scan, save to external hard drive, and toss)? Or do I get rid of things I am not using At. This. Moment. and be forced to buy again and perhaps more expensively when I need them again?

What do you, or would you, do?