What to do...what to do...

Okay, so I really should be be packing, instead, I'm going to blog about it. Blogging really is an obsession. Have you ever noticed that there are literally millions of blogs? Most people want to share their thoughts in hopes of helping or aspiring others. There's a small percentage of blogs that just talk about themselves.

Aren't you glad I'm not like that?

So The Man Beast, in his infinite wisdom, suggested the the kids each get three boxes to pack their bedroom - one semi-large box and two large, but thin boxes (if you hadn't guessed, he's the brains of this operation called our marriage). One could argue that this is a very evil child psychology experiment and under normal circumstances, you'd be right. (You all know how I love to torture my children. Okay, not really...but I can play the Big Meanie online). But to know the kiddos and know their bedrooms, you would see that 95% of their belongings never get used or played with...or even touched. And to be completely fair, they take after their parents.

Which brings me to the point of my post -- the post I'm writing instead of doing what I'm about post about. I'm a great procrastinator.

Purging. It's an ugly word, isn't it? But it shouldn't be. Let's see -- when we're violently ill, our body purges itself to get rid of the yucky stuff. Similarly, I need to purge my house so that I don't move needless things to the new house.

(I ought to warn you that moving in this family gets us all one step closer to an emotional breakdown. Or divorce. Or both. It's not pretty. The more I purge now, the less has to get moved later. The law of probability states that for each box that MB doesn't have to move is one step closer towards a loving and lasting marriage.)

So, the question remains: what do I purge?

The MB called 30 minutes ago to give instructions to the kids about moving (he seems to hold more clout because the kiddos know that Daddy means business). That and the box business was his idea. We have a standing rule in this house that whoever comes up with ideas/rules for the kids implements said ideas/rules. There are exceptions, of course; but these rules are for the exceptions outside the exceptions.

While I had him on the phone, I asked him if I should pack the ice cube trays. The new house has a side-by-side with an ice maker but I wasn't sure if it was hooked up. The Man Beast told me to go ahead and donate those.

Now, I realize that something like ice cube trays sounds like a pretty trivial decision. But what you don't understand is that I've never stayed in one place very long and each move I've had to make has meant leaving something behind. Not purging like we talked about earlier. No, we're talking about "We're leaving soon, you need to decide what you're going to take. No, you can't take that. We don't have enough space."

Leaving things behind isn't a bad thing in and of itself. It's when your things don't get replaced that you get nervous about leaving your 'stuff' behind. Old habits die hard. I want to keep things I've accumulated because it's taken me my whole married life to accumulate these.

But one has to wonder -- how much 'stuff' does one person really need? In reality, probably not much. A friend of mine wrote an article recently about determining needs vs wants. Interestingly enough, a couple of months ago in Sunday School, we were talking about needs vs wants. What's really interesting to think about is how little we actually need. Food and water. That's about it. Shelter is nice and it's a luxury, but it's not a need. (I know, pretty deep and very uncomfortable to think about it, but it's true. If you really think about it, you know that the only things we need are food and water).

Okay, you know what? That's a little bit too deep for me at the moment. My want-needs (that's what I'm going to call them) are: shelter, electricity, water, food. I've got that. But what of my wants that are actually haves do I bring?

I'm bringing my mixer - even though I only use it maybe four times a year. I'm bringing my sewing machine - even though I've only used it four times in four years. (I'm going to start sewing. I am. I am!).

I'm bringing my pots, my pans and my plastics.

I'm just bringing my whole kitchen! I've decided, just now. It's all going. Well, except the ice cube trays. I can't part with any of it.

But you can bet I can part with some things on the Big Honkin' Desk as well as the kids' desk. I can part with some stuff on my bookshelves. I can part with some things that are in boxes in my laundry room and my bedroom closet. I can even part with some clothes that are in my closet that no longer fit.

Yes! I can part with quite a bit and still keep the useful 'stuff' (or the potentially useful 'stuff').

So, I've decided where I can purge. I feel that this blog post has been very useful and therapeutic.

The daunting task still looms ahead, however - doing it.

Well, the only way to ensure it gets done is to do it, right? So I'm gonna go do it.

In a second. But first I want to say that since I'll be moving in three weeks, and probably packing and cleaning and cleaning and packing every day of those three weeks, I'll be blogging about moving simply because it'll be the only thing that will occupy my thoughts over the next three weeks. That and school registration. And back-to-school shopping. And the parapro position at the school. Oh, and my book.

Oh my...you all will be lucky if you can make heads or tails of my posts over these next few weeks, huh? But I have faith that you all will survive. My survival, however, is still up in the air.

I guess we'll find out, won't we?

Incidentally, I posted a *goody* on my blog today. See if you can find it -- and if you can, I hope you use it to help your family.

To-Do List