Friday February 8, 2008

This is something I actually wrote last month but I thought I’d copy it over here for my Xanga readers to view. Jamie

Throwing out the memories
Current mood: nostalgic
Category: Life

About every six months I get the urge to do a massive house cleaning and organizing. It’s not so much that I live in a pig-stye all the times other than that, these times are just when I go all out (as much as possible). Last weekend was one of those weekends. John and I cleaned my apartment and we moved furniture and storage boxes out of rooms before sweeping and mopping. We got lots of stuff thrown away.

The biggest accomplishment for me, however, was the paperwork. I’m really good at keeping all the appropriate papers I need. Bank statements, medical records, etc. all get saved. The problem is, the paperwork rarely gets filed. I keep it in reasonable piles in sacks, usually stored in my spare room that I call my office. It’s during these massive clean up times that I usually find time to get the filing actually put away. I also go through the stuff already in the files and shred what I don’t need anymore.

For example, one year I found paid utility bill receipts from a different state where I lived four years before. I felt pretty comfy getting rid of those. Other items that leave me wondering, however, include like my explanations of benefits for the previous year. I decided they stay for now because several of the accounts are still in process.

I also almost always find stuff that I don’t need anymore. About a year or so ago, my parents came and helped with one of these massive cleanouts. We ended up taking six giant trash sacks to the trash and another six or seven bags of stuff to the local Helping Hands. This time it wasn’t nearly that much stuff, but I have found a lot that I want to get rid of, such as a few stuffed animals that I just don’t need anymore. I’m also getting rid of several pairs of earrings–some I haven’t worn since high school. Considering I graduated nearly 12 years ago, that’s just dumb. I’m also getting rid of all my “fat rings.” When I was at my highest weight, I wore a size 11 ring. Well today I was able to get into my size 7 high school ring. It was snug, but I had circulation!

As I went through a lot of my stuff, it brought back a lot of memories. I found a ring I was given by a neighbor when I was in high school. I found jewelry a friend made me that I never wear. I found gifts I’ve been given but never used. Each item I found brought back the memories of when I received the item originally.

There are a few items I considered tossing but just couldn’t bring myself to do it just yet. The biggest thing is my array of bears. Over the years I’ve gone from collecting stuffed bears to collecting Boyds Bears and similar ceramic figurines. I’ve pared down the collection to just include my favorites, including what you see here

I realize that once I move out and get married, I should probably not take my bears with me. They aren’t a good “couple” decoration and they really don’t have much sentimental value to me. That said, why can’t I get rid of them? I guess I want to wait until I actually make that grown-up move before getting rid of some of the artifacts of my childhood. Then again, I might keep a few to pass onto our kids if we have any.

Anyways, as I look at this growing pile of items I’m tossing, I have to decide what to do with them. Part of me wants to just cart them off to Helping Hands. The broke part of me wants to put them in a yard sale but alas, I don’t have a yard. So for now they will continue to clutter up my place while I decide my gameplan.