The Great Purge

 The GREAT PURGE has begun.

Although, if you look at the progress I made yesterday, you might not agree. After eight hours and two filled trash bags (tall kitchen size - don't be too impressed!), I can just about see the top of my desk and one corner of the office.

The office. It is directly off the garage, where we walk through with groceries to the laundry room, before going up to the kitchen. It has been a bedroom three times: once for the boys, once for Mima, and lastly for Morticia; a den; a catch-all room, and now, it is officially known as the office. It holds my desk, desktop computer, two chairs and a small table I found at a consignment shop, a book shelf, end table, and a lamp. There is a lovely window and a lot of plants that usually go to school with me, but with this year's schedule and uncertainties, are staying home permanently. When we came home from school last March for full on-line learning, it turned into my home-away-from-home. When school ended in June, I turned off the computer and walked away. Everything sat as it was until I packed things up for the new school year. Well, some things, and not nearly enough!

We decided months ago that this coming spring would be the big move - more about that another time - but the PURGE must begin. We've been in this house as a family for 34 years, and his mother many before that. We have about 50 years of things to get rid of, pack up, and make presentable. I decided that I would start with the office. It's small, and once it was pristine, it would send me off into a whirlwind of energetic cleaning mode. Right?

Educational magazines - several I can use, most I'm ready to get rid of. Twenty years of paperwork from my mother's bitter divorce papers; several more piles from her stay at Senior Prison. Months of paid bill receipts - mostly utility, and fortunately, none past-due. Mail that someone nicely sat on the desk in October that I just found yesterday. Planners from years past, photos, and saved memories. All found, and now organized in one form or another. There is still a pile of stuff (books, mostly) still waiting for my attention. That's today, along with beginning in what we used to refer to as 'the workroom'. That room will be a little easier - most of it can be tossed, and I expect to fill another bag or two by the end of the day.

If you think it's easy, it isn't. My mantra in this case: am I willing to pack and move this?

In many cases, the answer is no. I'm beginning to understand my father from when they moved years ago (another bitter page in my mother's memory as her vintage salt and pepper collection disappeared). He got rid of things that he wasn't willing to move, no matter what they might have meant to someone else.

So, in fairness, I've warned the children: anything not claimed by December 31 is leaving the house, and I don't mean to the storage unit. I think that's pretty fair! We'll be keeping Waste Management busy for some time.

But, not the Pool. No, the Stress Pool is portable, and will be going wherever we go, and is open all the time. Come on in - I'll gladly take a break to sit and chat.

I'm curious. What would you be able to get rid of in the blink of an eye?  

Until next time!