Spring Cleaning

I've started going through our belongings. Reaching under the deep abyss of the bed, and to the tops of the pantry shelves. We have some great parents who have agreed to store our stuff for us, at least some of it, the scrapbooks and winter wear I'm sure we'll do without in the humid south. What doesn't go into storage is being donated, sold or taken on a very long road trip. The items that make the cut have to be pretty special in order to be hauled around for miles and miles. We contemplated a yard sale but seeing as we have no yard and no garage it would be more like an open house/come buy our rejected belongings day. And since we have no tables to put said rejected belongings on we pitched the idea just as easily as we are pitching yesterday's treasures. What I'm amazed to find is that my priorities have changed. What I once thought was essential to have or to hang on to is now being cast aside. Some of my things I rarely used or held on to for several moves thinking I may someday need it. Like this great little DVD player that I bought at Wal-Mart for $20 six years ago and have moved three times now and not having used it in 6 years now is being donated next to the canning jars and custom made dishes I bought in Malawi- they were actually pretty fantastic but now seem a little unnecessary. It feels good to clean out and divide, to pear down to the essentials. We are selling items on the famous Craigslist, hoping that someone out there wants to buy our lightly used furniture. I think we are at a good place in our lives to be making the move- not that there is a wrong time but we have no house to sell, no kids to pull out of school and no big commitments keeping us here. Yup, I'd say it sounds just right. We are down to 11 weeks now, that may seem a little early to be cleaning out our stuff but it felt like the right week to start. One thing I will miss, one thing we can't pack up and take with us is our view from our back deck.

We sit on a golf course, which is a little like having a movie play in your backyard. There is always some sort of activity happening- golfers, someone mowing the lawn, birds and animals in the pond. It can be very entertaining, especially when the golfers have to go digging in the pond for their lost ball. If only I could somehow find a place to pack all of that into the trunk...