I am so looking forward to the sound of our U-Haul trailer door sliding shut.
While Forest toils away on his computer, finishing up his thesis and working on slides for his doctoral defense, I divide our things up into piles – effectively redistributing our collection of “stuff” throughout our rapidly emptying apartment.
Though I am constantly adding to our “give away / sell in a stoop sale” pile, the solar handbag powered, waving Queen of England – she stays. I know this is a ridiculous thing to keep when we’re trying to pare down our possessions, but for some irrational reason, I don’t want to part with the old lady. (Thanks, Tom and Pelin – the Queen was a great gift – and she made the cut.)
We have employed a number of strategies to distribute the less regal, but useful, items that have filled our kitchen cabinets and held any number of delicious dishes over the course of their time with us. For instance, friends who have stopped by really can’t escape empty-handed. From cases of pumpkin ale, to mugs and random pyrex bowls, we have a lot of “stuff” that just has to go, and we’re relying on our community here to help us recycle it.
At this point, most of the “big” stuff, like furniture, has found new homes via Craigslist or word of mouth. The Danish modern rocking chair that I spent countless hours searching for online before driving upstate to pick it up from someone’s garage north of White Plains – that’s also staying (apologies to those of you who have been eyeing it).
We are no newbies to moving – I think we moved 5 times in one 18-month period before making 42 Strong our home for 6 years, but I don’t think I’ve gutted my possessions in this manner, ever, in my adult life. So it’s been a process.
Since lists are all the rage these days, I have put together a list of things that were either surprisingly easy, or surprisingly difficult to part with.
Things that are too hard to part with…
- The solar handbag-powered waving Queen of England
- My fabric (at the very least, I’m keeping some of the vintage kimono silk)
- Books
- Paper lanterns used for decorations at our wedding reception
- Forest’s 1980s, turquoise and pink, downhill ski boots (he claims they were made for the shape of his feet – which actually says a lot considering how high the arch of his foot is)
- VHS tapes from high school
- Discs for the computer I can’t get rid of because it’s holding my 9/11 pictures hostage along with all of my college papers and senior thesis.
- The guitar that I got for my 23rd birthday that I still haven’t learned how to play (it’s going to happen for me in Mexico, I just know it)
- CDs (I have most of these backed up online, but I can’t throw the physical discs out… just in case)
- The cello that I played for a year before leaving it to collect dust in the corner of the room…
Things it felt good to get rid of:
- All of the extra winter gear that I kept around because we had space, and lent it out every so often
- So many documents, bank statements, old taxes from longer than 7 years ago (we had some major shredding nights)
- Cords and ancient electronics! We took a ridiculous amount of random cords and old phones to the electronics recycling event a few months back.
- All of the random things I had borrowed and delayed returning. Sorry if I kept them too long!
- The bin full of wrapping paper, bags, and gift boxes that I held onto because we had space (and it’s environmentally friendly to recycle packaging)
- Socks – my sock collection was getting way out of control
- CD jewel box cases. I struggled with throwing these out but am very happy to have moved my discs into less bulky CD “jackets”
- Clothes that I used to wear during my “business casual” days
- 20+ extra water bottles that we’ve collected over the years
- Did I mention all of the paper and old records that we got rid of? I did, but I’m listing it twice because there were just so many and it felt amazing to get rid of it all.
I am thankful that I live in a city full of people who are constantly moving around, and willing to buy furniture and random items off of Craigslist. I am, also, extremely thankful for Craigslist. There were a number of items that I thought for sure wouldn’t sell, but did – and in some cases sparked bidding wars.
I’m going to miss this apartment, the garden, the neighbors, and the beautiful tree-lined street (except the ginkgo berry tree – I won’t miss those foul-smelling berries). It’s been a great home for us over the past 6 years but it’s time to move on and seek out new adventures, unencumbered by the weight of so much “stuff”.
So long, Strong Place. It’s been grand. The Queen and I bid you farewell.
