Lessons of Moving

Jay and I are officially moving to Birmingham, and the cleaning up and cleaning out process has taught me a number of things:

1.  I am a sucker for charitable organizations that send address labels to me.  I threw out nearly ten different types of address labels last night, and I have a sneaking suspicion that I will find more before this is all over.  (Plus the notepads, greeting cards, etc. that they send.  I'm not sure how I got on all these mailing lists because, while I donate to a few charities, it isn't very much or very often.)

2.  I need a specific place where information regarding various electronic items we have can live.  I have unearthed discs that came with computers that died ages ago, booklets about cellphones that are long gone, and software that is long outdated.  This stuff needs to be in a place that I check fairly often to figure what needs to go away and what should stay.

3.  We have entirely too many socks.  Especially white, athletic socks.  Jay and I both work in professional environments, and the embarassing amount of white socks that we have is ridiculous.

4.  I have some very pretty kitchen things that I've never used.  I love them, but I'm not sure I will ever use them.  And I don't want to end up just keeping things because I like them.  They don't have sentimental value, and I can think of people in my family who would get much more use out of them.

5.  As much as I love all my books, they are a PAIN to move.  But I still can't bear to part with them.

6.  There are a lot of things about Tuscaloosa I'm going to miss.  My co-workers, the proximity to some dear friends, the Quad, Sitar (Indian food heaven, in my humble opinion), the Winn Dixie right next to the apartment, my people at my Books-a-Million, and other things that I won't think of until I pass them and realize how much I'll miss them.  Tuscaloosa has been good to me, and I will miss it dearly.  Heather and I are already planning a trip for at least one football game.  Roll Tide.

I've got no pictures for this, but my kicking out the clutter initiative has kicked into high gear in the past few weeks.  My family has been cleaning out an old storage building that's falling in behind my grandmother's house, and my husband and I are moving to another city.  (Closer to "home" home and his work; I will be commuting for his last year of school.)  The sacking of the storage building has been wild.  Since the ceiling is slowly but surely collapsing, most of the things that were in there have ruined.  We filled up one dump truck already, burned about another dump truck load of old cardboard boxes and beautiful but utterly ruined vintage fabric, and we've managed to save a few 'treasures'.  Some old family pictures that somehow escaped unscathed.  Some old toys of my mother's.  Countless old glass bottles and vases.  Some of the not-so-treasures?  Snake skins.  Rat nests.  Wasps.  Bees.  More bees.  Moldy pillows that crumble at the touch.  The previously mentioned vintage fabric that was filled with moth and rat holes and covered in mildew.  My grandmother didn't realize how bad the state of the building was, and it's really been a learning experience for all of us about what to save and what not to save.  (And when to throw it out.)
 
My husband's and my move is going to be a slow thing.  We're not going to be out of our current place until the end of May, so I'm going to stay there during the week while he's at the new place.  It isn't the greatest set-up, but it's easier on gas and our sleep schedules.  He's got a bed, a table, and some chairs at the new place, and I'm bringing a load of stuff in my van each time I drive there.  The whole process is forcing me to clean up and clean out, and since we've got two months, I can do it at my own pace while making time for work, school, and state of mind.  I'm tackling a dresser in our bedroom tonight.
 
Oh, and I'm getting a baby niece today.  :)  Happy thoughts and prayers to my sister-in-law!