Pack It Up, Pack It In
We've been back in Vermont for three days and already the packing has begun. Or more accurately the purging phase of the packing process. As you might imagine, our house is a disaster. We've been pulling things out of every drawer, cabinet, closet and eave, and either giving it the ol' heave-ho, or putting it in one of many piles.
It's weird to see all of your belongings reduced to piles... the Goodwill pile, the consign at OGE (Outdoor Gear Exchange) pile, the store in Ma & Pa Turner's barn pile (don't worry Ma & Pa Turner, it's a small pile!), the take with us pile (also quite small).
Did I mention that we're moving from a 1,700 sq. ft. house to a 980 sq. ft. apartment? Hence the purge. But I'm into it. I've been trying to consolidate our belongings for a while now, but honestly if there's the space, there isn't as much motivation to get rid of stuff. This move is just the ticket - we'll be minimalists in no time!
Just this morning I donated a huge pile of books to the Stowe Free Library. It begs the question, why did we have all of these books if we didn't want them anymore? And I think it all has to do with the space you're in - physically and mentally. We have a huge built-in bookshelf in our stairway, and so we were able to cram a bunch of books on it. I'm sure when we moved in 8 years ago that bookcase was only half full, so when we bought a new book it ended up on the shelf. There was no reason to get rid of any of the books because they all fit on the shelf.
And so it went with a lot of other things in our house. I have to laugh a bit at the number of different kinds of glassware we've acquired over the years. Martini glasses, various champagne flutes, margarita glasses, beer steins, fancy water goblets, weissbier glasses. They all seemed so essential at the time, but now that we're faced with fewer kitchen cabinets and the thought of transporting them across the continent, we're completely content with the idea of drinking champagne out of stemless wine glasses (okay, we're keeping the weissbier glasses).
Right now it's feeling a bit chaotic, and I'm sure it will remain that way for the next few weeks as we find homes for all of the things that we're done with. And then all of a sudden our house will be empty. And ready for someone else to move in and unpack all of their stuff.
It's weird to see all of your belongings reduced to piles... the Goodwill pile, the consign at OGE (Outdoor Gear Exchange) pile, the store in Ma & Pa Turner's barn pile (don't worry Ma & Pa Turner, it's a small pile!), the take with us pile (also quite small).
Did I mention that we're moving from a 1,700 sq. ft. house to a 980 sq. ft. apartment? Hence the purge. But I'm into it. I've been trying to consolidate our belongings for a while now, but honestly if there's the space, there isn't as much motivation to get rid of stuff. This move is just the ticket - we'll be minimalists in no time!
Just this morning I donated a huge pile of books to the Stowe Free Library. It begs the question, why did we have all of these books if we didn't want them anymore? And I think it all has to do with the space you're in - physically and mentally. We have a huge built-in bookshelf in our stairway, and so we were able to cram a bunch of books on it. I'm sure when we moved in 8 years ago that bookcase was only half full, so when we bought a new book it ended up on the shelf. There was no reason to get rid of any of the books because they all fit on the shelf.
And so it went with a lot of other things in our house. I have to laugh a bit at the number of different kinds of glassware we've acquired over the years. Martini glasses, various champagne flutes, margarita glasses, beer steins, fancy water goblets, weissbier glasses. They all seemed so essential at the time, but now that we're faced with fewer kitchen cabinets and the thought of transporting them across the continent, we're completely content with the idea of drinking champagne out of stemless wine glasses (okay, we're keeping the weissbier glasses).
Right now it's feeling a bit chaotic, and I'm sure it will remain that way for the next few weeks as we find homes for all of the things that we're done with. And then all of a sudden our house will be empty. And ready for someone else to move in and unpack all of their stuff.
