Purging

So this week has been packing week. We've moving out of this house and into something more reasonable (in size and cost). As many of you know, Eric hasn't been working for a long time, gas prices are insane (especially when you're driving The Super Duper Mini-Van loaded down with a bunch of kids), and even food prices are going up. So this move isn't something we're too upset about. Once you make a decision to take some action, just having made the decision will often alleviate a good deal of the stress.

And this time, packing has been different than it ever was before. Why? Because, so far, I've gone through each and every thing we own and have done a great job of pulling out the clothes and extraneous possessions we really don't need. But, seriously...I'm not sure if you can appreciate this process without pictures. We are a family of two "grown ups," one teenager, and three children. With approximately 50% to 60% of the house packed, I'd bet I've collected 25 to 30 full trash bags of clothing and at least four big boxes of general stuff. It's all in the back side of our kitchen. Here's both sides of that space:

I can't wait until Goodwill comes and picks this stuff up. I'm going to have them wait until Friday, though, so I can try to get as much of whatever might be left into the pile as well. Still, it's kind of embarrassing to have think we've ever even purchased so much stuff that this is what can just discard. But I'm proud to be letting much of it go. It's one of the things I've said I wanted to do for a long time.