Managing March moving mania...

Furniture: My favorite category (and the easiest, to me). Keep or sell, that's it. Doesn't require deep thought and the results are big. When something goes, it frees up lots of square footage, compared to say...

Books: harder, at least for us, because of sentimental attachment. They're heavy to move and quickly take up a lot of boxes. Nobody really wants the junky ones yet it feels wrong to throw them away. Fortunately this service exists existed, but even still, it's hard to decide which ones to give away. Of course, one could argue that almost none are needed what with technology these days, but that's too radical for me and nobody is ready for that in this family ;)

Appliances: Functional ones are easy to get rid of via CL. Apparently the house contract says the dryer will remain, which is silly because there were tons of people who wanted it and could use it and were willing to pick it up with their bare hands and move it in seconds flat. (sigh and march forth)

Clothes: Some sentimentality involved (looks like my grandmother's wardrobe is getting moved again) but aside from that...nothing is wasted, since it is either: in active duty, donated, or turned into rags. Moving presents a good opportunity to go through everything, something I really need help with since I tend to keep on the basis of functionality (these pants still "work"), not style, thereby leaving me with a closet full of the "I have nothing to wear" syndrome.

Papers: My most dreaded category. They are infesting my life. Literally, they collect those little paper bugs. And dust. Papers from every corner of my life, in every corner of my life. Daycare, elementary school, middle school, high school. My parents saved everything, and I did, too: college, grad school #1, grad school #2, journals, letters, cards, recipes, jobs #1-5. Not only at home, but even in the trunk of my (former) car otherwise known as the "binder-mobile", absolutely all over my desk at school, and don't even get me started on the teacher hoarders whose classrooms I seem to inevitably share.

Yard equipment: My dad so lovingly cared for these things, categorizing each item so carefully. Everything from gloves to rakes to hoses to sports equipment has a special hook and spot in the garage or tool shed. It's a little sad to think of it all being pillaged by the neighbors, but it provides him with social connection, and them with something useful, which in turns makes him feel good.

It's odd that of anything so far, the only thing I'm sad about is a trowel. Apparently someone took all that stuff today. Too late, I realized that was something I really wanted: a handy little tool my dad took such care of and used for decades to beautify our world. Really, the yard (.75 acre) was his job, and he took that seriously.