I tell you, it keeps amazing me how much excess I've managed to accumulate in a decade of just being too busy to be home and deal with it. For one friend in particular, I need to point out that the collections really have very little to do with it - getting rid of my VHS tapes did free up some space but not a great deal, it was more the relief with finally having decided to do it, and my other "collections" aren't huge space-takers either. Well, perhaps with the notable exception of the stash, which I will admit needs to be catalogued so that I can pare down what I don't intend to use -- I've gained a few "ooh, pretty" things over the years, but quite a few of those I've managed to ship out as gifts or trade in swaps.

So, today I put four more bags of stuff to donate in my trunk, plus a box of dishes I got from Mom but have been in a box for six years in my bedroom closet -- I intended to garage sale those, but the box was too heavy for me the first time I had the opportunity, and I just forgot about it this last time, so out it goes as a donation. To note, Mom gave me her blessing to get rid of them as long as it wasn't the fine china. That I kept. Three of the donation bags have been packed for over a year, and I don't even remember what is in them - too bad, so sad, out they go. The last is a few pair of shoes that have been on my shoe tree for a while - if I haven't worn them in long enough for them to get completely dusty and they are in good condition, out they go. Plus, a good-sized bag of the worn-out or otherwise non-donateable shoes that I don't wear anymore are headed down to the dumpster on my way out the door. And so the process continues. Perhaps at this rate I really will be ready to move by the end of July; one can only hope.

Now I have to print off some patterns for a crochet lesson I hope to give this afternoon, if my student shows up, and then perhaps I'll have some for my ongoing class as well... Highlights from this weekend's concert series when I get a larger moment to breathe! :D