Relative Something

You know the drill. We are packing, yes we are. There is so much to be dealt with that I find myself a little overwhelmed. I like to have a plan, but I am just a peon compared to the way Cyndie processes things, and her methods tend to swamp any thoughts I might have about how to organize the monumental task.

My methods thus far have been a bit random. I went into our closet and pulled out all of my stuff, filling duffels and travel bags in my collection, with clothes I will keep, but don’t expect to wear in the next month. Last night, I already needed to dig into the bags to pull out proper attire for a wedding we attended.

I gathered all of my camping gear and put it in one box, clearly labeling the box, before Cyndie could mix my things with hers and pack it away where I may never find it again. Obviously, my methods are only a bit random, as I am partially operating in a mode of self-preservation by preemptively packing specific things I wish to have some control over.

This is the first time in my life when I have had to make an entire move in one large trip, and thus, ever needed to have everything prepared in advance for someone else to load and unload. It is a different beast to be reckoned with.

Friday, after having pulled every last item out of our electronic entertainment cupboard, except the primary components, themselves, I ended up with a pile of items I didn’t know whether to keep, or throw. The stack remains on the floor in that room. It consists of VHS tapes that probably tell the stories of our lives, but which no longer match the equipment we have in place to view them. More than once, we planned to have them converted to digital, but that keeps not happening.

There are also a variety of old software discs and books, which probably deserve to be discarded, but seem so un-trash-like that it is going to take an extra day or two before I can convince myself to just jettison them.

Yesterday, in effort to avoid that pile of stuff, I redirected my focus to purging some files. I dug out the manuals we have saved. I want to gather all of the things that pertain to the appliances of this house, to leave for the new owners. It was a kick finding how many documents we have been storing for items that are long gone from our lives. We giggled our way through them in a trip down memory lane.

There was the warning sheet about assembling the crib properly. That piece of furniture is long gone. Does anyone else keep the little flyers from their Conair curling irons and blow dryers? Or their Casio watches? Apparently, we have bought a lot of those devices over the years. Cyndie couldn’t remember how long it has been since we had a hot-air popcorn popper. We still have the manual for it.

I am hoping that the discovery of all these documents that we have never, ever pulled from the files for reference, …that we wouldn’t even think to look for in the file of manuals, will inform our future decisions on what deserves to be kept, and what doesn’t.