Sadness.

Some things are just sad sometimes. Either that or I'm just a sad packrat (but hey, if I'm a packrat then Cody is too so we're in it together). So I'm on a mission - I am seriously going through every bit of our house (doing a quickish first run now so that we can do a second cull when we have some good time - i.e. Thanksgiving break) and every bit of our life and routine to make it more efficient. As you can probably tell, I finished my book "Find More Time - How to get things done at home, organize your life and feel great about it." So yeah, it's lame, but it was a good book and it got me motivated so I guess it served its purpose. Anyway I'm trying to get our life into a well-oiled machine. I really feel like we're like that with our relationship - we've known each other so long and can read each other so well we really do exist very well and very peacefully - like a well-oiled machine. Our life, not so much. We're hectic, busy, can't ever find anything (we determined that I probably waste over 48 hours a year just looking for my keys) and generally feel behind and discombobulated. So I'm working to get us organized and pare down the extranious.
The first part of that is to get rid stuff we don't need and organize what we do need. The problem is Cody and I think we "need" everything we own. Seriously, we can find an excuse to save anything - anything.
Anyway, so tonight part of my mission was to go through linens that we've moved from one place to another. We had 9 comforters/bedspreads. That's a bit excessive. Granted, these date back to at least when I was in the 4th grade - I have probably never gotten rid of one bedspread I've ever owned - but that's still insane for a house with TWO people. So in that pile of comforters that we were forced to viciously and cold-heartedly go through was one I got when I first moved to Fort Walton Beach in the 4th grade - it was a beach/sea shell print and a really warm, though light blanket. Then there was the two-sided flower pattern bedspread my dad and stepmom got me when I was probably in the 5th grade (one side was white flowers and the other side blue). There was the comforter my grandma bought me at Target when I moved to Gainesville (the first time) to live in the dorms - I'd always had a double bed and the dorms had singles so she bought me a cute single comforter - I'd saved it because it reminds me of her even though the stitching was coming out of the sides. There was one I bought in Law School - the first complete bed set I ever bought myself - comforter, sheets, pillow cases, shams, etc. - but it too had seen better days in terms of stiching - obviously if I bought it in law school I was poor and bought a cheap set - but it was still one I bought all by myself - thanks to Feceral Student Loans, of course - that I'm still paying on - I'm still paying interest on a comforter that I threw away - that's sad - kids, think before you buy anything with loans or credit! Then there was Cody's bedspread - it didn't fit on any bed we currently used but I couldn't get rid of it because he had that when we first met.
Anyway, in the end we managed to get rid of a few of them, save one for the "Kitty Condo" that we will one day build (we have a grand "Kitty Condo" building plan that we will get to one day) and save one for a light summer blanket if our down comforter gets too hot. Yeah, when we got married I finally splurged and got a down comforter - I'd wanted one my whole life and never had one so that was my treat to myself for making it through wedding planning. :)
So, yeah, it was sad to go through that stuff and get rid of some but I guess saving a comforter that has stiching coming undone to remind me of my grandma isn't the best way to think of her anyway - a picture in a frame would be more efficient and take up less space. We'd also decided to get rid of anythign that doesn't make us happy to own it - anything that has any negative memories (like the fuzzy blanket Cody got me for Valentine's Day 1998 or 1999 after he went to Daytona Beach for Valentine's weekend without telling me - fine blanket, bad memories) or just plain doesn't enrich our lives to own it.

Well, enough babbling - back to purging of old stuff before I lose my nerve and decide to keep everything. :)