Too Much Stuff
This photo was taken on a walk my husband and I took last week. That is all pretty normal; we take a lot of walks. However, this walk was a little different. This walk was in Ohio and we live in Connecticut. Or, we have lived in Connecticut. In a couple of short months we are moving to northeast Ohio. This is a good thing. We are all very pleased about the move. My husband and I spent a slightly frantic ten days in the midwest trying to find a house to buy and then settling for an apartment for the time being. We visited a lot of cities, wandered through a lot of neighborhoods, and sanitized our hands approximately ten million times. We came home, told our kids all about it and took a deep breath of relief. We had found somewhere to live.
Then reality set in.
We have to move all our stuff–too much stuff–618 miles across the country. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all.
We have lived in this house for twelve years which is the longest we have lived anywhere in our lives together. We have always moved every few years which has guaranteed a proper clean out of all the accumulation of the previous years. Twelve years in one place has given us way too much time to fill up the black hole that is the attic. Did the kids get tired of something? Throw it in the attic. Don’t know where to store something? Throw it in the attic. Are you too fond of something to get rid of it but you don’t use it anymore? There is an attic for that. Do you buy too many books? (Who could that be referring to?) Stack the boxes in the attic.
Now it is time to deal with the attic and I am not having fun. Well, I am not having fun when I am actually being useful and practical but I am having fun when I am being sidetracked by things like my high school yearbook and my kids’ baby photos. But the practical decisions are so hard and I seem able to be sentimental about the strangest things. My dad says if I haven’t looked at it in five years then I probably don’t need to keep it and I know he is probably right but I also know that as soon as I get rid of something I am going to regret it or need it. Our new place won’t have as much storage so some things have to go but what if I have grandchildren some day and I need a blanket to wrap them in, toys for them to play with, and books to read to them? What if that coat comes back in style? Maybe one day I will refinish that dresser. That big mirror is very pretty. I know I haven’t hung it on a wall in a dozen years but really, it is very nice. Maybe one day…
I have a problem and it is too much stuff. It isn’t the big things that are so much the problem. We are leaving half our furniture behind and I am fine with that. It is all the little things, the memories and the sentimental things, that I have trouble making decisions about. That dresser I mentioned that needs to be refinished belonged to my grandmother. The big mirror was a gift from my other grandmother. How do you decide what to keep and what to…convince your sister to take?
A move of 618 miles might be the only way to solve it. Ruthlessness is necessary.
But we all know there really isn’t such a thing as too many books, right? The books* can come to Ohio.
*I feel like I should mention that I bought a few** books when I was in Ohio. Yes, I have a problem. However, in my defense, I was having a bad day because every place we looked at was awful and my husband insisted I needed to go to a bookstore to make me feel better. He was right; it worked. But now I have some books I bought in Ohio, brought home to Connecticut, and will have to move back to Ohio. But, hey, what’s a few more books at this point?
**Eleven. I think it was eleven. I am kind of afraid to look. Most of them only cost a dollar, if that helps.
10 Comments
Katrina
I really feel for you all. I hope this turns out to be a good move for you. We lived in our previous home for 26 years, prior to that four years had been our record! Packing up was a nightmare and we had to get rid of more than half our furniture (big Victorian pieces) , mainly things that had been inherited so that was very painful and of course there are some things that would have fitted into the new place, but we hadn’t bought the new place at that time and we had to de-clutter to sell up. I hope you can convince your sister to take stuff you don’t want to part with – just until you have space for it again!
jllee656
I think it will be a good move. We are all a bit overwhelmed but excited. Renting an apartment for a while means we are getting rid of things we might eventually regret but it seems like the right decision. It gives us time to explore the area before we put down permanent roots. My sister is taking the two pieces of furniture I was really regretting so I feel better about that.
Lucinda
What a lovely man to know that books would revive you!
I just looked up your move ( not being able to place both states on a map). It’s a big move!! What’s calling you on Ohio?
Attics are dangerous things to have. We have “under the house”. Not a basement. Our house is built on brick piers and, as the land slopes away, there’s more room at the back of “under the house”. It’s where Mr S puts things he doesn’t want to deal with (meaning he can’t bring himself to toss). I’m more ruthless than him. Especially with other people’s stuff. If I was closer to you, and we were friends, I’d come and help you toss. I’ve very good at it.
jllee656
He is a good man! He has even put up with my extreme grumpiness today.
My husband is originally from the midwest and has always wanted to return there. We always thought we would do it in a few years when our daughter finished school but some life changes mean the time is now. We originally thought we would go back to Illinois (another nine-hour drive west) but this just fell into place. I am pleased because I can get back to my family in a day’s drive.
Attics and ‘under the house” are black holes. If you were closer and we were friends I would invite you over to make ruthless decisions for me and toss all the stuff I am dithering about.
Mandy Southgate
Twelve years is a long time to accumulate a lot of stuff! Good luck with the move. I’d love to visit that part of the US one day
jllee656
I really thought we did a decent job of keeping things cleared out until I started working on the attic. Oh my. I am looking forward to exploring a different part of the country. There are a lot of state parks around and we will be about half an hour away from Lake Erie.
Carolann
Oh I really can relate to this! We just moved 3 months ago and every time we move, we get rid of stuff and then accumulate so much more! I have so many sentimental things that I just cannot get rid of. I have gone down so many rabbit holes looking through old pictures and things while getting settled into this house. I have been giving a lot of stuff away, which helps me get rid of things. I figure if I am not using it, maybe someone else will. I thought I had gotten rid of SO MUCH stuff, but when I look around our basement, it doesn’t look like I’ve even made a dent. I think I have to do another round of purging.
jllee656
We just spent an hour sorting through my kids’ childhood books. They brought back so many memories. We are trying to donate all we can so things don’t go to waste but there is just so much clutter! I read your post about decorating and tried to comment but I couldn’t get the comment to post for some reason.
Brona
Ohhhh the packing of boxes and clearing out of cupboards!!!! I feel your pain.
We will probably move in the next year or two as well. I feel grumpy just at the thought of all that packing up and cleaning out. But starting over is exciting and, as you say, exploring a new area and all it’s parks and green spaces and water ways and laneways and old buildings and panoramas and seeing how the seasons change. Lovely!
Good luck and worse case scenario, put some stuff in storage and deal with it later.
jllee656
I don’t mind moving; I just hate the weeks moving up to moving! I want to leap straight to the exciting, fun stuff. You have my sympathy if you are considering a move. Every time I say we are never doing it again and yet, here we go! I think I have itchy feet.