I'm At It Again

It might be that I am doing this cause I am going to turn 57! Or maybe I have just had a religious experience? Maybe it was the story that Emily told me about the woman who died under the pile of her hoarding and her husband didn't find her for weeks...Or maybe I just want to be free....what ever the reason, it is amazing.

Since organizing my sewing room and feeling the high that comes from feeling in control of my little world...I decided to tackle the paper. I have talked about my struggle with controlling the mail and it was manageable when people were really running scared with the economic downturn because there was half the junk mail. But, the economy MUST be on the upswing cause the junk mail has doubled!

I have to admit the junk mail is only the tip of the iceberg. The really daunting paper is the paper we have been hauling around for 20 + years. It is a filing cabinet so packed that even if I wanted to be organized, there is no room...cause god forbid I should throw out the bank statements from a bank I used to belong to back in California! Well no more! For several hours this morning dressed in my PJ's and a sweatshirt I stood in the garage with a cup of coffee and the file cabinet! I had the giant recycle paper can next to me and I purged. All the "sensitive" information papers I put in 2 large leaf bags...all the rest in the recycle. I found several of the boys report cards...I did recycle them...but first I enjoyed the moments of...and why did you get an "F" in that class. Maybe I should have saved them to use as blackmail at a later date...hummm...maybe recycle bin diving is in order.

I found a poem that Greg wrote back in 1991...saved. I found my youngest son's baptismal certificate filed under "important stuff." Lots of photos...why are they in the file cabinet? And what was that girls name you went to the prom with???Anyhoo...The bin is full, the rest of the stuff I took down to the SecurShred at Bend Garbage and had them shred it...oh my god!!!! It was like stepping on the scale and finding out you lost 10 lbs since yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!

Cleaning out the cobwebs of our lives is a wonderful feeling. Get rid of stuff you don't use, suck up the dust of too much stuff...and shred the paper!