Shopping Helps

28 days until Pure Happiness

Went shopping with my mom today. It had its stressful points, as all days with my mother do, but overall.... success! My mother found two dresses she likes for the wedding. Yes, she does already have one, but she feels that it makes her look old and fat. Frankly, it does. So now she has two new dresses. We've all decided on one, basically. It makes her look thinner. The other option makes her look young and fun. So...she can be skinny or young.... choices, choices.

I am trying to expand my summer clothing stash. Moving to a warmer climate is putting a damper on my deep and abiding love for sweaters and pants. Capris and tanks cannot compete with a comfy, bulky sweater and flannel socks. Wow... that made me sound really old.

I have one more weekend before all Happiness breaks loose. All of my time from here to the wedding is booked solid. Meetings, last minute stuff, graduation, and the big fun project... packing.

Now, I do love to pack. I have the heart of an organizer, even if I don't practice it all the time. But packing up everything? For college, I packed all of the stuff I care about... which is about 50% of my belongings. Yeah, I have that much useless crap in my life. This time Blake and I will have household things too... pots, pans, dishes, napkins, etc, etc.

Blake's packing is easy. His room at home is already cleared and converted. His stuff is stored in a few boxes in the garage and the room is sunny yellow and ready for guests. His stuff at school would have to be packed up anyway and really, there's not that much... after all, he does have a roommate in his one-man-room so there was no room for extras (except that whole two TV, two gaming systems thing).

My stuff is everywhere. My room is a nuclear waste zone and the wedding shower gifts have turned my hallway into a warehouse. It's hard to be bitter about packing though when I'm so lucky to have all this great stuff....

Actually, not all of it is that great. For example, when I was 13 or 14 I bought a Wheel of Fortune handheld game. It has a little keyboard and a little screen... it's uber-fun. I haven't played it for at least 5 years. Yet each time I clean my room... I can't bring myself to throw it out. Wheel of Fortune game. Not that great.

I have numerous books which I read only once due to the fact that they are complete rubbish. "Hilarious little Howlers." Not that great. A paperback copy of "Comedic Relief." Not that great. The biography of Simon Cowell.... not bad, but definitely NOT that great.

What do I do with all of this stuff I want but don't want? I would like to leave it all behind and start out with a new life to clutter up. But to do that I have to let go of my memories, my crappy, old and useless mementos that I don't want anymore.

That's it. It's all going. What's the rule... if you haven't used it in a year or two throw it out? I'm making a new rule. If I don't use it, I toss it. That should eliminate at least 35-50 percent of all the dusty relics I'm holding on to.

Yeah, I've made this rule many times before.