Friday, May 6, 2011

packing up

I forgot how much I hate this part of moving.


That's not even all my stuff.  If you're one of the lovely family members coming to help us move, don't worry too much--that is most of my stuff.  It's somewhere between two-thirds and three-fourths of my stuff.
This is a little depressing for me.  I've tried to pare down how much I own, to some success, but this is still far too much.  Most of my clothes are already back at my parents' house, so at least that's done, but Cory and I are definitely going to need a storage unit.  I was really hoping we could avoid it, but with this much stuff added to our furniture, I don't think we can.

post-hiatus scarf, roughly 1/3 done

I'm going to try that shopping hiatus.  I made one purchase this week--a solid black scoop-neck tee to replace the one that I cannot find anywhere but wore all the time--with the idea that it's the last thing I needed to make my wardrobe versatile.  I think I should approach this a little more confidently and set up some rules.  Any ideas?  So far, I'm thinking these things will suffice...

1. Spending on experiences is okay.  Coffee with my best friend is always worth a few dollars.
2.  Materials necessary to complete a project I start with materials on hand are okay, too.
3. Spending on an outfit for an event or that last little something to add is NOT okay--I can borrow things from my mom, sister, and friends.
4. Stop buying books for a little while and use the library (living near a good library ought to make this possible).  I seriously have a book accumulation problem that's beyond my years and definitely beyond the storage space at my disposal.
5. Buying birthday/mother's day/father's day/anniversary gifts is okay and necessary since pretty much everyone I'm related to was born or married between the end of May and the start of July.

beginning the post-hiatus scarf

This accumulation break needs to occur because of the honest-to-goodness anxiety I feel when I look at the boxes full of my stuff.  Cory told me not to bring so much, and he was right, but I would really prefer not to HAVE so much in the first place.  It's time to really change things and keep the possessions from increasing.  We're going to move again within the next year and I do not want to deal with even more possessions.  

Now I've just got to decide how long to take the hiatus.  I definitely want to go through the end of this month, but do you think I could make it until the end of June?

Meanwhile, I'm dreaming of knitter-ly things.  I'm horrible at knitting but determinedly trying to learn.  I even knitted a complete square with no dropped stitches!  Now I've just got to figure out how to cast off correctly.  Wish me luck!

3 comments:

KT @ KT's Refinishing School said...

I hate moving too--this year was the first time in the last five that I haven't moved. I like your rules--I may just have to play along :)

Good luck with knitting and moving this weekend!

Beth said...

Truthfully, I need a spending hiatus, as well. I buy a lot of unnecessary things as "shopping therapy" when I'm stressed about something.. like having another thing to dust will make me less frantic (the lies we tell ourselves).
And, as someone who has very recently moved, I agree that it sucks. If you need any help, let us know.

Katie said...

Beth--exactly! There's a quote I read somewhere about how we buy things to feel differently about ourselves and I think that's exactly what I do. Then I have to organize and store and I go crazy, yet I never learn...hm.