I preparation for our move to Switzerland, my wife and I have been going through all of our possessions. Some items, like clothes, computers, silverware, and dishes are getting boxed up and prepped for shipping.
Other items, which we’d like to keep but can’t justify bringing to Europe (or which won’t work with the electricity there), are getting boxed up to bring to the homes of our respective parents, who have been kind enough to donate some attic space for our boxes.
Then there’s the crap. Holy moly, is there crap. We’re not hoarders by any stretch, but when you put three people (two of whom are teachers) into a smallish two-bedroom condo, clutter seems to accumulate rapidly. There’s reams of papers, mostly in binders, that relate to school stuff (lesson plans and the like), posters and other in-class stuff, and so on. In going through the closets, there’s a huge amount of clothes that haven’t been worn for years (that goes straight to Goodwill), old electronics, and so on.
In the last month or so, we’ve taken probably a dozen kitchen garbage bags worth of clothes to Goodwill, recycled a bunch of old electronics, and shredded or recycled a massive amount of paper. We sold the bed (and moved to the futon), then sold the futon (and moved to an air mattress loaned from a friend). The tropical fish and their stand has been moved to a friend’s house for the duration. All that’s left is the TV (anyone in the Phoenix area want a 32-inch flat-panel 720p CRT TV and black IKEA TV stand?), a few bookshelves, a desk (anyone want an IKEA desk?), two chairs, and the computer.
Sure, it’s not spring anymore, but we’ve taken spring cleaning to a whole new level.
Now, to keep things this simple when we’re in Europe…