And Then There Is This...and This...and This...

So we've been trying to unpack more of our stuff because, well, after living here for eighteen months it seems appropriate to finally finish unpacking. Naturally the thought has crossed our minds that if we've lived without it for eighteen months, we don't need it. And this is true for many things. The sole remaining tealight candleholder of a matching set of three--going away. It's an opalescent glass finish that I never cared for anyway, and now that its two sisters are broken and long forgotten I am quite happy to say goodbye. Ditto the etched pub glasses, surplus wineglasses (which we have in abundance), yucky inherited vases from my great aunt...and there's plenty more.

Some of this stuff should have been disposed of sooner. For instance, the aforementioned vases from my great aunt were handed down with the instruction to get rid of them as we chose. I will attempt to Ebay them, as they are somewhat old and not in a style which I like. I can add a few biscuit jars to that list, also courtesy of my great aunt. And, we don't really need the 18" electric lawnmower now that we have a HUGE lawn to maintain and have a riding lawnmower.

DH & I spent some enlightening time unpacking and sorting things. At first we were going to give it all away, but then we remembered the church rummage sale, and oh yeah, that big thing called our DEBT that could use any extra funds we could amass through a garage sale.

We also found some fun stuff--pictures for our walls, forgotten objets d'art which I'm quite fond of and am now quite happy to display again (including my Irish pottery collection). And unpacking my formal china at long last means I finally have it to use on the rare occasion that I feel like doing so, even if it does mean handwashing them. Likewise finding the family heirloom silver is a good thing, even if it means I have to buy silver polish again. Still, it's nice to have those pieces of family history out, and I even hung up the 1814 sampler stitched by some long-forgotten relative. It also reminded me that I need to have that professionally cleaned and mounted, and so I will start my piddly fund to save up the $200-$500 for that piece of work.

Naturally we also found toys for DS, which DD has outgrown. The instant she saw them, she laid claim to them, but we are slowly reinforcing the notion that she's outgrown them and they are DS' toys now. I think that will take a few years months to sink in.

So we have a slowly growing pile of things to Ebay (including a never used REI camping/hiking backpack--any takers?) and things to sell at our garage sale, at some nebulous time next spring/summer. And things to donate to the church rummage sale next fall. Piles again, people! I just can't get rid of them! These are GOOD piles though, right? That's my opinion, anyway.