I'm on week 4 of minimizing and purging all our belongings. It's going pretty good so far, my shredder came close to overheating a few times and I'm very happy we pay for a larger-than-normal garbage can {something I never cancelled with the City when my husband gave up his plumbing business}.
The first go-around is definitely high-level, with everything being purged that hasn't been touched in years, and everything that won't fit being sold. The second round will go much deeper. I'm tackling my office this week and I cannot believe how much crap was in my file cabinet. Along with the crap, there were also a few unexpected treasures, like this coupon I got from my youngest on Mother's Day about 7 or 8 years ago.
"I will not bother you" ~ it made me laugh and sad at the same time. Laugh, because, well duh. It's funny. And sad, because I know that my kids felt more often than not that I needed to not be bothered. I was always working. They both turned out alright anyway, and I know I did the best I could at the time. And now I can do better and I will. At some point I might have to give this type of coupon to them 😂
In other news, I'm done purging my office. It went faster than anticipated so I might get a headstart on the next scheduled room. Or I might just knit more this week. I feel like I have to slow down a bit because if I keep the same pace our house will be empty about four weeks before we move and we won't have furniture to sit on. Our dog Jacob is already not amused at all about his favourite armchairs being sold and gone. So I'll stick with my 10-week-plan and take it a bit easier. Starting out fast and furious and then slowing down to cruise to the end is not half bad, right?
I also decided to take the {somewhat neglected} plant on the picture below with us. I don't particularly like that type of plant, but we've had it since the first day we moved to Canada. It was sitting in our rental place when we first walked through the door, a welcome gift from my husband's former boss. It was a lot smaller 12 years ago, and it's been re-potted a few times since then.
I briefly considered throwing it out, but I'm not a monster. I added some dowels and draped the plant around it, gave it some fertilizer, and had a little chat with it about our next adventure and how I already have a spot for it. A very close friend of mine ❤️ told me about a plant she has had for decades, and the advice she's gotten from a wise old woman {it went something like this, if I remember correctly}: treat a plant like you treat your spouse. Feed it, talk to it, be nice to it, and every once in a while take it into the shower with you. If that's not solid marriage and plant advice then I don't know what is.
It's been just over a month since we decided to simplify our lives and move, and I can slowly feel the pressure lessen. We still have a busy 6 weeks ahead of us, but I've already finished with four clients, and one more will be finished at the end of July. I've declined any additional projects and I've made a really big dent into minimizing our belongings already. I'm embracing the chaos we will be living in for the next few weeks and I'm finding my blogging groove again and the ideas are starting to flow.
Onward.