Disturbing the dust

"Everything has to be up off the floor by Monday. Except the furniture."

One wouldn't think that a huge request, except if you're living out of boxes and living with a hoarder. It's taken 2 weeks and he's finally moved the majority of his collection to storage facilities around the building. But what am I supposed to do with my stuff? I've managed to fit most of it in the closets, but I still have the odds and ends that now can't be tucked away somewhere.

"Bring more of it to your storage facility," he says.

If I were doing it right, I would get rid of some of my shoes and pack the winter stuff up. It's only February, but March is coming fast, and around here the weather can change to spring really quickly. I'm anticipating the change soon, and so I need my wardrobe to reflect that.

But I'm not smart. I'm just shoving it all into boxes without really looking at it. I'm throwing trinkets into boxes knowing I don't really know what the hell to do with them once they come out of boxes - if they ever come out again. I don't want to be hauling this stuff around with me, but I don't have the heart to let it go.

Monday. Crap.

Bring it all!

What can I get rid of? Do I need all this furniture?

Let's see. My couch and chair. They are kind of hideous, and the couch is not comfortable. But I love them. They're old, forties style construction in a gross, shiny yellow-green color. Hard to describe, really. The cushions need restuffing, badly. But they make me happy. Stay.

Screen. Stays.

Bookshelf. Stays. It's from World Market, and I love them. I wish I had 3.

Trunks. Stay. One is from when I drove a friend cross-country for her move. We stopped at every little antique shop along the way because she's a collector. We added some stuff to her already full Penske, and I got a beautiful old steamer trunk in Missouri. It was $45 and perfect. I refinished it, and added Mexican tiles to the top. The other one came from the side of the road in the city. When I first moved here and lived in the city, I came down a hill one day and saw this big, beautiful steamer trunk on out in front of my neighbor's house with a free sign on it. It was in disrepair and smelled (still does) of mothballs. I took it home and spent a long weekend completely refinishing it. I love them both. Stay.

Bed. Hm. I could get rid of the bed. You can always get a new bed. Let's think about this one a little.

Dresser. Another freebie, but it's made of solid wood, and you just don't find that nowadays.

I'm a pack rat.