Moving On, Twelve Years at a Time

We have too much stuff in my house.

This is not hoarder-level stuff, just too much stuff for my liking. You will never, ever see me on that show, with the mountains of trash hemming in the lives of. I can account for all of my cats, thank you.

I can blame our stuff excess on Carl-he is part Scot, and has a penchant for taking random used stuff off of other people's hands, whether we need it or not. I have to be honest, though. I do get attached to my stuff, and I have a hard time getting rid of the things. For example, here are all of the bags that I have used over the past decade:

That strap with no purse on it? From a olive green messenger bag that I carried from 2001-2004. I saved the strap because I used to attach buttons and beach tags and other little mementos to it, and wear them around like merit badges. (SEE, EVERYONE? I'm 2o and I go places and have favorite bugs and I wish you to Remember 9/11! SEE?) At some point, I picked most of the stuff off of that strap, and never got back to it.

I don't even plan to use most of these ever again. I don't usually go back to an old purse when I have decided to move the nest to a new location. I just have a hard time letting the old ones go. This applies to my favorite t-shirts, coats, shoes, mugs, etc.

Another case: I have carried this wallet since I was sixteen years old.

I bought it for $.25, off of a table at a church sidewalk sale. I carried it through the rest of high school, having declared that I was "not a stupid tiny purse person." All of my jeans had a little worn spot in the right back pocket where the button rubbed through. I didn't have a license in high school, or much money. Instead, this wallet held my student ID, a Hot Topic frequent-buyer card, my Blockbuster card, sometimes homework, occasionally a condom, and a lot of other random bits. More recently, it has contained medical insurance IDs for two children, maxed out credit cards, and a bunch of coupons for cleaning products.

After twelve years, it is time to move on from this baby.

My mom gave this to me as an "early Mother's Day present." (She likes to justify gifts by choosing the closest significant calender event and assigning her random purchases to that day. I have received many "late birthday," "early Christmas," and "um...Summer is just around the corner" presents in my life.)

I love this. The only reason that I can think about leaving my old brown leather one behind is that I really like the new one. I mean, my Hot Topic frequent-buyer card really has room to breathe.

What to do with the old one? I don't know. Carl suggests keeping it, because he's a thrifty Scottish bugger who also wants to also keep four outdated computer monitors in his office closet for all of eternity. Maybe I'll try to sell it at a yard sale for a quarter. (along with some computer parts)

Speaking of countries in the UK that aren't England, Happy St. Patrick's Day! In addition to being a rockin wallet shopper, my mom is also much more hardcore than I am. She has already been partying in the name of being Irish this week, whereas I plan to pinch Wendy, because she refuses to wear green, have a shot with Carl when he comes home, and call it a night.

Seriously. Anyone want an ugly purse or a computer monitor from 1998?