Attic clean out...

After spending what seemed like all day working on state attendance reports--7 hours to fill out 1/3 of the report--I came home to Doug wanting to clean out the attic. OMG! I took a nap and then we tackled it.

Things I have discovered about myself:

• I hoard linens--WTF--I would have to have 10 twin beds in my house to use all the sheets I had saved. I ended up saving 2 really pretty--feminine sheet sets--both with shades of lavender & turquoise--you know for when I have 2 twin beds in the grand kids play room in 15 or more years. It will be my luck that I have all grandsons.


• I have not done cross-stitch in at least 15 years--yet I had not been able to let go of all the patterns, half-finished projects and blank material and towels I had not even touched. It was very emotional to go through that and know that I was never EVER going to finish those projects and to tell myself it was okay to let go. I kept one pattern for the laundry room I am someday going to have--bloomers for every day of the week on a clothesline--and my thread and an afghan that I had started for Doug's grandma. The rest either went into the trash or into a pile for the rummage sale. My heart is a little lighter.


• I have saved way too many toys of the kids. I always was bitter that my mom didn't save many of my toys. The kids may think WTF later when I get them all out again. But my grand kids will like them. Just looking at them takes me back to those fun little kid days. My goal is to consolidate all the Bitty Baby and American Girl doll stuff into smaller bins to keep in a closet down here. I'm afraid that too much heat or cold will affect the doll's hair--don't think my granddaughters will want to play with bald dolls.


• All our yearbooks at some point were damaged by water and we had to throw each and every one of them away. I remember looking at my mom's growing up and how cool that was. That was sad.


• There are 10 bins of Christmas crap. Time to down size that once that season comes back around. Problem is that 3 of those bins are trees and 3 more are decorations for each one. That leaves 4 bins of decorations for this 2200 square foot house. That's probably just about right. SIGH.

Now the attic is cleaned out, but the family room is full of crap. I have too much stuff. Been thinking a lot about my scrapbooking stuff. I'm getting ready to make some hard decisions about my stuff up there. I got the new Creating Keepsakes edition with scrap book spaces and all of a sudden I want cabinets where everything can hide. I'm tired of visual clutter. But I am a collector...and I can't let go...Wonder if there is a hoarder marathon to help me along.