Picking

Many times I've stood in line at airports and there is someone with a cart FULL of luggage and there is only a man and woman with it. I would wonder why anyone would need that much luggage. It never crossed my mind that they might be moving! And that's what we're facing right now. Our primary form of shipping at first is going to be suitcases and trunks.

When I started this page, the title was "packing" but before I got far into it, I realised this is more abour picking. What gets to go? What gets sold? What goes to the dump? The first thing I need to know is how big are my bags and how many do I get? What's important, what is...umm...not so important?

Some of it is easy. Lawnmower? Nope. Tiller? No way. Pretty much everything associated with lawn and garden gets sold. We're simply not going to need them or we can buy them there cheaper than shipping it. Sofa? Recliner? We're moving into a furnished home so we need to sell the furniture. We will, however, need to wash our clothes but the washer and dryer are just too big. Not going.

Original artwork collected over the years? Not making the trip but we don't really want to get rid of them, so should we sell them? Do we have time ? We got most of our good stuff in New Orleans so would anyone here even be interested in Crescent City artists and artwork? If we keep them, what should we do with them? Ok, so now we start talking about renting a storage unit. We have some artwork that isn't original but we've had them since before we got married. And that brings up another consideration. Sentimental value.

Connie has a rocker that was her granny's so it either goes to storage or to a family member. The same has to be decided about my grandfather's ashtray. My dad's retirement poster from his coworkers. Connie's desk that has always been in her family, no idea who bought it. Many dishes, platters, silverware.

When you've been married for 28 years, you collect a lot of stuff. Very little of it is worth much but it's always been there. What do you do with that?! Maybe I'll figure that out along the way. The picking continues...