Let the Purging Begin

The ordeal of getting our house decent and orderly is going to be a monumental endeavor. I can tell that already. My house would not be featured as a hoarding clean-up challenge, but I might be a pre-hoarder. Buzz and I were not reared during the Great Depression; but we were reared by parents who were. And those values of waste not/want not were firmly rooted in our little minds from early on in our childhood. It was not prudent or even scriptural to frivolously discard something that was still perfectly useful. And that covers a wide range of items. Okay, it covers almost everything. And we learned the lesson well.

Those who know say we need to clear out any clutter that will be distracting to a potential buyer. Lots of folks rent a storage building. We are blessed in having a large storage room attached to our house. We are not blessed in having it filled with the miscellany accumulated during 41 years of living in the house. So the cleaning out begins.  

Will came home to help over the weekend. He can do in a flash what takes Buzz and me an hour to do. And he’s so cheerful ~ which is refreshing when Buzz and I have enjoyed each other all we can stand. And Will is better than I am at persuading Buzz to let go of stuff. For example, Will talked Buzz into letting our next door neighbor have his four (yes, four) crowbars.  Fact is, I can’t remember when we’ve used a crowbar ~ but I guess you just never know when you will need one ~ or four. Anyway, the logic is that Jerry is now housing the tools, and we know where to go if we need one.

We lugged stuff out to the street for the city to pick up, and several things were picked up by scavengers almost before we walked back to the house. We made remarkable progress, and hope to finish the job on the coming Saturday. Will even took time out to watch the Bama game.

My job has been to clear out stuff in our bedroom. There have been some fascinating finds tucked away here and there. When we cleaned out my parents’ house a couple of years ago, I brought boxes of things to my house to sift through at a later day. Nothing like knowing strangers are going to be coming through my house to cure procrastination. I’ve just discovered the diary my mother kept in 1933, 1934 and 1935 when she was about 15-17. Oh, my! She had a fun life. (I might have known!) She told of her dates, her crushes, her travels and so much more. I wish I’d known her then.  I can hardly wait for the time when I can settle in and read it all. I also discovered a very old fabric-covered cigar box with letters written in the mid-1800 by members of my dad’s family. And the list goes on. Will I ever have time to savor these treasures?

And, as is the case always in my life, there has been laughter. I’m trying not to let the ongoing stress get to me. But I did forget my last name last night. There was a gathering after church, and I met a very nice new couple. We were repeating our names as we parted and I told her my last name was Lamone. She gave me a puzzled look, which prompted me to rethink my answer and correct myself. It’s pretty bad when one can’t remember her own last name. My friend Kathy is taking a supplement of some sort that is supposed to help her better focus. She soon locked her keys in her car, and we decided the product might not be working yet. Don’t think I’d better try it……..

Looks like this story will be going for a while. Please don’t judge my writing too harshly. My ol’ brain is so fragmented right now that I hardly know which end is up. I’m writing all this more for me than anyone so I can look back and remember how it all went down.

Friend Scarlett posted instructions on my fb page for commenting at this site. Sounds complicated, but it’s not. Encouragement of any kind is appreciated. As Buzz would say ~ this, and one more time, makes the second time we’ve ever moved. I’m told we will survive. I’m wondering……..