A month or so ago I mentioned I was pondering my stay-puttedness issues. I believe I said something like, “Check-in this time next year and see if I have stayed put or am living somewhere in Alaska.”
Well, I’m not exactly in Alaska but I did move about seven miles west of where I had been living for the last eight plus years. This move wasn’t my preference, but if I want to keep teaching at this small private school I need to downsize my monthly expenditures quite a bit in order to survive comfortably and not fall into the whole foreclosure scare. So, this week I put my house up for rent, packed up my 3 bedroom, 2 bath house and moved into a basement studio apartment.
Yowsa, who knew I could accumulate so much stuff in such a short time. When I first bought my home, one bedroom stayed completely empty for an entire year. Another bedroom only had my piano and a chair. My bedroom didn’t even have a bed for the first couple of months. Out of the 4 closets in my house only two had things in them: my bedroom had clothes and the front closet had my coats. And the garage only housed my car.
But fast forward 8 years and 9 months and it is a completely furnished home filled with 8 years and 9 months worth of stuff. And it was just ME. No one else. All that stuff is mine! And now I am cramming it all into a tiny studio apartment!!
So, I guess I learned one thing through my study of stay-puttedness: Moving helps you throw out the stuff you don’t really need and are too lazy to pack.
Next week I hope to do one final Italy posting. This past week and a half has been difficult to post because I didn’t have Internet at home because of my move. So, hopefully all these little details will be worked out soon. Thanks for your patience and sticking with me.
Question: When was the last time you inventoried all the stuff you’ve collected over the years?