Irons in the Fire

Ever feel like you have too many irons in the fire? That pretty much describes the last couple weeks for me. Nothing much is going on, but too much of everything is going on.

Mr. Bean has been on vacation. We've been moving things from one storage area to another and going through and consolidating all of it. I've been putting in many more hours at work than I'm supposed to in a given week trying to get ready for the school year. Plus there are several family and extended family things going on (nothing negative). Sprinkle in a few vacations and it has been crazy.

Here is hoping the craziness settles down a bit. I believe that begins with Mr. Bean going back to work in the morning!

Sifting through Memories

Mr. Bean and I have been going through our storage. We have found so many old photos, letters, awards, and memorabilia from the last 30 or so years. It is amazing the junk we accumulate!

Or local Goodwill has seen more of us (and our junk) than many of our friends in the last couple of weeks. Now we are starting to list some of our nicer junk on Craigslist.

Purging our old things and making room for new memories is a bittersweet affair!

Purging 101

On the heels of us cleaning out our storage, here are my tips for getting rid of extra stuff you don't need:

• If you haven't used it in a year, get rid of it.
• If you must keep some sentimental things from your childhood because your mother sold all your Star Wars action figures, decide in advance to limit it to one or two boxes and stick to it. (Boy, I hope Mr. Bean reads this!)
• Consider giving a treasured item you haven't used for over a year to someone who can really use it. Although it is great to give your extras to charity, if you're like me and you have a really hard time getting rid of something of sentimental value, you may find it easier to part with the item if you give it to a friend who can use it so you know it is being appreciated.
• Have limited storage space like we do and you'll be forced to part with things you don't use!
  

No Dinner

Our dinner last night didn't work out after all. Instead of putzing around and not doing anything, we went over to the in-laws' house.

My in-laws have been gracious in letting us store all of our overflow (read: things that were in String Bean's room when it was a guest room back in the day) in their attic while they've been in town this past year. The gravy train ends in August.

Last night we went over to start going through all of our storage things to get rid of some so we can (hopefully) store them back here once the in-laws move. I'm happy to say we filled Mr. Bean's trunk and more with all of our donations to Goodwill.

We only got through about 2/5 of the storage. So, we'll have to do it again, soon!