Your upcoming move makes mine look piddly indeed! I just have one household to pack up and we've only lived here 3 years. I can do it...I can do it...I can do it....

In 1972, my family lived in a flood plain and guess what? We got hit by the flooding of the Susquehanna River. We lost most of our possessions. After that, only people counted. Possessions are just that - material space-fillers and ego-enhancers that are bought on a whim, saved because you get addicted to things and sold or given away when there is no more room to keep them.

We developed a two year rule: If it hasn't been out of our storage areas for two years, the likelihood is that it isn't coming out.

The huge storage capacity of the computer made it unnecessary to keep even pictures - other than the professionally created and framed ones.

Old clothes are just that - old. They go to Salvation Army or Goodwill industries. Old furniture and bric-a-bracs - if they were useful, it would still be in the room from whence they came. Old computers and peripherals that were outdated by system changes go to worthy organizations who can still use them. Books are priceless - if they are classics that outlive the writer or professional texts that may be referred to for decades.

The paperbacks, bought for a few days of guilty pleasure, are sold to used book stores for a few cents on the dollar or given to the neighborhood old age homes or local hospitals where there are lonely people who will get a kick out of them.

LIke the creator of this post, I got rid of the crock pot after a few years without using it. Now there are only two of us and we can't make small quantities in a crock pot one could bathe in. Even my huge cast iron fry pan, my pride and joy, went to my son. He now has a family and invited guests that justifies using something large enough to cook a small moose without folding it.

Old spouses, like fine wine, get better with age and should be kept until they are empty containers and then discarded ... with a proper sendoff.

Lollipops and unicorns.

I've started reading magazines and books at the library, and renting DVDs instead of buying them. When I moved a

couple of years ago and had to pack all that stuff, I came to appreciate what a burden I'd created for myself. As a result,

my housekeeping has gotten a lot simpler...

We southern girls of a certain age wear makeup to take out the trash. That's gone from a whole drawer full of overpriced stuff to loose translucent powder over moisturizer, with brow powder, eyeliner dotted on and mascara just on the ends.(As far as I can tell, the trash cans are okay with my simpler look).

I actually F-I-N-A-L-L-Y started cleaning out closets yesterday! I now have a stack of clothes to donate somewhere. And as a bonus, there's room to move Hubby's dresser into the closet, freeing up space in our crowded bedroom.

Most of the items saved for a rainy day have been donated to charities. I like this new found space. We're still finding things and out the door they go!