Implode, Murder, Slaughter, Mayhem, Revolt, Mariticide,
One the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, they list the death of a spouse at 100 stress units and moving at 20 stress points. I think that may not quite be correct, if the death resulted because the spouse was a major source of the stress during the move. I am quite confident the stress levels wouldn’t be so great on either side. Perhaps, I should not discuss further in this public forum in case my words are later used against me.
On a happier note of accomplishment, remember those boxes that have been in our garage, unsorted since our last move, ten years ago? Well, today, I started to sort through them, as I refuse to move them to another house to moulder in the shed.
Guess, what? Six boxes down and I have yet to find anything that isn’t Mr FD’s… There were his college textbooks and hand written class notes. Mr FD graduated in 1976. I rest my case, your honour.
Mr FD is an agronomist (agricultural scientist) and if he doesn’t know that the early bird gets the worm by now, he is never going to know it. In fact, he is busy forgetting things these days. So, we all know where those boxes got binned don’t we?
Then there was his library of fantasy books. Mr FD was a constant reader until he bought his first computer (a Sinclair) in 1985. Since then I have rarely seen Mr FD read for pleasure except when trapped on a plane, where he also leaves the books. He keeps instructing me not to throw out his books, and I’m not… they are being collected by Lifeline tomorrow.
I have a number of boxes on the front porch for collection, my books as well as his. I am covering the fact that his books are included by placing a layer of mine on top. This is what 35 years of marriage reduces a woman to; subterfuge in its many and varied forms.
In future, should he ask for the said book by title, I shall tell him that the books are stored in our shed which is down the slope from our country home. The thought of walking down the slope, searching boxes and then walking back up the slope will dull his enthusiasm by which time we can download an ebook copy. As if he will ever reread them!
I also threw two boxes of floppy disks into the bin. Think he is going to miss them?
[I must remember to keep the shovel handy, I may need to dig a hole when we move to the country...]
Oh there are some classy tips there. I will remember them. It’s the nearest I am going to get to a session with ‘Q’ in a James Bond sort of way. Please tell me you haven’t found a Sinclair in a box yet???
No, the Sinclair went many years ago…I think.
I shall be your Agony Flamingo Dancer at any time!
there’s a movement which has you leaving books in public places for others to read and in turn leave (Book Crossing)… Just a thought. You could get rid of the lot in one charitable session.
I could walk around the neighbourhood and leave a trail of books a little like Hansel and Gretel!
I wonder what it is that makes us hoarders of things we never ever use or look at. Do we fear we won’t remember our history? Heck, I can’t remember what I have in those boxes in the garage. You are a brave woman!
I just sold an orange casserole dish that was a wedding gift (1976). It had a tealight candle underneath to keep warm at the table. It still had the original unused tealight and yellowed tape holding the tealight in position. Never used. The sense of lightness I am experiencing cannot be described – and of course now I can hoard new items (joking, I hope!)
Have you heard of the book ‘Happiness at home?’ About a woman who decides to declutter her life – and not even only because of a move. I picked it up yesterday, thought it looked very good but did not BUY it to add to my overstocked bookshelves (but put it on my library wishlist instead)…
Wise woman. You might like the blog by The Minimalists – two guys who have turned decluttering into a money making career. They pontificate quite a bit, but they do have some pertinent suggestions.
When DH and I married in 2006, he had college textbooks and other books he had carted around since the 60s and 70s. I convinced him to get rid of some of his stuff before he moved into my 1500 square foot house. The rest went into storage, along with planks of rose wood from a jacaranda tree that came down in his brother’s backyard in California in the late 70s. He says he’s going to build a table! Now we have a 1,000 square foot shop where everything is stored, along with all his work equipment.
Do I have to be married 35 years to give away his stuff without him knowing?
I think once a man hits 60 he is open game!