The Five Upsides Of Hoarding.

A shovel and a watch?! MY FAVORITES!

The whole Getting Rid Of Stuff [People Tell Me] I Don't Need project is still pokin' along. I have no idea why I thought it'd be completed in a night or a weekend or before Nora's presidential inauguration.

There is still a full filing cabinet of scannable...stuff.

And a room full of sortable...stuff.


And, arrogantly enough, a pile of stuff that I'm reserving for the neighborhood garage sale. That's right. I sure as heck don't want this junk...but I'm pretty sure you'd pay good money for it.

But aside from the vaguely nagging fears that I'll one day be buried alive in a pile of old Real Simples and boots that will never fit me (except that they WILL!), here are some upsides of hoarding that I didn't fully expect.

5. I found a full 3-ring binder of notes from a guy in high school that, up until this project began, I did not recollect dating. He was an absolutely appalling writer, but it was kinda sweet to read 'good luck' notes for various cross-country meets and 'can you believe that episode of Friends' missives. And he obviously must've meant something to me since I took the time to organize his notes chronologically and capture them for the next fifteen years in binder form. But then again, maybe not. I had an awful lot of free time on my hands back then.

4. My daughter plays with every single one of my trolls and My Little Ponies. And Cabbage Patch Kids. My porcelain dolls grace her bookshelf (and dresser and end table). My dollhouses are back in Pittsfield, MA, awaiting the correct transpo to the Midwest, much to the joy of my folks and chagrin of my husband. I love that Nora loves playing with my favorite childhood things. Even moreso, I love that my husband- just last night- correctly identified not only the pony named Posey, but also which gardening hat was hers.

3. I came upon an entire desk drawer filled with old day planners. Originally intending to pitch the whole lot, I enjoyed a few moments of mirth at what I used to believe was a Busy Day. (Um, two years ago.) And sure, while I threw out most of them, I ended up keeping pages worthy of framing and/or collaging. The 50s housewife artwork pages, not my daily schedule. No one cares what time I had a failed Budweiser audition. (10am.)

2. The shopping bag full of shells that I've collected from roughly 1989 'til now. The leftover ones, that is. (Surely you don't think my collection could be contained in one plastic bag, do you?) I rolled my eyes at my excessive saving and storing...until I remembered that I'd have three little girls at my house today who LOVE to glue things! Well, two of them do. One [mine] likes to poke at shells. But whatever. With this many aquatic remains, she can fling them at the wall for all I care. One hour of the day- scheduled.

1. As was just pointed out to me by my eight year-old pal, it's good to look back and get excited about stuff you loved and saved when you were little.

Especially when you're really, really old.