I Have Stuff

I've never been too much of a coveter. That might come from growing up having everything I needed; I'm not sure. I mean, I will go to yarn shops and pet the same expensive yarn visit after visit, knowing that it's too expensive, and I do splurge on things I really want. But I don't need to have a lot of stuff to be happy, and it's kind of cool to distribute my stuff to various friends and family in preparation for moving.

I had an old Taurus parked in front of my house for about eight months (since I bought my Focus last October). It needed suspension work, more than I was willing to pay for. Yesterday I gave the car to my friend Rob. It feels so good to own 1+ tons less stuff.

Jon and Meredith are taking the charcoal grill. Greg's already got the Starbucks cafe table and chairs. James's aunt Peggy is taking the washer and dryer. (All these things are going out on three-year loan until I'm done with law school.) Still, I have many boxes of books and yarn, not to mention the hundreds of CDs my parents have kindly stored for me for the past five years since I graduated college. And I need to return my mom's knitting machine to her, since I definitely won't have the space or time to use it in law school. Oh, and the clothes. An entire closet full of clothes I haven't worn in a year or more. They're going to the Salvation Army.

I'm not selling all my furniture and moving in my little hatchback -- a truck, or at least a couple of vans, will still be necessary. But after having experienced a knickknack-filled life for several years, it feels great to realize that I don't have to take anything with me that doesn't serve some purpose. Because I'm not really a stuff person.