Post Golden Week Blues

I found myself alone in my apartment last night, glass of wine in hand, counting down the final minutes of Golden Week- I'm the Queen of Countdowns.

5 days of pretty much doing as little as possible after the attempt to reorganize my apartment left it more disasterous than when I began. I now have MORE junk in my shoebox-sized living space, not less. I'm turning into my Aunt Annie...

Aunt Annie was a great aunt of mine on my father's side who lived in a teensy weensy house on what was then the east side of Grande Prairie. We'd go and visit her on occasion, and stepping into her house was like stepping into another world -kind of Hanzel and Gretl meets the trash compactor from the Death Star. She had stuff piled from floor to ceiling on either side of the halls and in every room. Her living room -in my childhood memory- was hardly big enough for 3 people (but me and my brothers were small so we counted as one). I have this image of us sitting on the edge of the sofa or a chair, random objects taking up most of the sitting space, or just standing beside my father, not knowing where to sit. I don't know how accurate that is, but that's how I remember it.

She'd always serve us something to eat, pulled magically out of a bag or a box piled up another bag or a box, which was balanced upon yet another bag or a box. I don't know where she slept, or dined... I have no memory of those details. I guess I thought she didn't eat or sleep, considering there couldn't possibly be enough room anywhere for her to lie down or put a dining table.

The point is, she didn't throw anything out. NOTHING. I'm the same way, I save everything from paper bags to ticket stubs, to bits of string. I have a marvelous box collection -for when I send things home...twist ties for -well, tying. Old calendars for wrapping and making funky envelopes... You see, everything will eventually be put to use. I save with a purpose -most of the time. The hundreds of cards and letters are purely sentimental and I have to get over the fact that I can't keep everything that's been written to me. BUT, I do.

Knowing that I'll be moving in a few months isn't helping my current situation. Now I'm becoming complacent -thinking I'll deal with it when I pack up -but I know it's just going to continue to bother me NOW and it will really irk me when I have left everything to the last minute. And to make matters worse - I'm facing the same dilema at school!!!

Perhaps another list is needed...let me just jot things down...

hmmm, should I used my disney princess note pad? or my VW one? or maybe the one my students gave me? or how about the tiny Buzz Lightyear one? no, maybe the big one with the flowers?....