Decluttering, Act 3...the hard drive and the scanner

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Sometimes to get rid of stuff, you have to buy stuff.

Last night I had dinner with my neighbors and was a little sad hearing that a 9 year old would be bummed that I am moving to Seattle (it's just 12 miles, little one!). The plan is to not tell her until the "For Sale" sign goes up in the front yard. And also to assure her that this move means that she won't have to wait until she is 12 to have sleep-overs at my house. I'm a softie. I love that kid. I love her siblings too but they can't sleep over until they are 25.

We also played the fun game of putting dibs on all of my stuff. I believe that all my yard stuff is accounted for as well as my DVD player (I think I have used it maybe 3 times in the last 5 years), wrapping paper and a dresser. This is the closest I have ever been to doing something that the idea of sends chills down my spine: a garage sale. (OK, grammar police, knock yourself out with that sentence because I still can't figure it out...and enjoy my jacked up punctuation too).

My decluttering act today? I just bought an external hard drive for my computer. A couple months ago, I scanned all my recipes and tossed the hard copies. All except for the ones that were written by my granny. I miss her and can still picture her hands making her apple pie. Which brings up a good point: balancing out the practical and the sentimental is hard. I think I apply sentiment where it doesn't need to be. I'll be extra vigilant sorting through my stuff.

I'm a "just in case" person. I save bank records, receipts for oil changes. Argh. I have notebooks full of stuff like this; very organized and unnecessary notebooks. It's all going digital. I have always thought of myself as a pen and paper person; a list-maker. But I have never had trouble throwing away a list. I just don't need all this other paperwork cluttering up my life. So, my goal over the next week is to scan my notebooks...all 8 of them (ah jeez!). And weed through my cookbooks and get them down to ten...just ten. I can do it!