Get rid of the junk!

I have not been on in a few weeks. I do have a little bit of an excuse for part of the time. Two weeks ago (the 24th of Oct.), Kirsten and I drove back to South Bend for a week in order to help my mom and dad get rid of stuff. They are probably going to be moving in the beginning of 2009---which is not that far away. I looked at my schedule and realized that it was now or never, so the trip was made. It was a lot of hard work. I don't know if I can say that it was FUN! But it was very profitable. We were able to clean out a few areas that have been forgotten. They have been in that house over 20 years. Those of you that know them know that the house is fairly large.. There is a lot of storage. Why do we tend to think that we must fill storage areas?

There were some "treasure" days when we found things that had been stored when my grandparents moved out of their house 18 years ago. I brought quite a few things home in our van. My grandmother's china was split between all of the children. We found some old dolls that had been inherited. This one is mine.

There is a wonderful chain called 1-800-got-junk. (I think that is the name.) These guys come cart anything away. They were great. They carried things out of the basement that had been down there for years. Anybody else have one of those huge old console televisions in their basement?

I am a sentimental person, so some of the things were hard to not take, but we did just move twice in the last year and a half. That will cure anyone of wanting too much stuff.

I do value the "old" pieces. I love the family history of some of the pieces.

I brought home a toy dish cupboard that my mom's uncle made her when she was young. It is beautiful. I do want to get rid of the red on the shelves, but it didn't happen this week. Another thing that I brought home was a mantle clock from my dad's side. It is so different.

How thankful I am to have the family that I came from. I think that is why these pieces mean so much. There is something so "warm and cozy" about having memories in these pieces. Another "treasure" from the week was finding grandma's hand stitched linens that she made before she and grandpa were married in 1937. There were only a few stains on any of them. I'll put a better picture in later. I have mine at church right now to "advertise" our tea in a few weeks. I left it in Dan's office.

I have so much more to write, but this will have to be it for tonight.