Progress?!

I'm sure that we ARE making progress...but it sure doesn't feel like it. Simply put, we have too much stuff. Waaaaay too much stuff! I've pretty much emptied the basement, save a few last boxes. The house is mostly done, but for one cupboard and one closet. Oh, but the garage! We've barely begun to scratch the surface out there! It's a bit scary, really.

We've gone back and forth about what to bring with us. Some pieces of furniture are no-brainers, like our bed. Some pieces, though, are fragile or have sentimental value, and we are reluctantly leaving those behind. I hate the idea of living without our things, but I don't want the headaches or heartache of moving/losing certain pieces. I think we've struck a good balance, though, of taking enough so it will feel like home, but keeping enough safe so that we can deal with any damage/loss.

We're leaving all of our books (except the unread ones, of which there are many). The decorative stuff-the art and odd doo-dads we have collected throughout our life together, we are also inclined to leave behind, if for no other reason than we are kind of sick of them. There are a few items I want to take, but mostly we are ready to reinvent our decorative style, and here is the perfect opportunity. Plus, it will give my significant other something to do when we finally do get to post, and when we someday return, we will have boxes filled with history to unpack and our old things to fall back in love with. Hopefully, we will be posted somewhere with interesting odds and ends, because otherwise, our house may be a bit bland!

We did pick up a new set of dishes. Ours were looking a bit ragged. We have a wonderful collection of funky wine glasses, but we've agreed that they won't be making the trip. (I might rethink that, as they can be repurposed as water goblets, and they do have a certain amount of style-I'm not so attached to them that I'd be sad if they were broken.). We still need a new set of decent wine glasses, but we're going to wait and pick some up in DC. We're taking a variety of linens, and a wide array of clothing; our camping gear; and loads of Christmas decorations and wrapping paper.

It's so hard to figure out what 600 pounds looks like. We're driving to DC, so we'll be taking some stuff in the car (mostly, clothes, toiletries, and certain kitchen items). Our UAB (air shipment) to DC will contain more clothes for all of us, and possibly the Christmas decorations, if we can fit them. It's hard to know how long we'll be in DC, so it's hard to figure out what to take, and then because of the weight limits, we'll have to prioritize. So, clothes obviously have a priority, but I'd like to make sure we have a proper Christmas, too, if we are in DC.

It was starting to get hard to keep saying goodbye, but all of this packing-sorting-purging has made me wish this next week would hurry up and go by. I can't wait to be done with this part, and it's making it a lot easier to be ready to be out of here, if that makes any sense!