Hodge Podge

In about 3.5 weeks I will be moving. No more living in three locations! I couldn't be happier about it, but damn, moving is so much work. Sometimes I just can't wait to settle down in one location for a little while.

For example, yesterday I set up the electric, internet, and cable utilities and also reserved a U-haul for the weekend. If I hear one more awful pronunciation of my name, or a question about where it could possibly be from, or even a stupid exclamation of how they've never heard that one before, I will bring ultimate doom to them. Why is it that each person thinks they're saying something new, that I haven't already heard it before.... about 18,000 times?!

I also realized again how lucky I was in Pittsburgh last year. I paid around $12 for basic cable. Where I'm moving, I'll be paying $51. Apparently people tell me that's normal, but I still don't understand how they can be so different.

I read a magazine that I got at a yardsale called Budget Living Home Cheap Home : A Room-by-Room Guide to Great Decorating. It gives a few interesting ideas, but I think it's mostly for people who don't have a lot of stuff and want to make their place cooler. Not having stuff is not my problem; I have too much stuff. And the apartment I'm moving into is probably smaller than my last one (the damn cost of living is so high that it's the best I can do). I have furniture and random decorations all over the place. But I don't want to clutter up this apartment like I do every other place I've ever lived. I want it to have a clean, bright look about it. Yet I know it will be covered in books, computer paraphenalia, and my random salt and pepper shaker collection that I wish I never took an interest in.

Several times I've tried gathering together belongings that I no longer want but seem too nice to throw away. I put all these things in a bag, thinking that one day I'll have a yardsale of my own. But who really wants my old Lisa Frank tin box? I think the answer is a resounding, "NO ONE."

So then what happens as you get older and move around constantly? What do you do with all the odds and ends collected throughout the years? The ceramic bears your Aunt got you every year for your birthday, the straw parrots you bought at the beach when you were 16, the American Girl series starring your friends Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly... nothing is wrong with these things; they're in good shape. But how long are they supposed to follow you around? You don't want them anymore. Probably someone does, but it seems like a lot of work to find them.

In today's world where we move around every year until we're thirty, there is no room for pack rats. And I have no idea how to keep my new apartment from turning into just another den of clutter and mess.