In scrapbooking and cleaning and organizing my craft room, I have come across the following items:

• Day Zero Hero card for working the SF AIDS Ride in a year that started with “19”
• Birthday and Christmas cards from my high school sweethearts’ parents
• Folded fan from Jon and Ryan’s wedding in 2000 — it was 95 or so in Walnut Creek that October day
• Letters from my high school pen pal, a bodybuilder in New Hampshire who was just starting out when we met
• Invitation to Shannon’s bridal shower (2002)

And this is after tossing more stuff during the move than I had in a decade.

I tend to be a sentimental sap, but I’ve gotten tougher on myself about it. The last seven years left me allergic to clutter…something about dusting things that are broken or useless, I guess. Even my candle collection took a hit — I only keep the simple ones that can set a mood AND light the place when the power goes out.

Books, of course, are my Achilles heel, but even they have been culled and culled again. My hope for the next time I move is that I’ll have only hardcovers, my favorite series, cookbooks, and classics.

Oh, and scrapbooks. Of course. 😉

For inspiration, I’m watching Clean House on Style. (There’s a marathon on today — it’s either that or hurricane coverage.) I’ve actually seen certain corners of my home start to look like the disaster areas they attack on this show, so it keeps me focused.

I’m gonna need a little more coffee, though…