Clean Sweep: Take 2

Last spring (2011) I tried to clear my house of a lot of junk that I no longer need.  I had read about someone who had done a "40 bags in 40 days" challenge during Lent as a way to get her life together.  So I gave it a shot.  I failed.  Miserably.

So here we go again.  I'm leaving for the first of my fall vacations in 20 days.  I've been in this house for almost 20 months.  There are still boxes not unpacked, shelves not set up, rooms not decorated, and junk not sorted.

Last time I really didn't have any rules for myself, which I think was a large contributing factor to my failure.  And let's be honest, I don't really care for rules that much anyway.  So I'm going to call them "guidelines" for success.....

A.  If an item of clothing hasn't been worn since I moved into this house, it's gone - either to the trash or the local thrift store, depending on condition. Same goes for shoes (and those probably smell so bad they need to be burned immediately).
2.  If something for a craft project was purchased before I moved to Maryland, there's a good chance that project is never getting done.  Give it to someone who can actually use it!
3.  I do not need to save every piece of paper from everything that ever happened.
4.  I doubt I will ever have use for the scanner and digital camera dock that was purchased in 2002.  Just saying.
5.  There is no standard size for the bags that need to be filled and removed, but anything smaller than a standard grocery bag is unacceptable.

The reward for completing this challenge will be new nightstands from Ikea that match my dressers!  Anybody want to place a bet on the outcome?  I hear Vegas odds are 10-1 on this race....

Days to go: 40
Bags to go: 40

Finding Home

I think it's safe to say that I've lived a fairly mobile life. With growing up in the military, moving every so often, and then on to seven years of higher education that involved moving in and out of a new place every year (and moving to CGT for the interim summers), I have gotten quite used to remaining unattached to my places of residence. And so the time has come again, after one year of living in Maryland, to find a new dwelling.

Now let me first say that, once again, this is one of those "life" decisions that I would prefer someone else make on my behalf. I'm not sure why, but I find it incredibly difficult to make decisions in my own life. So that results in me putting them off until it's almost too late. Back in October I made the decision to not stay where I am for another year. There were a variety of reasons for my choice, but the final straw was that the apartment complex in which I was living in was going to start charging a monthly payment processing fee. So I decided to NOT start paying to pay my rent.

I looked for a while for a place that would hold all my stuff (and I do mean ALL), was in a reasonable driving distance to both of my offices, and where I would be happy. And now, a little over two weeks since I moved into the new place - affectionately referred to as "The Farm" - I can safely say that for the first time in a long time, it feels like home.

So many people find it hard to believe. I live literally in the middle of nowhere. So much in the middle of nowhere that the two local post offices are battling it out to decide who will be delivering my mail. I live half a mile down a dead end dirt road. My closest neighbors are the sheep in the back yard. And I live there all by myself.

Now, while I don't ever see myself being able to give anyone a definitive answer as to where I am "from"....I can at least say that for now, this is home.