Just a simple pair of Bonds. But there's so much washing and toys all over the place.
And on top of that I hoard. Despite my minimalist leanings, I hoard in Andy Warhol-esque proportions.
Here I am lying in my black tights in my alfoil-wallpapered apartment thinking, "Andy'd be proud of how much crap I've stashed over the years".
I keep letters and cards and photos and thank-you notes written to my parents and newspaper articles and pictures from magazines ...
... and now I find myself hoarding for another five people ... strangely, no museum is willing to take it all off my hands.
There are letters from my New Jersey pen pal, Karen Topping, circa 1986. Any one know where she is?
There's my old high school ID card which has Sister Annette's autograph and says I will have an anaphylactoid reaction to breakdancers ... and 37-year-old elephant soap.
And a Department of Health-endorsed Parentcraft Certificate which says I'm 92% able to parent children.
I should frame that and pull it out when anyone under-10 questions my authority.
And photos of unknown dogs slobbering on unknown babies; and photos of teeny-tiny turtles; and articles about surgeons delicately, and successfully, re-attaching the facial skin of an unfortunate dairy farmer who's had it ripped off by a milk churning machine.
I've thrown a lot of letters and photos over the years from people that I have no more contact with. It's quite liberating. But sometimes I think I may regret shredding all these memories and articles and photos ...
Do you hoard? Have you thrown stuff? Have you regretted it, or has it improved your life?
And, if you've seen my undies can you point me in their general direction?
Ha ha ha I used to have pen pals. What happened to them?
ReplyDeleteAnd the "friends" I had in Jr High and High School and college? I guess they weren't the keeping kinds of friends.
A while ago i decided I wasn't going to keep all those "mementos" from people who no longer were in my life. Why should I? They weren't making me a part of their lives, why continue to pay homage?
Not that I didn't try to stay in touch, I did.
But hey, move on, and I will move you on out of my life too lol...
My family were hoarders of sorts, and I have fought that my whole life, getting a good grip on it a decade ago.
There is nothing I regret throwing out, only a tiny regret that I had to sell a few things when money was tight.
Oh and heck, go out and buy some new knickers, I stopped washing socks long ago, I wear, toss, and buy new ha ha.
Hi
ReplyDeleteI don't hoard as we have a small home, but my parents do...which I find annoying. I keep my memories in my mind and thoughts- I don't like to give possessions too much power over me! love Pam.
I also fall into the "can't find my undies for all the bits of paper and assorted stuff I've hoarded" category so I'm not much help...
ReplyDeleteI've tried a bit of "keeping one item representative of a certain era or event"... but that generally takes me a few days, and I always keep more than one item in the end.
Will be visiting back here in the hope of some great strategy to manage those hoarding instincts!
I don`t know where your undies are. Sorry :o)
ReplyDeleteHI-HI:o)
Hope you and your family have a nice christmas and
I wish you all a happy new year:o)
I have some of the hoarding problem you have it seems to be inherited. I got it from some members of the family line and I seemed to have bred a couple of horders.
ReplyDeleteWe do a clean out every 6 to 12 months. If it has not been used since the last clear out and it is taking up space it better have a very good reason. I am not 100% reformed as I still have my Y12 school uniform.... but it did help when we moved countries as I was only allowed a 15 foot container for all our worldly goods. I find scanning photos so I have a digital copy and getting rid of the print helps as well.
I too have an underpant deficit.
ReplyDeleteI generally believe it has something to do with the mountain of unfolded washing, however, in a fit of pique, prior to the arrival of my inlaws on boxing day, I folded said pile over a number of hours and put em all away. Lo and behold, still no knickers!
My main question is, though, do you still have your barbie robertson finishing school certificate? And have you taught your children how to peel an orange with a knife and fork???
You are too much!!! Your box of childhood "treasures" looks similar to mine. How many empty Avon bottles do you have in there? I'll have to dig up my Parentcraft certificate to see how I faired % wise. I wonder when that little beauty was phased out? And what did the boys do whilst we were learning about how to fold a nappy? I threw out all of my letters I'd received from my high school boyfriend a few years ago. They were torturous to read ... I was such a cow ;-) btw ... I'm in search of undies too ... need to wash & need to hit the sales.
ReplyDeleteI don't think your undies made it this far. Now I see what happened to your shredder. I used to keep a lot of that stuff but found I like the freeing feeling I got when I biffed it that it's pretty much all gone. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Mary Lou Hampton let me know.
ReplyDeleteI love that you have all that stuff! I have hoarding tendencies too. I can't help it. I have moments, albeit very fleeting, when I just want to light a match and close the door, but in general, I like being surrounded by it all because of the memories.
ReplyDeleteps, my blood type is Red too!
Oh my Lord the more I get to know you the more I think your my twin!!!I came across my old high school year books not to long ago and in them I saved everything I save movie ticket stubs and I use to write on the back of them who I went with and if I liked the movie.....
ReplyDeleteI'm scared someday I won't be able to pass this useless information on to my children if I don't have this junk to jar my old brain!!
Andy has them on under his tights...and there's a few pair stuffed between the cushions. Can't trust that man.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I love throwing stuff away, very liberating, I don't do it often though.
No help from me I'm afraid. I'm a committed ("She should be", mutters Mr EM) hoarder and frequently can't find my knickers ( "Where did you leave them last night then?", shouts Mr EM). Enuff of that. See my earlier blog post on a similar hoarding syndrome. http://www.elegancemaison.com/2009/05/she-realised-awful-truth.html
ReplyDeleteYou should google Karen Topping...maybe she has your undies...xx
ReplyDeleteAt our house, tights go missing at an alarming rate. I buy the tights. I wash the tights. And somehow, the girls can never find a pair in the morning. Maybe they're hanging out with your skivvies.
ReplyDeleteJust don't tell L how much of her stuff I threw out!
ReplyDeleteThere's a "Hoarders" marathon on TLC today here in NA!
ReplyDeleteMy problem is the mysterious disappearance of one sock (male!) each wash.
ReplyDeleteI blame the static electricity and reassure myself that they will re-emerge from a fitted sheet at the next bed change.
But, hasn't happened so far.
I am therefore hopefully hoarding this mass of odd socks which I keep trying to match.
I think I'll just throw them together and trust that the miss-match is missed.
You're a hoarder after my own heart! I have instant regret every time I part with something.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I don't know where your undies are.
Last year my husband found and presented me with the very same Parentcraft certificate signed by Sr Brigetta for Mother's Day. I have already misplaced it and can't remember what I scored. I don't think it was as high as you.
ReplyDeleteThe thing with culling is it's always the thing you've had for thirty years and finally dispose of, that a week later you need for the first time ever! I"m hitting the soft toys this week. Like a stealthy night stalker I will snaffle the furry beasties and push them, unprotesting, into a dark garbage bag to hide in the laundry. Then we will stop on the way somewhere and give them to my favourite oppy, telling the kids a whopper about what's in the bag....Nanna's undies or some such thing. Is your husband a culler? Perhaps ask about those undies...
P.S. Then there are those hoarders who do the 5 year cull and can't send it to oblivion so they bequeath it to their friend! I was just given 4 full sized garbage bags of stuffed toys and a life size tiger...2 days before Christmas. I thanked the friend weakly as she left with her nice empty car. The kids played with them a day them I sent them to oblivion anyway. (Toys not kids) The tiger stayed because the baby likes to ride it and a few other bits of roadkill infiltrated the bed rooms but they have been earmarked for the black bag and at 2200 hours tonight I will strike and cast them assunder to join their manky big eyed friends at the oblivion cafe.(op shop)
ReplyDeleteThat's it. You will have noe more cards or letters from me; twenty years from now they will end up in your shredder. And you will blog about it. And you 4000 followers will laugh as tiny pieces of handmade cards fall to the ground.
ReplyDeleteI don't hoard; never, ever. Except paper; old tickets, drawings, notes and letters. I have a simple rule for everything else; if I don't like, love or use something, it's out the door. Often to the Salvation Army. And I only have four pair of panties: one with stripes, one with flowers, one white and one black. If one pair is missing, I know where it is: I'm wearing it.
Oh yes, I'm a completely shameless hoarder ... though it's something I wish I could change.
ReplyDeleteI seem to surround myself with so much stuff that I honestly rarely look at ... perhaps one day I'll be one of those crazy ladies the subject of neighbourhood complaint due to the amount of 'rubbish' in my home - as seen on one of those awful 'current affairs' shows ... gosh, I hope not! ;)
I am such a hoarder! I find it really frustrating. I did throw out a lot of stuff when I moved house coming up to two years ago, but I still have so much crap! I blame it on being an artist.
ReplyDeleteps hope your undies re-emerge :)
My husband's Great Aunt hoarded chocolate buttons, a hang-over from the war. When his Mum helped to clear out the house they found them in drawers, in a neat layer under the tablecloth, everywhere. Most had turned white from age. It is stories like that make me wonder what do i want to burden my family with should i pass unexpectedly. I also heard a nice theory on Oprah, (I know Horsey's nemesis), a guest said you should leave 10% free for new experiences/memories, I agree. Get rid, free yourself - just don't dump any memories of me because I'll be home in July. M-L
ReplyDelete