Cleaning out the closet

I am the only one who has a closet in their parents' house still filled with crap from growing up? Last week, Elias and I spent the week in Lafayette visiting with my parents while Dallas was in Seattle. I have thought many a trips to Lafayette that I MUST clean out my old closet. This is my old room, this isn't my house anymore, and my mom deserves another spot she can unload all of her crap. But every time I opened that door, I closed it real fast...ugh...the thought of going through endless boxes of junior high/high school memorabilia. I probably had about 20 boxes to go through. So, one day last week, I said "ef it", I'm cleaning it out.

After rummaging through the first box and deciding to keep only a handful of stuff, I quickly went downstairs and got 6 big black trash bags. There is something liberating in throwing lots of stuff away. I have ALWAYS been a pack rat until recently. I think it has to do with being in a really small apartment and having a baby. There are some things worth keeping for memories sake, but for the most part, it is all trash that I would eventually throw away anyway. Although, I am saving really weird random things for Elias. Like his first Mardi Gras beads and the bandaid off his first shot (er...nevermind, I did throw that away), and the cord that fell off his belly button (in a ziploc).

So here are some things that I finally threw away: high school dance corsages, our high schools "Ram Page" monthly newspapers (I looked in every one to see if, per chance, I was in any of them...sad to say, no), endless notes and letters from friends, pieces of flare I pinned on my jean jacket in junior high (Normal with a big X over it, "Girls Rule", a troll pin, and I "heart" NKOTB), spirit ribbons from high school football games, bags from Hard Rock Cafe (nothing in them, just the bags...don't ask me why), letters from an old boyfriend and my best friend from high school, little trinkets I kept from random trips, an inflatable palm tree, and much much more. Some funny things were cassette tapes of: Wayne Watson, Twila Paris, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Salt-n-Pepa, and Amy Grant. I also found my backstage pass from the New Kids on the Block concert...oh yeah girls, I met them! I also found (and kept) a latch-hook of a Christmas tree I made (do ya'll remember those?) and a chia pet.

Anyway, it was really funny going through things that were so important to me at the time. Things that I kept were journals, calendars (in which I wrote detailed descriptions of my days), pictures, my senior jacket, trinkets from when I was a little girl (tea set, old lamp, CARRIE in mirror form), trophies from drama competitions, and wedding stuff (I did, however, finally throw away my bouquet). I felt so good after cleaning it out. I highly encourage you to go through old stuff. I also promised my mom I would take my 4 lonely boxes with us when we finally bought a house.