Our seventeen hundred square foot house is sold. It’s time to clean house.
NO, really, I mean clean house.
We are moving into a mere 850 square feet of living space. Some of my friends and family have garages bigger than that. With the move we will half our expenses along with our living space. With our move I won’t be beholden to a paycheck a bad boss or the 2 a.m. closing shift.
That being said, it’s time to get serious about the things we “need”.
Out with the sweater I thought made me look like Watts from “Some Kind of Wonderful” because let’s be honest, Watts and I are both pushing fifty and I never did learn to play the drums.
Out with conditioners and nail polishes and skin masks that I never use. At 42, my hair is not my crowning glory and I DO NOT follow a skin regimen no matter how much CVS tried to convince me I might.
Keep the three pairs of running shoes because while my hair is not my crowning glory, my legs are not half bad and they didn’t get that way by wearing high heels.
Out with the coffee mugs I pass by every time. I like to drink out of three coffee mugs and three coffee mugs alone. The rest are just excess besides I don’t have room in my house for more than three people drinking coffee at the same time.
Out with Christmas ornaments I will never use. I will never ever again have a wreath on my door because, well, I don’t care about home decoration, much less seasonal décor.
Keep the 32 photo albums, six binders full of writing and boxes full of memories despite my husband’s protests that I don’t need to keep the boys’ first teeny weenie whittle diapers. Sorry husband but they will be lugged with me again and again until the day I die at which point I am praying someone cares about them as much as I do (DONOVAN) before they fill up a healthy corner at my estate sale.
I have three weeks to clean house, decide what’s important to me and mine and move into my smaller space.
Instead of possessions and space I will be rich in time and freedom to spend with my family and doing the things I love.
The house might be small but I’m planning on the life lived in it to be quite large.
About Rebecca Suder