In place

After much complaining and chocolate, I am making my final ascent of Mt. Junk.

For the past few weeks, Jeremy and I have been slowly and painfully clearing out our 1,300-square-foot condo to prepare it for listing. Having two small children makes things that much more difficult. For example, after I pulled out the Easter baskets from my closet, then I had a bazillion plastic Easter eggs all over the house. Some even made their way into the car. I have tried to surround myself with a lot of patience.

And chocolate.

We are so close to being show-ready. I can see the summit. I am so grateful to my parents and to two of my best friends for storing an embarrassingly amount of our stuff in their closets and basements. We have made three trips to the Salvation Army; I promise we didn't donate Jossie.

I cannot begin to describe how happy I feel in my walk-in closet. Seriously. The clothes - that we actually wear - hang neatly. The floors are not covered in shoes and toys. Jack and Jossie have a greatly reduced number of toys in their toy bins - toys they actually play with. It amazes me at how much "extra" we allow in our lives and once you weed through, how much easier things become.

Though as we clean and plan and think about moving, I just smile. We all think we can make a plan but we know life doesn't always follow accordingly. So here I am - trying to muster what control I can over my life - donating five dozen plastic hangers and packing box after box. Waiting for and wondering about the next chapter. More to come, my friends.