February 2, 2021 Dinner Post

[CharleneG]

Happy Tuesday!

It’s been another wet day today. We spent the day going through more stuff that we haven’t touched or used in a year and getting it ready for the trash and donation. Ken has an antique watchmaker’s desk in one of the bedrooms that my father had for many years and it was loaded with stuff Dad squirreled away. Lots of that hit the trash pile. There’s no hurry to get it done, we’ll take our time.

We’re going to have chicken salad sandwiches on Hoagie rolls and some of the marinated zucchini salad with it. What are you having for dinner tonight?

[Sabine]

Pasta, with tomato , sausage and cheese, french bread on the side
Charlene , I am surprised how much stuff you moved from California to your home now , and now you are getting rid of it, why move it and pay for the move of all stuff you obviously don't want after all ??
Not a criticism at all, , just wondering, just a question .

[Sabine]

Being in the military for many years, I have a ton of moves behind me, in country and overseas, I usually just got rid of stuff before the movers showed up.

[CharleneG]

It’s a valid question. Part of my problem is I wasn’t an experienced mover at all, so I never really learned to get rid of things. My moving history as an adult was 1971 through 1994 in one place, moved 4 miles away in 1994 thru 2019 in another. Ken moved a lot before we met and he moved in with me in 1975. He never got to keep anything growing up, his parents moved at least every year, sometimes every 6 months and they always got rid of his things in the move. It was so hard for him to let go of anything once we got together. Our move up here not only required getting our possessions packed but we had to dispose of all my parents stuff too. We literally had tons of scrap metal, heavy duty machine shop equipment, tools, wood, furniture, books appliances, everything. By the time we got rid of all that we had to pack up our stuff in a hurry and yes, we brought way too much with us. We actually thought we’d want/need most of the things we brought and found out over the last year that we really don’t, so we’re getting rid of it. Do we regret bringing it all? In many cases, yes we do, but lessons were learned. We don’t ever plan to move again and we just want to unclutter our lives. We both have a genetic predisposition to being pack rats (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! ) so we’re trying to break that nasty habit.

[Sabine]

Charlene, I had forgotten that your parents passed away and you had to deal with all of their belongings, that had to be hard. And then all of your things, not easy. And I think that sometimes you think , well I just pack and move the stuff and deal with it later.
I am not sentimental and have no problems with getting rid of " stuff ", but my partner is a pack rat , and we have a big house , but two rooms are nothing but furniture and stuff that belonged to his parents / grandparents. I think we should sell the stuff, but he thinks that his boys ( adults, middle age ) will want the furniture , crystal, silver ware etc. once he passes away. I hate to break it to him , but they don't want it, I don't want it. But he can't let go. So I guess when the time comes , we are talking " estate " sale.
I also have found that as I get older , things that were once important to have , are not important to me now. The less I have to take care of , the better off I am. Also our life style has changed, as we are so much older now and so many of our friends are older , many of them sick and can't get around much anymore, and unfortunately so many have passed away, we just don't entertain much anymore, hence no need for fancy china etc. All part of getting older, unfortunately.

[CharleneG]

That’s exactly how we feel too. I’m 74, Ken is 75, and we know that our kids and grandkids really don’t want a lot of the things we love. We tried to give away fine china and things like that before we moved, no one wanted them so they went to Salvation Army. I have one son that’s always said he’d want my porcelain figurine collection (I love it, it makes me happy to see them) but I don’t see him being able to take care of it at all and oldest son isn’t interested. I think my grandson Joshua is interested in some things, he already knows that he’ll be getting our very antique rifles, 2 Civil War era and one from 1894. He’s also very interested in some things I have from my grandfather when he was in WWI. We’re going to start going through all our photos and make a stack for each kid and get rid of a lot of them. We haven’t looked at these pictures in decades, why are we keeping them?? At least 75% of them would be of no real interest to anyone but us, and honestly, I’d be hard pressed 40+ years later to tell you where some were taken. I was just telling Ken tonight that I’m going to sort through my kitchen things too. I know there are items in there that I haven’t touched since we moved and I probably won’t miss them at all. We’re both finding that since we’ve hit our 70’s we really want to keep it simple and not have to deal with excess clutter.

[Sabine]

it is so strange , well strange to me, that I have a set of plates that we got new years eve 2000 at the officers club, and matching champagne glasses etc. Very pretty and a great memory for that night. I mean we lived to bring in the year 2000, with a big dinner/ dance / fireworks. Big dress up night, etc. Now the plates and glasses are in my china cabinet , we never look at them anymore, we are never in our formal dining room , maybe twice a year at the most. so now I have to clean all that stuff , and it just really has become meaningless almost. I hate to say it, but that's how it is. It's just another thing to keep clean.

[CharleneG]

It’s funny, what seemed like something we just “had to have” in past years is now something that just collects dust and and makes us wonder why we keep it. Wouldn’t it be great if you could pick up an item and be able to see how you’d feel 20 years later? Coulda saved a bunch of money!
Ahh, well, thrift stores love people like us!

[Bean]

OMGosh you guys. As many times as we moved (military too), we would go through things and donate or throw away before. They always recommended this. The last move we really donated a ton. Still, after unpacking we got rid of so much more. It’s true, you think why do I have this or will I ever use it again? Yes, all the donation centers love people like us. My goal is to start all over again, one room at a time. My sister asked why I had so many kitchen serving dishes, crockpots...etc. Well, we used to entertain a lot. Now it’s family or small parties (not with Covid). Just don’t need these things and they are going!

[MudderBear]

oh dear,,,,you gals have got me thinking about 'things' too! I have so many dishes packed away that never see the light of day, I have got rid of quite a bit, but still hang to things that belonged to my Grandma, Mom & Aunt. I came across cups & saucers and thought back to when I actually used them often. There were lots of baby and bridal showers, play groups when my kids were little...I'd bring out the 'fine china' for the other Mom's and we'd have tea parties, or invite a small group of girls over for lunches, and all the fancy stuff would come out. I so miss those days! I must say tho, that I will keep the cups/saucers, and special dessert plates etc, those sometimes do come out for holiday dinners.

[Vera]

I, too, have lots of stuff - 9 sets of dishes. When we have company (not this year) I like to coordinate my dining table depending on the time of year. I'm not ready to give them up yet. Now, cookbooks I have a lot of. I have about 20 Southern Living yearly cookbooks from the late 70s into the 80s and I never refer to them. But, they fill up the shelf nicely in my office. I'm sure there are some great recipes in those annual books. I have lots of others too but just keep putting it off. I would imagine Goodwill would like those - yes/no? A lot of people gravitate towards cookbooks even if just flipping through them. Maybe one of these days I will get ambitious but not today.

[CharleneG]

Don’t even get me started on cookbooks! I’ve literally gotten rid of a few hundred over the last 10 years, but I still have about 200 in my bookcases. I do use them though. I have close to that many other books in my to be read pile and several books that I’m keeping. All the others that I’ve read go to the local Little Libraries in the neighborhood.

[Sabine]

Cookbooks, oh yes, I have several shelves full of cookbooks, should I get rid of them , yes, ...... but not yet.
considering that I don't cook much, I have no clue why I have them? I love Ina Garten's books, beautiful colored pictures with every recipe. I have all of her books.

[Bean]

I’ll take any cookbooks you girls don’t want. I have thousands and still collect. LOL