Another exhausting day

Yesterday (Sunday) we moved another couple of pickup trucks worth of boxes, bags and bits from our old residence to our new one.  Thank heavens for the help of friends!  We'd never be able to do all this without them.  Miss D. and I collapsed into bed early yesterday evening, completely worn out.

Things are beginning to make sense at the new place.  Our bedroom's organized enough to find the basics (including our bed, which is a Good Thing).  The kitchen's still rather disorganized, and most of our pantry is still at the old place, but that's one reason why restaurants were invented, right?  We'll get that sorted out over the next few days.

My biggest challenge in this move is to get rid of a huge amount of stuff I've accumulated over several decades.  Miss D. moved fairly often in her single days, which means she didn't accumulate too many bits and pieces and so has less to worry about.  However, I have a library of over 4,000 books that used to occupy 13 6-foot-tall bookcases plus a few small ones;  tools;  my firearms, ammunition and accessories;  and other stuff too.  There's also our emergency supplies, which I've tried to maintain at a level to allow us to get through an emergency lasting two to three months.  I regard them as worthwhile, but they take up space, too.

I've temporarily rented a storage unit to house the overflow.  We'd like to get to the point where, by Christmas, everything fits into the smallish duplex in which we now live, to make future moves easier;  but it's going to be like pulling teeth for me to get rid of some things.  For example, my library will have to be reduced to the point that it fits into no more than five bookcases.  That means 2,500 to 3,000 books will have to go.  Many of them aren't available in electronic format, and some are irreplaceable.  I'm going to have to decide which are really important to me, and which are "nice to have but not essential".  I guess the local used book stores are in for a treat . . .

I'll say this for moving:  it gives you a real incentive to cut down on the amount of "stuff" you own, in order to minimize the pain of the next move!

Peter