Decluttering, day 2

Today I tossed:
- Awards and certificates from throughout my school years (took pictures of first place stuff so I won't forget)
- things I shouldn't have kept to scrapbook in the first place (e.g. All the bubblegum wrappers I emptied during a game at a BCM event; a fingerpainting from Summer Serve)
- letters from a college pen pal program when I was in 3rd grade
- piles of drawings from campers and students years ago
- a Christmas card stamping kit I've had for longer than I can remember (Goodwill is getting it; the stamps are still in fine condition and some kid might like it)
- event programs out the wazoo
- scrapbook pages of movie and concert tickets dating back to 1995 (The Babysitters' Club, when movies cost $3.75 to see). I took pictures for amusement's sake.
- some kitchen gadgets I didn't use to begin with (to Goodwill)
- a few decorative and/or holiday things we got as gifts years ago
- bedding odds and ends--cause guess what. There is no earthly reason to have as many sets of sheets as we do. (I am still wrestling with the idea of cutting up some of the tshirt knit sheets to use as cleaning rags and/or burp cloths... This is where I struggle with finding the line between sensible repurposing and packratting.)

I kept:
- photos and relevant scrapbooking things (e.g. pages already made)
- a reader's theater script from high school (to be typed and saved, then paper copy trashed)
- report cards from 5th and 6th grade (I always liked looking at my mom's old report cards, which tells me this might be relevant one day)
- most stuff to scrapbook from my senior trip (sorry, but I've only done NYC once and I made memories I'd like to keep. I think I've earned this one.)
- serving pieces we got as wedding gifts. I use them two or three times a year, but that's the point--I do use them. I like being able to pull out a nice vase or trifle dish or cake stand when the odd occasion calls for it, and I hope to do more entertaining at home that would call for it, now that I'm in a new place with more room.

I wish I had a whole month free to get all this done at once. However, I don't think I'll ever have a month free at one time ever in my foreseeable future, so I'll be happy with what I can do this week and in whatever time I can steal throughout the summer.

On a completely unrelated note, I am pretty much in love with country life after just a few days back in it. I also adore this house. The windows are enormous and let in the perfect amount of natural light, and it's so quiet, not a neighbor in view. And I had forgotten about fireflies, living in the suburbs for so long. Turns out they just don't come out as much there. There are so many outside my house right now that it's borderlining on being an Owl City song. Srsly.

I'm quite content today. That pretty much sums it up. Looking forward to another productive day to follow.