Clarification

Since my last post, I feel I need to do a little clarification. The type of purging I have been doing is beyond the standard purging...you know, getting rid of things you don't use anymore, have outgrown, or are not looking so appealing anymore. Just a week before this purge, I had gone through and done a standard purge...in which we made several donation trips to the thrift store. This purge was a "I'm tired of waiting for the day when I can finally use these things" purge. I went through the baby clothes and kept only favorite pieces (which I may need to go through again now I think about it), removed all the dishes I've been saving for the time when we are settled and start entertaining guests, reduced my Christmas decorations (which we only had 1 1/2 12 gallon bins full anyways), down to 1 3/4 under bed small bins, cut down on travel sized items we've been storing (because we do travel...but we've started using our own things more), removed toys that we don't particularly like, got rid of candles and decorations I use to have out but put away because of the kids, cut down on camping gear, etc.
Whenever we/I have moved before, I usually get rid of a bunch of things while packing, and then more as I unpack. We really are fairly organized to begin with. Everything is neatly stored in closets, bins, etc. It's the stuff that we use all the time that seems to make us feel cluttered (that's why there are fewer toys, dishes and food storage items to be found now).
I don't really see myself as a pack rat, more as a recovering one. I use to keep all the notes people had written me, all the gifts people gave me, etc. I've gotten over that over 10 years ago (thanks Maya!). To me a pack rat is someone who keeps empty pill bottles, closets full of incomplete games and puzzles (or ones that no one has played in years), cupboards full of dishes and empty food containers for storage that are more then can possibly be used at one time or fit in the refrigerator, broken items, outdated items that cannot be used, clothes that are so outdated and tattered that they will never be worn, etc. This is not me...not by a long shot. So maybe to some I may be a pack rat, but I think not, especially now =)
Some people have also made comments to me that after I'm done here, can I come over to their place. I actually love doing that kind of stuff, but I may need a little cash incentive (wink, wink) =)
Anyways, as I told one friend, I have turned over a new leaf. I may not know what that leaf is, but I turned it =)