Dear Clothes, Please Pack Yourselves.

I hate packing. And poor David has moved with me enough times to learn that not only am I lousy at it, but I am great at annoying and distracting anyone else who is actually good at it. This week, I'm babysitting while he is at home packing, which is great because it keeps me out of his hair while he loads up everything we are going to need for the next 3 years.

But that's the problem. How in the heck am I supposed to figure out what I want for 3 years? I know that I am going to Switzerland in September (and that I will freeze there) and that our outreach is in Africa (in the middle of their summer. Awesome.) but I don't know where in Africa, and I have no clue where the Peace Corps will decide to send us. Plus, we will be spending almost a month in America before we leave and I don't want to tote all my DTS stuff around with me - the logistics of this are driving me absolutely crazy. Can you tell?

Most of this anxiety comes from a real life experience that happened just days after the best day of my life. We were headed off to Antigua for our honeymoon, and when we got to our hotel in Atlanta before an early morning flight, I realized that I left almost all of the cute clothes (that I bought specifically for the honeymoon) in Athens. I had a total. meltdown. (which immediately made David second-guess his decision to marry me) and vowed never to let that happen again.

So, I'm making lots of lists about what clothes are where, but mostly I am giving a lot away. Yesterday, I found boxes full of clothes that I brought down from Orlando and haven't worn in the YEAR that we have been here. I have brand new clothes in my closet that I have no intention of ever wearing, and shoes that I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought.

I'm totally guilty of emotional and impulse buying (especially since most of what I'm giving away was something I thought I got a great "deal" on) but moving has made it painfully obvious that I have way too much stuff. I think today will be someone's lucky day at Goodwill...