And why did we bring we bring this 2,000 miles?

6/24/10 Old tea kettle, stained lampshade, and a few other random items, trashed

It makes tremendous sense to downsize before a move. More than once over the last two months, I've said to Joanna, "Thank The Maker I've been getting rid of stuff for a year. Can you imagine what this moving ordeal would be like if we still had all that stuff?!?"

On the other hand, it seems a bit moronic to cart items most of the way across America, only to turn around and throw them out.

Yep, you can bet I did that.

We spent all morning continuing to unpack. Mom and Dad were invaluable as we tried to decide what needed to come into the apartment and what could remain in the POD, which we've decided to hold onto while we wait for our house to be built. We can put anything we don't need now back in the POD, and it will be taken away and stored for us. Then, I place a little phone call, and it will be delivered to the doorstep of our new home.

Have I said how much I love PODS? That company has exceeded my expectations at every turn. This is the only way to move, at least if you can't afford to have someone else do the whole nightmare for you.

So, the morning was spent opening boxes, pulling out half the contents, and then closing them up again to go back into storage. Amid the mayhem we only misplaced Chase twice.

And, in the process, we found a few things that, despite our belief a month ago that we would cherish forever, we now decided would best fit in the dumpster outside our apartment.

At least those items got to see a little of our fair country before being discarded. I consider it an act of charity.