Am I Lazy or Crazy?

[Juniper]

Thanks, everyone.

I have so much emotional baggage along with this, it makes the physical baggage pale by comparison. I mean...seriously. I remember when my dad was depressed after his stroke and started talking about all his stuff that he'd collected through the years. "Just take all those cans downstairs and dump 'em into the recycle bin," he said. Boy, that hurt. Yeah, they're just beer cans, but there were so many of them, lined up on shelves all around his basement den, all during my childhood, so much fun to look at. And the LP's. And the silent 8mm movies. And the boxes of old camera equipment.

My mom's thing was crafts, so along with the umptyzillion boxes of fabric (and it's not GOOD fabric, necessarily, a lot of it is weird polyester crap, I need to go through it) there are also umptyzillion boxes of notions - trims, buttons, patterns, quilt supplies though she never even made one quilt (she always MEANT to and felt, I guess, that if she bought enough quilting shit it might make itself?). And also tons of other various craft supplies. And BOOKS on how to make crafts. The thing is, I like sewing and crafts too (I even DO make quilts) so I hate to get rid of it, but I don't have room for all of it at once.

Also, mom liked to collect items that were sold/given as premiums by the newspaper where she worked for 40 years. Multiples of the same item in many cases. So we have at least six boxes of glasses and also coffee mugs, director's chairs, sweatshirts, playing cards, serving trays, and I don't know what else that say "The Cincinnati Enquirer."

Also tupperware out the wazoo. And all the kitchenware that was used during my childhood, like this set of pastel Pyrex dishes I can't bear to part with because they were on the table every night, you know?

I don't really have friends locally who can help. Most of them are very busy with jobs and kids and I'd hate to ask. Tomorrow's the last day of school, so maybe my kids can come help out. I think and 11 and 13 year old are capable of painting a room, as long as there's lots of drop cloths. They don't want to go over there though, it's too sad for them.

Renting - I don't know if I can do that, the HOA I think has rules against it.

I was thinking about keeping the condo and using it as an office for my business - go over there every day like a normal job and work; I'm a freelance writer, see, and right now my office is this dreary little room in the basement. It would, after all, only cost me what I'm paying now (plus a little bit more for utilities, and Internet service) and would make me feel a lot more professional. But hubby didn't like it, said it was excessive for my needs, and I guess he's right.

It's in a very good area, and I think it will sell even despite the economy. I can afford to leave it on the market till I get a big enough offer; after all, I've waited this long!

Well, gotta go paint. I'm a messy painter, I always get lots of it on myself too. And UGH I bought a 5-gal bucket, which is so heavy...