Packrat….’Am not’ …’Are too’

I have always prided myself (first mistake) on NOT being a collector of junque.
Well, ok, Christmas stuff is the exception. And family photographs. And my daughter’s grade school artwork. And….well you get the idea. I don’t collect junk, I collect real important stuff. Or so I thought.
We are living in 2 homes right now. A beautiful rented log house that has plenty of room for all my ‘stuff’, and a smaller mortgaged ‘shell’ that won’t have room for most of my ‘stuff’. We are renovating the 'sea chell' and will vacate the log house in a couple of weeks. So it is time to pack.
I am not a stranger to relocating. Although historically, I've managed to exclude myself from the process by either staying behind, or moving first. Not this time.
I've lived in 3 provinces, 11 electoral districts (12 if you count Victoria at either end of a decade) and 17 addresses. Bob has been with me for all but 1 province (Saskatchewan) and 3 Vancouver homes (my parents were the instigators there). Vanessa has been with us in 6 of those homes (8 if you count incubation time & pit stops between world tours).
Each move, Bob reminds me to clear out the file cabinet. And each move I tell him I will get a round tuit. And each move the file cabinet is heavier.
I tell him the receipts are printed on thicker stock, so it weighs more.
I don’t think he believes me. But wise man, he chooses to not argue.
Well, this year he wouldn’t believe me and did argue. I bowed to his logic and promised to do an alphabet letter a night. Which sounds like a great plan except we had less than 26 days to move. And being the organized person that I am, not everything is filed as A, B, C. There are plenty of dedicated folders for those places that abscond with huge amounts of our paycheque each month. Like Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Telus, Visa and well you get the picture….I started the project with a smirk on my face….yeah, yeah I’ll be done by the end of the week.
But each receipt had to be scrutinized because - for example - that $20.00 clock we bought in 1998 has a 10 year warranty that hasn’t expired yet. Too bad I didn’t remember about the warranty back in 2000 when it went to clock heaven. BUT if I still had the clock then I’d be able to ship it back to Connecticut/ Taiwan and get it fixed for FREE! HAH! Who is laughing now, huh? And what about the receipt for Bob's jacket that was donated 5 years ago because the zipper was broken. Did he even ask me if I had the receipt?
And the best one of all……Guess where we were on November 17, 2002 - my birthday. One would guess ….the Keg? A Movie? Hotel? Nuh-uh.
The Real Canadian Superstore in Richmond! And what did we buy? Well, I can tell you because I HAVE THE RECEIPT! 1 block of Norwegian cheese, Coke and crackers. Woo Hoo, sounds like we had loads of fun that night! Why did I keep the receipt you ask? Well, what if the cheese went moldy in a few days….I could prove that it was a recent purchase!
Sigh....point taken.
The file cabinet has been cleaned out.
I am shredding everything. Well, almost everything. Which I thought was a complete waste of time, until I realized that shredded paper makes short work of packing breakables. No bubble wrap will be harmed in this move!
There are long skinny pieces of paper trailed throughout the house. I find myself picking them up (good) and straining my eyes to figure out what the source of the receipt is (bad).

Uh, where is the local packrats anonymous meeting held?
Will someone sign me up – FAST!

But please make sure I get a registration receipt.