Mimi’s Corner: Almost Outta Here
Well, we’re getting down to the wire now. We will be moving to temporary quarters later this week, an AirBnB, so no furniture transfer is needed. Just clothes for winter and spring weather (come on Spring!!!), dog beds, dog food, dog leashes, and dog toys. Oh yeah, meds, first aid items and stuff from the freezer (mystery meat and all). And, all info needed for tax season and stationery items that may be needed for one thing or another, stamps, tape, stapler, pens, envelopes. Computers, printers, and chargers. Oh my!
I’m gutting the kitchen now. We’re not taking any food, well, not much anyway, to the AirBnB. Just the meat from the freezer and anything in the fridge that doesn’t have mold on it! You know, like that little container of something that got pushed waaaaay in the back on the bottom shelf? Is it meat or is it cake? All the canned goods have been boxed up and sent to the storage unit. I plan to prepare only the simplest of meals for the next two or three months…. Not even taking a cookbook.
Today, as I was cleaning out the cupboard with spices, dried herbs, other condiments, and flavorings, I remembered reading that spices and dried herbs don’t last forever. I beg to differ. They can last forever. They’ll be no good, but they can last forever. Google says to keep them one to four years. Just be aware that they will lose flavor/aroma along the way, as well as any health benefit. I am ashamed to admit that I have some containers that I had before we moved here quite a while ago. I was tempted to throw the lot of them in the trash, but then I remembered how much those teeny tiny jars and tins cost. So, I kept some and tossed the oldest. I’ll replace them as I need them once we are settled in the new house.
Goodwill’s patrons will benefit from clothing and household items we’ve donated. As a confirmed packrat - inheriting a dominant gene from my dad and a recessive one from my mom - other items have been more difficult to dispose of, like the tea set my uncle brought back to my grandmother from Japan after the war and my parents’ wedding china. I have bitten the bullet many times in the past two months. As people have reminded me, I won’t miss most of it at all - out of sight, out of mind.