Possessions and the Material girl – what would you leave behind?

I will be the first one to admit that I am the ultimate material girl. I love my things, from my purses, shoes and dresses, to my ornaments, pictures and furniture, to my little critters and every little stick and rock on my property. (My neighbor can attest to that, in spades). In particular, I have a very hard time parting with things that were given to me as gifts. I value them for the sake of the giver as much as for the material itself.

When my fashionista stylist came to check out my wardrobe there was no way I could hide the fact that my clothes were spread over 3 double closets. And a good part of the clothing was still a Size 8, which I am not! Kelli asked me “even if you were a Size 8 would you wear these styles today?” Well, no. “Perhaps you should consider cleaning out the closet to a good cause.” Yes, okay. Four months later it is still on the To Do List, but I am still having a hard time. My sister Charlotte thinks I need an Intervention. When she starts talking about the shows with Hoarders I close my ears and tell her that I am NOT THAT BAD. She gives me the look.

I AM NOT THAT BAD. Let me say that in a quiet, inside voice. I am not that bad. It’s just I do have a sense of value and I don’t want to just throw clothes away. I do have a plan. I am waiting for a warm day when I can take all of the clothes to a nice place where the clothes will be appreciated. You know, by a princess or someone else that is special and caring of clothes. Okay, I am joking a little. But my clothes are high quality business clothes and are still in the timeless style that can be used over and over. So I plan on taking them to the place that assists women in starting their careers. See, I have a plan. (Gosh, that sounded very Martin Luther King’ish)

Many years ago when I heard the question for the first “if there was a fire what would you take with you?” I thought I would take my diary and my photo album. That goes to show where your heart is. I didn’t think about my wallet or my money, I thought about the things that I could not replace and that represented my family and my friends. I haven’t changed at all. Despite loving all my possessions (to an excessive extent according to certain family members) those are not the things I would take with me in the event of a fire. When I had that scare with the carbon monoxide detector a few months back it was my cats I was worried about. I was afraid they would suffocate from the fumes and them being the scaredy cats that they are it was impossible to fetch them with Erik stomping about the house at the same time.

So does this mean that I am a Sentimental Material Girl?