Why do I keep this stuff?

I'm trying to take advantage of the time off and put it to good use in this apartment.  When we had to leave my house 3 years ago I simply packed a bunch of stuff without taking the time to go through any of my crap.   Which means when I moved from my first apartment to the one we are in now, I brought more crap with us.  I've been tackling one project after another as far as paperwork is concerned.  Like I said previously:  paperwork and laundry are two areas that I fall woefully behind in.   7 bags of trash and two boxes later, I'm making a dent.  Today I cleaned and purged the filing cabinet and my desk.  It feels good to get it organized.  I've only cleaned out about half of what was under my bed.  I have one of those beds that you need a step stool to get up in so I can stack a ton of crap under there.

I finally tackled my honeymoon box.

Yes you read that right.  My honeymoon box.

I kept every boarding pass, ticket, and souvenir possible from our honeymoon cruise.  Even kept every wedding card we got.  I'm not sure why after 7 years of being single and more than 15 years since our honeymoon that I kept all of it.   At first it was just too painful to go through.  Then, after time, I would look through it wistfully thinking about how happy my ex and I had been.   When I tried to throw anything away I felt like I was somehow dishonoring everything we went through as a couple.   If I threw it away then it felt like I was somehow saying our marriage was a throw away marriage.   Monday I finally opened the box and got rid of everything.  I kept the cards from my Mom and Dad, my sister and brother.  And that was it.  It felt good to let everything go.  I still have the memories and the pictures.  I just don't need a boarding pass to      remind me of what a wonderful time in my life my honeymoon was.

Some good things have happened this week as well.   On Tuesday we went to help a friend work on her house remodel.   She and her husband and daughter are adopting a brother and sister from Russia.   They go to bring them home in about 3 weeks so it's crunch time in getting the house ready.   I'm so excited for them!!   They are great parents and I just love their daughter.  We have started calling her the 5th Harrigan girl.  I can hardly wait to meet their new son and daughter.  What a wonderful family!  We had so many people help us when we were trying to adopt Megan that I feel like I'm paying it forward.  Plus I think it is really good for all of my girls to see the excitement while waiting for an adoption to finalize.  They get to see first hand what it was like for my ex and I while we were waiting for Megan.

Tuesday evening I took all 5 Harrigan girls to the planetarium to see Venus cross between the Earth and the Sun.  I loved it!  I loved the excitement of everyone around us and plus I'm a space nerd who loves that stuff.  The 4 year old was lovely and enjoyed herself right down to dinner at Taco Bell. The other 4 were board to tears.  How did I not pass on my space nerdism  to my children???

Wednesday my ex came and took the girls to dinner.  In my excitement in being alone for the first time in awhile, I jumped in my car and went to Goodwill.  I dropped some things off and wanted to find a small shelf for my living room organization.  As I was looking around I turned a corner and there stands....

Megan Harrigan with her Dad and sisters!

Even in my effort to get away I somehow ended up being in the exact same place as my children.  Must be Mom radar.  I pity my children when they start dating.  I'll be able to sense where they are at at all times.  :)

Oh and the other piece of goodness:  I'm the new infant teacher at Adath Jeshurun Preschool!  This is an awesome place to work.  It offers benefits, some retirement, and some of the most amazing early childhood educators out there.  I'm Blessed beyond belief that I will be working there.   I start in August.

That's about it on the homefront.  I'm sure there will be more exciting stuff  coming up.  There always is!