Wednesday Hodgepodge: Can I have a grass skirt to go?

1. May 17th is National Pack Rat Day. Sidebar-should we be celebrating this? Hmmm...

Are you a pack rat? Even if you're not a full fledged pack rat, most people have one thing or another they struggle to part with. Tell us what's yours.

I grew up very pack-ratty. Maybe that had something to do with moving house a number of times: it was natural to want to hold on to my own stuff. I got stuck in an early idea that if someone gave you a birthday card, you held onto it forever; and that trips meant souvenirs, both for yourself and those back home. Which you also kept forever, unless it was a can of macadamia nuts. Then maybe you kept the can.

Aside from the purely sentimental stuff, hoarding certain things did make sense years ago: finding another copy of the map or part for the toaster might be hard. Better to keep the thing around if it ever had any chance of being passed on or recycled. Cobbling bits and pieces together was morally superior, even if they didn't work as well or look as good as if you had bought new materials. Maybe that's why I got so good at using leftovers. Add to that the Mama Squirrel and Mr. Fixit shared interest in old things and yardsaling (not to mention two years of thrift store volunteering), and we could have ended up with a true packrat's nest. We did donate things often, but we still ended up with quite a lot.

You might think that it was the recent move that impelled a new view of Treehouse stuff, and that's partly true, because we remembered how hard previous moves were, even when we had less to pack. But we've been working on paring down for longer than that. In some ways what smoothed this move was timing: maturing and moved-out Squirrelings who did not insist on keeping childhood belongings; not too much pressure from other relatives to keep what we no longer had room for; reaching a place ourselves where we could say goodbye to the antique desk, the math games, the electric train, the floor polisher.

Like this one

The things we brought along are a mixture of old, middle-aged, and new. The common threads are that we use them, we like them, and we have room for them, as much as possible. I did not know how I was going to make room for my family-heirloom little rocking chair, but we found a place for it in the dining area.

2. What are two things you know you should know how to do, but you don't?

Drive. Cook seafood (never had to, Mr. Fixit can't eat it).

3. Do you crave sugar? Do you add sugar to your coffee and/or tea? Do you use artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes? When dining out is dessert a given? Are you someone who has slain the sugar dragon, and if so tell us how you did it.

I usually go for sweet rather than salty; but I am happy with a small piece.

4. What's a trend it took a while for you to come round to, but now you can't imagine living without?

I had to think about this one for awhile.

How about...Pinterest? I had a "Moving Stuff" board there long before we found this place, plus tips on organizing small spaces, and also a board for decorating photos. It's funny how many of those pictures did end up influencing our new space (Mr. Fixit had quite a lot to do with it as well).

5. What's a song that reminds you of a specific incident in your life? Please elaborate.

I can't think of just one right now.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Random thought: today is hot.

Linked from the Wednesday Hodgepodge: Hodgepodge Hoarding, at From This Side of the Pond.