I’ve lived a long time where I am right now, and it’s a crowded house. Five people live here, including my boys and I, plus a dog, and in the past, three cats, two hamsters, and two dogs.  To say I’m ready for a new place is a great understatement.

This year is all about buying a new house and creating this whole new independent life for me and the boys. I wanted to move cities, maybe even states, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a lot of my personal issues come from moving around all my life. So, I decided that staying here, in my little town, for another six years until the boys graduate high school is a small price to pay to make sure they don’t have the same issues I do.

And even though I won’t start the house buying process until later this year, I’m starting to do the purging thing. I’m starting to think about what I’ll take, what I’ll pack, and what I’m going to throw out. That last one is hard, because I’m totally a pack rat, and that harkens back to my moving around as a child as well. When you’re not stable, you cling to any kind of normalcy you can get, and sometimes, that manifests as hoarding. If you let go of the things you’ve collected, it’s like you’re letting go of your anchor, and you’re afraid you might float away if you do. It sucks to feel that way, but it’s a necessary evil because I don’t want my new house to look like it belongs on Hoarders.

So I’ll probably be talking about some moving topics on my organization blog in the future, only because it’s at the forefront of my mind right now.

Oh, and a friend of mine bought this fantastic set of stuffed dragons for me this week.

They’re dog toys, so I gave one to my dog. I really thought she’d tear the thing apart in about 30 seconds, but she just carries it around everywhere. It has to be near her and last night, she even slept with it in the bed.

This has to be the best stuffed toy ever. For real.

Lookit how happy she is…