Cleaning out the guest room closet

Each month from now until I move again (11 months from now), I have one task per month to complete.  This month's task is cleaning out the guest room closet.

You might imagine this is an arduous task, given that I've allocated a month for the cleanup.  You'd be right, by the way, it is horrendous.

The guest closet has been the "catch all" for all boxes and totes that needed dealt with since I moved here.  I have not, repeat, have not, opened one single box that has been in that closet for over a year.  As you might imagine, there are a lot of things in there that do not belong in my life anymore.

For example: office supplies.  To say I could run my own Office Depot or Staples is not an exaggeration.  There are tons of office supplies in there.  A few will go to work (to up my piles of stuff there) but the majority of it is going to a friend for her elementary school.  As you, dear reader, are probably aware, teachers (and students) are often starved for supplies.  As such, these supplies will be well used and cherished by elementary students and teachers at Seagate Elem. in Naples. 

Then there was the paperwork. 

Holy Fuck.

Yep, it was outrageous as to the amount of paperwork I had saved for reasons unbeknownst to me.  I mean, I must have had a unknown crack habit to completely forget I had all this paperwork.  So I sorted and piled.  One pile for recycling (large), one pile for shredding (large) and one pile for keeps (teeny tiny).  I found some things I didn't realized I had packed.

Like my file on my car accident back in 2000.  Police report, medical records, letters from that illegal, non-license having, piece of shit's attorney and all the insurance records.  Shredding that was calming, peaceful and took my mind off it entirely.

Then there was a wedding file.  Wow.  I sure did not realize I had kept that stuff.  I mean, I kept the wedding license and divorce decree (because apparently I have to keep that shit), but wedding cards, our "formal" wedding license, pre-nup stuff (yes, we had a pre-nup), guest list and notes from my Hex were all in this file.  I found a picture of us, taken 8 years ago this June at his Mom's house.  It is sad to say this but we looked truly happy.  Looking through the eyes of the present day, I know, of course, all the things that happened since and it made me a little teary-eyed.  I never thought in my wildest, most terrible nightmares that I'd get divorced and yet all the evidence of a marriage gone wrong was in my hands.  Shredding all that stuff was an enormous weight off my shoulders.  I felt a great peace wash over me as I said goodbye to a life ended (5 years ago this year) and straightened my shoulders to look to the future.

As a side note, it was five years ago today that I acknowledged, publicly, that my marriage wasn't working and hadn't been working.  On July 15, 2005, I filed for formal separation from the Hex. 

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If nothing else, it made me realize just how much I'd like to be married again and perhaps, perhaps, have children.  At this point, I'm almost feeling too old (although I know plenty of people YEARS older than me having their first child), so maybe someone with kid(s) would be appropriate.   I don't know what the future holds, all I know is that I'm happy with my own life -- which is surely a positive step towards including someone in it.