STUFF

I may have written about this before, I honestly don't remember.  But I was reminded of "STUFF" just now because Jamie the Very Worst Missionary posted THIS article on her Facebook feed.  And it was a good article.  And it made me think of the STUFF in my life - present and past.

Over two years ago, when JP went the United States for the first time (and only time until this December!), he made a comment that really got me to thinking.  We were walking through some middle-class neighborhoods in South Salem (Oregon) in August, and of course, many people were doing stuff outside and had their garage doors open probably all day.  Apart from being flabbergasted that someone would leave their garage open when they weren't in it *(see note below), JP wanted to know what all the STUFF was that people have in their garages.  Good question!  My first answer was "bikes, a lawn mower, Christmas decorations, tools, and cleaning supplies."  That makes sense, even here in Queretaro those are things that you'd find in someone's back patio.  "Ok... so what's all the REST of the stuff?"  JP asked.  I thought about that for a little bit and said that I imagined that it was stuff that the people hardley ever use but don't want to get rid of.  That did nothing to take the look of confusion off JP's face.  "Why don't they have a garage sale?  They could get a ton of money from all that stuff!" he said.  And I realized that, after having moved to Mexico, that's my line of thought on the subject of "STUFF" too.  If you don't use it, you can either sell it or give it away! 

This is just a random "google images" picture, but I think it could be pretty typical of a "STUFF-filled"garage!

Since JP and I both LOATHE moving, we started really early in finding out what to do with our STUFF while we're in the US.  We've sold a few items of furniture - things that we don't use very often like a twin-sized bed, an office chair, and a cabinet.  I also decided to sell the mircrowave to a lady who opened a restaurant three weeks ago.  It's really not that difficult to be without a microwave!  :)  We're happily getting rid of STUFF, and that's really not that hard either, it feels good!  Try it!

Now I just need to figure out what to do with MY STUFF that's still at my parents' house in Oregon...  :) 

* In Queretaro, we're blessed to have a low rate of violent crimes.  However, theft is rampant.  We've had our car attemped to be broken into twice, just because we had a coat or a plastic grocery bag in the back seat!  If we left our back patio door open all day, we might come home to a completely empty patio - washing machine included!  I don't even leave jeans hanging outside of our patio to dry anymore because I think they might not be there in a couple hours!