Day Five: Making Space

10/12/2007- Friday

It’s Saturday morning here, and I have a few minutes to write about yesterday’s experiences with my “A Bag A Day” project. I have uploaded pictures for the last two days and will continue to include pictures when I think they add to the interest of what I have to report to you. Last night, I set about thinking how I might store the family heirloom dishes sent to me a few days ago. My first thought like all good capitalistic consumers was to go out and buy a small credenza or china cabinet to add to my dining room furniture. Then, I reflected a moment and thought how my mother had stored these dishes. Yes, she did have a china cabinet, which my son and his family now have, and this cabinet doesn’t have any “show off” windows in the doors. It has drawers and solid wood doors. I looked at my china cabinet and saw the shelves with “show off” windows; the shelves are already full. But, there are drawers and cupboards below those shelves. Taking a look in these hidden places may be risky because we often just put stuff there that is never again seen or used. I remembered that there were zippered covers for china that I had used when moving several times before. These would be ideal places in which to store the heirloom china. I fished them out; they were nested together and proceeded to put the dinner plates, cups, saucers, and salad plates in these protective cases. I still had dessert bowls, soup bowls, gravy boat, sugar and creamer, serving plate, serving dishes for which I had no cases. I thought I could fit all of the china set into the two side cabinets if I were to remove the other schlock haphazardly stored there. So, I got several bags and began to decide which of this stuff I could downsize.

I ended up with several bags of things to donate to a charity. There were many unused party supplies: napkins, plates, candles, banners, etc. Also, there were also wooden dishes and a platter for serving appetizers, which I had never used, and four decorative plates that I had previously had on my walls. I put the bags in a larger box and will donate these items on Monday. Also, in these cabinets were items that I wasn’t ready to part with, six 2000 stem glasses and three commemorative plates that had never been used and were still in their original boxes. I did have to remove these items from the cabinets to have space for the heirloom china. So, they sit on the floor and may serve as possible holiday gifts. As you know from reading above, there are also drawers in my cabinet. The bottom two drawers with table cloths and napkins, I left alone. The top drawer had more left over, unused party supplies that I added to the bag already containing such items. I was able to put some of my parent’s serving utensils in that top drawer. Now, only the flatware service, which is in its own box, and several decorative pieces are left to store. My dinner table is mostly free of the items sent by my brother-in-law and I feel I have accomplished something. There are three bags from tonight’s efforts. I will see what next week has in store on Monday. Until then, I will enjoy the weekend reading the exam papers my students turned in on Friday.