Loving what remains!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by 

Two Writing Teachers.

My mother worked as the fabric manager in a Ben Franklin store.  I have fond memories of caressing the stacks of remnants as I waited for her to get off work.  Today, I've been caressing the remnants of my teaching career!

I'm not a minimalist.  I'm a keeper, a piler, and a stasher (a rather neat one, I might add).   I've booked each and every friend who has offered to help with a time slot.  Having help encourages me to keep up the momentum.  My husband reminds me that we already have too many boxes  in the garage.  But how do you toss aside what took you years to amass?  And even though I'm "separating from service," I will always be a teacher. 

I'm leaving my classroom library because those books belong in the hands of readers, not in my garage or on my bookshelves.  I've allowed myself one box of favorite titles from the collection. There are professional books I can't part with, picture books I'll keep for my future grandchildren, and poetry books I'll need in my self-appointed role as poetry ambassador.

I have culled and weeded three file drawers and cleaned out four large drawers and the stacks on top of that cabinet, but what remains is still massive.  My desk, six additional file drawers (of the shorter variety!), a bookcase, four cabinets, and a closet still remain to be sorted, but mostly purged!

Enough rambling about this project.  I promised myself I would be finished by Friday.   Feel free to leave your advice and encouragement in the comments.  By week's end, I hope to be celebrating the arrival of summer and the beginning of a new chapter!