Today I was feeling the urge to clean. Granted, I really wanted to do this in order to start cleaning out the big box of memories, and by big I do mean big. I’ve kept every single card I’ve received. A lot of them are still in their envelopes, so I threw out the envelopes unless they were important (as in, they were mailed).
Discoveries of note:
* The spelling bee study guides. These are rendered useless once you get past a certain point, but they’re good for the early bees. I found only four of them, though. The 1999 guide is missing, but I should have it somewhere.
* A Target gift card from the ASC admissions office. I forgot that existed. Oops.
* Field Day ribbons from elementary school. Apparently I got third place in two events and second place in another. Who would have thought?
* A piece of soap carved into something resembling a gun. It has two holes in it. I think it was from Colonial Days in fifth grade, where we learned how people lived during the colonial era and had to unlearn it later. I also remember making a candle that resembled something you’d find in a toilet, but that wasn’t in the box.
* Valentines and autographs referring to my intelligence, my writing, and helping them out in class. These were the main trends. I must say that reading all these things was a definite ego boost. Too bad I’m a mundane now.
* Programs for award ceremonies, conferences, inductions, and graduations. This is normal. So are the myriad press clippings I found, including a couple of things that I wrote.
* Napkins from places I’ve been to. One of them had scribblings of inside jokes, and while the rest of them were from places I’ve been outside of my hometown or while traveling, they were otherwise completely ordinary. What possessed me to keep them?
* Straws. Huh? Did the guy I like drink out of it or something? I’m not creepy. Really.
* My student ID from the local college I took classes at during my senior year of high school. It had my social security number on it. I can’t believe no one ever complained about that.
* A friend’s hair. No, really, I’m not creepy. See, she wanted to get her hair cut, and I happened to be with her. She handed me the hair afterward, and I was thinking, “Uh…okay. Thanks?” I’m friends with her on Stalkerbook; I should make that my status for kicks. I HAVE YOUR HAIR. BWAHAHA.
Looking at this list makes me wonder what value I find in keeping these things. I was doing just fine without looking through them. Do I really want to keep the items themselves or the memories behind the items?