PoOr On PuRpOsE

I think the powers that be made me poor on purpose this Christmas, because if I had no money than I'd have to stay home. Which of course is exactly what I did this year. It was tough, almost painful to admit to myself that I was going to Charlotte for ten days. Now I know that doesn't seem like a long time, which it's not, and also rather pathetic. But when else do you get twelve days paid vacation during the year?

I hadn't been home in almost a year, let alone for a significant amount of time, so I was really looking forward to spending time with the fam. Along with sleepovers with the nieces and nephews, shopping and eating entirely way too much, I finally had time to organize. I went through boxes that had been lying, waiting for me since my parents first moved from New York ten years ago {gasp}.

The summer before I started college my parents began moving down to D.C. Subsequently, I lived out of a lacrosse bag for most of the summer and then packed up my stuff and headed out west with my mom while the rest of my stuff migrated south. For the past ten years those boxes have been shuffled and stacked in in various locations while I went off and started college, served a mission, studied abroad, finished college, traveled and eventually moved to D.C.

Finally, one night early this week I decided to dive in. I suppose it was the proverbial out with the old and in with the new. It was fun looking back on the most random things I had kept through the years. Photographic evidence of how obsessed my group of friends and I were with jumping in bodies of water fully clothed, concert tickets and LOADS of letters. But the most astounding thing? Going through old school notebooks and realizing that by and large I don't remember one morsel of information written on the pages. I mean, I look at it and it's undoubtedly one form of my hand writing (didn't you know? I change it every so often), but it most definitely had not stayed in my brain. Not to mention... who keeps this stuff???

I was however very excited to go through and box-up things that I have purchased during my travels. Several of the nic-nacs I have in my room in D.C., but the larger and more expensive pieces I leave at my parents. The most expensive thing I've ever purchased? My Lladro Flamanco Dancer from Spain--I think she's only seen the light of day for a few hours in the past four years. But, I pulled her out and decided to enjoy her while I was at home, isn't she lovely?! I can't wait until I have a nice place to display her.