Just say NO

I said NO today!

It didn't feel great but I managed. I turned down two new students.

I seem to be one of the few people who aren't longing for retirement. I don't want and need to stop working. But I love the idea of "mini-retirements", where you live in another country for a month or two, doing something completely different than at home.

I think I could afford that if I de-clutter and move to a smaller dwelling.

Does anybody know that uncomfortable feeling when new people come into your living quarters and you feel like you have to explain why things look so disjointed?

The books I want to sell plus doomed magazines are taking up space in the living room. I had to take everything out of the shelves in the kitchen so the electricians could patch up a cable. So the kitchen is a mess. (Well, yes, I am using the electricians as an excuse - scheesh) The comedian Phyllis Diller used to run to the front door and shout "Why would anyone do this to me?!" pretending she'd been vandalized. I still don't have the courage.

The back seat of my car is filled with sacks of clothes and shoes.

I have decided to get rid of rugs, chairs and old computers/printers. I avoid buying new things just for the fun of it. Emotional buying - retail therapy - doesn't really work.

It takes its toll in the end. After the rush of newness wears off.

The reality of care of and payment for stuff stays with you much longer than the shopping rush.

I looked up synonyms for hoard:
stash, cache, lay away, hive up, squirrel away, save, lay aside, save up, collect, accumulate, pile up, amass, compile, store, hive away, stack away, stash away

Stuff just accumulates and piles up. Only I've just 'lost that lovin' feeling' for most of it.