Sifting Through the Past: An Archeological Study of my Closet

Part of the process of starting my business has been to transform my old bedroom in my parents' house into an office.  It was a long and strenuous process since the poor little room was filled to capacity with furniture, boxes, and more than a decade's worth of my "treasures."  I felt like I was working in a giant shadow box of my past.  However, I am now enjoying the fruits of my labor as I sit at my desk in a clutter-free(ish) zone.  You too, dear Reader, will also have the opportunity to enjoy the experience as I take you on a guided tour of my past via my closet:

Finding #1:  Eight bottles of purple nail polish, various shades
     This is a relic of my middle school years, obviously during my purple phase.  The shades ranged from bright and sparkly to almost black.  Looking at this evidence, I'm not sure if was going for pretty and girly or slightly edgy.  I honestly do not know what possessed me own that much nail polish since I always had really short fingernails.  Oh well; it was middle school, and therefore completely inexplicable.
   -The nail polish went in the trash.

Finding #2:  Six beanie babies, mostly off-brand
     Ah, another middle school memory!  I was in 6th grade at the height of the Ty Beanie Baby craze.  I moved to Virginia and started public school for the first time that December, and I was eager to have some way to relate to my new classmates.  During lunch break, a whole group of tween girls went outside to play with them.  Thankfully, I've grown out of the phase where I need plastic bean-filled animals to make friends.
   -The beanie babies were donated so they can help some other awkward girl.

Finding #3:  Five almost blank journals
     It would appear that I am terrible at journaling!  I discovered an entire box full of nothing but journals.  I looked through each one, eager to reacquaint myself with my past thoughts.  However, each only contained a few pages of writing.  This worrisome trend of not finishing anything kind of terrifies me since I'm trying to start a new life now.  On the plus side, I couldn't make myself dumber by reading too many self-indulgent adolescent musings.
   -I kept the journals as a warning against repeating past mistakes.

Finding #4:  Assorted children's books
     Several years ago, I took a bunch of children's books from my parents' basement for a storytelling project in a Public Speaking class.  Apparently, I never returned them.  The basement flooded this winter and most of the books my sisters and I read as children were ruined.  Thanks to my unintended thievery, Amelia Bedelia, The Little Engine That Could, The Pea Patch Jig, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and other classic stories were saved from the flood waters.
   -Of course I kept the books!  Ashley is very excited to read them to Jack.

Finding #5:  Several stacks of pictures
     I was absolutely thrilled to find pictures spanning my entire life.  I saw myself and my sisters as babies, then perpetually tan little girls with thick brown curls playing dress-up in the back yard.  Looking through scenes of my past--hunting for Easter eggs with my cousins, visiting Prince Edward Island after Ashley graduated from high school, sitting backstage before a production of The Miracle Worker, eating a picnic lunch with my first boyfriend before he was my boyfriend, forensics trips to Princeton and Gatlinburg and Princeton--I felt overwhelmingly blessed.  My whole life, I've been surrounded by family and friends who love me more than I could ever deserve.

What can I say?  It really is a wonderful life!  And now it's a wonderful life with more closet space.