The Contents of One Drawer

This is not actually the entire contents of one drawer stuffed full of papers in the computer desk--it's just the things that are immediately obvious to me that I don't need to keep.

But at one time or another I thought I did. It's interesting to me how my perceptions of what is valuable change. It's time to start taming the Paper Tiger one drawer at a time..

So now, as I list each paper item, they(most of them) are going through the shredder and then into my paper recycling bag. My rationale for shredding is that you can't change your mind. If it's shredded, it's gone. Ollie North and the Iran/Contra Affair taught me that if nothing else.

1) a folder detailing properties for sale in France--one day, who knows, but these homes are not for me

2) a New Years letter from my friend Nell from 2001

3) a free 2002/2003 daybook from my community college--never used it

4) a photocopied article on the psychology of Mary Poppins that my Mom thought I'd be interested in

5) and another article from my Mom on Celtic faeries

6) newspaper clipping on photography show of one of my bellydancer acquaintance's husband

7) ticket to a home and garden tour dating from June 2001

8) three pages of a French trip itinerary that I did not take--went with another tour

9) two glossy travel brochures from 2004

10) a form response to my enquiries about attaining a second (Irish) passport

11) a printed out copy of some of my flower photographs but the ink on my printer was running out so they are quite faded-looking

12) a 2003 brochure concerning my husband's old college courses

13) a twelve-page article on the Taliban that I printed off the Internet in 2001

14) a newspaper clipping from 2003 on tree-pruning methods

15) a copy of Albert Einstein's Riddle --if you can figure it out you are in the top 2% of intelligent people in the world: heh, guess I'm not!

16) the bill from a great meal with my friends in December 2002 at the Old House restaurant

17) a brochure from a paint store called A Celebration of Tuscany with paint colours like "Olive Branch" and "Late Wheat" and "Tuscany Green": I think I kept it because I'm a sucker for things with the word Tuscany on them

18) a brochure from the UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver

19) some colourful postcard-like things from the National Film Board of Canada advertising their Women and Spirituality Trilogy

20) a handwritten sheet of Yu-Gi-Oh card prices from when I was selling them on Ebay about a year ago--I still remember selling that B. Skull Dragon Card: who pays $30 for these things!

21) a word-search/flyer from the Macaroni Grill restaurant in Victoria that our family went to in August 2004 to celebrate both Jen's birthdays

22) two photocopies of the article from Canadian Living magazine where Heather is interviewed about her volunteer time at the orphanage in Kathmandu, Nepal. I have an original copy of the article already so I don't need these also.

23) some vague jotted notes on how to insert pictures into a text article using Microsoft Word--nowadays the only time I add pictures to things is on Blogger

24) a flyer for an EarthMonkey Entertainment EQUINOX event on St. Patrick's Day of some unspecified year. I didn't go, so I think I must have saved it for the Brian Froud fairy artwork on it. Possibly some fire-dancers I know were performing there.

25) a map of Merville I printed out in 2004, probably so I could find my way to a Solstice celebration out in the boonies

26) some notes on Vancouver Island author Jack Hodgins, for an English literature course I did in 2003 to finish my Associate of Arts Degree--for some reason I have scribbled the quote " It takes a child to raze a village" at the bottom of the paper.

27) a thankyou card from this past summer from our neighbours Brig and Chris for our "willingness to help us with our shed--you were a great encouragement to us. You guys are great neighbours." They also brought us homemade muffins. Awwwwww! :)

28) a ChildHaven birthday card from "my other mother" :)

29) a business card from our real-estate agent Arlene from four years ago

And last, but not least...

30) The emailed results from my astronomy teacher Ron for the course I took in 2003:

Quizzes: 95.5%
Labs: 93.8%
Mid-Term: 87.8%
Final Exam: 86.4%
Total Course: 90.4%
Final Grade: A

I know why I kept this--I was very,very proud that I'd done so well on this course. I've always thought of myself as not very skilled in math, but this course proved I was a little brainier than I thought.

But now that I've shared my accomplishment with y'all, I think I'm okay letting this piece of paper go.