sentimental hoarder

its been a rather fruitful national day - i finally got around to clearing out my wardrobe & ridding of unwanted clothes & stuff. its a long overdue task & daddy made me promise since 2 wks back to make gd use of the PH... being mentally prepared in advance helps i guess. im not a procrastinator on most things but ive to admit that getting to this took a loooooong while ;) in the process, i realised 2 things (i know to some im stating the obvious but hey everyone struggles with denial - its better for them to come ard at their own pace :P) 1. ive got way too much clothes. 2. im a hoarder. like big-time, mega, sentimental, cant-let-go-even-if-its-junk hoarder. as i embarked on the dreadful task, i realised i had clothes from waaaay back - like since i was 13!! can you believe that? its crazy cos i forgot how darn skinny i used to be. like seriously the size 2 & 4 pants are puny, its a wonder they ever fit! i probably never had a butt & was all skin & bones, like a completely different (mini) me. of cos that also means ive upsized over the past 10 years which is cool cos i mean they arent called "growing up years" for ntg rite? hahaha. i just got to stop upsizing since the phase shd be officially over by now :) disclaimer: i have done these clearouts before lar, this is NOT the first time since i was 13 but i never got rid of 100% of the sec sch clothes... they are rid off in phases almost cos of my weird streak to wanna leave abit of each phase around. i dont know why - so i wont forget? so i can look through & feel nostalgic? beats me but im starting to be more practical abt it. check out the stack of i removed from my stockpile - shd be proud of me, hehe: as i was clearing i also stumbled upon an old box of cards/notes & some envelopes. lo & behold, i found stuff from my o levels F&N exams! for the uninitiated, F&N = Food & Nutrition, yes they actually offer that as an o level subject, and yours truly actually took the exam. anyhow, i was thoroughly amused at the trouble i went to to prep for the practical! check out these recipe cards - i had detailed instructions for each of the 8-10 dishes required for the exam. if i rem correctly, i had to accomplish them all in 2.5hrs. madness. there were even dish descriptions stating their nutritional value, blahblah. dont ask me now, i cant rem peanuts :P i also drafted the layout of my serving table! hahahah what an eager beaver 16yr old i was hahaha. then again, i really had an affinty (& in a way still do lar) for table placements & matching colours of plates, tablecloth, napkins, etc. quite fun actually :) the nicest part was reading through a shoebox full of old old notes. i never realised i had so many notes from pple that i dont even consider close now. like i totally forgot i actually corresponded via good ol snail mail with a friend when he first went overseas or received soooo many cards from that JC friend (which i kinda miss now & wonder what he's up to) or that my friend's mom actually wrote me a thank you note for being there for her daughter. and finding old notes from good gfs really brought back girly happy memories - we were so much more innocent, simple even... letters on magazines, free cK postcards, handmade cards - you know how teenagers are ;) i also forgot how supportive my churchmates were - they really showered me with many cards during my exams. sweetness. even the notes from ex-es were funny to read esp from the 1st one. dont believe we were so childish & silly. hehehe. one bday, i got the exact SAME card from my dad & then bf. i dont know if its cos they really meant the words on it or cos it was selling mass at all convenient bookstores near them :) told Eels all about my shoebox treasure find & she was amused at my amusement. and she is right - im actually a rather forgetful person... many things that i mentioned, she remembered whilst i almost completely forgot! maybe thats why i subconsciously wanna keep this stuff around as pieces of the past to aid my poor memory... you know how i said im a hoarder? well, i dont just have 1 or 2 of these shoeboxes. i have at least 4-5 of them. yes, THAT many. how? i cant bear to throw those notes :( i mean pple actually took time to write them (altho im sure they dont even rem any of it) & they hold precious meaning, shaped me growing up. sigh, ill just keep them ard till the next clearout. maybe ill outgrow them someday. last thought - its funny but we seldom write notes these days, do we? is it an age thing (older pple dont write to each other as much as youthful, expressive teens) or is it a technology/era thing (emails/sms quicker vs handwritten keepsakes)? altho email correspondence can be sincere & engaging too, i personally still love to write & receive hardcopy, handwritten messages. tho it takes discipline to put pen to paper, i always feel its a nice encouragement to the recipient. it shows you took the time & effort to pick out the nice card, to write, to mail it... esp for friends away from home. i dont do it as often as i used to so this cld be a gd point to start again :) and oh yah, a totally irrelevant point but well - happy national day, singapore! :)