Breakdown, Moving, and Hoarding.

I am little more than one week into my school year and I already had a break down last.

I don't know if it is because I just started my old job (good ol´ Starbucks) and have a difficult semester or just because I am tired of the sudden, abrupt changes that keep occurring. And then packing, and then unpacking... then having to pack up again and move... again.

A little over a month ago I moved back to the US after my year in Chile, and a little over two weeks ago I moved from my city, my home, my family (that I barely saw) to my University. I am still adjusting... And I hate it.

It was nearly a two day process packing up my two (under 50 pound) bags to come back to the states, then another two day process to unpack.. Then two weeks later I had to repack all my stuff I had just unpacked then repack all my stuff that was in my parents basement sitting there for my year abroad (which I SWEARRR my pile of stuff grew while I was away.. I dont know how I manage to aquire MORE things when I was out of the country for a year...)

I come from a family of hoarders. And I am not exaggerating. It is absolutely sickening to sit there and watch my mom and uncle get into a drop-down BLOWOUT over who really has ownership over a rock. (yes, a rock). I have a older cousin and an uncle that live next door to each other and they share a shed. They kept on getting into a fight about how the other person´s "stuff" is taking up to much space in the shed. My uncle claims that my cousin´s stuff kept "crossing" into his side of the shed so he took spray paint and spray painted a line around where her "boundary" was in the shed and wrote "DO NOT CROSS".

My cousin, on the other hand, swears that her stuff was not the problem. That actually it was HIS stuff that kept crossing the boundary into HER space.

Regardless of who´s shit is where, if you ask either one of them what kinds of things are impeding into their "part" of the shed neither of them can actually say. They just know it is happening.

About a year ago, some kids broke into this shed full of my uncle and cousin´s shit and stole some things. They called the police to file a report but neither of them could tell what was actually missing (if anything actually was).

I went in there one time, I counted 4 different tables. Why would someone need 4 tables in storage?

They don´t.

I keep promising myself that I will not be like that. That is why every time I pack up to move I fill up at least one bag full of things to take to Goodwill. Just to get rid of needless things.

I try. I really do. Then of course my mom and sister come through and take AT LEAST half the bag out claiming "YOU CAN THROW THIS OUT!".

Two years ago when I was moving back home from my University my mom came to pick me up. Since I knew it would be impossible to throw things out when she finally got there I quickly pre-emptively took out all the trash and things I didn´t need out to the dumpster. Since it was the last weekend at my university, the dumpsters were absolutely FULL of things. (Dumpster diving is fantastic to do the last week of school if someone needs to furnish their apartment.)

Anyway, when my mom got to my apartment. She first makes all sorts of comments about how I "just have SOOO much stuff... it is almost sickening". After being horrified at the amount of things that we have to fit into the truck for about five minutes she spots the dumpster. And precedes to go and pick things out (some of which were mine, and purposely placed there to try and avoid letting my mom see them). By the time she was done, the truck was twice as full. And my mom was SOO please with herself. You would have thought she struck gold.

My cousins, my sister and I made a pact together. When my mom, aunts or uncles dies from that part of the family we each get to pick 5 things out (ONLY FIVE) and then there is a three day process. Day 1, Garage Sale. Day 2, Cheaper Garage Sale/starting putting things in bags. Day 3, Goodwill runs and Dump runs till everything is gone. No fighting. We split the money evenly. And be done with it.

I already informed my dad that every year they need to get rid of 10 bags of stuff to goodwill. When he asked why, I told him because every year he gets one year closer to dying, and that is one year closer that I then have to deal with his shit. I am just thinking ahead.