Trip down memory lane #keepsake

Packing, shuffling, recycling, shredding, documenting and shipping is almost complete for the move to San Francisco.

I don’t think I have any maternal, sentimental or genealogical genes, although perhaps by my age you’d expect I might, so it means this move is going to be a great cleansing for me. Everyone knows you collect up a lot of stuff when you settle somewhere for a few years and as well as the stuff in this house, I’m still trundling about with stuff from my whole life, and despite your gasps of horror, I’m up for a new start, so out it goes! It’s liberating. If I haven’t cared for it all these years then here’s hoping those genes don’t fill me with regret in a few years – I’m moving to the other side of the world after all. I’ve rifled through everything, crying and laughing over memories in the decision to keep stuff or just let it go.

However, some stuff I wouldn’t mind immortalising on my blog (if today’s electronic means of publishing could be considered immortalising) so will reproduce various items in the days to come in a kind of keepsake series, and perhaps raw look into my psyche! #keepsake

Today’s exercise was going through some very old paperwork, stuff that The Mister hadn’t seen – those old reports and testimonials from high school – so he got a good look into the freckly, brace-faced, surly, girlie-swat teenager that I once was. Amidst my tears of laughter as he read things out and him roaring with amusement at some stuff he discovered, I took down a couple of choice quotes:

“Oh god, you failed Grade 6 [music] theory pretty badly – you were shit at ornaments!!” and some time later “Ha ha ha and when you sat it again you would’ve got distinction except you were STILL shit at ornaments!!!”

On reading the examiners notes from my Grade 5 piano exam – he laughed hysterically “Oh my god, check this out “Try to enter into the spirit of the pieces and convey it. You seem reluctant to relax and let yourself go.” God your personality hasn’t changed much in almost 30 years!!” Errr, thanks loving husband!

“Ha ha ha ha!!! “Catherine is a fit healthy sportswoman. She belongs to a tennis club and enjoys jazzercise.” – ha ha ha!” Can’t believe how much he laughed over that one.

“Oh, you studied accounting principles for a term – really?”