All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go!

"Pack all your things. you're moving out," Mom told me yesterday. I replied with a unibrow and a wide stare, "But..but.. why? Where?" Doesn't she want me here anymore? Am I turning to be too much of a burden already? Good thing before I got hysterical or anything near a heart attack (I'm a wee bit histrionic. hehe.), my mom assured me, "Just to the other room. We're going to renovate this room."

I wasn't that excited. The mere thought of disorganizing all my things to be reorganized again was already tedious and stressful. Good thing my cousin Elaine, who says "classifying is such a great joy" was there. She saw the unreadable look on my face and encouraged me with a word of wisdom "You know, the first step is always the hardest. The step from zero to one. Once you've done it, the rest will just continue automatically.. 2,3,4,5..10." So we started laying my books in a box.


Pile after pile of books were added until we filled up two balikbayan boxes, one big black trash bag and one large green shopping bag. There were things I discovered in the process. I found my first organizer in college, a hardbound kiddie notebook that served as my slumbook in grade 6, the "Cute Spice Club" notebook, my diary in grade 3, untouched books I bought in the book fair years ago, mouth-watering recipes filed in a clearbook, highschool newspaper, and some classic books. All of them were hidden behind the front layer you see in this picture.

Then I dealt with the CDs/DVDs/VCDs/VHS. I saw some old videos. Played a few. I saw a couple of Disney albums. Played them too. I even saw a CD of Christian Ingebrigsten (from A1, my fave boyband before) with his autograph. He wrote "Hi Mitzi, Hope all is well. Christian XOXO" I think it was sent by a penpal named Dianna. She lived in Norway. I heard Elaine saying, "No time to reflect." Didn't play it anymore. I opened the other cabinet and segregated the cassette tapes I've collected since I was in grade 1. Amazingly, I still have the "It's a Small World" tape. Got a little disappointed when I wasn't able to find the a1 tapes I used to play three times a day before. I remembered Ben Adams saying, "You'll feel close to us if you listen to our songs three times a day." I reminded myself, You're not a fan anymore.

Then I proceeded to my old (hardly opened) hobbies cabinet. Had a good laugh when I saw my extensive a1, Kavana, Backstreet Boys photo collection. There were newspapers, magazines, key chains, postcards and my own live shots. Felt like I was Robin Williams in One Hour Photo movie. Decided to give all of them away. Stumbled upon books, teddies, bracelets, muffin holder, gifts I meant to give to people but still kept, because I didn't get much opportunity to see them. Labeled the black plastic bag "gifts to give away."

Then off to my girly-artsy-fartsy cabinets. These were probably the most utilized and visited cabinets in my room. Not much new discoveries. Placed them in a box. Moved all the cabinets to the ground floor with the help of Joy. Felt like I would become very macho soon.

After two vigorous afternoons... Viola! See my empty room? I was surprised to find the "packing" process quite fulfilling. It wasn't as boring as I expected it to be. Had a good laugh. Got to reminisce. Was able to discover a lot of hidden blessings. And at the end of the day, got to share them and see some big smiles.