Feelings and Lists

So, I had an idea. It came to me this morning, all of a sudden like a giant freight train crashing into me. A lot of people get rid of everything before they join the Peace Corps. You get a nice resettlement allowance ($6000)  when you get back. That is more than enough to furnish an apartment. Now granted I am already preparing to put some stuff in “storage,” aka either my mom or dad’s house.

Storage:

1. Bed – frame and mattress
2. Kitchen stuff – pots, pans, utensils, plates, silverware
3.  My desk – including desktop pc and all the peripherals
4. Black bookcase – including most of the stuff in it
5. My favorite clothes

That’s it really. I mean really that sounds like a lot of stuff, and it is, but the rest of the stuff I have a plan for.

The rest (examples):

1.  Printer
2. Lots and lots of clothes
3. Possibly the Wii
4. Dresser
5. Bookcase (another one)
6.  Other furniture
7. Lamps

Basically, a whole lot of stuff, but mainly clothes. I think I should do a fundraiser garage sale like thing. I need to work out all the details though. My idea is to sell my stuff to raise money for my time in the Peace Corps. I will be getting paid approximately $200 a month. And you thought minimum wage was bad, right?  So yeah a garage sale fundraiser 🙂 I just don’t know where I would do it since garage sale in an apartment just doesn’t work that well. Those details can be worked out closer to the time I will be leaving.

I can only take 80 lbs with me. 40 in each bag. So I started coming up with a new list of thing I will need:

1. 2-4 pairs of khaki durable pants
2. 2-3 sets of nice business dress shirts – which I already own
3. Lots of sports bras and undies – all cotton
4. 3-4 light colored t-shirts
5. 2-3 shorts
6. 4-6 tank tops
7. 1 pair of jeans – gonna be hard to pick my favorite pair
8.  PJ pants and shorts – just 1 pair
9. 2 belts
10. 1 hat
11. 2 swimsuits
12. 1 new rain coat, like gore-tex or something really good – probably from REI
13. A thicker coat for chilly nights
14. Flip flops – my nice pair and a regular gap pair
15.  I am thinking about Chacos – but it seems to hippie for me, wanna get rid of that PC stereotype
16. 1 pair of toms – maybe the natural canvas color
17. 3 month supply of toiletries that I like, including all my favorite makeup. Aka, two tubes of concealer, Kiehls tinted moisturizer, powder, eye liner x 2, favorite mascaras x 2, 2 bars of soap, my fav shampoo, a razor, hair wax. Oh and a couple things of eyeshadow, plus my blush!  I WON’T GIVE UP MY MAKEUP! arggggh!
18. My toothbrush and toothpaste
19. Vitamins
20. Can opener
21. Spatula
22. One of my kitchen knives
23. Plastic storage containers – I can put stuff in them as well
24. My favorite spices – lemon pepper, basil, dill, and parsley
25. My pillow – minus the water
26. 2 things of stamps
27. Accordion style paper holder thingy
28. A couple of my favorite pens – I’m anal
29. A laptop with mouse
30. Digital camera with a bunch of extra SD cards
31. If I have space, my portable hard drive
32. My favorite books
33.  Journal
34. Gifts for my host family
35. Photos of my friends and family 🙂
36. Shortwave radio – I heard this is a must, considering how much I listen to the radio – yes
37. Outlet converter
38. Water bottles
39. Alarm clock
40. Something to carry food home from the market

That seems like a lot of stuff, but I have confidence that I will be able to smush all that into 80 lbs and two bags. Hopefully?

Anyway, I feel really guilty for now having to keep this all a secret. I don’t want my new office to get all huffy that they hired someone who might be leaving in over half a year. I am very much looking forward to this adventure though. Lastly, do you really think I can squeeze all that stuff into two bags? I mainly got this list from two different sources – a girl over in Africa right now and a book about the peace corps written by RPCV.