I can’t put it off any longer. I am rapidly running out of time. I leave in a little over two weeks. (Cue the panic attack – how did it get here so quickly?)

About two months ago I tackled the armoire and the clothes in the closet. Several trips to Hope Services and the consignment store later – I still have more than enough clothing. A month ago I cleared out the drawer of nail polish – yes a whole drawer – and got rid of about 50 bottles. Earlier this week I went through all of my makeup and slimmed things down to one small bag.

But I have been putting off cleaning out the rest of my closet – shoes, purses, the storage rack holding all my sweaters, scarves and cold weather gear. It seems so final and more importantly – daunting.

So today I started with the shoes – I figure stages are much easier. Less daunting – maybe. What I learned was I clearly have a problem. Ok to be honest more than one. I a) have a tendency not to throw things away and b) I shop too much. There I have admitted it.

Giving up all these shoes!

Witness the aftermath. These are the shoes I am getting rid of. Yes that’s right. This is the pile I am getting rid of. Note the yellow cardboard box filled with – yup you guessed it – shoes. And this doesn’t include the boots I have yet to dig out from under the bed and the pile of shoes I still haven’t made a decision about. But all in all it was easier than I expected. There were shoes in boxes that I forgot I even had. Clearly this was a long overdue project. And there are still more shoes than I can carry with me when I leave.

On that note I’m going to go wash the dust off and find something more pleasant to do.

UPDATE: Eight pairs of shoes found new homes with my cousin’s girlfriend, four with other family members and the rest will be donated to the American Cancer Society Discovery Shops.