The Accumulator

Hi. My name is Lucie, and I...

...I accumulate things.

That movie ticket stub from four years ago? Got it.

Oh, remember that note you passed me in Chem class back in 10th grade? Have that too.

But it gets worse. See, I had actually forgotten about how much of an accumulator I really am, until I came back to Illinois for part of the Summer. I have two things to accomplish before I leave: learn to drive (that's a topic for another day) and declutter. This last part has been lingering around for a few years now, and I'm finally ready to get on with it.

This is how I realized maybe, just maybe, my food obsession started a long time ago.

Exhibit A: A mini box of Frosted Flakes from a trip to Mexico when I was eight. That is, nearly sixteen years ago. Cereal is great, and even better when the box is in Spanish, but really? Oh, and believe me, I held on to this like a treasure for years.

Exhibit B: Let's delve even deeper into the weirdness. Back in the late 90s, I went to a restaurant with my parents where I must have ordered some sort of salad. In between two bites, I noticed a bright blue-green caterpillar staring at me from my plate, and I guess I was pretty shocked.

Stunned enough, at least, to document the event on a packet of sugar and keep it for over a decade. I really wonder what went through my mind at that point. "A caterpillar! Woah! I have to keep a trace of this moment with some sugar and store it in my vault!"

The vault in question. It may be dusty but it kept that sugar safe from harm.

Exhibit C: Now this is priceless. A cookie credit card that actually gave me a free cookie every time I went to Jewel grocery store. Don't you wish that 1/ credit cards actually let you get things for free and 2/ that these still existed for the over 10 year old crowd? You can bet that's plastic I'd be whipping out in a flash.

And, finally, I bring you Exhibit D, found in the red "vault".

Apparently, keeping a printed drawing of Caligula--you know, the very dead, very mean Roman emperor--was vault-worthy. Nine year old girls wanting to be swept away by one of those is normal, right? Just say yes. We'll get along better that way.

Anyway, maybe this way you can understand why I might not be posting and/or commenting as much these days. Decluttering takes time, patience, and a pretty good sense of humor when looking back at how so impossibly weird I've always been.