Clothes & Friends

Oh clothes, how do I have so many of you?  And why do I feel like you are all my friends?  

I have my old high school and college friends that aren't quite as cool anymore but have such sentimental value. 

There's my social event friends who only come out on special occasions, and while the memories are usually great, they are usually a bit uncomfortable and make me miss my homebody friends. You know the ones...yoga pants, tees, sweatshirts.  My bffs.  I miss you guys now that I have to dress "professionally" every day.  But we'll never part, my buddies, and on weekends, you're always the first ones I turn to.   

Then there's the friends I made while pregnant and postpartum.  Oh you guys are very forgiving and easy going.  The only problem is that you're not always the best at encouraging me to get back into shape.  

But that's what my work friends are for.  I would have to say that we're really more acquaintances.  We get along, but sometimes you judge me too harshly and don't leave room for me at the lunch table.  That's when I sneak back to my postpartum or homebody friends.  They'll always take me back, no questions asked.

This weekend, I decided that I needed to break up with some of my pals.  I have too many!  I needed a clean start and I only wanted to keep the friends who make me feel good, push me to be healthy and fit, and don't always talk about the good old days.  It was very difficult letting some of you go.  But you're just not that good for me anymore.  There may come a day when I wish I hadn't lost touch, but I'll just have to put on my big girl pants and go out and meet other people.  

 So I purged, and cleaned, and donated and sold.  I even sorted through all of my kids bureaus.  After 5 hours of hard work, I donated 6 bags of clothes, "sold" (gave to the second hand store to try to sell) 2 bags, stored one bag of 18 month clothes, and passed along a huge bag of girl clothes to my niece.

And it felt so good.  Seeing my closet and my kid's rooms makes me feel like a million bucks.  Isn't it interesting how in giving, we receive?  I hope I can stick to my No New Friends Clothes Policy for awhile.  I've got some reconnecting and catching up to do with a lot of old buddies instead.