The first OMG moment: This happened before we left Brisbane. Under our old Queenslander (which had been filled in before we purchased it) we had a couple of storage rooms and a large open area. And I mean a VERY, VERY LARGE open area which was great for parties. So, we went through our cupboards upstairs and identified all objects and some furniture we no longer wanted and took them down to the very, very large open area. It began to fill so we boxed and labelled items. Then we started to pull everything out of one of the storage areas into the very, very large open area. As fast as we packed and labelled boxes items began to multiply until we couldn’t walk under the house. The very, very large open area disappeared and began to look like something from a hoarder’s TV program.

OMG how did we go from moving into that house thirty years ago as newly graduated university students with only tea chests to use as table and chairs and enough crockery and cutlery for our own use to having so much?

The second OMG moment: My excuse for the next OMG moment is that we lived in that house for thirty years and unfortunately had a number of storage cupboards. So, over time, we purchased items to use at various dinner parties then carefully packaged them away and forgot about them. The next dinner party arrived and we forgot about our previous purchases or we needed something different so of course we had to purchase new items to use for our entrees and fancy deserts. Hence when I finally climbed to the back of the cupboards I found all these treasures which I certainly did not need any longer. We kept the ones that were our style and most practicable for our new future lifestyle.

OMG how much money did we waste?

The third OMG moment: We packaged the rest for garage sales and eventually when we grew tired of garage sales we took them to charity organisations. Some charity organisations were not as willing to take our cast-offs as others. One particular charity was not exactly polite and insisted that we wait while they sorted and then handed back half of our stuff. Let me tell you that it wasn’t rubbish some of it had only been used once and then repacked into its box and forgotten about until we cleaned out the cupboard. However, we were not the only ones to experience this attitude some of our friends who recently downsized also experienced the same attitude from that particular charity.

OMG when did some charities get so fussy?