Spring Purge

It's that time of year again..... 2 weeks til the yearly garage sale, and I have spent most of the last 24 hours purging, sorting, deep-cleaning, and re-arranging.
Every year, I do the purge, and I can't believe the amount of crap I get rid of, but every year, there's more crap to get rid of!  (Yes, I said "crap".  Twice.  But I've been cleaning all day, so that's just how I feel.)  And I'm not buying more stuff to replace what I've gotten rid of!  So where is this stuff coming from??!  And since I've gotten rid of so much, why does the house not seem any more empty???
GAH!
This year has been an epic purge.  I'm cutting ties with clothes - emotional ties, and obligational ties.  A dress I wore on my honeymoon, a sweater I was given so I feel obligated to wear it.  The pants that were a steal of a deal, but lets be real:  after 4 kids, will they ever fit again?  Clothes I wore and loved when I was working retail, but now I dress up once a week, so I don't really need them.  So many clothes.  I purged 2 boxes, plus about 30 "hanging up" pieces.
I also went through the kids' clothes.  I got rid of anything of Zadie's that I didn't just love, and almost everything Gideon has outgrown.  I also sorted through clothes he hasn't grown into yet, and got rid of anything I didn't love - which was almost all of them, considering we got tons of hand-me-downs.  His 0-18 months now fit in 1 box, rather than 3.  I have figured out for the boys as babies, I prefer them to dress in miniature of what they will wear when they grow up and choose their own clothes (jeans and t-shirts), rather than cutesy outfits.  He'll have lots fewer pieces, but still plenty.  It's back to that obligation to wear thing, just because it's in the drawer.
Now all those things can be in someone else's drawers, because they can love them.
I also did a kitchen purge, and a bathroom purge.  Can you believe people snatch up things like half-used lotions and rubbing alcohol?  I got rid of a large box of stuff just from the bathroom.  Do we really need four different ointments for cuts and scrapes?
Our garage sale is always epic.  People comment that they always look for us to have our sale (at my sister's mother-in-law's, in town), because we "always have good stuff."  (One man's trash, another man's treasure!)  I think it's an illusion, because we always have at least 4, if not 6 or 8, households contributing.  So there's enough good stuff that it overshadows the junk.
And with the cleaning has come re-arranging.  I moved furniture around in our bedroom, and also in Zadie's.  Our bedroom is going to be awesome.  I can't WAIT to show off some before-and-afters.
We're doing a major home improvement project this summer, so part of the desire to purge is so there's not so much stuff in the way during all the work.  But still.  I've learned you can survive without "stuff."  I've not had a toaster for over a year, for example.  (I make toast on the griddle - 8 pieces at once!)  I would rather let our house breathe, bless someone else with something they need and want, and just let go........
Don't you just love spring cleaning?? :)