My name is Sarah and I'm a Pack Rat

...but I'm trying to change my ways. Last night, I went through a large, overflowing shoebox full of old cards, postcards, letters, and notes. It was a larger-than-normal shoebox because I think it held a pair of Nike cleats I bought for my last season of high school softball. I can't think of any other time that I've bought Nike shoes. Anyways, I've been accumulating STUFF in that box for years, and although I've cleaned out most of my other random high school memorabilia and old stuffed animals in the last year or two, I put off this project for some reason or another. I finally decided to tackle the job last night as I was watching TV (the first 1/2 hour of Extreme Home Makeover and the Season premiere of The Amazing Race! mini update! - The hot and buff Korean brothers, Erwin and Godwin Cho, started out slow and almost got eliminated, but pulled off a 7th place finish. Sadly, the two teams that got elminated last night were the Muslim friends from Cleveland and the Indian couple. They both seemed really nice, and that definitely decreases a lot of the diversity on the show). It took forever. Here are some of the highlights:

- I think the earliest birthday card I found was one for my 12th birthday, and I have no idea who its from. Name doesn't even ring a bell. I can't even remember the name anymore. But seriously, its 11 years old!!!
- A 16th birthday card from R.C., my sister's boyfriend when she was a senior in high school. HILARIOUS. I think all it said was "Happy birthday Sarah" or something else really generic and boring like that. Its probably funnier if you knew him.
- Numerous graduation cards from my 8th grade graduation.
- A whole bunch of notes from Junior High, written front and back on looseleaf paper, with some of the neatest handwriting I've ever seen. That would definitely be Jena Wang. I wonder what she's up to.
- A whole bunch of letters my Mom sent me in college that were usually accompanied by care packages or checks. These aren't that old, but I definitely put them in my "keep" pile. They're short and sweet, and usually mention the weather in California, encouragement about picking a major, staying healthly and eating well, and random errands that she is about to go do after sending the package. My Mom is adorable. I'm going to keep these forever.
- A birthday card from my 2nd aunt on my Mom's side, who passed away last year of cancer. There are about three words in the card that are in English, and its grammatically incorrect. I can imagine my aunt painstakingly writing out each letter, and it makes me tear up. She was my favorite aunt, she thought I was an angel and so "chak kae" and she made me the best snacks when she came from Korea to stay with us. Another keeper.

All in all, a nice walk down memory lane. I kept a little less than half the stuff. Hey, its better than nothing. The pack rat is still alive, but not kicking.