I was going through yet another box this evening in my unpacking mode, and I came across two of my “memory” boxes, with stuff from when I was growing up. Things like my pin collection, school photos, the rulers the school gave us in elementary school that we would then draw all over. Just hilarious. I even found my old scrapbooks, my Olympic scrapbook, my music scrapbook and my all-time favourite: my Steffi Graf scrapbook. My friend Patrick and I had a contest going in high school, to see who had the biggest fan shrine in their bedroom. Mine was to Steffi, Patrick’s was to his girlfriend (my apologies to his wife), Debbie Gibson! By Grade 13 it turns out that Patrick won, but not that much.

Anyways, I ended up taking mine down and pasting all the photos and articles n’ such into a scrapbook, and that’s what I found tonight. I had a good chuckle as I flipped through it. I found the acceptance letter I received from Queens in 1992, the program from my high school graduation, and even the program from an ice skating show I went to featuring Torvill & Dean! I was having too much fun going through the box tonight, but the upshot of all the sorting was that I was able to consolidate two boxes into one. Very nice. I’ve still got a few more boxes to go through, and as I’m coming down to crunch time for Sunday (that’s when I’m having my housewarming party), I may just have to start using them all as seating! I just realized tonight I don’t have that much seating around here, and of course I have no money to buy any, but besides that, I don’t want to actually buy anything in haste, you know? So I guess I’ll have to figure out something by Sunday.

Okay, so it wasn’t the photos themselves that took me back, but rather their content: my beloved old, used audio cassettes! You remember them, we used them before CDs and mp3s. In preparation for my move, I’m starting to go through my stuff and purging the unwanted, as there’s no sense in bringing along stuff that’s not needed. At any rate, I had a blast going through these boxes (there were 2). I salvaged all the mixed tapes I made (I was a big fan of the mixed tape, mostly for me, but I had ‘mood’ ones that I’d pull out depending on what mood I was in.) You know those days where you were sad because the boy (or girl) you liked didn’t talk to you in between classes? You’d pull out the good old boot tape. On those days where things were going well, you might pull out the dance tape, or the rock tape.

You’ll see by the pictures that my tastes were a-l-l over the place, and they still are, which I like. That means I’m never bored of my collection, and there’s always something interesting to listen to. One day I’m sure I’ll get rid of the mixed tapes too, but for now, I’ll keep them safe, as they’re still filled with lots of memories, you know? Although I did salvage a few of my retail tapes too, like the very first one I ever bought (Platinum Blonde’s Alien Shores — great album!), and a few of my foreign language ones I haven’t yet replaced in CD. And I even rescued one particular one that I have to send to a friend as a joke, because it’s just too funny (I can’t tell you what it is just now, because he reads this blog too, and I don’t want him to see what it is before he gets it in the mail! I’ll edit the post after he gets it so you can get in on the joke too.)

Definitely a nice way to spend part of the evening, reminiscing and having fun.

This weekend I went through some boxes from my parents’ house. Normally that would’ve been a boring exercise that I wouldn’t bother telling you about, however I came across some things that I’d totally forgotten about.

Like a couple of notes I’d received from a guy I liked in high school. We’re still friends now, 15, 16 years later, which is why it’s so funny. There was a whole thing about his top 10 songs, which included ones that are now considered classics (like Poison, Tesla, and a Debbie Gibson–I forget exactly which one though). Then there was a “Go Habs Go!” doodle, which is hysterical, because he’s only one of two other Habs fan that I know, which was an oddity growing up in southwestern Ontario.

Or like my scrap book from the 1988 Calgary Winter Games. Now that was a blast from the past. All these figure skaters I’d pasted in, or skiers, or medal ceremonies. Aah, since the 2006 Torino Winter Games are coming up, it’s gotten me in a patriotic mood. Go Canada Go!

The best find was some love letters between my parents way back when. Oh the drama! My parents got married at Old City Hall in Toronto while my mother had come to visit! They were on vacation and decided to get hitched. Granted, they’d been dating for like 7 or 8 years at the time, so it wasn’t such a strange notion, but if you knew my mother, it was an extremely out of character thing to do. I found a letter she’d written after she went back to Europe, on their one month anniversary (yes, she actually wrote that!), and it seemed like a scene from a soap opera. As my parents are no longer alive, these letters are absolutely wonderful to have, and I’ll definitely be keeping them. I’ll have to find a better place to store them though, so they don’t get ruined.

I even found a photo of my mother as a teenager with her parents, which is another priceless thing, as I never met my grandfather (he passed away before I was born). Or the GQ photo of my father taken in 1954 in a mohair coat smoking a cigarette next to a fountain in Paris. Just classic! I’ll have to find some nice frames for those for sure.

What wonderful things have you found in your travels through the clutter in your house? I’m sure you’ve got some good stories, so drop me a line and let me know!