The Autumn Equinox officially hit our area early Sunday morning last week.
Well, I say early, but the official time was 7:43 a.m. and I wasn’t up to greet it in any way, shape or form.
And that was mostly because it was too early for me and I was still asleep and partially because I didn’t even know the time it was supposed to be “official.”
To be fair, we had actually started our fall celebrations the day before by retrieving the Halloween decorations from the attic.
And by “we” I mean mom, my sister Ashlee, and I.
Initially, I really only imagined that there were only a handful of boxes upstairs.
However, mom dispelled that assumption quickly while also bemoaning the increased box workload.
I happily reminded her that even if we number over 20 boxes that was just a drop in the bucket compared to her Christmas décor – where boxes easily number over 50.
Regardless, part of the surprise surge in numbers was due in part to work my brother did for her.
A few years ago, he spent time installing thicker plywood for the attic floor and shuffled boxes around to get said work done.
That means there could possibly be even more holiday totes in strange locations that have yet to be explored or accounted for.
Still, in keeping with our fall traditions we watched seasonal-appropriate films like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, Trick ‘r Treat, and Casper while unpacking the boxes.
This year, we’ve opted to go through our fall décor and rotate out items we may have not seen for the better part of a decade to donate to Goodwill.
Those items are still in great condition, but the thought process is that if we haven’t missed them or used them in the past few years, then they can bring joy to someone else.
Sort of like spring cleaning but for autumn!
Unfortunately, the other downside to sorting through these items is finding forgotten treasures that need a little work to restore them to their former glory – or to improve upon them.
There are several easy items that just need fresh batteries or a quick cleaning and a handful that need some intensive gluing or repainting.
As crafty people, we’re guilty of holding on to things that have “potential” for greatness and are deemed “project pieces.”
This year, we finally are moving forward on some of those or throwing them away if they’re in terrible shape.
We’ve noticed over the years that some decorations make a return in stores and aren’t too worried with holding onto something broken.
However, there are other still that appeared once and will never be seen again – this includes companies that are now defunct or that no longer carry Halloween décor like Hobby Lobby.
My sister and I even came across some items from our childhood and relived some of the memories attached to them!
My other current thought regarding the decoration appraisal was that if we cleared out room from unused or damaged ones that then we could buy something new.
Mom wasn’t sold on the concept, but I’m hoping she changes her mind the next time we agree that something is cute or a worthy seasonal investment.
The worst case scenario is that I convince her the item is an early birthday present and I might actually get it.
