Cleaning for the Cleaners...and Pondering Mortarboards

I'm sitting here as the carpet steam cleaner guy preps some rooms in my house. Nothing makes me see all the stuff scattered around my floor like the carpet cleaners because I have to really pick up and vacuum before they come. It's been two years or more since I had the carpet cleaned, so this is overdue. My family used to joke about "cleaning for the cleaning lady," but having cleaners come out is definitely a motivator to deal with items I don't even see anymore.

Went through an old trunk in the infamous garage yesterday...found WWII papers and orders. That's okay. But I did come across some English papers from 1934 and 1936--my grandfather earned A's and kept them. I know I still have some OLD school assignments, but I'll have to consider, as I get older, how to streamline those types of mementos. The room I'm sitting in now has a bag with not just my high school mortarboard, but also my college and grad school caps. Do I really, really need all three to remember the events? (I do love that I wrote "Adieu!" in masking tape on my high school hat.) I graduated--it happened. I've gotten jobs as a result. Perhaps now's a good time to part with at least one...some kid can buy it at a thrift store for a costume. I'm not against keeping some things--but when I'm pressed for space and trying to leave less behind, I want to be thoughtful about how much I leave, let alone schlep around when I move in the future.

Okay, so the truck engine that runs the steam cleaner isn't working right...someone else might need to come out to do the job. Hopefully this can get done today and I won't have piled things onto furniture for nothing!

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mor·tar·board noun \ˈmȯr-tər-ˌbȯrd\
1
: an academic cap consisting of a closely fitting headpiece with a broad flat projecting square top
2
a : hawk 2 b : a board or platform about three feet (one meter) square for holding mortar

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mortarboard?show=0&t=1341523239