Luggage downsize

Last night we pulled out some suitcases to start considering what to bring with us as we head out on vacation. It's a it of a split vacation: we start with a week in our old house, sleeping on foam rubber (that we need to buy) and borrowing dishes as we pack up our house in Westchester in readiness to turn it over (now unfurnished) to our new tenants. We want to get it completely ready to sell it next spring, because we are tired of dealing with it and we have made the final determination that if we ever return to the US and live, it won't be to the school district where our current house is located.

Then we will head upstate for almost two weeks, unpack into our storage unit, and spend time with family. But the day we get back, we need to leave immediately for a family reunion in Southern Germany, where we will then spend an additional week. So I need to think about what we will need, where we will need it, and what the weather will be like. It's complicated.

We generally go over with suitcases within suitcases, bringing back far more than we take with us and I expect that we will do so again, as we load up on items that are not findable here (here I come, Crystal Lite and brown sugar) but this suitcase was in such terrible condition it's just not worth bringing back: I wouldn't trust it to survive baggage handling as a stand alone suitcase, so why bother (see the broken handle and ripped fabric?).

In addition, while the girls were putting away their doll clothes, I was able to discard: an empty box,

some cardboard picture corners (a real down size because they were there for "future possible use",
a Princess tattoo was used now, rather than save for later:

and while digging through bags, looking for doll shoes, we were able to pull out a handful of squashed candy and other detritus that went into bio and into trash:

Another good day.