'Are we taking this...?'

Is the question that rings out across the Rabbit Hutch with increasing frequency. Sometimes it's asked in all innocence. Rapidly following up with 'I don't mind, I know you like it, we can bring it, I'm just asking...' can deflect an argument.

Leaving the question just hanging in the air has a different effect. Adding in the word 'really', as in, 'are we really taking this?' is even more strongly suggestive.

I've gone through this process with TLOML a couple of times already. The old 'Do you really want to hang on to these?' line enabled me to give the boot to some old pine green towels I disliked to an almost irrational degree when we moved from West Hollywood to Malibu.

When we transplanted ourselves to New York I was less successful: 'I suppose we won't take whatever's in that sports bag, will we? After all you haven't touched it since we moved here 14 months ago...' did not rid us of the golf clubs. To be fair, he said there was more chance he'd use them on the East Coast. 9 months later they are still untouched. We also ended up tossing lots of stuff in when we realised there were dangerous gaps in the container - the swiss ball, an office chair, and the bathmat we had planned to jettison suddenly got wedged in.

This next move to London is a great opportunity to edit our possessions. TLOML has a large amount of cool, exotic masks, prints, and, for want of a better word, objets. Most of them I love, most of the ones I don't love I at least have grown fond of, and am happy they will be part of our new home. But I've never got over my initial dislike of this item:

And so, the question had to be asked. 'Are we taking that Mexican harvest thing?' 'The Mayan calendar, you mean?', said TLOML. Well, it turns out it expires in 2012, so we won't need to refer to it any more anyway. (It has been so handy up until now.)

I'm pleased to say it is now tucked away in the Goodwill trolley.

Fortunately for me TLOML is a lot more generous with my stuff. He let me bring this pretty useless glass bottle from the West Coast, for example.

Cute though, isn't it? And while he might raise an eyebrow at the volume of my wardrobe, he never singles items out for deselection.
I suspect when we get back to London and open up my storage unit - and all the crap I put in there over two years ago - the boot will be on the other foot. Just in case, I'm going to go easy from now on. The golf clubs can come to London... I'm saying nothing...