I think this message, written on a box that I packed up and then moved to the new house more than three years ago, summarizes the entire problem:

CONTENTS: So, yes, you’re reading this correctly: I actually scrawled those words on the top of a box as I packed up the “kind of important stuff” from around my desk “area” in the old house. And, then, just in case I didn’t get the hint from the words “kind of,” I added “Probably not vital.” And then I moved the whole box to the new garage. Here’s my wife’s reaction to the contents of today’s box: “Can we safely say that you’re an office-supply hoarder?”

The evidence, I fear, speaks for itself.

DISPOSITION: The contents included an old-style glass bottle filled with fountain pen ink; sadly, during its time in the garage, it started to leak, and I needed to dispose of it. As you might expect, the box was filled with pens (and refills); I tossed out some of the pens and will assess the remainder over the weekend, as I finally clean my, um, “desk area.” There’s a nice stand for my Day-Timer calendar that could be useful, if an open spot on top of the desk ever emerged. There’s an Associated Press paperweight in the shape of a globe. Nice! That’s a keeper! There are nearly a dozen or so Moleskin-style notebooks that are only half-filled with notes; I will reuse those. There’s a bag of individually wrapped chocolates that surprisingly are still good — those are keepers too. The good news here is that a fairly large box has been removed from the garage. The bad news is that my wife has accurately identified my office-supply addiction. Can an intervention be far behind?

If you’re coming late to the whole “365 Boxes” project, here’s the blog post that got it all rolling.