As I said before, moving is like Judgment Day for pack rats. And I'm realizing just how much junk I can live without. But there's something that's causing me a little consternation.

When I went to Puerto Vallarta a few years ago, my souvenir to myself was a small shampoo bottle that I poured the shampoo out of and filled with sand and water from the beach at the hotel -- from the Pacific Ocean. It was my own little piece of the West Coast back East. And I kept it on my dresser for years. But now that I'm moving to Los Angeles and finally getting out West, it seems almost pointless to hold on to it when I'll be only a few miles from the Pacific Ocean all the time. But yet, a sense of sentimentality keeps me from tossing it in the trash, since it's a reminder of where I've come from and the fact that I'm finally going ahead with this move.