Paper overload!

I recently moved my desk and had to temporarily relocate all the crap that has accumulated on it and oh my!   I've always had a paper pile, but its gotten really bad now.  Not only is it in piles, its in bags.  Its on my dining table and the piano and we can't even eat dinner at the table now.  A part of me wants to just throw the bags out.  I haven't looked in them in the last 6 months there can't be anything important in them right?  But the nervous side won't let me, just in case there's something!

This picture doesn't truly do it justice, there's more that I am just too embarrassed to show!  A friend told me a funny story about how her piles were taking over her dining room ( sound familiar) and she had friends coming over and moved her bags to her car...I would totally do that!

I am going to be traveling soon and don't wish to return to this mess, so my goal is to start chipping away at it over the next few days.  Let's see if I can get through it!

How do you handle all the surplus mail, kids artwork and school forms and keep your sanity?