Tuesday, August 31, 2010

This Is NOT Christmas

I don't know who said it first, but the arrival of all ground/surface/sea possessions does not remind me of Christmas at all.

Our skill in growing boxes can't be denied.
Sure, there are lots of boxes and and unwrapping and things; for example, we planted some box plants yesterday morning, and look at how fast they sprouted in our back yard.

That is about one-third of our emptied boxes, which we threw into the backyard to make more room. Then Mother Nature thought it would be funny to let it start raining. I'm still laughing.

And I guess like Christmas can be, the whole day was stressful and overwhelming.

The delivery truck arrived around 10 a.m.ish with four sheds...er crates, and perhaps six Spanish-speaking Mexicans to unload them. Then the parade of boxes begins. One by one, a Mexican brings a box through the front door, angles it so one of us can see how it was labeled, and then make a decision on where they should take it. In Spanish. Of course, as good as our pack-out guys were, they didn't always do the best job labeling the boxes. And after the first two sheds...er, crates, were unloaded, it became more a matter of just finding space for them.

Then the real fun begins, which I suppose this is the "Christmas part" begins. The joy of opening and unwrapping all of the boxes. Oh, and the trying to find a place for everything.

Now maybe it was the past two months of living mostly out of suitcases and the welcome kit, but I grew accustom to living a bit of a minimalist lifestyle. I kind of miss those days already.

Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of my stuff. But if I forgot we owned it, odds are we really don't need it, or probably don't really want it. Kind of wish we would have taken more time going through our things before the packers arrived so we could have moved more things into storage.

For example, we have three sugar bowls and cream pitchers. I like my coffee black, and Natalie seldom drinks it. And speaking of Christmas, we have Christmas-themed salt and pepper shakers. Actually, I think we have an entire Christmas-themed kitchen that will be stored somewhere until December arrives and put away after New Year's Day.

I like to remember my Christmases as a big breakfast, opening of gifts, and then playing with the new toys and enjoying some family time. Yesterday was a little heavy on the gift-opening and a little light on all of the fun parts of Christmas.

But hey, I got my coffee back, so all and all, it was a good day.

7 comments:

  1. When we got our boxes from Oakwood, they were all labeled either "kitchen" or "books"--the downfall of moving from a small apartment.

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  2. Dealing with soggy boxes does not sound very fun :( Good luck getting organized!

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  3. We have some remarkable similar pictures from a few weeks ago. I will have to put a post up soon. It does get better when most of your stuff finds a spot it belongs in the new house.

    Maybe you should save a few boxes, dry not rained on ones of course, and every time you run across something that makes you ask "Why did we ship that?" it you can just toss it in the box and when pack out comes around again in a couple of years you can just send those boxes to storage. Maybe I should take my own advice!

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  4. great post! Sounds like you need a donate box! Too bad you don't have a housekeeper bec she'd be happy to take the stuff off your hands (just teasing). Anyway good luck getting organized! Love the analogy (or lack thereof) to Xmas.

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  5. I recommend asking your mother to come visit so she can unpack and find a place for everything. That worked for me.

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  6. But you have coffee...*trying to look at bright side here*....

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  7. I agree with Alcaniglia- Although I guarentee 99% of the shit you can't find a place for, probably came from her to begin with. Especially the Christmas salt & pepper shakers. That sounds like a mom stocking stuffer to me.

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