Wednesday, April 24, 2013

U is for Unpacking

I have moved five times in the past six years.  First I moved into my college dorm; then into my first apartment; then into the first apartment I shared with Hubs; then into the trailer-cabin on a mountain; and finally into our current house.


By the fourth move, I was literally labeling boxes with phrases like "Stupid junk" and "Clutter for storage."  As a result, by the time we moved into this house, we were the proud owners of two closets full of mystery boxes that hadn't been opened since 2010.  These boxes were packed not when we moved out of our last place, but the place before that.

The worst part is, all this crap is mine.  Hubs hardly has any boxes full of random, unidentifiable stuff.  So there is absolutely no way to slough this task off on him.

This year, I have assigned myself the mission of unpacking these boxes and sorting through their contents.  And I must say, it's turned out to be surprisingly awesome.  Most of the things in the boxes are being donated, but every once in a while I find something I genuinely liked and completely forgot I owned.  It's like temporarily losing all your possessions and then, just when you'd given up hope, finding them again.


So if you want to give your future self a surprise gift without actually spending any money, just box up a bunch of your stuff and let it sit in a closet for three years.  Afraid you won't be able to afford presents at the holidays this year?  Start causing your loved ones' belongings to mysteriously disappear over the next few months, then kick back and revel in the joy* on their faces when everything magically reappears under a thin disguise of gift wrap.

*joy might gradually morph into dawning rage

11 comments:

  1. We have been in this house for over 50 years--it's just the Gypsy in our souls. If there's anything still in a box, it's probably taken on a life of its own!!

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    Replies
    1. You're probably sitting on an Antiques Roadshow gold mine and don't even know it.

      Delete
  2. The sad part is I can relate to ALL of that-- and I just went thru a stupid useless box of crap this morning, trying to get rid of stuff. It was mostly stuff that belonged to The Husband and the kids, so I hope they do not miss it too much.

    And, oh yeah, I hope they don't shop at the Goodwill 3 blocks from our house.........

    (*shhhhh*)

    best,
    MOV

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    Replies
    1. Someday Tall and Short will look back and wonder why they were never allowed to shop at Goodwill...

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  3. The best and most continuously useless presents ever!

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  4. Yeah, I have some surprise packages in my closet, but I know most of their contents. Maybe. I moved about 15 times. I made the last move with a broken back. Packing boxes while wearing a back brace was a new and exciting experience.

    Love,
    Janie

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    Replies
    1. Wow. You win. Not sure exactly what you win, but you win it. Whatever it is.

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    2. I won a divorce and a settlement and no more nasty Dr. X.

      Delete
  5. HILARIOUS! I totally see myself in this, but I have you beat with SIX boxes of unidentifiable crap ;-) New follower here. I'm stopping by from the "A to Z" challenge and I look forward to visiting again.

    Sylvia
    http://www.writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe we should start factoring in the size and weight of the boxes...?

      Never mind, I'm too lazy for that. If I had that much energy, I'd have unpacked the boxes already.

      Good luck with the rest of A-Z! We can do it, we're almost there!

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  6. I've got a load of boxes I haven't opened since 2010, we've been house building, just started unpacking them and loving it, you put it better:)
    #atozchallenge
    maggie at expat brazil

    ReplyDelete