Boxes

You would think after being in the house for two weeks that there wouldn't be boxes everywhere.  That we would have unpacked most of the stuff and found a place for it and are starting to get on with life as normal.  Nope, not the case.  Not even close.  Last night, while I was typing my I'm-starting-to-blog-again post, Charlie was unpacking boxes and organizing things with a fervor.  Okay, I don't really know how much organizing he did because he just said he was going to put stuff in the unfinished part of the basement and I haven't been down there today, but it seemed like he was doing a lot.  It may have seemed that way because I wasn't doing anything, but the house does look a little better today.  Even Andy noticed, which is a big deal for a kid that notices nothing.

So this morning I had a renewed energy to unpack boxes.  It goes in phases.  I can live in chaos for only so long before I can't do it one more second and need to attempt to make the house look better.  The first thing I did was unpack the last couple boxes in the front room, so that if anybody came to the door they would not see a box when I opened it.  Surprisingly a lot of people actually do come to our door.  I've had more solicitors in two weeks here than I did in a few months in Texas.  Now my solicitors won't think I'm a messy person.  Okay, why did I start there?

Next I tacked the boxes in the eating area.  I'm not going to say anything too nasty about our packers, because very few things have been found broken and those that were are insignificant, but their labeling has much to be desired.  I opened two boxes that said Holiday Decorations and Easter Decorations.  Yes, I won't lie, those things were in the boxes.  A very small percentage of what was in there, but they were there.  There were also serving trays and other kitchen items that I forgot about and was even surprised to see when I opened the boxes.  The amount of free space I have in the kitchen at this point is severely limited.

I also opened a box in the bedroom this morning that was labeled Hats.  I didn't look all the way through the box, but on top were all of Charlie's ties.  I didn't see a single hat.  He's been (half-assed) looking for those since we moved in, never would he have expected them to be in that box.  You know, since you don't wear ties on top of your head.  It's that kind of stuff that stalls the momentum.  That and the fact that looking at Facebook or chatting with the neighbors is way more fun than opening boxes. 

I gave up on boxes and started on organizing.  More specifically, getting all the stuff off the kitchen island that has been sitting there for two weeks and driving me crazy.  I threw stuff away, put things in the kids' rooms, and moved it to other places.  Not that much of it actually got put away, but my counter looks a million times better.  And for me, if my kitchen is clean than I am at peace.  It's not like I cook a lot or make anything fancy in the kitchen, but I like my counters clean and my sink empty.  For a small time today I got just that.

We're still not even close, but I'll have a little more patience for it tomorrow.  Plus, I pledged to Charlie that I would have all the boxes in our bedroom opened and put away by tomorrow, and I hate to prove myself wrong.