I
should probably start by saying this isn’t an essay about moving.
It’s an essay about having no idea where things are. And more
than that, it’s got a few comments that might just qualify it
as a holiday piece as well.
I
was looking for some Christmas stockings, if truth about the recent
source of thought is told. Terry and I had agreed on a no-present
holiday this year, which I naturally decided wasn’t going to happen.
Santa was paying her a visit. But because of the agreement, there
wasn’t much of a way to casually bring up the subject of what
boxes to check to find the stockings. So, I had to look.
I
never found them.
Two
things that might be helpful to understand here.
First,
Terry is a bit over the top when it comes to Christmas. As in,
without going to where the Christmas stuff is stored, I can already
tell you that we have containers for at least six different styles
of trees. At least. The Disney theme, the maroon and gold theme,
the silver and blue theme, the traditional ornament theme, the
special gold ornaments theme, and the nutcracker theme. That’s
six, and I didn’t look. I know there are actually several more.
In addition to trees, there are also boxes with animated figures,
skating rinks for villages and… ok…
Terry
has boxes of garland options. Popcorn and beads and more. Multiple
boxes. Tree garland.
She
also has at least one box with green army men. This joined the
party the year the two boys were playing ahead of Christmas, an
idea came to them about mom’s Christmas village setup, and a village
invasion display was created.
I
can tell you we have Santa hats and novelty Santa hats and specialty
Santa hats.
But
for whatever reason, this year I could not find the box with our
Christmas stockings.
Second,
Terry is massively talented when it comes to crafts. She does
all sorts of things, ranging from centerpieces and floral arrangements
to wreaths and ornaments. It’s not all holiday stuff, but a lot
of it is.
So,
I actually did find Christmas stockings. Not the ones I wanted,
but a box mixed in with the holiday craft supplies. I was getting
desperate, turned a corner and gazed toward the top shelf, and
saw a label saying it had Christmas stockings inside.
Think
about that for a minute. My wife has a box of Christmas stockings.
How would you react to a scenario where you were looking for Christmas
stockings, and even though filled with them the box you found
was not be the box you wanted? (Exactly.)
We
were talking about all of the fun I was having about a week after
the holiday, when we were working on putting some things away
from Christmas and also investing some time in the too-long-delayed
cleaning of the basement. She laughed about the Christmas stockings
I never found. And, we both were amazed when during the discussion
I found two boxes of duffle bags and rain ponchos.
Duffle
bags and rain ponchos. Two boxes of them. Used when we travel
(think of rain ponchos you’d want if you were in an amusement
park… good enough to keep, not something you’d keep out for regular
use), the boxes were still sealed from years ago when we last
moved.
The
basement cleaning has been a project needed, honestly, since we
arrived in this house. A lot of things got the quick stack arrangement
and never really unpacked. For several years… not days, not weeks,
not months… years… I have been thinking about reading a couple
of books. But I haven’t. Because I have no clue which of the three
dozen boxes of books contains the titles I want. And, I have zero
interest in unstacking, unpacking, repacking, and restacking heavy
boxes of books.
Funny
thing is, our organization is pretty good for the most part. I
can quickly locate the fall themed pieces in the craft area, the
different bathroom sets, and the board games. When I really need
something, I know where it is. (I can even point directly at the
thirty foot stretch of boxes to tell you where the books I want
are. I just don’t know which boxes to look inside.)
But
if there’s something you want to keep but don’t need that often,
you might want to think about checking how you label the boxes.
Otherwise, with all of this kitchen stuff, neither of us is ever
going to find the mandoline.