Boxed out

We have reached the over-saturation point, that moment when the house gets so full it starts spewing American coins and sheets and dishes out on to the lawn. We are drowning in boxes. We have discovered that this is a tiny, postage stamp of a house. We are wishing the container had done a few more rounds of the globe so that we could have added on to the house in the meantime. Tonight we were all so grouchy that everyone sat on the mattress on the floor in my bedroom (new bed arrives Saturday) and yelled at each other.

I think/hope that tonight is the lowest point.

And, before you feel sorry for us, let me say that the sun has been shining like mad, that the breeze moves through this postage stamp cottage so beautifully, that the almost-full moon (our third) woke me up last night convinced that it was daytime. And that tonight we went to our first salsa lessons in the little memorial hall with matai wood floors and windows that open to the sea. And that just before bed I finally found the box with Aidan's pjs AND our old pillows--nirvana!

The best part has been unpacking the pictures. Floods of memories in each bubble-wrapped package. The worst part has been unpacking the crap we never should have packed in the first place, thinking about the carbon load of the toaster oven I thought we'd thrown out before we left. The strangest item: two iced cupcakes, now so deeply spotted with black mould that Aidan thought they were chocolate chips. I remember being sad when those were packed; they were such good cupcakes. The thing I was happiest to see: the kitchen aid, which I used today to make oatmeal honey bread. The biggest frustration: the labelling the movers used on the boxes. We have dozens of boxes marked "ornaments" which tends to mean books, and dozens more marked "books" which can be a compilation of things from books to toilet paper. I shudder to think what is in the boxes they marked "misc".

The pictures tonight are all from yesterday when I felt cheerful enough to take pictures. Today the progress has been too slow and I've been too grumpy (the picture of me smiling really dates things). Tomorrow will be better, I'm sure, because the pile, while huge, is shrinking.

I hope that wherever you happen to be, there is quiet and serenity, and not a single box in sight.