So currently everything we own that
we got from New Zealand is crammed into the basement and my parents in
law place. Usually Id be bummed as I was back in June when I had to give
away or sell a lot of stuff that I had spent a significant amount of
time buying and collecting. The boxes that were shipped from NZ all sit
stacked neatly under the bunk bed my father in law WAS working on. But
you know what? Im really excited. We've got a house lined up. Its got a
working gas fireplace, insulation throughout, a washing machine and
dryer, the living room is really decent, the bedroom is tiny but we've
got a spare room to use as an office and the kitchen is pretty neat and
best of all - no earthquake damage! Even more cooler is that we live
next to a forest and bears are apparently as common as squirrels.
My
mother wouldn't be surprised about this but every now and then (usually
once or twice a day) I 'sneak' down to the basement and just stand
there staring at our stuff with longing. I used to do this from about
the age of 10 when I first started collecting homewares and the like. I
started off with shoeboxes and would fill them up with particular
mementos I knew I would enjoy as an adult and the odd gadget. Those shoe
boxes were my first glory box in a way. Then in my teens as I earnt
money myself I started to buy serious kitchen items like utensils and
teatowels. My shoeboxes were placed in larger boxes and by the time I
started polytech I was buying and storing and hunting to no end. It
became like a decade long game to find the item that matched perfectly
my idea of what I was looking for. The majority of items were
meticulously organised in numerous large boxes that I stored my my
mothers attic. And every time I added a new item, Id climb into the
attic to place it carefully with the rest then sit there with the torch
going over in my head the inventory of items, occasionally, looking for a
specifically wrapped item, unwrapping it, then holding said item as I
visualised (ok ok fantasized) how the item was going to be used in the
future, usually involving a more lengthy fantasy about a particular
recipe. Then when I was finished Id carefully wrap it up again and put
it back exactly the way I found it. Those boxes
did take up quite a bit of space which my mother loved to remind me,
BUT as Id say to her now, at least I was organised and I kept it out of
the way in the roof instead of leaving my room looking like New Orleans
post Katrina or chucking it all crazily into the garage. As a result, on
the day I moved my stuff into my first house with my husband a week
before our wedding, unpacking those boxes with all those items that I
had spent years investing my time and money was like at least 5
Christmas mornings all in one.
*Sigh!!
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