House Progress!

Thank God, we are making progress on the house! Mr. X commented today that we're finally unpacking. (Five years we've been in this house--five years!--and I'm finally getting through the last few untouched boxes). Tonight, we moved a bunch of stuff out of the home office and set up the desk we bought for Mr. X at I.k.ea.

I've been sloooowly dredging through all of our junk. We have very little storage space in our house (tiny closets, no basement or laundry room) and way too much stuff. And because of the continuous remodeling we've been doing for the last five years, we haven't been able to get to all of that stuff. But it's starting to get better. Every room in our house is actually functional right now--all the major projects are done, and none of the rooms are under construction. Right at this moment, we're both sitting at our desks in the office. You have no idea how amazing it is that we actually have a home office where we can both sit and have reasonable work space.

Even though it's been a pain to go through all of the junk, some if it's been kind of nice, too. Tonight, I finished going through the boxes of old pictures, knick-knacks, and the stuff that would be in scrapbooks if I ever had time to put it in scrapbooks. It's been good to think over the good times from the past (and even some of the rough times) as I'm getting ready to move into a new part of my life.

I found a card my grandma wrote me when I was in college, and just seeing her handwriting made me happy. I found a gift I made for my other grandma when I was ten (it was a little plaque, and she wrote my name and the date on the back--my grandpa gave it to me after she died). I found the letters and drawings my baby sister sent me when I was in college, cards my friends sent when I was devastated over a breakup, the piece of scrap paper where I wrote down Mr. X's name and phone number when we first met.

You can see why it's taking me so long--some of this is great stuff, but there's a lot that isn't that special, or, to be more accurate, doesn't have the same meaning for me right now as it did in the past. So, I've parted with about half of it. In a couple of years, I'll probably be ready to let more of it go. But, for now, the things I've kept are the reminders of how blessed I have been. Sometimes I forget. Right now is a good time to be reminded and to appreciate that I have amazing family and friends who have shown their love for me in a thousand small ways over the years.

And if anyone has ideas for where I can store the roasting pan and stock pot that I only use on Thanksgiving and that are too big for the kitchen cabinets, or where on Earth a good place would be to put the 50 pounds of flour and 50 pounds of rice Mr. X brought home from S.a.m's Cl.ub one day, any help is appreciated!