Mysteries in the mess

As we prepare for the movers to arrive this week, my days are peppered with interesting discoveries:

The key to my bicycle lock, found in my desk drawer, the very place I searched for it last summer. It was MIA for so long we had to cut the lock off the bike.

A corduroy bootie that my now 12-year-old son wore as a baby. Missing its mate, of course. How did this end up in Belgium? We moved here when my son was nine!

More than 30 tapers, 100 tealights, and 20 pillar candles. Um, do you think I have enough?

In addition to all the art I brought over from America, I bought FIFTEEN framed pieces in Europe. Four in England, eight in Belgium, three in Italy. Plus a Belgian tapestry from Brugge and three framed Delft tiles from Holland. Can you see where my shopping priorities are?

How did I end up with more than a dozen rolls of  gift wrap? There's also a gigantic Rubbermaid box of gift wrap in storage in the U.S. I think I need to give more gifts! Or buy less gift wrap. Whatever.

Do I really still have left over Winnie-the-Pooh plates and forks from my 10-year-old's first birthday?

How many baskets of seashells does one person need? Should I throw them away or bury them in the backyard for archeologists to puzzle over in the next century?

Why is there a Trojan in my desk drawer?

Does anyone use diskettes anymore?

Is my personal CD player collectible? It was the first one put out by Sony.

Ah, so that's where all my sunglasses disappeared to.

Explain to me why I have three jars of pimentos in my pantry.

If I throw out this glove, will the mate turn up tomorrow?

Is there a support group for people who own this much Tupperware?

How will I function without my desk--the spot in the house I lovingly refer to as "Mission Control?"

Hello! Another box of candles?!  Should I have a bonfire tonight?

Holiday decorations take up so much room. I need to become a Jehovah's Witness.

Can I be sedated and not brought back to consciousness until we've crossed the Atlantic and the house in Virginia is set up?

January 13, 2008

Comments

[Manictastic]

Cleaning out houses can indeed deliver surprises. I'm wondering what else you are going to find that you never thought possible. Keep us updated!

[Lynn]

I love it - it's like an archealogical dig!! It will be fun to see what else appears!

[RD]

I like the idea of burying your seashells and changing the historical record of the planet! (Wasn't Belgium under water at one time?) I think this is the reason everyone should move every few years--just to clean house. Either that or let the kids do it once you're dead. I'm often tempted to just light a fire to most of what's in storage. We could use all your candles.

[Claudia]

"Why is there a Trojan in my desk drawer?" - - ROFL!!! That's priceless. Don't you love it? The things we accumulate. God KNOWS what I would find in THIS house if we had to move.

[stuckheretoo]

I, for one, want to hear the story about the Trojan when you figure it out.

[V-Grrrl]

Um, maybe my Bic Stics were practicing safe sex?

Or I put it there to keep my paper clutter from reproducing?

Or maybe this has something to do with reading Neil Kramer's blog?

[Di]

Lol, my sympathies.

[furiousBall]

well that's better than finding some magnums in a drawer... or wait, is it?

[Nance]

YES, the glove WILL turn up. Remember my missing grey sock and AWOL tan sock that I blogged about a long time ago? I FOUND THEM! They miraculously turned up in an all-out assault on the boys' laundry bins over the summer.

[Anastasic Beaverhausen]

Tealights. I'm afraid to look in my kitchen cabinet for fear they've multiplied while I wasn't looking. Where did they all come from?

[Fold My Laundry Please]

"Why is there a Trojan in my desk drawer?"

Well, you see, when a man and a woman love each other very, very much...errrmm...and once they're married...oooooh...they decide to show their love for one another by...well...go ask your mother!

[Kate G]

When I cleaned out our Michigan kitchen before moving to Brussels, I found 18 bottles of different vinegars in the pantry, ranging from Heinz white to exotic imported varieties. My husband, who's the cook in the family, had some 'splainin' to do . . .

[Tera]

Haha, great post! I can see you're getting down to the nitty gritty....just a little bit 'romantic' isn't it?! I say, yeah, def bury the shells under the bonfire!

Groetjes! Good Luck!

[Peter]

Same experiences here (cleaning out after the AC incident). I found old bills addressed to several houses I used to live in, none of them in Antwerp, Belgium.

Why do we collect all this stuff is beyond me, but yes, many of us do.

[amber]

Oh my gosh. LOL! Now I want to go purge.

:)