"Boxes, Boxes, Everywhere...

...in the hall and on the stairs."

This is a line from a childrens' book I bought for Thing 1 when we first moved overseas. Thing 1 moved on to a more appropriate school age book and I used this one with Thing 2 who repeated this line over an over when the movers packed us up in Poland.

And today I sit here as the boxes are stacked up around me. I have realized a few things in the days since our household effects were delivered.

1) We have too much stuff. In addition to the boxes around me, we now have a garage filled from top to bottom, backwards and forwards with stuff.

2) We don't really need any of this stuff. When you are forced to live without your things for 4 months, you realize that you really can live with out it. I don't know if the same is true about my iPhone though. For the last 2 months after our corporate lease expired, we have all been sleeping on air mattresses on the floor. It is pretty humbling, but you begin to realize that you don't even "need" a bed. Although I am very pleased to have my bed (my select comfort adjustable bed that doesn't wake me when my husband moves) to sleep on. In a way, I appreciate my bed that much more.

3) As unnerving as it is to have all this clutter around me, I am pleasantly surprised at what deep breathing exercises and focusing on the bigger picture can do. Those of you who know me KNOW that I need to be in a fairly organized environment. Years of self analysis have made me understand that this stems from the loss of control I felt when I lost of my father. You can't control people, so I control my environment. So, if I find myself under great stress or distress, you can bet that my house, car, and office, are neat and organized. This is my neurosis. It is very hard to not have a panic attack when your form of coping has been hijacked. However, I have managed, and after sitting with these boxes for a few days and lots of breathing, er...hyperventilation), I am no longer bothered by them. They will be going away today if I have any say in it.

4) It is amazing how many memories are tied into these things we own. The few boxes I have opened brought back memories from our life in Warsaw and some things even have the scent of our old house. In one box, I even found Polish dust bunnies that would so annoy me back then - now they just made me smile. This is why people who live overseas end up with so much stuff in storage - the memories of those items can make it difficult to part with them.

Today is unpacking day. It is going to be 87 degrees here today and my mission is to find my summer clothing somewhere in this mess. In fact the only mission I have is to find my clothing, bathroom stuff and kitchen stuff. Everything else can just rot in the garage until our next move this August.

There is a garage sale in my future.