Boxes, boxes everywhere

We've been in our new apartment now for two weeks and we still haven't unpacked everything. We have most of the essentials out: food, cups, silverware, some clothes, books, TV, bedding. There are two small plates we are using until I get to the boxes of dishes.

For three years I was living in apartments with dishwashers and walk-in closets. That's what's good about apartment complexes. You just had to take your dishes out of their boxes, toss them (gently) into the dishwasher, and just put them away. We could hide the unpacked messes in the massive closets until they could be tended to.

Now we are back to washing dishes by hand. I did this my whole life leading up to our time in Texas so it shouldn't be a big deal. But here's the thing. I wicked hate washing the dishes. Sometimes I can put on a good CD and zone out and get it done without thinking about how much I hate them but that's been hard for me because we have TONNNNNS of dishes. We really should scale back. Does a family of three (with one of them eating with his own to-scale utensils) really need sixteen plates, forty-eight mugs, five sets of glasses, fifty-two plastic tumblers, and seventeen bowls? NO! Did I think of this every time I saw cute dishes on a store shelf and thought, "Ooh, cute dishes!"? NO!

Dishes are on my list of things to purge. I feel a yard sale coming on.

When doing laundry last week I also separated out two boxes of clothes I want to consign at Material Objects in Portland and some to donate to a women's shelter. There will be more when I finish with the boxes of clothes. I've been proud of how realistic I've been with the packing and unpacking so far and how I am finally letting go of things I just don't need and that're just taking up room.

I got a lot of my art and craft supplies unpacked yesterday and was really excited about things that had been packed away when we moved at the beginning of my pregnancy and have been packed since. I forgot I had a lot of this stuff. I have so much stationery. It's sick.

And beautiful. I am not purging my stationery or art supplies. I can't wait to start making things again.

I am really tired and should go to bed soon. But will I? NO!