the problem of boxes

Moving. Ug.

First you have to find the boxes, (and more often than not its 20 minutes into packing when you suddenly realize "Ahh! I have no boxes!) so packing comes to an unexpected and unfulfilling halt. Once said boxes are located the problem is fitting everything into them. It comes down to the bitter end when one begins to think...."I really don't need this, but what if in a month I need it and think, 'dang it I wish I would have kept that!'" or "this is a perfectly good cord/pensil sharpener/lamp/pair of jeans...why would I throw this away?" or "its a gift, I feel guilty just thinking about putting it in the trash" and so on. The next step is realizing how many boxes there actually are and coming to grips with the fact that you have to move them down four flights of stairs. (my arms still hurt). Oh! and theres the labeling part. Boxes need labels right? It starts off with things like "Books", "winter clothes" and slowly progresses to "desk stuff", "kind of random" and finally to "stuff I dont really need". I honestly labeled one that this year (im pathetic, i know).

Things start lookin up when the boxes are transported to their new location, but then, oh ya, I actually have to take all these inside. Now the smart thing to do would be to take them in slowly, and unpack them one by one. Nope. Its always, bring them all in and I will unpack them all at once and make a huge mess everywhere! There are the few that go into storage, but inevitably its the box full of books you put on ebay 2 months ago and none of them have sold until now, when they are all buried God knows where in the back of the storage unit somewhere.

Finally, when everything is unpacked, and things are starting to look like home again (except different), there is still a problem. 20 boxes sitting in the living room, waiting to be put in the dumpster, but who wants to do that?