Home Again

My stuff has finally arrived …yippppeee! Of course, now I’m buried under the collective weight of 197 boxes…but at least I’m finally re-united with my things!

We had a hell of a time unpacking those 197 boxes…the skinny old men sent by the packers in Hyderabad took 3 days to painstakingly wrap each shot-glass in five layers of paper (I have a LOT of them…like I have a LOT of everything…so I’m a pack rat, sue me!) The guys unpacking this side were completely pissed off by the meticulous packaging and kept cribbing how its costing them time and such waste of paper, blah blah blah…and I suspect that in their hurry they’ve thrown away some of the stuff without even opening the parcels…talk about bad attitude!

Their cribbing finally got to me and I told their leader (who was complaining the loudest) to look at things in perspective…last time thanks to the shoddy job the US packers did , half of my furniture were destroyed and the company had to pay me five grand in compensation. This time, apart from the missing stuff, only a terracotta pot and a slice of the crown molding of an antique armoire have broken. That shut him up pretty quick, but they did leave without unpacking a whole lot of boxes. I don’t mind really…their lackadaisical attitude was irritating me to no end and I want them out ASAP. So now spouse and I are doing what those over-paid idiots should have done!! As a result there’s stuff on every flat surface in the house…one can barely differentiate between the Toss, Sell or Donate pile…there’s a mountain of debris in the garage…the city won’t collect our garbage because we’re way beyond limit! It’s a wonderful life :-)

I’m quite ashamed of the blatant amassment of things that I’ve indulged in…there’s just too much of everything! So from now on I’m going to turn over into a new leaf and simplify my life…de-clutter and organize! The funny part is I never realized how large this collection of “stuff” had become, simply because I’ve always lived in big houses and everything somehow always managed to disappear in various closets out of my sight. Now that I’ve taken a conscious decision to downsize I realize its easier said than done! Parting with things is hard…like I couldn’t bid adieu to spouse’s collection of National Geographic magazines dating from 1954 to 2003 even though either of us couldn’t remember the last time he read an issue!

In spite of the chaos there’s a sense of calm…there’s something peaceful about being able to sleep on my own bed, use my own towels and eat off my own dishes even if its just two minute noodles! Every thing will find its place and what doesn’t will either go to Craigslist or Ebay. But at least I am home...finally!