Other People's Boxes

Weeks before we had an actual moving timeline, someone moved into a house just one street over from us. Not noteworthy in and of itself. Until! I saw a large stack of broken down boxes tied with a bow on the curb for trash pickup.  It was like Christmas morning. (which is slightly pathetic- that old boxes can bring me such joy) I informed The Husband he would be cramming this stack in the back of our car. But check to see if they smell or something, first. Thank you, dear! He begrudgingly acquiesced, I could tell he was none too happy in doing so. I, however, was THRILLED! Being prepared for a last minute move... well, it feels darned good.

In the process of packing up our entire existence... plus the kitchen sink... I could not help but notice some of the quirks of this particular set of boxes. For instance a scant few of them are even labeled. How do you NOT label your boxes? Is it just an exciting game of Let's Make a Deal upon moving in? WHAT'S BEHIND DOOR NUMBER ONE?! Socks! In the kitchen! (applause!)

I am a huge fan of labeling. There's a system. In big print I label the room it belongs in, (ie: KITCHEN) and under it is the actual category of the contents. (ie: spices) It's how I roll. I not only know where my stuff is. But when moving in, I can pile a stack of boxes in the proper location- all the kitchen stuff in the kitchen, all the kids' bathroom stuff in their bathroom. See? Perfect. I also label 4 out of the six sides of a box- it helps when you've got a pile of cardboard in the middle of your bedroom, so I'm never flipping boxes like a rubix cube.

The few that are labeled, well they are down right hilarious to read/attempt to interpret. Like what I can only distinguish as "BED RAISENS." Holy... what?! The N might have been an R, but still- dude spelled RISERS wrong. You fail. I'm pretty sure it's a guy because most of the other labels are "FOOD," Which is so important to men, they break out the sharpie.

My newest find was a box with "CHINA AIR" scrawled on the front... and in parenthesis: "SMELL" I desperately want to know what China Air smells like, and just why it warranted a box so large I am putting the majority of our towels in it. (yes, I'll admit. I smelled the box. It smelled like cardboard. Does China smell like a stale cardboard box? I'm guessing yes.)

The guest boxes almost make the move bearable. I'm excited each time I fill up a box and must head out to the garage to fetch another. What random curiosity will I find next?!