Chaos: Defined as...
1. A condition or place of great disorder or confusion.
2. A disorderly mass; a jumble:
So, with time comes clarity, perhaps that is what is meant by "Hindsight is 20/20"! I am now able, after three months, to reflect on our most recent trip back to the States this past June. If you read my previous blog, I wasn't kidding when I mentioned 'cranky kids and even crankier adults". I remember, back in April, when Mike and I started to plot out how much time we would need to accomplish all that we had heaped upon our plate for this past summer. If you've ever planned or managed an Estate Sale, well then, thank you for your sympathy in advance! "Six weeks should do it" feeling overly confident and "give us time to attend the family wedding, Josh's graduation party and farewell celebration as he heads to Basic Training, organize an estate sale and spend a week or so in North Carolina with my family! " With that, the tickets were purchased and we flew northward with not even an incling of what was ahead of us.
Sometimes it seems like yesterday when we sold our house and crammed our remaining 'stuff' (that which was not parsed out among family members or neighbors) into a 10X10 storage unit, . Pulling down the 'garage-door like' partition, putting the padlock on our buldging unit and walking out of the newly built and airconditioned "LOCK UP" storage facility in Willowbrook, Ilinois, we felt our 'stuff' would be well taken care of until we decided it was time to deal with it again. That time, was this summer and oh what a time it was. I remember trying to talk Mike out of going through our stuff this summer, 'really, can't we just keep paying the monthly fee for the unit?", I asked. Mike quickly did the math in his head, monthly storage fee multiplied by 12 more months, equals, WELL, YOU GET THE POINT! One has to ask, whether one's stuff is even worth the money being forked out each month to keep it.
Our blessings on this trip were plentiful; our challenges, at times, seemed incredibly overwhelming. Our home church, Community Presbyterian Church, blessed us with the opportunity to use an empty house next to the church for the summer.
We were also fortunate to have family willing to help, be it watching the boys, tagging items for our sale, cooking dinners or coordinating the move of our belongings out of storage and into the church house prior to our arrival (Thanks Chop and Pop)!
Michael and John were happy to discover some of their long-lost toys (hotwheel tracks and cars, animals, both stuffed and plastic and legos). They also enjoyed a bathtub and took full advantage of it, I've never had such an easy time keeping them clean with hardly a fuss!
While the kids busied themselves, winding their never ending orange track down and around the stairs, Mike and I had the dirty work of delving into each box and making the sometimes painful decisions as to how to dispose of each item. Mike and I did most of our work after the kids went down (8 p.m. to midnight)...I must say, after a few glasses of red wine, the criteria for KEEP, SELL, GIVE AWAY got a lot easier for me :)
The process of determinging the fate of our stuff, for me, was no big deal - One quick glance over, and my decision was made... the item ending up in the appropriate pile - for Mike, an entirely different process which was grounded in thoughtfulness and memories.
We lived for two months in a state of chaos, laundry all over the place, dishes piling up in the sink and the four of us in the same bedroom, most nights intertwined on our king size mattress. Is it any wonder, we were cranky?
As I started peeling away the tape, opening the cardboard boxes which had held our possessions for 600 plus days, I too began to feel a little unravelled. With every dish I had to unwrap, my hands became stained and dirty from the newsprint of two years ago - I glanced at the headlines from the summer of 2009 and wondered where the time had gone. No time to remeniss - there was work to be done.
Oh, the Rooster plates I just had to have for the kitchen...the everyday dishes from Bed, Bath and Beyond, were too, carefully unwrapped and placed with the other crystal, glass and ceramic wares. Mike and I commented on our dishes and the fact that we never even used them, thinking they were too nice to use, we opted for the old, scratched plates and bowls that he had used in his Chicago condo for over 20 years.
All the kitchen gadgets, placemats, tablecloths, napkins, holiday linens, pots, pans, toaster, irons, they all went out for display and pricing.
Next came the pricing process - thanks to friends and family members who donated their time and assistance. I remember making signs at midnight before the sale, UPSTAIRS - LINENS AND CLOTHING, DOWNSTAIRS: HOME DECOR, TOYS/GAMES, APPLIANCES, PORCH: SPORTS EQUIPMENT AND GARDEN/TOOL SUPPLIES. Certainly if there was an award for the most organized Estate Sale, we surely would be in the TOP 3! I even marked my wedding dress to sell - but there were no takers. I was grateful to a woman who purchased several bags of my business-casual work clothing. Finally, the day was upon us and we opened our doors at 8:00 a.m. with a strong cup of coffee in hand and somewhat of a forced smile on our faces!
As Mike and I reflect, we cannot believe how much of our stuff was what I call 'nice to have' and not 'must have'. I think the biggest regret Mike had was selling the long, heavy-duty orange extension cord. "How could we have let go of such a functional item?" he remorsed. Pictures, knick-knacks, candles and other home decor items had overtaken our life - and I thought I was fairly practical! So, where does this leave me now? Well, I can say, my next home will be decorated in a minimalistic style - less clutter, wide open space for sure.
What did not sell, and there was a lot, was then walked across the parking lot to our Church to include in their Bazaar sale the next weekend. Twin bunk-beds were given to a niece and other items that actually do hold memories for us (the boy's scrap books from their foster family, family photo albums, keepsakes from our trips to Guatemala) were moved into a 5 X 5 storage unit. So, although we did not off-load all of our belongings, we did scale down from a 10X10 to a more manageable 5X5! Of course, we still have furniture and other items stashed with family members through out Chicagoland, (not to mention our car - thanks Barb and Kevin), but we have lightened the load!
The boys were troopers and great helpers! They lended their muscles carrying boxes back to storage and helped dad assess the best way to pack the unit to the top.
The skateboards from cousin Josh were great gifts and the boys enjoyed their first experience at the local skateboard park.
All said and done, the experience was rich in learnings and gave light to things that are most important to us. As we transition back to Monteverde for our third year - we take our summer experience with us and are grateful for the support and family we have in Chicago.
Two months of our life gone, dealing with stuff - unloading, unpacking, classifying, pricing, repacking, reloading, moving, locking up - so much energy put out just moving STUFF around! Perhaps this is a lesson you really can't learn until you live it. Do I miss my stuff? NOPE - you have it one moment, and then the next, it is gone - easy as that! My mind was in the right place and that perhaps, is the hardest of all!
This year will prove to be as unique and rewarding as the previous two. Stay tuned as we continue to make decisions throughout this year that will enrich not only our current lives here, but our future journey - full speed ahead!
So, I can finally say, that we are enjoying the CALM after the CHAOS and are ready for when the tables turn again and turn they will.
Peace,
Signed: S
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