Unpacking and Pain

We have come to the conclusion (again!) that we have too much stuff. We purged before we left California, and after we got to Colorado. What are we doing now? You guessed it - purging! Again! Brian was unpacking one of our many many boxes of kitchen stuff the other day, and decided that we didn't need 7 spatulas. Or 4 bottle openers. I have vague memories of buying a bottle opener a few years ago because our favorite one broke, but I have no idea where the other ones came from! And the garlic press? I just buy my garlic chopped or minced these days. No need to press what I don't buy. I just wish I had someone to give all this stuff. And another thing -where is this stuff from? Our wedding registry? Our individual apartment stuff that we combined when we got married? I moved into what would be our first apartment about 4 months prior to our wedding. My roommate was very "unique" (for lack of a nicer word), and created a dark cloud over me at a time in my life that I didn't need a dark cloud hovering (has there ever been a time that I do need a dark cloud?), so I moved out. I knew she owned all the living room furniture, but didn't remember that she owned most of what we had in the kitchen, too. I remember trying to cook dinner for Brian and myself one evening, and not having enough utensils or pans to cook with. Not to mention only having 1 dishtowel and no oven mitts. It was an interesting cooking experiment. My, though, how far we've come with our well-stocked house! Pre-marriage I only had 4 spoons, knives, etc. I couldn't wait to get silverware as wedding presents. Sad, but true! That's what I wanted the most. Spoons.

We have a lot of unpacking to do, but have come a long way. I haven't done much the last two days due to a small but impactful injury. I slammed my right index finger in the car door Tuesday morning while loading up for MOPS. I was bringing food for the meeting, and was trying to leave early. Brandon was being a pill and greatly hindering my progress. I'm not sure how the finger got between the door, but it was a doozy! I cried all the way to Boulder. I kept thinking that at my age I shouldn't cry when I physically get hurt, but the automatic response to the pain was tears. And lots of them. Even though I was composed and not sobbing, the tears kept flowing freely for the next 15 minutes. The pain is intense. Half my nail bed is a lovely shade of purple. I might have to paint my nails one of these days. I've only done this one time before that I can remember (in college), and I nearly passed out in the parking lot from the pain. I slammed my thumb in the door so hard that I cracked the nail all the way across. And my thumb got stuck! I had locked the door before shutting it. There I was, freezing in the early morning Monterey Bay fog, fumbling in my purse for my keys! I had to unlock the door to free my hand. A very nice soul who had witnessed the whole thing took me to the nurses office, where I spent the next hour lying on bed with my thumb above my head. My point is (and I do have one, really!) that one seemingly innocuous thing can really sideline your day. Or, as in my case, days. I've been doing more things with my left hand. I'm pretty ambidextrous until it comes to the precision stuff, such as writing or breaking down boxes with an exact-o knife. Touch typing without using my right index finger has been a challenge as well. And I keep hurting myself while putting office stuff on a shelf, or fixing dinner. The swelling has gone down, at least, and I can bend my finger again. But I'm still constantly hurting the poor thing! It's so hard to not just instinctively use my right hand! But still, we are are making progress on all the house stuff. I found Caitlin's lamp bulb today, so she has light in her room. I think we've unpacked the whole kitchen (we're just going to toss the next kitchen box we find, unopened, if we find one!). Tomorrow - who knows. I may have to bag it all and do some Halloween shopping!