But mostly, I love unpacking boxes after a move. It's like Christmas but with stuff you've had for years yet forgotten about. Then, just when I think the fun is over, I remember I get to organize it all. WAHOO! See? I am sick. Who likes this stuff?
There's something even more satisfying about unpacking when you only have some of your stuff. Back in May, we went to our storage unit in the States to pick out the stuff we wanted shipped to Manila. Needless to say, it was a hurried and frantic process and we left the facility having no clue what we actually put in the Manila "pile". Fast forward to July and you'd be right if you guessed that we had 100% forgotten what we had shipped out here.
As you can imagine, this temporary amnesia has both an upside and a downside. Downside? LOTS of forgotten essentials. Curtains but no rods. Iron but no board. Vacuum but no bag. You get the idea. The upside? Random shit that I love but haven't seen in years. I have NO idea how some of this stuff got here but I couldn't be happier. For instance, Earl Wyatt Armedadillo (a story for another post) made it. As did The Grumpus Under the Rug, my favorite book as a child.
Which brings me to what was SUPPOSED to be the original subject of this post. But first, since I have go so far afield, if you were packing up all of your worldly belongings but could only bring certain things to your new home, what could you absolutely not do without?? For me, it's at least one photo album/scrapbook with pictures of everyone I love, my favorite shoes/purses/scarves, and legit bath products.
Now, back to the task at hand. What was YOUR favorite book as a child? What did you always force your poor parents to read or what did you read yourself so many times that you wore the edges off and the ink was so faded, you had to "read" from memory? Mine was The Grumpus Under the Rug. I vividly remember my mom reading that to me as a kid and if she didn't do it with enough enthusiasm (which was rare, given she was an elementary school librarian. she wouldn't have been worth her salt if her own daughter was bored.), I would make her read it again. Later, of course, we read it together and then I'd read it by myself when I missed her. I've held on to that book all these years and every time we move, I am always overjoyed to rediscover it. We didn't bring many books here to the Philippines. Kindles and ipads and weight limitations precluded that. But some gems did make it and Grumpus is one. I'd love to hear your bedtime story....stories. What did mom and/or dad read to you?
3 comments:
Awww...I remember this one so well! I probably still know it by heart, you required it so much! and you knew it by heart before you could even read. I can't believe that you still have it! I'm so pleased and impressed. Things like that are so special and sometimes we let them get away. I remember See Jane Run! ha! but I loved those little books when I was just learning to read. These were followed by first, The Bobbsey Twins and then Nancy Drew, once I was able to really get into books. I'm just pretty sure that is where my love of books began and still lives on. And in spite of e-readers, etc.. I still do buy print and still love REAL books!
mom didn't read to me much. I'm told that I loved a book about two crows, one named Joe. My favorites though, and ones I can't seem to get rid of, are my children's encyclopedias. I read them over and over and over.
An old crow named Joe - I love it. And oddly enough, I TOTALLY understand the encylopedia thing. I can remember getting a subscription to animal encyclopedia cards. They'd send you 5 cards every couple of weeks with new animals and descriptions on them. I hoarded those things for years! And Miss Sherry, it does NOT surprise me that you were a fan of Nancy Drew. ;-) You always have loved a good who-done-it!
Post a Comment