Skeletons in Your Closet?

So I was highly motivated or perhaps driven by an insatiable urge to organize this past weekend. (As you can see, even at 18 months I had a keen sense of organization; me with science fiction, sewing notions and some unidentifiable objects all grouped into one suitcase.)

I'm in the process of incorporating another person into the house and we need storage space. So off to the farm I went to pick up this closet organizer I had when I moved off-campus for my one semester of independence.

I arrived at my sister's mowed her lawn, played a game with Miki on the deck, dropped part of the game between the deck boards, took the deck board off, retrieved the card, killed the battery on her drill, got my mom to get my dad's drill, finished putting the deck back together, and had a picnic. Very productive day, but no where close to getting the closet. Next I went shopping with my mom and sister, by which I mean I fell asleep in the backseat of the car while my mom and sister went shopping. =)

Finally we arrived at the farm, where my mom and I had to negotiate who should decide what we were to do, both of us insisting the other should make the decision. Finally we compromised and decided I could decide Saturday and my mom would decide Sunday. =)

We found the closet, washed it and loaded it into my car... minus the hardware... we knew this to be a potential risk. Who separates the hardware from the boards?!? Who!?! We prayed it would turn up in the search, but alas, no hardware. =( And thus I am left to guess what type of harware I need... on to the mission to find hardware. First stop Walmart. (success... now when I get back to Edmonton I'll see if I acquired the right stuff; it's a bit like a treasure hunt)

Anyways, back to the skeletons. After loading up the closet I felt compelled to go through some of the boxes in the shed. My friend Kathryn, and my new roommate Sarah, inspired me to depackratify. =)

So opened up 8 boxes in total I think. To my displeasure, however, I encountered some unpleasant, but not unexpected surprises. Unfortunately someone left the shed door open and farm mice seem to have a keen sense for detecting open doors. Needless to say, many of the boxes showed signs of mouse habitation, thankfully many of the boxes were also free of these signs. =)

I found my wonderful polyester dress that I wore in college, my mom wore before me, and her aunt wore before her, and so on and so forth. I was heartbroken a couple of years ago when I thought I had inadvertently donated it to goodwill. Our joyous reunion was much appreciated by my mom, though my dad seemed somewhat confounded.

In another box, I was happy to see my missing Mountain View Water Treatment Plant vest that I had misplaced. Only to be horrified seconds later by the gigantuous holes eaten from it by those pesky mice. =( Needless to say, that garment was burned. We had a wonderful bonfire that night.

Now what do you suppose the next box held in surprise? You're right! Curled up under a fold of blanket was the skeleton of a long ago perished mouse. =( Of course I called my mom over to inspect it and we spent many a second discussing the effectiveness of mouse poison and how doors should just be kept shut in the first place. =)