Down and Out

If you're around me this week and I suddenly vomit and fall asleep, don't be alarmed. It's just the cumulative effect of hitting my head eleventy-seven times on ceiling rafters in the past few days. Husband has declared June to be Clean Out the Attic month in the House on the Corner, so every morning we're getting up while it's still cool to spend a few hours of quality couple time under the roof.

Having a gigantic enormous house with a gigantic enormous attic has been most handy over the 30 years we've lived here because we have not had to make a single decision as to whether something should be kept or thrown away. "Just put it in the attic" is chiseled on our family crest, and even though we've made fluttery motions at cleaning out the attic from time to time, we've never been terribly serious about it.

And after a week or so of trips up and down the narrow stairway carrying heavy boxes, walking hunched over under the outside edges, and trying not to swear as I hit my head AGAIN, I remember why we never got serious about it before. Cleaning the attic is a pain.

Oh, we've made some really fun discoveries.

There is the antique bed that Husband bought before we got married, intending to refinish it. This thing is really old--the "springs" are a chain link contraption that I'm sure the pioneers found extremely comfortable.

We also found the car seat all four Boys used, and that we had intended to use for grandchildren before it was discovered that this kind of car seat actually is a death cab for cuties rather than a safety device. The baby gate behind the car seat might have come in handy some day except that baking in attic heat for two decades did the plastic webbing no good whatsoever and a toddler with any smarts would escape this Alcatraz with no trouble.

We found the Tie Fighter Halloween costume that Boy#2 made in one of his final costume-wearing years, and it had held up pretty well.

And we were pretty sure we had found a treasure when we found this pristine box.

What could it be?

Oh, yay! It's a computer!

Or, rather...

It is the packing material for a computer. A really old computer.

Yes, our attic is filled with treasures. When we have cornered the market on empty boxes and packing materials, as we apparently are trying to do, the price is sure to go up. We're going to make a fortune. 

Meantime, please excuse the vacant stare and occasional drooling. The concussion symptoms should go away within three months.