Tuesday, July 01, 2008

satisfaction

Many of you loyal readers will not appreciate the magnitude of my joy upon the completion of Phase One of this project, but let me try to explain. I have been wanting to clean out our shed for at least the last 3 summers. Now, our shed is Where Things Go to Die. Since my recycling is a sickness, I could never throw out the kids old toys, or clothes, or broken gas grills, or plastic seed pots, or just about anything else that someone, someday, might find a use for, if they tried really hard. So I'd put it in a bag in the shed. Our shed is fairly large-- maybe the size of Mike and Katie's garage-- so I had plenty of space to put a second bag on top of the first. Multiply exponentially, and you get a sense of the job I just tackled.. Or to put in a way that might evoke more of a picture: I opened boxes today that have not been touched since we moved in. Seven years ago. Before we were sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. Yea. A long bleepin' time ago.


Weather Boy kindly offered to do the first dump run today so I could keep working. It looked similar to this pile, which is going to be a huge pain to deal with since it is raining, again.... but whatever. I'm on a mission. I will succeed.

The back of the van is filled to the max with boxes of clothes to donate. I don't have the energy to yard sale that-- I'd have to sort them by gender, size, quality, and I need to conserve my energy for the rest of the stuff that needs to go. And it is all going, one way or another.


The bright pink door that you see to the right has not opened fully in years. Today, I can not only open it but I can also walk behind it! There is still a fair amount of stuff to put out there for the masses to come and pick through (which will probably be July 11&12, if you're interested). Whatever is left at the end will be taken to the Free Store, or some other similar location. I figure every thing that someone else takes away is less for me to haul off.


I am celebrating with a Lemon Drop Martini (Ina Garten recipe). Satisfied, indeed!

5 comments:

Wendy said...

And all these years I've bemoaned the fact that we have no storage, but now, I'm thinking, I've saved myself a days' worth of work (every seven years :), because I have to sort through and get rid of stuff regularly. There's no where to put it, otherwise.

Unfortunately, that also means the girls' bicycles are rusted with being left outside, and my (more expensive, and hopefully for life) bicycle is sitting in my office, because we have no storage.

The Buck Shoots Here said...

You are totally lucky than you know!

:)

Mike said...

There's nothing like the satisfaction of a job too long delayed.

Yesterday while clearing brush I cleaned out not one, not two, but three old Christmas trees. So many memories!

Way to release your inner Martha.

Katie said...

I have a closet that needs to be organized. It became a catch-all after I moved in last summer and it's only gotten worse. Your post has motivated me. Maybe after we get back from Martha's Vineyard...

By the way, I am a couple chapters into
"Remember Me." In a whimsical sort of way, I find myself reflecting on my mid twenties when struggle and challenges were different. Every time period is unique, I'm realizing.

phenomemom said...

I appreciate the magnitude of your joy!