Saturday, July 25, 2009

THE BIG CLEANUP

Toys that are no longer played with
or came from Happy Meals
Clothes that have stains or holes in pits
sweaters that have pilled

Papers, papers everywhere..
Those get stuffed in boxes now
I can't deal with that
I just may have a COW.

Pile of socks to be sorted
Pile of clothes to be hung
The bathroom project aborted
I'm not tall enough..even on the top rung

What time is it?
I'm behind!
I haven't even made it into the kitchen
Nevermind the den..
When will they be here?
Why am I trying to impress my kin??

They'll find me lying among the debris
a peaceful look upon my face
Hannah Montana on the laptop
of the brownies...not a trace.




Hee hee...ok, don't judge. I like "Hannah Montana"..its a fun, cute show...

Countdown to relatives in two days...

Nothing like an impending visit to make you suddenly be dissatisfied with the state of your home! LOL

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Momentos, Mold, and Moments to Remember

We have a detached garage. This garage was bone-dry when we moved in. SO bone-dry that we stored boxes in it. We got lazy and trusted it over time and simply placed boxes in it on the floor until we "had time" later to organize it.

Yeah, right. You ever tell yourself, "I'll do it later when I have time," and ACTUALLY ever have time to get back to it?? I really should know better by now...

As Murphy's Law dictated, a storm blew some of that tarpaper shingling stuff off the roof. We got a drip or two. No biggie we - first-time homeowners - thought. Its just a drip or two. We'll get to it "later" when we "have money."

You see where this is going, right?

We never have money. We don't have it NOW. We won't have it when NOW inevitably becomes LATER. Also something I should know by now...

And I've now learned - a drip or two? VEEEEERY important.

These tiny drips humidified the entire inside of our garage. These tiny drips seeped under cardboard boxes and made homes built out of mold and mildew. These tiny drips brought with them ROT.

My Mom is coming to visit from Far Away. She has come at Christmastime for YEARS, but we've decided to try summer. More to do. Prettier weather. It'll be fun! The only thing we didn't count on is usually when she comes our sad dogyard (We have two loveable dogs..)and weed-plagued flowerbeds are covered with a beautiful layer of snow. Instant seasonal decorations, courtesy of mother nature. Tada!

Noone has a reason to go to the garage. Its COLD out there!

Well, its summer. The garage is unfortunately a wet, nasty pit due to our bad judgment of not fixing it "yet". The yard is better this year than it has been, thank goodness, but we still have weed issues and a dogyard without the pretty snow.

Now, my mother wouldn't care about ANY of this. She's just happy to see us. BUT I care. Who wants their Mom to know...er, I mean THINK...they live in a icky pit of an ooky garage and has to hack thru the weeds to visit?? Not me. And don't get me started on my peel and stick (mostly peel) kitchen floor...that's another blog.

So, today we rented a dumpster from the city and started purging the garage. I've thrown away things today that I swore I'd never part with. But I had no choice.

I've thrown away wet and moldy kids' books....kids' clothes...dh's books including a big Military encyclopedia book he's had forever...some Beatles posters (not collectibles)...a collectible book of dh's ("Star Wars")... and worst of all I had to chunk a box of my memory stuff. I only managed to save the top layer. The bottom layer was wet, and moldy and gross.

I moved a lot as a kid. I always took my momentos with me. I was a saver even back then. I kept momentos of everything. I guess it comes from knowing that it was all transitory and that at any time my Dad might go "Let's go on an adventure!" and we'd move.

But I tossed it. I had no choice. I figure its just less crap for my daughter and son to go through someday when I pass. But it had some of my writing from when I was her age and younger and a little older....and a spiral notebook I used to plan my entire wedding and beginning expenses to start our apartment and life together....It all got tossed.

The most fun things we've found so far: Ninja swords that my husband bought FOREVER ago when we bought things like that (frivolous); and a glass milkjug stuffed full of pennies sealed with tape wrapped around and around the head of it.

I gave the pennies to my daughter for helping us today with cleaning and with her brother. She's THRILLED! LOL

I think ten - fifteen years ago I'd have cried my eyes out over losing my momentos. Now though, in my late 30s and going through the things I've been through in my 30s, I can see that (and I'm going to get totally corny here, but hey its true) the best momentos are the ones I carry with me on the inside and that all this detritus ...all this STUFF we all insist on carrying around with us in our desire to remind ourselves and others that we were here and were alive...its all going to end up as trash our children have to throw out and in the very end as DUST.

NOW that's not to say we shouldn't save ANY momentos. I don't plan to stop or toss the things I was able to save. BUT as I get older I find I save with more care....place more value on pictures and experiences and things like that. So, I'll keep my momentos, but I'll know that in the end its the relationships between us and the world and the people in it...and our LORD... that truly matters.

Corny over...for now.