Tuesday, February 2, 2010

a mess from hell

We took on a project this weekend, and it was not pretty.

It involved our scary garage, and boxes, and weird smelly piles.



Pay no attention to the girl in the cookie mobile, we'll hear more about that next time...


These kinds of projects are just so bad.

I don't know anyone who likes them. My husband I inevitably start to bicker about what is or is not worth keeping while the kids prance among the hidden and lost treasure that they will now totally appreciate and use and I don't know how we lived without it all this time.

The worst part is that once you've got more out than in, you start to understand the scope of what you've started, and to realize just what it's going to take to bring this hellish project to any sense of completion. And then everyone starts whining.

but no one whines louder than me
.
All this stuff, so much crap, why am I so attached to all of this? I find it nearly impossible to get rid of certain things, like the clothes that my kids have outgrown and the blankets they were once wrapped in. I imagine that there will eventually be some use for these things, that I'll suddenly become the kind of mom who puts tiny sweaters into shadowboxes, or that I'll remember and retrieve those barely worn sneakers just when a friend's child reaches the age of the perfect fit.
..
We cleared out a ton of shit, it felt great. When we called it a day, the garage looked a lot better.
.
But it's still a mess from hell.
.
As for the stuff? All those boxes of outgrown clothes and sentimental baby blankets and stuffed animals and an embarassing number of castaway shoes? It got packed neatly into the back of my car

.
And deposited where it eventually might actually be of some use
.


in a mess

from Hell


I can't think of a better use for those blankets that once wrapped my babies.

6 comments:

Rita said...

I always feel a sense of God when I have held onto something for way too long and then the perfect match for it comes along and it makes everyone feel better. Excellent choice of a donation, and your working to achieve that goal was admirable.

purging in PA said...

Oh SO true!
Add to that the 6! pair of glasses, child and adult, that I added to the donation pile for an orphanage trip.

Great post!

Logical Libby said...

i am very glad that you went through that stuff. If it were my garage I probably would have just burned it to the ground...

Anonymous said...

Excellent! I never understand why people store junk in their garages and their expensive cars outside on the street. Store your junk in the driveway and I bet it would get cleaned up a lot more often!

Me, You, or Ellie said...

I so love this, Jacquie! I especailly love the photo of the donation box placed right above the photo of the earthquake devestated buildings. The colors are perfect.

Great angle on the whole donation issue.

beth

Me, You, or Ellie said...

What a great post, Jacquie. What a great use for all your, um, stuff. I was employed by you to clean out that garage once, so I can relate. And I'm really glad it wasn't me this time. ;)

I love this. Well done. I think that call *that* a win win win.

xxEllie