Clean out the basement

Since I had to move all of her stuff from the storage unit here. Now I can start to go through it, though and then dispose, donate,etc. After that, I am going to start going through my stuff again and see if I can trim that down again.

of old toys and clothes to the Salvation Army today.

I’ve also managed to sell a few old computer parts that were lying around.

Really trimming the fat, here.

has been taken away. No more fish tank stuff for a fish tank I no longer have. No more dirty rug. No more boxes and boxes of broken and unplayed with toys.

Two loads. About 20 uhaul boxes worth.

Gone.

And so much room down there now.

loads have gone to the recycling center today. $20.00 well worth it to get rid of so much crap.

Not sure when to call it complete, though. Should I call it complete before or after I sell off the furniture that I’m looking to get rid of?

Today the kids and I went down and sorted through a ton of boxes. We must have at least 15 that can be tossed out. Where the basement once was full and difficult to move through, now we can actually set up the weight bench and there is a wide passage.

A few things left but almost there!

Last week I got the boxes stacked neatly and got back about half the floor space. Today me and the kids ( them mostly ) sorted through a bunch of boxes of their stuff and managed to get a bunch of trash together.

I am hoping to get to the recycling center next week and dump out a bunch of of. This spring, If I can get rid of the entertainment center and the corner desk, I will have room to setup the weight bench.

So sweet!

I would like to clean out the basement – getting rid of things I don’t need, eating the food in the pantry/freezer before I have to throw it away, organizing everything I want to keep.

Last night I discovered where my ex-beau’s cats (living with me for some incomprehensible reason) are pooping and peeing. Not in the litter box, alas, but in the crawl space under my kitchen floor and accessible through my…yup…basement. So, I cleaned up lots of smelly stuff, about which I’ll spare you the details. Suffice to say, it smells better down there.

Took the eight glasses mentioned earlier to Goodwill. And that’s all she wrote for the basement cleanup.

Small steps, right?

I’ve cleared out one cabinet, held my breath (spiders abound) and pulled it away from the wall, bringing some of the wall with it. Will obviously need to get some mould and sealing work done. Also dragged a bag of clothes to Goodwill and have packed up eight green ikea glasses with which I will do the same. So, small steps but at least I’m going down there and not pretending the basement just doesn’t exist.

The basement, the ugly, ugly basement. Filled with crap, scary crap that no one wants to deal with. I keep imagining a clean room, a room with a corn stove and a cozy couch. Another room, a girls bedroom with an aquarium. I place to use the projector, a place to scrapbook…... I know it is possible! All things are possible! What is the problem? Laziness? Procrastination? Time? Lack of resources? A little of everything? Augh! We have been in this house for 10 YEARS (in December)! Why do we still have un-packed boxes from the move? It hangs over me like a dark cloud.
We worked on the garage yesterday and that gives me hope. I garage can be a place to park the car again! It can be a clean place with organized hooks for things! It can be a temporary place to move the things out of the basement that we are ridding our selves of. (Until NuWay comes to get them)I am going to go through 4 boxes this weekend… that is my goal. I am going to take them onto the sunny deck and THROW MOST OF THAT CRAP AWAY. Or recycle it responsibly. :-)