40 Bags - bags #31-35

The garage. I worked pretty hard in there today, and got about halfway through. Since I also did the Spring Spruce-Up in the yard today too, with some help from my boys, I am thoroughly worn out, and saving the other half of the garage for another day.

I got rid of several "outside" toys, a leaky cooler, some trash, and quite a few old paint cans. The "donate" box is already dropped off at the Goodwill, the trash is out on the curb waiting for trash day tomorrow, and the hazardous waste (partially-filled paint and polyurethane cans and some old fertilizer) is waiting patiently for me to find out where to take it.

I swept up a lot of leaves, pine needles, and dead bugs. June bugs, spiders, and mayflies. I definitely need to get a bug man.

Since I'm not done with the garage there aren't any pictures to show, so here's a look at a beautiful red daisy in one of my cleaned-out-and-freshly-mulched flower beds.

40 Bags - bag #30

Bag #30, can you believe it?

My closet, again. This is the "before" pic of the long shelf in my closet. It's not bad, in fact I would say that it is organized and tidy, but there are a lot of things in there that haven't seen the light of day in many, many years. It needs a good sorting through.

I was totally right about this stuff. After sorting through it I realized why it had remained boxed up for so long. There was very little of anything in this pile of mementos that I was happy to look at. Going through those things stirred up a lot of old feelings of failure, embarrassment, shame, grief, and sorrow.

I kept what few things I might someday want to honor by putting into a scrapbook, and pitched the rest. I don't feel better about it yet, but the stirred-up feelings are still fresh. I'll give it time, and then I know I'll feel better about unloading the remnants of a very unhappy time.

Things I tossed:

• yearbooks
• a few birthday/thank you cards from people I don't remember
• old journals full of crazy
• old pictures of unhappy times

Things I kept:

• Birthday cards, including one from my uncle while he was on his mission. He passed away over a year ago. It made me feel good to remember him. Another one was from a Junior Sunday School teacher that I don't remember, but in the card she said she would never forget me. I wonder if she did? I hope not, but in any case, I'm keeping the card. Another from my great-grandmother Amy - she wrote "To my Amy-girl." Another keeper.
• my first attempt at crochet.
• a book full of remembrances from Jason's funeral that includes a lock of his hair, and the tiny onesie he wore as a newborn.
• old school certificates and awards and pictures.

I suppose I might as well acknowledge that I have reached the age when anything from my childhood is old. Ah, well.
Here's the after pic. I think the two boxes of seasonal decorations from the spare room closet will eventually be moved to this space, since all the Christmas decorations already live in my closet. It makes sense to have all the decorations in one spot, right?

Shelves!

I got the shelves installed in the laundry closet today. They are much sturdier than I thought they would be; they are actually very strong and, I hope, durable.

I hope that over time I will get to the point where everything is organized, and convenient, and pretty. That will only come by actually using the closet and seeing what works and what doesn't. Some things I know already. For example, it's prettier to have all my cleaning rags in a basket, and it's more organized to have them all in a basket. But it's not convenient to have them in a basket. It's extra work to have to take a basket down and look through it to find the right size rag rather than just grabbing one off the shelf. And it's more convenient to put the clean rags away if they aren't in a basket. I have to balance my desire for a tidy and cute appearance with the necessity of making my work in the house as uncomplicated as possible. After all, my home is where I live and work.

I have one or two more "final touches" to add this space, but for now it's done!