Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

October 16, 2009

It's done. It's finally over.

After years of threatening, I finally did it. I cleaned the damn garage. The last time I recall doing this was some time in 2004 and boy did it get out of hand. Click on the pictures for the full view of what Fibber McGee's garage would look like if he'd had one.Boxes and crap piled crazily here and there, balancing precariously on top of other junk. Holiday decorations improperly stored.
I park on this side of the garage. Every time I opened my car door to get out, I'd smash it into some gardening tool which would then of course topple over, usually against the table, which would then set in motion more crap rolling off the table and onto the floor. I found a squished roll of duct tape under my tire one day.
What the hell is all this crap?
(the 'CASSA-D" license plate was on my old Toyota when I lived in Massachusetts in the late 80's. It's a tribute to Neal Cassady and also one of my fave Dead songs, "Cassidy").
Brian's work boots, last used at the end of the Clinton Administration.
After 5 hours of steady cleaning and purging on Saturday, another 2 hours on Sunday, frequently fogged up glasses from sweating, and many aches and pains later, I finished it. I finally assembled the garden tool holder. Now when I open my car door, it smashes against the holder, but at least nothing tips over or threatens to conk me in the head, like some slapstick comedy movie where the guy steps on a rake.
I swept a fir tree's worth of pine needles off the floor. I had to use the snow shovel to scoop them into the barrel.
Items properly stored. There's even room for the lawn mower this year!

We gave our new next door neighbors the unassembled weight bench and unassembled garden cart. The dream is over, ladies and gents. Brian ain't gonna be liftin' any weights any time soon, nor is it likely I'm going to be killing myself doing enough yardwork to warrant a cart, either. That's OK. The neighbors are a sweet, young couple just starting out. They have the energy for this crap. We don't. They were happy to get the stuff for free and we were happy that we didn't have to load them up and haul them somewhere. We gave the unused, 6 year old bikes to another neighbor for his kids. I took 2 huge carloads of stuff to the Goodwill on Monday & Tuesday, filled the recycling bin and 3 trash cans.

This corner was the worst of all. I'd cleaned the whole garage up to the freezer on Sat. and the last 2 hours on Sunday were devoted to this area. I think that "Weekly World News" would be interested to know that I found both Jimmy Hoffa AND Amelia Earhart in this part of the garage.
OMG I can finally BREATHE again! We can finally fit both our vehicles comfortably again! I can get to the freezer without stepping on all kinds of junk or knocking things over!!
Totally worth the aches n pains. Now I won't have to do it again till 2013. lol

14 comments:

  1. you found jimmy hoffa??? no, way; and all these years i coulda sworn that he was buried beneath the pontiac silverdome parking lot; they poured the original surface on it the day after hoffa disappeared.

    garage looks good; now, keep it that way.

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  2. don't you feel good though... kinda virtuous, like how I feel when I do my paperwork, which I did today 'cos my tax return's gotta be in by the end of the month, assuming the postal workers deliver it to my accountant who then sends it to the tax man...p.s. i think my house could fit in your garage :>)

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  3. pps... and the taxman will see I deserve a big fat rebate

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  4. Would you like to come over here and do our garden shed? At this precise moment in time there is just enough room inside the door to step in..::blush::

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  5. So proud of you!
    That sure looks like a lot of work, but it must be like a breath of fresh air having some space back and everything in order. :)

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  6. Anonymous10:08 AM

    Those look like V's boots from MIB!!!
    Have you been holding out on us Jojo ;0)

    Congratulations on a job well done. Next task, could you tackle my mother's closets please, there's about 50 years of accumulated junk in there.....

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  7. Well done!

    I need to clear a path through my dining room soon so that I can reach the fibre optic Christmas tree in the window and switch it on. I haven't been able to reach to put it away for a couple of years now.

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  8. Anonymous3:32 PM

    Would you tackle my kitchen, please??? The weights and other exercise equipment went when I started chasing five year olds in kindergarten;) Liz

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  9. If you change your mind about not doing any more cleaning/tidying until 2013 I've got a shedload of stuff for you to practise on ;)

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  10. Well done, honey!!! Congrats on the will power and pushing through ;-))

    I am still sleeping on the floor, among cardboard boxes and I fear that's not gonna change till well into next year....I guess that is why I don't have the willpower to try and make it better by just rearranging everything. LOL!

    Kudo's to you!!

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  11. Looks darn good, JoJo! And I know you'll get a small thrill every time you enter the garage for months to come. I finially cleaned out my 12-year-old son's room after more than a year of accumulated mess (that HE was supposed to clean). It was a five hour job. But he was so thrilled with what he himself calls "the miracle" that he has picked up his room every night since then.

    Maybe, having survived his room, I could consider doing our garage next...

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  12. OMG! I'm so freaking impressed! Now, how much would I have to pay you to come and do that for me?

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  13. Your garage is as big as my whole apartment! But this is one reason why I don't really want more space, I know it would also mean more hoarding and more junk. (We're bad enough as it is; yes, I could easily find an equivalent of the boots!)

    I know you feel so much better now!

    (PS: And "Cassidy" such is a great song...)

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  14. I know that must feel good!

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