Spring Break project

It's spring break this week. I've put my manuscript to bed (let's call it a long nap) for 5 days so I can tackle something entirely different: the house. Actually, the basement is the primary focus of my attention. By the end of the day on Friday I would like to have done the following:

Tuesday
1. Clear out the junk in the rec room, or at least sort it into an orderly-ish pile in the middle of the room.
2. Purchase paint and other supplies.
3. Buy dining room table.

Wednesday
4. Prep room for painting, i.e. tape off
5. Prime and paint the basement

Thursday
6. Paint the basement

Friday
7. Install shelving
8. Buy cabinet for basement
9. Organize stuff on shelves, in cabinet

Here's what I have to work with...trying to not hyperventilate...

















SUNDAY UPDATE
Mission: complete

New house, same problem

Yesterday marked the four-month anniversary of us moving into our new house. Almost every day I say to Ray, "I can't believe this is our house!" and with good reason. It was a durn lucky find (no, make that ridiculously lucky find) in our price range, and luckier still that the legal mess surrounding the house dissipated through the course of closing. Miraculous really.

So last November we moved in to this beautifully preserved 1920s brick Tudor, more than 3 times the size of our former home. Lucky ducks! Yet, four months later, why does the house feel like we're still living in 1000 sq feet? I noticed last night that many surfaces of our main living space, the main floor, is piled with books, art projects, toys. There is always an item or two of toddler sized clothing on the living room floor, and toddler sized pajamas crammed next to pillows on the couch. Package of diaper wipes on the coffee table. The dining room does not yet have a dining table, but instead is the parking garage for the ride-on-top firetruck, the tricycle, the trains, and the doll stroller. Our kitchen table, where we eat most of our meals, seems to permanently keep glasses and napkins from the previous meal.

Since we're not in a position to give our child away, and we are (mostly) responsible adults, this has got to stop. We have closets now, cupboards, a basement for godsake! We have places to put all this stuff if we just took the time to do it. Granted, weekdays are a flurry of activity from dawn to dusk and beyond, but if I could just carve out a few minutes to get a grip on our house, it would make a difference. Neither Ray nor I like clutter, but somehow we're overtaken by the idea that we're too exhausted to pick up. To be honest, Ray does more than his share, but as for me...I cry foul! Suck it up, you slacker!

This morning, I sort of had a some time when I didn't have to study, so I've been picking up, reorganizing cupboards that we hastily loaded when we first moved in, and trying to make sense of the mess. Now if I could just stop writing about the problem, and get back to it...

Rediscovering Carl