A Big Project Long Overdue

We moved into our house in January of 2015.  A short two weeks after moving in, I started in-home childcare.  I wasn’t unpacked.  I didn’t have a sewing room.  We drug any remaining boxes off the main floor and did my best to set things up the best I could but I was far from feeling like things in my personal life or childcare life were at all normal.

At the time, I had recently quit teaching childcare classes.  I had a stink of teaching classes from about 2004 to 2014.  I very much enjoyed doing it and I think I was very good at it.  But…regulations were changing.  Classes were being standardized throughout Iowa and the cookie-cutter classes that they had moved to weren’t my style.  I’m not a teach to the manual sort of girl.  I had classes that were fun and full of activities but much of that they were forcing me to change.  I didn’t agree with it all…so I quit teaching.

Being we moved in 2015, I had kept my stuff from teaching not knowing if things might change back…not knowing if I might continue teaching at conferences in Minnesota as I had been.  All of that got shoved to the basement…and there it sat.

I had other childcare stuff in the basement.  That all just sat too.

Periodically I bought some shelving thinking I’d organize things.  My hope was that I’d use the basement in the winter with the childcare kids putting ride-on toys down there.  I never really ever completely got everything gone through.

I started time and time again to get things organized.  It never really happened.

After my husband, Kramer passed away in 2019, I had time on my hands and thought I’d finally get to the basement.  I didn’t.

Our son Karl, who was living in Houston at the time, decided to move home.  He didn’t have a house…I was a little needy, so he moved in with me.  He used the basement as his man-cave.  I ended up buying the shelving you see on the right.

Karl didn’t know what I wanted where…I didn’t want to invade Karl’s man-cave so everything just sat.

This spring Karl bought a house and moved out.  The basement was mine again.  I wanted to get it all organized but…it didn’t happen.

Then when I was off from childcare I made a list of things I really wanted to get done while I was off.  Figuring out the basement was on the list.

It’s just an unfinished basement with no real appeal…and that’s okay but, I was tired of the mess.  All of December and almost all of January the basement hung over my head.  I didn’t feel good.  I just tried to forget about it.

Then an idea clicked in my head.  I had stuff for finishing cross stitch in the garage but it was on the highest shelves and I couldn’t readily get to it.  I had season decorating stuff in the basement and I hated that.  I hate carrying the boxes up and down the stairs.  Then is hit me.  The seasonal stuff, except for Christmas, was coming to the garage…and the cross stitch finishing stuff was going to the basement.  YES.  I would use the shelving that was work height and make a finishing station for cross stitch pieces.  Now I was happy…but still tire easily.

So how was I going to accomplish this?

Friday night I looked things over and made a plan of attack.  Saturday night I told myself I was going to go to the basement and work for an hour.  I did and felt much better about it all.

Doing the organizing isn’t what tires me out.  I can sit on a chair and sort boxes.  It was the running up and down the steps that gets me winded and pooped out.  So, I noticed Karl had some wine-making stuff that needed to be organized so I called Karl and asked if he could spare 30-45 minutes on Sunday and he could take care of his stuff.  He was on board.

Sunday I started working in the basement and about an hour later Karl came.  He organized his stuff…and then asked if there was anything else I needed.  I knew he’d ask.  He’s a great guy like that.  By that time I had 90% of the boxes and junk that needed to be taken upstairs in a pile…Karl carried it all upstairs for me.  YAHOO!!

I spent about five hours down in the basement…Rosie …helped.  (That’s a lie…she was a pain).  She could jump up on the couch, jump up the back and walk over onto my work area.  UGH.

Our basement is unfinished and nothing beautiful but it’s going to be perfect for what I need it to be.  I didn’t take a picture at the beginning.  This is taken when I was getting close to being done and only had the cross stitch stuff to put away.

So, this is going to be my work area.  I need to sweep, dust, and clean the counter off but everything else is organized.  I’m so happy.

I had these totes that slide right in.  Before I had these bins on the very top shelves in the garage.  I was trying to lift the heavy totes over my head to bring them up and down.  That was just silly.

This is going to be awesome.  I’m so excited.

I have about 30 minutes of time yet to put in down there…but for now, I’m completely and perfectly thrilled.  It doesn’t look like much to anyone else but to me, it’s a 7-year goal that finally happened!!  I’m seriously so happy.

Going to bed early because I’m pooped is totally worth it.

In celebration of completing my goal I got upstairs and to the computer.  I looked at the time and it was only going to be minutes before Deborah Harry’s bag sale started.  I had talked myself out of getting a bag.  Then I decided that I needed something to celebrate my accomplishment…I was able to get this bag…

I’m so excited…I just loved it as it wasn’t as girly as some of the bags.

So I was doubly happy…a new bag AND a clean basement.  WHOOT!  WHOOT!!   Two things I can enjoy for a long time to come.