Update

Still slogging along. My emphasis has been on the rolltop desk and sorting through paperwork from the Hungry Heart! Slow, slow, slow. 4 hours work resulted in 2 bags of trash. Sorry, no pics this week.

I figure as long as I don't stop eventually it will be quite pleasant down there.

Stick-to-itiveness!

I have worked in the basement on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Treasure in the form of classic stereo speakers were donated to Goodwill on Monday. They appreciated the donation. Seven more cardboard boxes went to recycling. Three yellow bags of garbage are waiting for Thursday.

I have found books the kids wrote in elementary school, sheet music from tuba practice, birthday cards from my father and other small treasures. Fred came down on Sunday and sorted and pitched a few things and helped me get the stereo speakers to the truck.

Photos on Thursday.

I'm thinking with all this effort I'm just about halfway done!

Whew!

Progress Not Perfection

This is the landing. It still has the materials for redoing the laundry room and some miscellaneous stuff but it is improved.

This is the progress on the roll-top desk. I am emptying it out completely and it is slow going. There are a lot of interesting things in this desk from the past. It is hard to see the progress but I am making headway.

This is the back side of the shelf Mike assembled this weekend. It is very nice! It is standing near the doorway from the "storage room" into the kitchen by the stairway. The next picture is of the same shelf and for some reason I cannot get this picture to stay rotated when I upload it.


The story continues below!

Can You See A Difference?

High Cost of Help

This is the currency of decluttering help! Or I should say the residue of the currency! It is a high price to pay but it is worth it!

Tuckered Out Crew

Decluttering can be exhausting! Sometimes just thinking about it is exhausting. The crew took a time out this past weekend to relax and plot strategies.

Captivating, aren't they?

21 Days Later

The decluttering project came to a halt for a period of days. Then it was re-established and over the past week 5 bags of trash have been hauled to the curb. 17 cardboard boxes were hauled to the recycling center. Other improvements were made also but you will have to wait for a later blog to see them.

Progress, not perfection!

Project Trash and Treasure - 06-11-08

The schipperkes are being very patient with all this time I'm spending in the basement. Of course they do need to bark every time I bring another bag up the stairs and put it in the garage. And they are still waiting for Melissa to come home. I think in another month they will start to accept that she is not coming back to squeeze their feet, howl with them and give them an occasional bath.

Here is this week's haul.





This Thursday finds 6 -30 lb. garbage bags full of trash at the curb. Out of the basement for good and forever.

I'm realizing as I throw things away that I have to find a method for not allowing so much junk to go down there.

We need to cultivate an attitude of discernment about acquisitions and discard more stuff immediately.

Elemental Interference

Sunday morning found our efforts floating in water. The storms that swept through mid-Michigan on Saturday night brought 1/2 inch of water into the front of the basement.

I don't have a picture of the two water-vacs full of water that I vacummed up, carried upstairs and threw away.

It is difficult to see the water but I tried to photograph it for the blog post.

Onward!

Visible Results.

This is the first photo that shows progress. I did not snap a photograph of the room before we started. This is what we call the "storage room" and the floor was covered with boxes piled three deep. You could not see the floor at all.

This is how the "storage room" looked after about 7 hours of work!

I plan for this trend to continue. Volunteers of America is pleased. East Lansing Public Works Garbage Workers are not.

Significant Efforts!

Mike came down to East Lansing Memorial Day weekend and continued the project he had started approximately six weeks earlier. I helped him when I could, while Jack was napping, or out for a walk with Debbie. We managed to fill fourteen yellow garbage bags with discardable stuff. I did not get a picture of all the cardboard boxes I hauled off to recycling. The count was 15 old cardboard boxes.

It is my plan to document quantities discarded and improvements as they become visible.

Here are the first batch of bags waiting for garbage pick-up. I was worried the city would say there were too many bags. I was delighted when I arrived home that night to find them all gone.

Seeing is Believing!

Mission Statement

Alright, this won't be the sexiest blog, or the wackiest blog, but it will hopefully serve a purpose.
Y'see I have been trying to help out my folks by cleaning in their basement when I am in town. This is no small task.
The idea for this came to me from some wacky weight loss article in a People magazine I saw in the exam room of my chiropractor's office. A woman chronicled her weight loss on a blog.
So why not to the same thing here?

I won't have much to contribute overall, but the stuff that I see as a treasure I will take a picture and post it.

-ed.

Progress Not Perfection

13 bags of trash waiting for pick-up. 10 empty cardboard boxes to be recycled. I'll post pictures as progress is made. I regret not posting an intial before picture but, oh well!

Having some help makes a big difference!