I call it never-neverland

I am heading into the basement to purge our lives today. I got done with the newspapers just in time to take the kids to school this morning, Cole has to go to preK at noon and then they all need to be picked up at 3 pm, so there is no sense in trying to get any running (like groceries, which we desperately need!) today. The day is just too chopped up to do that without turning it into a frenzy.

So, off to the basement. We've got a back room down there underneath the stairs and off the laundry room that we call the "pump room" -- b/c the pump for the well is in there. It is the official dumping ground for things that otherwise have no home. One corner is the cold pantry -- canned goods and stock-up items that don't fit up here. The other corner has a big storage thing that I stick misc. Cub Scout stuff and other odds and ends, plus a shelf for the rest of the crafty items that I used to have time for. There is a sump pump hole along one wall and of course the pump for the well takes up a good chunk of space -- and the rest of the floor is just, like I said, "Dumping Ground". It honestly, haunts me, but most days seems like such an overwhelming job, that I avoid it. And, it's easy to avoid since that area is not a thoroughfare area of the house, but more of a destination. It is off underneath and behind the stairs, so you can almost pretend that that whole little corner is not really a part of the house.

I need to move the table that I have in the laundry room into said pump room. This table is where I used to do some scrapbooking and is still stacked with paper, stickers, tools, etc. It needs to leave the laundry room so we can get a deep freezer we acquired into the laundry room & out of the garage. Especially now that I have venison in the little freezer and would like to fill the rest with some beef here, soon. My other thoughts behind moving the scrapbooking, is that if I get it all moved into it's own area and organized again, then maybe I will actually work on some scrapbooks. I started them in 1998 and stayed current thru the years until Cole came along in 2004. Now, that poor boy has only a couple of 2 page spreads in a book and the rest of the pictures from '04 and on are either in a shoe box or stored on the computer! Cole thinks that he is the baby in the book labeled 2002. Which kinda works since all the boys look alike as babies! :)

I am going to publish this post and head down there with some 55 gallon trash bags.......... one for garbage and the others for Goodwill. Our house is just too small to store all the junk down there. It's nasty, overwhelming, stressful and just plain silly. My plan is to try and implement my laundry plan from a previous post. I may not jump into that plan as drastically as I blogged about there, but something has to be done about the mountains in the laundry room. Anything that looks like it has any value can go into some tubs to be toted to the barn for resurrection at a spring garage sale. The rest if OUTTA HERE!! The toys, mostly Rescue Heroes, may be given to a few friends/relatives (beware!!) or stashed for the garage sale. I know there is also a $17 Christmas Tree down there -- only used once, many suitcases, some coats that fit no one, etc., etc., etc.......... I wish I had done this before it got so cold and I could do a real "Clean Sweep". You know, haul it all outside and only bring in what I was keeping. Oh, well. I think Goodwill is open in the evening, so I can still get rid of this stuff before it migrates back in here. And, the dumpster at the church next door is always open, right?! :)

Wish me luck -- I'll post good news if I make more than a dent in all that clutter today! :)