Saturday, July 6, 2013

The Big Garage Clean Out

I'm a total organization freak!  I have a very difficult time living in chaos and clutter.  Now, I'm not saying I'm a compete clean nut, because I really don't like to clean.  As long as everything is neat and organized, I'm happy.

I filled in the little calendar square with 'Garage Clean Up Day'.  The other four people, whom I live with, are completely comfortable with a bit of disarray in their home, so this beautiful, perfect Summer beach day, may not have been the best day to plan a major clean up.  I heard some grumbles and observed some slumped shoulders and a slower walking paces.  I even had one participant who kept disappearing.  The good thing, is that my family knows me well enough to know that once it's on the calendar, the only thing that may get in the way is fibromyalgia.

We started early to try to beat the Summer heat and of course I had the Big Clean Out all planned.  There were four sections created with sheets on the ground.  The keep, sell, donate, and to the dump areas.  The five of us started at the front of the garage and pulled everything out, placing it in it's appropriate area.  One part I enjoyed was hearing the kids say, "Oh, my pogo stick! I forgot I had that!".  This is another great reason to do whole family clean-ups.

Once everything, and I mean everything (including nails on the walls), was removed from the garage, my real fun started.  I got my pad of paper and mapped out how we could organize the things we decided to keep.  It always makes sense to me to have things that go together live together.  The gardening stuff, for example, should all live together and the automotive things should have a space of their own.

On a side note, when my children were old enough to walk, I taught them to clean up their toys by telling them that friends and family stay together.  The blocks all lived in the same box and legos lived in another box.  Barbie, of course lived in her house, usually in bed when they were done playing with her.  Even today, the common phrase that comes out of my mouth is, "I don't think that's where that lives. Please put it in it's home."

About three hours into this process, my legs began to feel like they were filled with lead and my sneakers felt as if they were about three sizes too small.  I kept moving.  There was still about an hour or so of things to do to finish the project.  Eventually, I took my sneakers off and dragged my wooden legs around, wearing my socks.

Toward the end of The Big Garage Clean Out, Ray and I took a quick ride to Home Depot and got some storage bins, bike hooks to hang them and a new garbage bin.  Everything we decided to keep went back, in a logical place.  All the bikes get to hang out, the car wash items have a shiny nice new Rubbermaid home and all the 'sell' stuff is ready for the yard sale next weekend.

I stood back to take in the results of our hard work and it looked like heaven...in a garage.  I could feel the energy flowing much easier.  No more stress trying to climb over a snow blower to get to the cooler for the beach.  No more searching for my gardening sheers to find them under the gasoline covered cloth.

Clutter and disorganization can really weigh you down.  Items that are not used, forgotten about or not appreciated anymore need to be released to allow energy to flow.  Try it.  Create some time, pick a closet and get to it!

Thanks for reading, forwarding and following my posts!!!

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