Garage Problems

                    

I had a very long week and I was excited to get home and hang with the family and RELAX. I picked up the kids and they asked if they could ride bikes when they got home. I thought some outside time was a great idea. My yard is looking kind of rough, so I figured that I could weed and trim the bushes and spruce things up a bit. Then, I was going to sit out front with a cold glass of sweet tea and watch the kids and get some much needed rest.

I opened the garage so the kids could get their bikes out and I started pulling weeds from the front of the house. At some point I went into the garage to get something and I noticed water on the floor. At first, I thought the kids spilled something, but it was a lot of water - so I began moving things. This is not easy. My garage is a catchall place to put crap we don't need and aren't ready to throw away. I moved some things and I saw black mold covering the wall behind the water heater. My boxes of seasonal decor and various other things had "absorbed" some of the water and were also covered in mold. OH MY GOD! Even though I was exhausted, my adrenaline kicked in and I started moving stuff out of the garage as quickly as possible. Every time I would lift a box, water would come out of the bottom all over me. I wanted to cry. I moved box after box onto the drive way. An hour later, I was still excavating the garage when my husband came home. He walked up, looking very confused and just stood at the door and looked in. He said nothing. "What happened?" I told him that I think something was wrong with the hot water heater and I called to have it looked at. "Get on some crappy clothes and come help me."

When I was emptying the garage, my kids decided this was a good time to talk to me. They have horrible timing. "Mom, can I have a drink?" "I am ankle deep in moldy water - get and eat whatever you want - just stay out of the garage!" Then they tried to go through the moldy boxes. "Mom what are you doing with this stuff?" "Throwing it away." The tears came. "But these are our Halloween decorations." "So, we'll get new ones. It's okay." At one point my 7 year old came up and said, "Mom, can I look at your china?" I didn't hear her correctly. I whipped my head around angrily, "WHAT DID YOU JUST ASK ME? Are you out of your mind? Why would you say that?" My daughter looked at me stunned. My husband laughed and laughed. "She said CHINA not VAGINA." Oh my God. I acquired my grandmother's china recently and my daughter discovered my hiding place for it and she wanted to go see it. "That's fine.Just don't touch it - and stay out of the garage." So that wound up being the running joke for the night. "Ladies only share their china on special occasions." "Don't show your china to strangers." "Put your china away...." I needed some humor at that point. Haha.

So now it was the early evening and in my front yard was a pile of moldy boxes, trash and whatever else came out of the garage. I turned to my husband "What are we going to do with this stuff?" He pondered, "We can put it on the curb for bulk trash day." That was not going to work. Trash pick up is on Thursday and I was not having this crap in front of my house for 6 days. The neighbors will think we're hoarders. I called a haul away service and they said they would pick it up in the morning and load it. "We take anything, except for radioactive materials and dead bodies", the man said. "Good. I'll just make sure that I move the dead bodies into the backyard before you come." My husband gave me a weird look. I hung up the phone and then had an epiphany. This is the answer to all of my prayers. I turned to my husband, "This is going to be a long night."

I went room to room with old boxes and began to fill them. My husband said, "What are you throwing away?" "Everything." I would fill a box and bring it outside, fill another and bring it outside. My 9 year old got in the fun. Which was surprising because she wants to keep EVERYTHING. It was amazing. We were done at midnight. The pile was HUGE. I don't know how we acquired so much crap. I don't really ever buy anything. I am not a shopper. I don't understand. None the less, half of our things were out of the house. It felt so good.

The next day the guys came and took all of our things away. It was $195. Best money I ever spent. I now have to get new Christmas and Halloween decorations. Which I am glad about. I wanted to re-vamp my seasonal decor. There was one box in that corner that I cared about - my box with pictures, the kids drawings, my wedding dress, my daughter's dress she wore home from the hospital. Sentimental things and it was the only box in that pile that was not ruined. Not a drop of water in it. I think there was divine intervention there. Now I feel inspired to do stuff in the house since the crap is out. I did say I wanted to get rid of everything and start over. You get what you ask for. :)