Here are the highlights from the week.
Monday:
I planned on taking drop-off trips to Goodwill, but this was a bit more than I could handle. If I was going to keep pushing stuff out, it had to have somewhere to go. I had also fill up the patio with trash. All the stuff had to go somewhere, and there was just no room for organizing it within. I sent out an S.O.S. on Facebook, but I think the task was too great for any of my willing friends. I wrapped up for the night, unsure of the level of success for the day. On one hand, i had filled two large areas with donations and trash. On the other hand, I had only cleared out the space from the door to the couch... Fortunately, items hidden in that small area were the elliptical and the piano. (Well, the piano wasn't hidden, but it certainly wasn't playable.)
I picked up right where I left off and went on full steam ahead. I was motivated to cover a Lot more area because I had only budget 2 days for the den. The targeted areas were the mound in front of the couch, the old timey stereo area, and the desk. I slacked off in dragging stuff to the garage for a while, so the couch got piled back up again. There were So many Christmas gifts/decorations. I've said this many times- most of the problem downstairs is that my mom would hear of someone in need or any giving opportunity and just go overboard. Mice had certainly had their way for a while there, but I kept my gloves on and continued to sort and toss as necessary. I got distracted by some of the findings. There were more of my own old trinkets than I expected. I kept and tossed as objectively as I could, and just before midnight, I called it a day.
Part of why I insist this week was miraculous- I was not equipped to empty the garage as needed, but EVERY day someone came to pick up donations. A pastor from one of my mom's groups came with another member and threw out the patio's trash And took the donations the the Mission. This was great, because by the end of day 2, I had filled the garage back up again.
Wednesday:
Since I considered the den "done", I decided to move to the bedroom. Every day, the space I was working on threw some sort of unexpected challenge at me. I mean, I planned to not know what to expect, but that didn't keep me from pausing every couple of hours to just decompress. Day 3 was no exception. I wasn't sure how much time this room would require. I hoped for one day but budgeted for two. Unfortunately, it needed the latter. I found myself digging through a lot of my own things in the bedroom. It appeared to me that my mom had packed boxes of my belongings from when I first started college because there were things I had not seen since! -including a nice stash of high school graduation cards, some of which still had the cash!!! That was Definitely a pleasant surprise. A couple of other finding highlights were my missing high school yearbooks (the two I took to college) and my box of Barbies!
By the end of the day I was pretty displeased with the progress, but looking at the pictures now, it's hard to remember why. The room was busting at the seams at the beginning of the day, but most of it was cleared up by the evening. It's possible I was discouraged because there were a lot more things I decided to keep. And possibly it was just because I knew it wasn't done. Despite the great finds, I knew I'd be spending more time in there the following day. No matter, the garage was filled up, yet again. People came to throw out trash and pick up donations, yet again. And I called it a day.
Thursday:
Cleaning continued in the bedroom. Another reason I believe this room seemed even more of a chore is the mold. I didn't wear a mask the first two days, so I was starting to feel some congestion and fatigue in the mornings. It made it harder to get going. I donned a mask pretty consistently after that.
I knew that I was probably not going to get the bedroom 100% the way I wanted to, so I cleared the rest of what I could and moved on. The old belongings of my grandmother certainly halted progress for a while. She lived in the apartment for a time before her stroke. The closet was still full of some of her blankets, clothes, and boxes miscellaneous items. I didn't completely go through all of those things. The mold in the closet is exceptionally bad. Fortunately, the boxes in the bottom were protective plastic, so the clothes in them could be donated as she wished. There was a Very disturbing find including a deceased rodent and a clown doll on the top shelf.... The stuff nightmares are made of, I assure you. I later sifted through one of the boxes and found some old photos and drawings I and some of my cousins had given her. That was sweet. The other two boxes have yet to be explored.
I wrapped up the bedroom and moved to the hallway and the bathroom. Both are pretty small, so I actually won time from my budget in clearing them out. There was also a bonus find of a foot spa that had never been used. It came in Very handy later that evening. (I've not spent this much time on my feet all day in a while, so the bubbles were So very helpful.) I managed to get those spaces clear before 8 that night and went upstairs to soak my feet before the last day of clean up week.
Friday:
The last day of the week of clean up! The kitchen was the task. Thursday night enjoyed a Much needed downpour. Unfortunately, there was so much rain, it ran all through the garage and down the newly cleared out hallway into the den. I think the garage door may have also not been tightly shut. No matter, I worked through the kitchen just like every other room. There were quite a few items that I could tell who they were specifically bought for. If my mom hears you like something, she's been known to purchase items she finds featuring such a token.
I cleared out the cabinets, got dripped on by the leak in the ceiling, and finally finished up. Pretty incredible feeling.
Every day had it's own challenge, but every day it was met. I can see God's hand in it as progress was made. Even one of the donation picker-uppers said how it was "Heaven sent." He picked up donations for the Blind School thrift store. Their inventory has been running low and with fewer people giving to it. I'm pretty sure if you stopped by there now, a large portion of the store could be recognized from these pictures!
Friends from my mom's church groups helped take donations and throw out trash. My dad covered the cost of the second dumpster. There was enough room for the carpet to get pulled out! It truly was some serious progress. The whole while, my mom was very trusting and permissive. She only picked a few things from the donation pile. ;) There's still So much to do, but now we can definitely say So much has been done.
Sorry for the length and lack of proper formatting of this post, but thank you for reading. And check back soon, where I hope to have a good news update on my mom's employment status!
(And if you want to see more pictures from the week, check out the Facebook page.)
