Sunday, February 26, 2012

Got my shame in order



Jill over at Yeah. Good Times. provides ample opportunities each week for us to get our giggle on, but now she is giving even more. She started things rolling and now is inviting us to share our shame for the world to see! I know, cool, right?

I have recently worked my way through most of the mine fields in the house. I suppose I could've just waited a few days, as I am sure we'd have been back to one shade lighter than squalor. Instead, I had to travel a little bit further than usual to find what lies beneath this facade of borderline picked-uppedness.

Here we are...in the basement. When I walk down there, I am not struck by any one thing in particular, but seeing the photos seems to highlight certain things. Those first few bins...um, the ones under the sombrero...give the illusion of organization with their flashy labels and such. I cannot say for sure that those labels are even accurate. Maybe that Hess truck collection is what exists of our college funds for the kids. I see five boxes that are know are empty, and can offer no legitimate explanation for why they are there.

Let's try another angle...Oh, this is where I am storing my children's childhoods, since I cannot let them go completely. Those labels are correct, so if you want Playmobils, Thomas, Polly or My Little Ponies, just ask. Those games on the shelves are the ones we just don't play very often, as there is a closet upstairs filled with ones I pretend need to be at arm's reach. I'd include a photo, but then I would have to get up and move, plus I am not sure I am ready for full disclosure. My backup kitchen stuff doesn't look so overwhelming from this angle. It helps that so many canned goods were distributed at the holidays, and the empty jars haven't really started rolling back in yet.

Yet another angle... Oh, this is lovely! Front and center is the "I am not sure why it's here, but I know it can't leave" pile. Oops, I see something I was supposed to list on eBay for a friend...so now I am hoarding other people's things too? Ugh! I can try to justify some of that stuff, as all of my holiday decor is there (as you can probably see). It gets a little sketchy when we move to those white shelves, as they are the backup shelves, to the other backup shelves, to the backup closet of craft supplies. My daughter has been frequenting these regularly, I must say.

It really doesn't matter what all of these things are, as it is the quantity of stuff that shames me. I also have to admit that I just spent three hours cleaning (whatever that means) this space up a few weeks ago. I harnessed most things, and might've gotten rid of a few as well. Wait! Upon closer look, it appears I am not the only one feeling shamed.
Really Ken? Skipper? And I don't even want to know what that cable is for!

20 comments:

  1. OMG, I'm glad I'm not the only one "preserving" my children's childhoods. I have a storeroom filled with twenty-year-old Little Tikes playhouses and over 200 Little Golden Books. I even have toys from MY childhood--remember when Fisher Price little people were just a head on a wooden spool-type thingie?

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    1. Hee hee hee! The box near the bike in the first photo is where all of my head on a wooden spool Fisher-Price folks are! Thank YOU for letting me know it isn't just me!

      Books? I almost did my post just on how many books are here!

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  2. Don't be ashamed! All of your stuff is neatly piled up. That makes it "organized". ;)

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    1. Organized chaos...that's our goal around here! ;)

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  3. Andrea you have a super organized basement! I am fortunate that I don't have one at all, it forces me to be neat, however our store room is a little out of control. As for the things from your kids childhoods, no worries, I have a lot of things from my own child hood, and have no clue what I should do with them since I don't even have kids of my own. lol Hope you had a great weekend!!

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    1. Oh, it's organized. All that's missing are the aisle signs like at the grocery store...still, too much! :) Get out those toys and play!

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  4. It looks awfully neat to me. I would "never" show my basement. I shudder just thinking of the mess down there.

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    1. Every time I clean it up, there are bags of stuff that leave...yet, the piles still grow somehow!

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  5. There is actually a place to walk around! I agree with Kim about being awfully neat ;-) But man...you do have a ton of stuff in there!

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  6. That's not too bad, ya know? My basement looks pretty much the same and I also am hoarding my kids toys that they outgrow. I just can't get rid of some of them.

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    1. There is also a pile of bins from when we changed the color of my daughter's bedroom!

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  7. Ken and Skipper? Oh my. I don't think that basement looks that bad either. You should see our garage. Or not.

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  8. You know, it is what it is. And it strangely look similar to my garage.....

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    1. It just IS so much...the garage? That is shame...part 2!!

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  9. Oh. My. Ken and SKIPPER? Isn't she underaged?? And yes, I will take some Zweigle white hots. (And I'm limiting the home decor to twice/week. The rest is all humor, all the time.) But I don't know any humor link parties except at the break room, and I don't get many hits from them.

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    1. I will scope out the Zweigel scene...all about Hofmann here in Syracuse! Skipper is grounded!

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  10. HAHAHAHA! Oh my GAWD, that last photo had me gasping for air! And I DO know what that cable is for.

    No, just kidding. I don't.

    I kinda wish I did, though.

    I feel so much better about my hoard of things. So many things intended for ebay or Craigslist but never made it..... ugh.

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  11. I think Barbie is the only one who knows for sure! Could the eBay stuff just lost itself already?!

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