I love the feeling of a job well done.
When you put your mind to doing something or are required to get
something done by a certain time. Like, cleaning a garage that had
stuff dumped into it on a regular basis since 1992. That's when my
husband, Jim, bought and moved into our house. A few years of
nephews rooming with him, family members moving, and us getting
married, and the garage is overflowing. Really and truly.
We had stacks of boxes, furniture piled
precariously high, abandoned textbooks, empty fish tanks?, assorted
bit and pieces of things that no longer work. How do we end up with
so much stuff? I don't consider myself a hoarder, and I don't think
Jim is either, but between the two of us and the kids, and
everybody's leftover things, we cannot even get the car into the
garage. Seems as though we are, quite literally, bursting at the
seams.
So back the question of how we've ended
up will all this stuff? Cause that's what it is, stuff. It's not
going to make or break our lives to have it or not have it. I think
that my husband is sometimes too kind. He didn't feel like he could
just toss things that were not his. I would have liked to have just
called 1-800-GOT JUNK and just emptied the entire contents. I
realized soon into our marriage that I wouldn't be able to get away
with doing that, so I've just sat patiently (but not necessarily
quietly) and waited. About two years ago we brought up with family
members the whereabouts of their possessions. We put them on notice,
so to speak. Just kindly let them know that we would be cleaning out
the garage and did they think they may want to come and gather their
things. I figure, two years to come and get it and you don't, adios!
When my dad offered to build shelves
for us, I was ready. Took a bit of convincing with Jim, but I got
him on side with the process. It meant that he had a deadline. Time
to roll up the sleeves and get down to business. We've been picking
away it for few weeks now and yesterday was the big get down and
dirty day. Ruthless, we were!
I woke up this morning feeling twice my
age. Aches and pains in places I forgot could have aches and pains. I have scratches, at what point in the day did I get them? I have
bruises, I don't know how they happened. And my skin on my face and
neck feels tingly and warm. I got a sunburn. Was I even out long
enough for that to happen? Must have been. An entire day of
pushing, pulling, lifting, moving, sweeping, packing, stacking. Oh,
and I planted some pansies, hung my wind chimes, put in a forsythia
bush, planted a heather, painted a table for the girls' room, went to
Wal-mart to buy more paint when I ran out, cleaned the tub, and got a
haircut. I think that was everything. Reading all that, it's no
wonder I'm feeling so exhausted. But, again, job well done. Ready
for tomorrow. Another day of hard work ahead of us, but it is so
worth it.
I am so grateful that I have a body
that can do this work. I am physically able to take on these tasks.
The aches and pains remind me I am alive. I am capable. Bring it
on, I can do it. I might not move so well the next day, but it'll
get done.
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