Pushed Into Action

You know ever since I started blogging a few days ago, the realization of my goals has become a reality.  Since I have given voice to my dreams, the pace at which they are being accomplished has dramatically increased... some at my own choosing... others, not so much.  Decluttering seems to be one such goal.

I started out tackling the master bedroom two days ago and have had to switch focus to the basement.  You see, we got this call from our insurance agent last Friday saying that our plumbing did not pass the home inspection required by the new insurance company that we were switching to.  She did however find another company willing to insure us with galvanized pipes as long as they passed inspection by a certified plumber.  Yesterday afternoon was the inspection, and, as you may have guessed, our home failed miserably... hmmm... no surprise there.  Our home is 102 years old.  Guess there's bound to be problems.  Actually, a lot of them.  But we won't go there.

The plumber showed me which pipes have gotta go and the work seems to be confined to two areas of the basement.  Unfortunately, the clutter is so bad that movement is really confined.  He didn't say anything negative about it.  I understand he's seen far worse.  It just that its gotten way beyond my comfort level... to an extreme embarrassment!  Every time I go to the basement, I can't help but think of that brave fireman who died in someones basement in Barrie about 10 or more years ago.  There was a plea then for everyone to clean their basements and I did do ours then.  But, we didn't really change our habits and our basement has once again become a dumping ground.  Rather than make a definite decision about what to do with an item, we just shrugged and said, "Put it in the basement".  Well, now it has caught up with us.

After super last night, my son, Steve, and I rolled up our sleeves, and went into action.  In one hour, we had managed to fill 4 recycling boxes, 1 and a half green garbage bags, and start a pile of stuff for charity.  We moved a metal shelving unit to another location so that the plumber would have easier access to the pipes in the corner.
We had energy and motivation to do more, but had to stop due to the dust we had stirred up.  Both of us were choking and coughing and had to get outta there.  But it was a great start!

I will add today's work to my tally when the stuff is actually out of the house.  Till then, tomorrow awaits!