Friday, June 15, 2007

Good News, A Pile And A Party

As I begin this post, I feel led to remind you, gentle reader, that it takes a certain level of humility to engage in full disclosure in such a public arena. What I am about to share, I do because I feel compelled to in order to encourage and inspire others to tackle the difficult areas of their lives. Well, that, and...I'm just really excited to have this accomplished!

For far too long now, since about the New Year's Flu, I have had on my sidebar a goal of eliminating 80% of the contents of our attic. On a seemingly unrelated note, our schoolroom/playroom was converted into the Yard-Sale-Waiting-To-Happen Room back in February. When it became probable that we will have a house full of overnight company next month, I realized we'd better get busy on the attic and the yard sale, to clear up the extra space in the house. I really couldn't procrastinate any longer.

So without further ado, I present to you the before, during and after shots of what will henceforth be known in our family as the Attic Attack. Starting early, before the attic did it's impersonation of an oven, first on the agenda was to empty the attic so we wouldn't have to work in the heat. Here's what the attic looked like before we began:




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Mom stayed in the attic and chucked lowered boxes, etc. down to the boys, who neatly stacked piled the attic contents in part of the family room. The good news is that by the time we got the attic emptied, it looked like this:


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The bad news is, the Family Room looked like this:



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After blocking the TV, the front door, and two couches in the process of emptying the attic, we sorted and purged most of the attic contents. A little forethought allowed us to tie a rope onto Mom's leg before attacking this pile, in case she didn't make it back out. After several hard days of keeping the kids out of the junk boxing and bagging, we are happy to announce that we got the Family Room (and the entire house) back in shape in time for Sabbath dinner on Friday night.
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Note to Self: Remind kids of this process before next trip into town. And myself!
Note to my Children: Yes, we will be having a party to celebrate. Just let me catch my breath first.

11 comments:

  1. Ah yes, but how will you keep warm in the winter now that you have removed your insulation...lol

    Great work!

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  2. Oh my gooosh!!! Wow, that IS amazing! YOU are amazing! What perserverance you have! I'm laughing because your husband looks a little tuckered out. Kind of like he's...in a daze. Understandably so after what you just put him thru. :) Oh, and what cute kids you have. Adorable!
    Thanks for opening up your home to us and letting us see the Attic Attack. :) Yea! Woo hoo! You did it!!!!

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  3. oldpathsfamilyfarmJune 16, 2007 at 2:58 AM

    Sombra~
    Unfortunately (she says sheepishly), I have plenty of insulation still in the living area of the house. Ugh. Thanks for the encouragement! :)

    Allison~
    I forgot to mention that the best part (coolest part? most amazing part?) was that this job was done by the kids and me alone...while Mr. Visionary was away at work! We were planning on it taking two full weekends WITH his help, but we actually pulled it off in two days without his help. We surprised him! (We surprised ourselves, too.)

    Well, I say without his help, but he did take a different child to work with him three separate days this week. Having the six year-old away one day was the best help he could have given!(The boy is just a little too inquisitive for a project like this.) *grin*

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  4. Yay! What a great job! :) (And really, I've seen attics in much, much, much worse shape. (ahem.) :)

    You know - I LOVE to clean attics/rooms like that. I would have loved to have been there to have helped you. It's much more fun for me than a social event. Regular cleaning bores me...don't like to dust or vacuum, etc....but give me a good closet or attic... :)

    Thanks, Julie. :)

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  5. Julie,
    Wow! When I saw the first picture of your living room with all the attic stuff in it I just couldn't believe it. I feel so much less stressed when my things are neat and organized. But, it does seem that you have to go through all the closets, basement, attic, etc. once a year to purge/reorganize. Congratulations to you and your kids, that is an amazing accomplisment in just two days time.

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  6. How come there isn't any DUST in your attic? :0)
    Congratulations...that is a big accomplishment. I wish my attic were cleaned out. How much do you charge? (JK)
    Annette

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  7. oldpathsfamilyfarmJune 18, 2007 at 8:27 AM

    Lynne~
    I know what you mean about having to keep on it! Somehow I always get behind during pregnancy - and I think that is what happened this time.

    Annette~
    Dust? I dunno. Maybe because we haven't lived here that long. We are high efficiency Messies...we can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time! :) How's that for a spiritual gift? *grin*

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  8. Thanks for sharing the bad along with the good! You inspired me to tackle some similar cluttered areas in my house!

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  9. *Ahem* And I can contact your manager how? I would like to schedule you for a few days at my house....ANYTIME. ;)

    Julie, A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!!! I'm SO proud of you (and a little jealous.)

    ~d

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  10. Oh you did a fantastic job!!! I just love the before and after photos, they are sooooo motivating!

    Love,

    Joy

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  11. I tell you, you inspire me so much. I have been reading your blog and you have gotten me on a roll trying to get rid of "stuff." It's amazing how much space we had in this big house when we first moved in 2 years ago. Now, we are so crowded. It really does add so much stress to your life.

    I'm getting ready to get rid of lots of toys. Our toy room is downstairs, well, we are building 2 bedrooms down there so I have been keeping all the children upstairs for safety reasons and they have a few toys that I allow up here. I thought it would be a problem but, actually I have found that they don't miss the huge load of toys downstairs. That makes me feel better about chucking it all or giving it away, I just don't know how I will break it to the grandparents and aunts and uncles who spent so much money on it all :o) My goal is to get this all done before we start school again. Love you Julie!

    Thanks for your inspiration!
    Heather

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