Purge Day One

Yesterday the contractor called.  He's about ready to come down here and finish listening to all our wishes and dreams for our new downstairs, which means we have to totally purge.  Today we started with the pantry.  I cannot believe the amount of food we have!  The canned veggies alone could feed an entire army!  After we get our new kitchen, I have decided I will learn how to cook.  

Sadly I did not take a before picture of the pantry, but did take an after picture.  You can use your imagination.  Every ounce of shelf space was full.

Now here is where Don and I differ as far as the accusations about which of us hoards the most.  I hoard stuff like canned goods and plastic bags, you know, for the Zombie apocalypse.  Don hoards coats given to him by his company, which he is two years retired from, for the past forty years.  There is an argument to be made for doing that, but his argument is just that he thinks he might someday lose the weight to be able to get back into them.  Dark blue fleece?  Please, baby, trash!  "Why are you keeping this old jacket?"  "Your mom gave it to me."  "She's dead, dude.  I've never even seen you wear it."  (Though I did tear up a bit that he had had that sort of connection with my mom).  

And the Charlie's potato chip can that has been empty for twenty years?  What purpose? Well, "I might want to put something into it someday."  "Dude, please, toss it."  

That huge plastic trash can.  "I'm afraid to pick it up because the plastic is so brittle it will just fall apart all over the floor!"  "How old IS that thing??"  "I don't know, maybe thirty years?"  So we picked it up and babied it into a contractor's bag where it immediately fell into four pieces.  Some things just cannot be saved!

Honestly, though, it feels good to purge sometimes.  I just dread starting the closet in the unused bedroom where I have stored massive amounts of things I can't bear to part with after giving Don such grief over the forty-year-old thermos bottles, coats, and such.  I am not an organized person.  I am an ADHD woman who has a lot of trouble throwing away, putting away, organizing, or even finding everyday items like by scrubs for work and my jackets and shoes.

Here I am adding a few photos of the way the living room, bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen look before the rebuild.  My boss, Bev, actually reminded me to be sure to take plenty of before and after photos so we can look back on them and see how far we've come as adults! 

Goodbye nineteen-sixties shag carpet!  Hello two-thousand-sixteen living!