heidi ower and the messy shed

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to clean. In Jr. High I used to go over to my friend Hillary's house and we'd hang out in her room and if it was a mess and driving me crazy, I'd clean it as we talked and listened to oldies. If I wanted to do something nice for a family member, I'd clean for them. I have always looked forward to those Saturdays when I have an entire day to clean to my heart's content.

Next to our house we have a shed about the size of our bedroom. It's a wonderful thing to have as there is very little storage in the house and I'm... well... a packrat. As my parents have emptied their attic of all my old things and David and I have acquired other things, the shed has gotten more and more cluttered. For a while now, I have wanted to empty it into our driveway so I can go through everything but, with the animal droppings, spiderweb ceiling, and low light, there was no way I was going to pull everything out on my own. Although I will point out, I went in there with our Dyson a few months ago and vacuumed up every spiderweb, spider, and bug I could find. I thought it was pretty gutsy- and I felt like a superhero ridding the world of spiders. But now that the spiders and their webs have returned- no thanks. On Saturday, I finally asked David to pull everything out and our driveway was filled with boxes of who-knows-what. Well now- I know what.

There were porcelain dolls - stuffed animals - porcelain clowns from my youth (wind-up ones whose legs and heads spin. scary.) - books, books, and more books - afghans from grandma - Smooshies - an entire carboard box of ticket stubs and letters and anything else that seemed memorable at the time that I now can't recall what it was from - long skirts and matching tees from highschool Mexico trips, as well as my white platform tennies - my diaries from 1992 through 1998 - Kirsten, my American doll - rubber duckies from the year I liked rubber duckies - graduation caps and gowns from highschool and college - a friend's ATM card... oops - my rock and shell collection - and... pretty much anything else you can imagine.

It was fun going through everything and walking along Memory Lane, but I can only enjoy 10 porcelain dolls for so long before it is time for them to find a new home- at my parents' garage sale. I managed to fill 2 large boxes with whozits and whatzits galore. But I confess, I kept some of the thingamabobs. Only the special ones though. In all of the organizing and purging, I couldn't help but remember The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room. Every time I organize a closet, room, or storage space, I hope that it ends up looking like their clean room: everything neat in a box and labeled. That's what I used to think of when I'd go through my closet in Jr. High and that is what I was thinking of Saturday when I started going through our shed. I almost wonder if that book is the reason I love to clean. Could be. Saturday was only Phase 1 of the Shed Project, but when it is done, I imagine it will look something like this: