I’m still planning to write my goals for the next month, but this is going to be a busy week so goals might be a better post for Wednesday. I had a productive weekend and I feel pretty pleased with myself, so I want to get it documented so I can come back and re-read this next time I feel stuck.

Because I’ve been so busy lately, I made very few plans for the weekend. There was a one-time kids’ consignment sale happening nearby, and I decided I would take Emma to see if we could find some well-priced summer clothes. I also needed to buy the tickets to her dance recital, which happens in June, so I was looking forward to a leisurely Saturday morning of running errands.

We got home well before noon, which left me with several hours before dinner. Saturday may have been the nicest day we’ve had this year, and I didn’t want to spend it inside. I thought about going for a walk, and then I thought about cleaning the garage.

The view from the laundry room.

I love walking. Whether I choose my neighborhood or the trail, the scenery is great and I always feel energized after. And my loathing of the garage has already been well-documented.

But I chose to clean the garage. I’m not sure why.

I willingly followed that beam of light into the abyss.

Working in this space was not on my radar for the weekend, so I had no plan. There are two ways into the garage: through the main garage door and through a door in the laundry room. Most of the time I enter through the laundry room, but Bob already had the big door open. My goal was to be outside, and I found it a lot less overwhelming to work there. I had room in the driveway to set up boxes and a big trash can, and spread stuff out so I could make decisions about keeping, donating or trashing.

After a few minutes of taking stuff out so I could get in, I came up with a plan. We had lots of boxes with tools from our assorted DIY and repair projects. An old dresser has been designated for tools and the like, so I cleared out several of those boxes and relocated the assortment of screwdrivers, wrenches, and other tools there. We’ll have to reorganize the drawers but in the meantime a lot of space was freed.

We’d also accumulated a lot of sand toys over the years. Emma decided she no longer wants them, so I ran them through the dishwasher to get them clean enough to donate. I nearly filled the entire top rack with sand toys, and then I found even more which I haven’t washed yet.

When I was done, I’d filled two boxes of goods to donate, not including the sand toys, and one bag of trash.

It’s a very small dent, but it’s a start.

On Sunday I finally started packing away our winter gear. While I don’t agree with Marie Kondo’s belief that we shouldn’t need to store off-season clothes, I did find her folding method works well even when items aren’t going in a drawer. I fit multiple heavy sweaters, two pairs of ski pants, scarves, hats and mittens into one medium-ish Rubbermaid tote. Bob was doing his usual Sunday laundry thing, which I didn’t want to disrupt, so I’ll have to wait to wash our vests and jackets.

Sweaters and corduroys, folded KonMari style.

I’m not going to be able to do too much over the next couple days as I have a PTA event which will keep me out of the house and busy. I’ve dragged some things from the garage into the house, which has reminded me that this mess will get worse before it gets better.

But more boxes came into my life today.

I don’t know what makes me happier: cookies or empty boxes.

They won’t fit much, because they’re on the small side, but I’m still glad to have them. Especially now since I can reward myself with Tagalongs.