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Be careful what you wish for.

46 Comments

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It’s long been a dream of mine to see … no, not Istanbul or Rome, I’m a simple girl. I only want to see the cellar floor again.

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When we moved into this house 20 years ago we had a gloriously empty 2,000 square foot basement… and I had visions of carefully organized storage shelves so our closets would never burst open again. Sadly this never came to fruition because my husband filled it to the brim with crap, clutter, things he didn’t need and will never use stuff in no time flat. And when I say filled, I mean up to the rafters with barely a path from front to rear. I haven’t seen the floor in years.

So when the husband retired a few months ago and had lots of spare time on his hands, I did what any thoughtful wife would do and subtly suggested now would be a good time to go through his mess, useless junk, rubble treasure once and for all.

But as my title says, I should have been careful what I wished for. Because as I suggested, my husband started sifting though his massive piles of detritus below ground.

The problem is…. it all began to float upstairs.

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Now? There’s a World War II poster/map on my den reading chair.

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There are railroad cars on my kitchen counter.

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There are boxes, bags and assorted dreck on my office floor.

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As well as stamps and a broken clock on my auxiliary desk. So basically, it’s everywhere… and I fear for the future of our living space.

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Because if all that makes it’s way upstairs? I may end up sleeping on that newly cleared cellar floor.

🥴

46 thoughts on “Be careful what you wish for.”

  1. I feel your pain mine had to go rent a $150 storage unit for his “junk” and still has a trailer and two trucks full of his treasures which I beg him to take care of as I toss out all that I do not need of my own glasses, pans, sheets and comforters etc so he won’t have to if I die first. Him turning 70 me 66 with no one to leave the mess for 🙂 I do add my good stuff being tossed out to a box and leave at the top of my road where thankfully those who need it take it.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      2. This isn’t good. Perhaps you could get 2 or 3 valuers to come around to price the ‘junk’ or maybe take photos and see if anything will sell online – then let individual pieces disappear? You shouldn’t have to go outside in your own home.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. River girl, your husband should be commended for the invaluable service he has performed in the service of history. Many are called, but few can hold on to such valuable, historical items.

        Some dare call us hoarders; we are historians.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. While I agree there are a few valuable, historical items scattered here and there…. the sheer volume of questionable debris prevents me from ever commending my hoarder husband. On that note… if a moth eaten afghan, 3 rusted tackle boxes, six dozen razor blades and a frozen thermometer gets your motor going? Please feel free to drop by and shop.
        🤣

        Like

  3. Man, that’s a lot of stuff! Your basement is bigger than my whole house (1300 square feet). Maybe I can help. I’ll give you $20 for the poster and another $5 to send it. That’s a real nice chair and it’s a shame you can’t sit in it.
    When I started working on my room it was full of stuff I was no longer sure I wanted to keep. There was nowhere to sort it, so I had to move it all from one end of the room to the other in order to hang sheetrock, paint and build the floor. By the time I was finished I was just about ready to throw it all out, even my grapevine twigs and Styrofoam, if you can believe it. I didn’t go that far but I was still pretty ruthless. Now there’s not so much “Hey, that’s cool” as there is “I can use that” and “I can make something out of that. It justifies the Styrofoam and twigs.

    Liked by 2 people

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      2. I lost that battle a long time ago. My husband is a good man with very few vices, and though I loathe the piles of crap I just smile sweetly and repeatedly tell him he can sell it now and enjoy the cash…. or I’ll have a giant yard sale the day after he’s dead. His choice.
        😈

        Liked by 1 person

  5. One piece at a time.
    I don’t think he’ll see
    It will make you feel fine
    and a floor you will see

    Every day another ‘letter’
    Put it in your tote.
    It will make you feel so much better
    when you drop it along your route.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      2. We moved from Texas to Maine and I was forced to make some very painful decisions in the process, but I did my duty. As we were driving ourselves, we both had to be brutal with our keep/sell/dispose of decisions. We were. We had to be as I was driving my Kia Soul with the 3 dogs and my wife in the U Haul with the 3 cats.

        Also, when shedding over 500 SF of living space, even having a basement, required cutting both fat and flesh.

        But wait, did I tell you about all the antique shops in Maine? Well…

        Liked by 1 person

      3. We were just the opposite. My husband took EVERYTHING and we moved into a bigger house… with a basement he filled in no time flat. He drove the largest moving van you could rent, and took 2 cats. A friend drove his pickup filled with boxes, and took a cat. I drove my suv filled to the brim, and took 3 cats. It was quite the caravan.

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  8. Oh my. What a treasure trove. I’m hoping to get home this summer. Would your husband consent to tour me around the goodies for a couple of days? I’ll help him move some
    Upstairs if he needs.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
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