Alligator stew...part duex

Okay so I am back with some more of the story. Yesterday, I left off with the cleaning part of the story. As I mentioned there was a lot of crap in my parents basement and I spent a very long time there cleaning. I started the weekend of Mother’s day because we could not find a rake. I know, I know, a rake? Seriously though, my mother’s yard was a mess. She lost three trees and a load of branches in the ice storm and there were deer feeding off of what was on the ground. I posted a picture of my mom’s back yard looking at the house on the first communion post but let me show you again. The entire yard was full of tree branches. After we cleared everything away we needed to clean up the grass and could not find a rake.

I spent 3 hours in the pool shed cleaning that out and no rake. I looked through the basement and no rake. I was determined to make it so when I was looking for something I could put my hand on it so I tackled the basement. I found loads and loads of STUFF. I started a box for scrap copper and a box for scrap aluminum and even filled shit loads of trash bags. I formulated an area in the basement for tools, both power and hand, an area in the basement for the Christmas decorations that were salvaged after the flooding. I put up shelves and put yard items on them and even made a space for the fans and things that I knew were going to be needed in the next couple of weeks.

Then everything came to a stand still. Three light bulbs blew. I am super woman I know, but night vision is not one of my powers. The trash bags had taken over the basement walkways. I had no where to put them. I am strong like bull, but could not move the washer and dryer back into place. So I called a family meeting.

HA HA HA, do you know how hard it is to call a family meeting? I mean that was like pulling teeth, so I put it very nicely to all of my brothers. “Come Wednesday night and have a cold beer. If you don’t show up I will hunt you down. This is a volunteer basis meeting but if you don’t come give your input, you will be given a job instead.” Guess who showed up? Yup, the evens. #6 (T-for you Laur) #8 and #2. #6 is an electrician so his job was to make sure that he got his butt over to the house and string lights for me. #8 is a manly man so his job was to haul the trash out of the basement. #2 is the outdoor kind of guy so his job was to get the snow blower into the basement and mow the lawn while he was there. We voted #1 to cough up some cash, because that is what he is good for, and #5 to haul the trash away to his dump, and #7 to come and take his crap out of the basement that he keeps sticking there every time he needs to get rid of something.

During this meeting of the minds, my mother’s health had been discussed. She had been sick since the winter before my dad died. She coughed and sneezed constantly. She had taken on the task of personally saving the allergy drug companies from going bankrupt. In the process of cleaning out the basement I was wearing masks. The place was ridden with the DEATH MOLD!

So, on to the present…#3 is now in charge of getting the basement gutted. Oh yeah, forgot to mention somewhere in here, my dad hired someone 22 years ago to finish the basement. This gentleman, who will remain nameless, started the process. He framed three bedrooms, made a bathroom, made a storage room and also 2/3 completed a family room. The bedrooms were never fully functional, the bathroom worked for a few years and then the storage room became the catch all…this is where I spent most of my time HUCKING things out of. And then went into “dry out” because he was an alcoholic, then got divorced and never came to finish.

The death mold has over taken the basement. Here is a picture of the bathroom. Notice the height of the mold on the walls. Yuck!

So, the dumpster…it arrived yesterday. For the past week, we as a family have been sending emails back and forth. “Come get your crap.” “Dumpster is coming.” “If you don’t claim it, it is going in the dumpster.” You know the typical things that people do to get the point across. Some where along the line, tools and yard items started popping up in the emails. I let my brothers just go back and forth until then…then I stepped in with my 2 cents. Don’t throw away tools. I made shelves in the storage room for them. Don’t throw away yard items. Put them in the cleaned out pool shed. Don’t let #3 throw away anything that the insurance paid for because we don’t know when or if we will need a walker or a tub seat as mom ages. Basically, don’t throw away anything that we made need.

This became…”let’s build some shelves, lets save the mold ridden 2x4’s and build a pedestal for the washer and dryer, let’s hang stuff on the walls…” all from “the dumpster is coming”.

My #1 brother said it best…

"when you're up to your ass in alligators, it's easy to forget you went there to drain the swamp..."

my only two cents worth is, stay focused on one goal... do it, then move on to the next thing...

there's a dumpster coming... there's a limited period of time and resource availability... i suggest concentrating on getting the basement empty first and deal with any potential construction project *after* the truck hauls away a dumpster full of crap...

one thing at a time...

Sometimes it amazes me that one of them will spew out exactly what I am thinking at the time that I am thinking it…then again, I don’t think that I would have thought of alligators.

SIDE NOTE~ talked to my mom last night. The phone calls between the odds have started…who took this and who took that. “I came for the ice fishing tilts and they are gone, MaeRae and her kids must have stolen them.” Needless to say…they are still in the same spot in the basement they were when I cleaned a year ago. TAKE YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND WIPE THE SHIT FROM YOUR EYES AND LOOK AROUND…IT IS AMAZING WHAT WONDERS THE WORLD HAS IF YOU JUST TAKE TIME TO SEE.