Reclamation

With my classroom and wedding preparations in hand, I've turned some of my attention to our house which has been sadly neglected.

I decided because 1) it is cool down there and 2) it has been driving me crazy, to tackle the basement.

First, our boys are basically invasive species.  Think bamboo or ivy, but in your house.  Their stuff spills over and gets left around and Mark had slowly taken over a good chunk of the basement.

I reclaimed my space, or more accurately, the common family space.

I put notebooks and books and boxes back in each of the boys' rooms, I sent Mark upstairs with piles of dishes he had left around, I relegated stuff to the DI pile, I threw a bunch of stuff away, I put things where they belonged, I lined up books on the bookshelf that had been set haphazardly around on shelves, I rearranged games in the armoire so they'll fit.

It all felt glorious.

We have been slowly collecting National Park posters.  I finally hung some up.

The flag and picture Emma made in 6th grade are temporarily there until we get more posters framed.

I should have taken a before picture so you could appreciate this.  It had become Mark's domain.  Imagine a teenage son who doesn't put things away and you get the idea.  Maybe I didn't take a before picture because it was too depressing, but here is the after:

I feel like I can breathe again.