The Mega Doosie

Summer isn't just about fun here at our house. No, it is also about the projects. Lots of little cleaning kind of projects. We have already gone through drawers and closets finding the outgrown clothes and toys and donating them on to our dear friends. We have some painting planned and then we have the MEGA DOOSIE project.

Yep, this monster is one that nightmares are made of! This Mega Doosie project is worth thousands of dollars and is requiring loads of sweat equity just to prepare to conquer it. It may or may not even work....and it could create more problems by doing it. Have you figured it out yet? I know you are on the edge of your seat with anticipation, huh? This summer we are Jacking our house up!

I know this sounds exciting. We are the proud recipients of 16 cement piers placed strategically IN our house. Yes, this is going to be fun. We get to pull up the carpet of our finished basement and watch the skilled workers punch holes in the foundation of our house and pour some sort of cement pillars into the ground. They use some sort of metal forced thingy to push up on the secure ground and in all effects lift our house up. That sort of reinforcement not only gets placed in the middle of our basement but all along the walls of our storage room that is jam-packed full from floor to ceiling with every tool, Christmas decoration, paint can, Easter basket, hand-me-down, memory book, bull crap item we have ever accumulated since 1972. I am telling you that pulling the crap from the storage is overwhelming enough. I cannot imagine what watching men pound out cement holes all around the inside of my home is going to feel like. I am already nauseous.

So, the big project is happening in just 3 short weeks. It supposedly will allow us to close our bedroom door again. It has happily been ajar for 8 months. It could possibly close up some of the major cracks and crevasses that have formed throughout our house. The damage has already been pretty significant, so the process of jacking may not be any worse then what we are already living with. Sadly, they don't know for sure if the house will take on water after these piers have been placed. They do guarantee that the house will be secure so if there are any more problems they will fix it. And kindly, the warranty will go with the house should anyone ever want to buy it from us.

This is where I insert that this is the house that I grew up in...yes, very Clever familyish. I know. I have been living in this house on and off since I was in 7th grade. We bought it when my folks were moving out of state and our church was relocating in this vicinity. We thought it would be such a perfect fit. And to its credit, it is a nice old house. It has plenty of room and a great floor plan. We have remodeled the first floor knocking out a wall and redoing the kitchen and also finished the basement so it does "feel" like our house and not my mothers. But i will confess, that someday in my life...I would like to live in a different house. I fear if we do not jack this baby up now, I may be here until I die!!

So, today is prep day. I have invited four 14yr. old boys to come and spend a couple of hours dragging all the "stuff" from my storage room up into the garage. It is about 92 degrees today and the humidity is a million so these boys are earning every nickel of the movie ticket I promised them. Part of the deal was that they say nothing aloud about the amounts of trash I have or tell any of their parents what a packrat I am or they immediately forfeit their share of the peel and bake cookies and free movie tickets!

Yeah, the labor is doing its part and we are making progress. I gotta confess I am having a hard time figuring out what to do with all this stuff that has been camping in my basement for the last 10+ years. Finding the bank box filled with cassette tapes from my Jr. High years and the 6,000 VHS tapes that I just don't want to get rid of is causing a bit of a moral dilemma for me. Why....why do i save these things? What about the toys? Stuff is everywhere like the Thomas the Tank engine junk, the playskol parking garage, the 300 Easter baskets, the old clock, the tired lamps, the doll collection, the unused dishes, the albums....I don't even have a turn table. I have a huge box of antique hats from my grandmother. Should I donate these to a local museum? Think I can unload any of this on Craig's List or better yet hit the dumpster?

So there you have it....the Doosie of the summer is in full force. I will take pictures of the actual work being done. They warned us that we may not want to be around on the day that they actually lift the house because it makes such loud popping, busting, breaking sounds and then the dust flies and it can be very disturbing. As if I am not disturbed already. I did mention that my bedroom door hasn't been shut for the last 8 months, didn't I?