I was so excited last night. Haven't I said 'it's the little things'? We cleaned out the garage, wall to wall, and it looks so much better. It was totally a spur-of-the moment decision on my part - I started while Oly was taking Max for a bike ride to the coffee store, because I was completely sick and tired of stepping over everything and having to weave through things to get through the garage. And also, never being able to find anything!!

When Oly came home, he said two things: "whoa" to all the stuff in the driveway, and "it rained on my bikes" to the three bikes I had put out, and the 4 minute rain shower we had. He didn't even change out of his cycling clothes before he jumped in to help, though, and it went pretty quickly from there! We had several people slow down while driving by, or ask if we were having a garage sale. It did look like a completely unorganized "I threw all this crap on the driveway" sale, I guess. Someone even tried in earnest to buy Oly's motorcycle.

I will take photos when we are completely done, but one stall is completely his bike storage/work shop, which is what he has wanted for a couple of years. The other side is inevitable storage (you know, that stuff that gets shoved out to the garage when you don't have a dedicated storage castle), various non-bicycle tools, and the kids' bikes and other play stuff. Yeah, we haven't been able to park in there for a while, so I've kind of given up on that idea. Plus, our new van (when we finally get it) won't fit in there anyway.

We also moved several things out to the tool shed in the back yard, which, for 4 years has been the home of the lawnmower and the occasional rake/shovel. We put two plastic shelving units (that used to be in the garage) in the shed, and made use of a lot of space that had been wasted. We also moved the snowblower and the seed spreader out there, and even IT looks nice.

After we did most of the work, we took a break and sat in the hot tub for awhile while Sam slept and the kids played. We did a bit more off and on (mostly me putting away some of the stuff I'd brought in to be placed elsewhere, like our DVD collection and some baby stuff), and when Sam, Gus and Max went to bed, I cleaned out the wall units and finished up most of what I needed to do. When we had to move the wall units, it became apparent that there was no way I'd be able to help lift them, so I suggested we use an upside down rug on my side, and I'd drag it while Oly manuvered the other side. He said "I don't think that's going to work" and I said "can we just try it?" I'm so smart.

My van is packed with stuff to take to a friend's house for her garage sale next weekend, and we have filled our trash tote and two additional garbage cans, not including the 20some cans of latex paint that need to be dealt with. Hopefully Oly will get his bike storage stuff assembled today, too. Gotta keep the productivity flowing!