new year

Ok, yes, I took a month off posting. It's a little thing called the holidays and a newborn and too many things to do. But, decluttering and organizing still occurred on a major scale. Just no time to document. We do, indeed, have a basement playroom. Pictures and a long post later, to do it justice.

Instead, today, usually reserved for looking ahead and making resolutions, is going to be dedicated to looking back at what may be my biggest clutter mistake of 2008. In the midst of all the holiday craziness, I made a classic cluttering mistake. One of my weaknesses is free stuff. Turning down free stuff is nearly impossible. So when my friend Thrift Store Mama mentioned (in the comments) she had a 32-inch TV she wanted out of her house, I took the bait. She suckered me!! Well, it was my fault. See, my parents are visiting, and only had a small TV in their guest room. I mentioned the possibility of a free big tv to my dad (the man from whom I inherited the clutter gene), and he was all for it. And TSM said she'd only give me the big TV if I pledged to get rid of the small one, which was an easy thing to agree, since the 13-incher was going home with my parents, and I figured the big tv would be good for the basement playroom, or attic office/guest room.The very next day, TSM and I had worked out the details and my dad and I went over to pick it up. And TSM met me at the door and said, um, I'd forgotten how heavy/big this TV is - like over 200 pounds of big. TSM and her husband are strong, and with my dad's help (I'm post c-section! no lifting!), they got it down the stairs and crammed into the back of our Subaru. FILLING the entire back of the Subaru. You can see the photo evidence here.And with that, it was no longer her problem, it was ours. We left the TV in the back of the car, on our city street, overnight. TSM suggested we put on a note - you would be an idiot to try to steal this heavy TV. Even without a note, no thief took the bait (darn it!). The next night, we had friends over for dinner, and we figured we could have the husband, Don, help Rich and my Dad. So after dinner, Don and Rich head outside. It was raining. My dad went to get a jacket, but Don and Rich quickly pulled the TV out of the back. "Oh, this isn't so bad" they said - it took a lot of effort to get it in the back of the car, but no effort at all for them to pull it out. So they decided to start up the steps to the house. And it was raining. And there are no handholds on the plastic TV. And Don has a bad back. And the TV was mow slippery. And Don's end slipped, and Rich took the entire weight of the TV - with his hand - specifically index finger - caught between the TV and the cement steps. Ouch!

And so, the new TV sat in our front hallway for a couple of weeks. There's no way that TV was going up our steps to the second floor, and even if we managed that, we had no surface to place the TV. So it sat.




We had Andrew's baptism and an open house the 28th. So the 27th, my brother came over and he, my Dad, and Rich somehow got the TV to the basement. This monster TV is too frigging big to be in our small play area. And so now it sits in the corner of the basement, taking up room. We actually tried to sucker my brother into taking it, but he is built of stronger stuff than I and easily said no.

So. Anyone else want a big-ass, heavy TV? Any other suckers out there? It's really nice. Just......big. If no takers, I've got to discuss with TSM. Maybe sell on Craig's List, giving the majority of proceeds to her?

New Year's resolution #1 - say no to free stuff you don't need, especially when you know it's the wrong size!