Saturday, May 30, 2009

Operation Basement Tidy!!


Have you ever been faced with an overwhelming task that desperately needs to be done but you just don't know where to start?

This has happened with me when it comes to the amount of things I have accumulated for Hannah. As I've been preparing for my precious baby girl over 4 years, it has been a fun time of gathering things she will use. Also, people have been amazingly generous as is evidenced by the picture below and I also must admit that mommy had purchased her share of things too. (This pic shows a small portion of what I have. There is still more in her room and the nursery furniture is not in this pic. Wow! A baby sure does use a lot of stuff!!)


Today I was given a HUGE gift!!! Mark and K2 as well as my friend Norma and her hubby John came to my home for 'Operation Basement Tidy!' In less than 5 hours they were able to accomplish what I have not been able to do in 4 years! To say I was overwhelmed by their gift of love would be a huge understatement!!

Sometime last winter when I was at Mark and Michelle's I mentioned about the state of the basement being beyond me. Almost before I finished the sentence Mark offered to come over and help me organize it. Little did I know how serious he was and how others would jump on board to help out too. (My parents offered to come over this morning but it's not a big space so I'll use their help later on! ;o) Mark and Michelle, K1 and K2 arrived this morning and within minutes the doorbell rang and Norma (the friend who will be accompanying me to China) was there as a surprise and John was not far behind her. WOW!!!

I have the most amazing group of friends and I am SO thankful for each and every one of them!!

Here are some before and after pics showing the fruit of our labour.
Before

After

Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Some action shots...


Michelle and K1 were also at the house, holding down the fort upstairs. They were a great help preparing lunch and cleaning up afterwards. Today was a true group effort and I am so thankful for each of these wonderful friends!!

Operation Basement Tidy was a HUGE success. The next task on my list is to go through the items stored below the steps and then begin to tackle her room. More Hannah prep pics to come! This is fun!

35 comments:

  1. I need to get those guys over to my house! I bet it feel so nice to have things organized. And it's going to be awesome once you can bring that baby stuff out of storage!!

    Natalie
    (I've been following your blog for a few months, we have twins from VN that are 2 1/2).

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  2. Catherine what great friends you have , what a blessing!

    Love,Kristy

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  3. wow!!! those are some amazing friends of yours -and they did an amazing job of organizing. your basement looks fabulous. :)

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  4. Oh Catherine, you are so lucky! I could really use something like that to get me through my office and spare room... before I could even begin to look at the baby's room. What a wonderful group of friends you have!

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  5. OMW... what AMAZING friends..
    LOVE how your basement turned out..
    I am sooo excited for you girly..
    I am also way excited to see her room.
    WOW.. what a lot of baby stuff..
    Hugs..
    Have a great weekend...

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  6. You have some seriously awesome friends!!! So dang sweet.

    (And I am still quite jealous of anyone who has a basement -- they just don't exist her in CA)

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  7. Good friends .... clean basement ..... Cool!

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  8. We had a GREAT time and loved being with you yesterday!! I'm just thrilled that I took K2 home without any serious injuries.;)

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  9. OK...one question...what are they doing next weekend...my basement still looks like your "before" pics!!! Does this mean you know how to do it now Cathy? Can you help me? SERIOUSLY!!!!!

    So thrilled for your wonderful gift. You are so often the one who is giving continually to others. Nice to see your heart being encouraged.

    "Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." Proverbs 11:25

    Love ya,
    Joy
    PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

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  10. That is so awesome. You are truly loved. What great friends you have.

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  11. What great friends and what a tremendous feeling of accomplishment, I'm sure...

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  12. That's some pretty serious friendship right there!

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  13. Friends in need are friends indeed!

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  14. What a great day!! Mark and I enjoyed ourselves and seeing the finished product was GREAT!!

    Too - the BonBons were fantastic!!

    Now lets just get Hannah HOME!!

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  15. I love that you guys can turn a day of work into a day of fun. Looks great!
    The pic of the 4 is awesome...printing that one for sure!

    Keep smilin!

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  16. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLY...
    Have an AMAZING day..
    HUGS..

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  17. Heard on Doris's blog that it's your birthday. Happy Birthday!! Hope you're celebrating your special day.

    PS. Thanks for the inspiration. Your basement looked oddly familiar. Must get my butt in gear before baby gets here.
    ;-)

    Wanda
    atlastmilanascominhome.blogspot.com

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  18. What a lucky lady. It looks fantastic. You must be getting excited.

    Happy Birthday.

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  19. A little birdie told me it was your birthday!!!

    So in Naomi's words, HAPPY BIRFDAY CAFFRIN!!!!

    Hope you have yots and yots of fun and a yummy cake!! :o)

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  20. A little birdie (ahem - 3D) told us it was your birthday. Happy birthday, lady!!!! And are those guys for hire? I have a couple of closets over here...

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  21. Okay...you have some incredible friends...but, like the Bible says: a (wo)man that has friends must show himself friendly. You have friends because you ARE one.

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  22. Awesome!! Sounds like a fun and productive day!!! Getting closer and closer to your little one.....

    Happy birthday, by the way!!

    Cari

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  23. What a great gift on your birthday weekend! The basement looks great! Hope you are having a wonderful day!

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  24. Wonderful help! Are they for hire? I need major help here!!!

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  25. WOW...you all are some serious organizers!!

    Happy Birthday Catherine!!

    Lisa

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  26. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHERINE!

    Geez, I've goosebumps all over... friendship has no bounds! What a great job you all did!

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  27. It is amazing what a group of determined people can accomplish together. I love that you have such a wonderful group of special people around you waiting for Hannah with you. She surely will be one very loved little girl.

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  28. You've got some pretty cool friends!!! And happy belated Birthday! :)

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  29. I tried leaving a comment yesterday to wish you a happy birthday but blogger kicked me off.

    I hope you had a good day.

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  30. That is so awesome that your friends helped you with your basement! It looks awesome!
    I also saw some of your stash...
    I love the frog pod!!! That is one of my favorite things, just a hint a lot of people complain about it falling I had mine up for 6 months or longer with out falling and I put it up again a few months ago and haven't had any problems. What I did was take a baby wipe and clean where you are putting the frog pod then use the baby wipe on the suction cups and it worked great!
    Also I saw you had a leap frog table, I have a different one but that keeps my son busy for hours!!

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  31. Do they do house calls I need HELP ! I'll even bake the brownies!

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  32. What wonderful friends!! It really gets one motivated when you can see some progress. Hoping you don't have much longer to wait for Hannah!

    Alyzabeth's Mommy for Eight Months!

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  33. Wow - you're brave posting those "before" pics! :) What a great bunch of friends to help you such a daunting task. You are blessed.

    k

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