my someday garage...

why is it that California homes do not have basements? i am sure my answer is just a google-search away, but unless researching that answer is going to miraculously create a basement underneath  my house, i don't care to take the time to answer my question. i've come to the conclusion that the midwest basement is a California garage. my garage is a DEEZAAAAASTER!!! it deserves it's own spelling of the word disaster because it is THAT bad! ok, not AS BAD as the random picture i found online, but bad enough to lead me to find a random online picture to post rather than fess up to my own mess and show you a real picture of my garage. AND bad enough that when my mom visits from Illinois, she in the most polite way mentions that i should seriously apply for one of those cleaning shows like "clean house" or whatever those de-cluttering home shows are. if i'd qualify, come on over, believe me, but the messy garage is somewhat of a sensitive topic with me. I defend myself to whoever comments (the "good" friends and neighbors have learned to bite their tongue) that my husband moved me here from the midwest and that i had a basement that ran the width of my house - HUGE - tv room, extra bedroom with full bath, storage beyond storage, -even storage areas that i didn't even have to use -- anyone seeing my garage right now would think i was a bit fat liar on that one! but yes, the basement comes in quite handy for things you just might want to hang on to.


i have managed to keep a carpeted toy area for the girls, ever since moving in 4 years ago, and they have toys galore, but for "some reason" they still migrate to my next door neighbor's who has the spotless, well-organized, no distractions, allows-you-to-spread-out-and-play, everything labeled, educational garage. No, i  am not jealous, can you tell? so it is my goal, yet for another year, to get that garage in a functional state. and by that i don't mean a car will ever be parked in the garage - that's a rarity in California it seems, but funtional for the toy room and my piles of craft supplies.


i took izzy a walk in her stroller the other day and while walking away from my own deesaaaasterous garage, i decided to be the nosey neighbor and take inventory of every garage that i passed that was opened. here is what i discovered for the purposes of California garages:

- a storage unit for 6 motorcycles

-a home for a woman's wedding floral business on the weekends

- an office complete with a computer, desk, tv and bookshelves (accompained by a very old broken down car adjacent to the office)

- a storage unit for boxes and more boxes and what must be even her neighbor's boxes because no one should own that many boxes.

-a workout area with a spotless checkered tile floor with a treadmill and tv hanging from the ceiling - that's it, just a treadmill and nice shiny floor. once again, not jealous.

-a storage unit for strollers - from what i could see, there were 6 strollers in this garage.

- a storage unit for furniture - couch, 2 chairs, dining room hutch, various dining room chairs, a bed frame - basically, enough furniture to house a 2nd home.

-another home for a floral business (who has a floral shop nearby our home but needs the garage for even more storage)

I am happy to report that i returned from my walk a little relieved that i am not suffering alone in this messy garage-missing-my-midwest-basement syndrome. (well, possibly i am alone in missing the basement part as some haven't had the luxury of a basement.) i do have a pile the size of my sequoia waiting for this weekend's garage sale, and i did tackle my many teaching crates from my previous years of teaching and weeded out quite a bit of supplies for the sale this weekend - so see, it's all good! i am not going to qualify for the decluttering shows, and my girls are going to love their someday organized toy room ..again, someday. until then, dreaming of this...

dreaming and dreaming...

but still smiling!