DebbieDoesLife

Monday, June 05, 2006

One Man's Trash...

First of all, can I just say I love my husband??? Come on, ya'll, you know I luvs my man. BUT (you knew there was a big but coming didn'cha?) my man puts the Pack in PackRat.

I cleaned a corner of our garage yesterday with the help of my two younger children. Oh, let me tell how thrilled they were to be pulled away from computers and television to come out and sweep cobwebs and dig through piles of crap.

Okay, it wasn't as bad as the picture I found on Google but it was bad. Let me give you a little background....the husband? He's an engineer. You would think this would make him all anal and clean, right?? Think again. He just looks that way.

My man loves to go to Home Depot and Lowe's and buy stuff. He doesn't even need to take it out of the bag to enjoy it. He likes to buy it and then sling the bag into the garage. You know, on top of the other bags. Can I just say that we probably own enough light switch plates to outfit an entire neighborhood??

Today I threw away 4 pair of sneakers. I actually kept three. These are nasty old running shoes that he has now dubbed "mowing shoes." But, how many pair of mowing shoes should one man own? I think 7 is too many. Even 3 may be cutting it close.

I threw in the trash a rusted tripod for a telescope. He will die when he finds out. When was the last time he ever used it? Well, not in this past decade and maybe not the one before either. Oh, yeah, I guess it would help to have a telescope to go with it.

Ask me how many footballs I found today. Go ahead....yeah, four! Even my middle son was a little surprised. Why go and look for something when you can just go and buy a new one!

You would think that upon seeing my clean section of garage he will be happy. I am not expecting any thank-you's or even a"great job, honey!" All he will be thinking about is all the "valuable" stuff I might have thrown away. I'm just glad tomorrow is trash pick up day!

posted by DebbieDoesLife at 9:13 PM

15 Comments:

  • I knew someone like that. Her entire house and two acres of land were covered in crap. Rusty cars, two buses (Greyhounds!), motorcycles, junk, junk, junk. He also bought ANYTHING and everything on sale from the mexican market- that means the dented, cracked, and otherwise unmarked cans and bottles. She was afraid of botulism for one. And, she had to wait till the actual day of trash pickup- she'd run out there at four a.m. and toss a pile in or else he'd come screaming out and grab it all. I wonder why on earth people feel the need for this???

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/05/2006 10:18 PM  

  • OMG, does he read your blog? ;^)

    By Blogger B.E.C.K., at 6/05/2006 10:29 PM  

  • My parents, youngest brother, oldest son and I had this very discussion a couple of weeks ago... The word of the day.."STUFF"... enunciate not sure if that's spelled right every letter.

    By Blogger Brenda, at 6/05/2006 10:57 PM  

  • My husband and two of my children are pack rats. Let me just say that the kids going to camp or the husband going out of town is my opportunity to go through the accumulated junk. With my kids, I always fill up a black lawn and leaf bag with their stuff and put it in the garage and give them about 3 weeks to ask for something that has suddenly gone "missing" before I throw it out. No one has EVER asked......Sigh

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/06/2006 6:33 AM  

  • I am SO glad that picture is from Google....I started to break into a sweat when I saw it, just thinking about you sorting through it!

    By Blogger Arabella, at 6/06/2006 7:05 AM  

  • I'm married to an engineer too--the anal, clean kind. Um this is mostly a good thing except I don't like the way he walks behind me with the broom, sweeping up like Felix from the Odd Couple.

    Your work now will make your move later A LOT more pleasant experience.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/06/2006 8:07 AM  

  • LOL. You had me going with that Google pic. I was about to tell you to call a professional. Otherwise we might not hear from you again until you get unburied.

    There must be a trigger in men's heads that women don't have that tells them to hoard like the end of the world is coming.

    By Blogger Tink, at 6/06/2006 8:13 AM  

  • My husband is a packrat too...and he takes the saying "One man's trash..." to a whole new level. *sigh*

    By Blogger mamatulip, at 6/06/2006 9:57 AM  

  • I totally feel you on this one. Jeff is also an engineer and also extremely messy with packrat tendencies. I don't understand it at all and I've gotten to the point that I just get rid of stuff when he's out of town. He never even misses it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/06/2006 10:39 AM  

  • Sounds like you are talking about my husband. He'll keep everything and then get annoyed if I throw away a magazine from 15 years ago!

    By Blogger Renee, at 6/06/2006 11:19 AM  

  • I think your husband must be related to my brother-in-law. My sister has now taken to sneaking junk out while he is at work. They have a minumum of 9 cars and 3 boats, just as a start. If she clears a one foot square, he refills it. Blows my mind.

    We move so often, we toss stuff all the time. Keeps you honest.

    By Blogger Annie, The Evil Queen, at 6/06/2006 12:39 PM  

  • Yeah, it took me a minute to realize that photo wasn't taken in your garage.

    I'm kind of a packrat, too. My housekeeper comes over once every 2 weeks and throws out crap. I don't even know it's missing. It's a sickness...

    By Blogger teahouse, at 6/06/2006 4:31 PM  

  • I'm the engineer in this family and the only one who throws away anything. And, unfortunately, anything can include stuff like important tax documents, marriage license, application for kids' social security cards... maybe one of the kids will play referree at some point. Or we'll just go on having 7 mismatched sets of cross-country skis and no evidence of car or home insurance.

    By Blogger Mignon, at 6/06/2006 11:24 PM  

  • My husband's a packrat, too. Sometimes I have to do a trash-sweep so I don't go insane amidst the clutter.

    By Blogger Jess Riley, at 6/07/2006 11:34 PM  

  • omgosh Debbie, I think he's TOTALLY gonna freak when he sees what you've done. I gasped when you said you threw out his tripod, but then I could breathe when you said he had no telescope, lol. But I think he'll freak out most about the footballs. What if they had the slightest resemblence of sentiment for him? I think I'm having a panic attack! LOL! You are 1 brave woman!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/09/2006 2:15 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home