What do I do first?

ORGANIZE!

If you are anything like my wife and me, having an unfinished basement means you have an "infinite" amount of extra storage.  At least that is how we've been treating it.  "Where should we put this?"  "Just stick it in the basement."  Extra scraps of wood from the last project?  Don't throw it out...you might be able to use it later.

I think I inherited this disease from my parents.  Since college, they've slowly jettisoned Eric-memorabilia preserved from over the years, sending it home with me in Rubbermaid containers.  Baseball cards, 4th grade writing assignments, and my favorite toy airplanes.  Ugh...how do I throw that stuff out??  I've been employing the "slow and painful" strategy, using successive sessions to select my least favorite items to throw out.

My new favorite date-night is to spend the evening in the basement with my wife, side-by-side, straightening, organizing and purging.  Oh sure, she rolls her eyes, but we end up having fun in the end (right girl?).  We've got the Goodwill/Salvation Army pile, the Craigslist pile, and the I-don't-know-what-to-with-this pile, and the what-on-earth-is-this? pile.  Valentines day is coming up...what better day for a last-hurrah grand finale?

The end goal is to have a clean slate.  The area that will be remodeled needs to be c-l-e-a-r.  Even if I never pick up a hammer, clearing out that area will be a victory...