Monday, January 19, 2009

Why I Need My Basement Finished, Like Yesterday

Ug.



Let's take a closer look, shall we? There are exactly 0.00 places to sit.






The cupboards = permanently open. And don't even get me started on the basketball hoop.



These two sit among it oblivious. Playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on our huge, ugly TV with its "bachelor chic" stand that also needs to find a new home downstairs/in the garbage.



Do you think if I started a "Landerson Basement" fund on Paypal people would donate? This is not atypical. How long can one continue to live like this? Also, on a different note, who wants to come over and clean this up?

28 comments:

ManicMandee said...

You just made me even more excited to have a basement. Your house doesn't look that bad actually. I've seen much much worse. (In my own home that is.)

E said...

Where are the crumbled up potato chips? Where are all the candy wrappers? But yes, children need their own play space. Can think of a better place than down in the basement with the mice.

Hot Pants said...

You should make that "only one toy out at a time rule".

Kids don't need a basement to be finished to play in it. Just staple sheets along the walls, throw down a few carpet remnants, find a nasty old couch at a garage sale, and it will feel all nice and cozy for them. And don't forget to have music playing in the background, it calms.

Elder Jack Anderson said...

For the last time, the mice are gonzo.

And there is plastic over the insulation that looks like sheets, a rug and a couch & a chair & a half down there.... still.... they no likey. They'll go down there to play hockey but Beebs and her dollies? No way, HoseB. Maybe I'll pipe music down there and see if it helps.

MM, basements are where it's at.

E said...

We had a finished basement growing up, and as a parent, I must warn you that the only times we went down there was to make-out with boys, climb out of the windows in the middle of the night to meet boys, or cool off after mowing the lawn in the summer. Cuz it was cold as a witch's you know what down there, and dark, dank, and depressing. Plus, that's where killers hide. In the basement. ::chills::

Elder Jack Anderson said...

^^^ acts like I wasn't a teenager, like, 4 years ago.

The basement, with all its windows and doors is still there, right? I mean, unless I get a dump truck over here and fill the thing in. What I need to do is make it nice. Nice lighting rather than the bare bulbs we have now. Nice flooring rather than the concrete slabs. Nice walls rather than the wrapped insulation. Good heating rather than the ONE vent down there now. Curtains.

Don't fight me on this.

Cristin said...

Ummm houses aren't suppose to look like that???....crap....

Cristin said...

We have a playroom for all the kids toys and the toys don't stay in there because, I'm guessing here, I'm not up there with them. So instead of playing in there, they drag all the toys to the main floor to play. It's a hopeless cause...or I'm still feeling pms-ey....or both.

Memzy said...

I'm gonna have to go with Landee on this. But mostly because I have no such "play" space for my kids or a basement either and I've convinced myself that if I DID have one, the toys wouldn't be all over the place. Convinced.

Memzy said...

ps. I lurve the little baggie of pretzels in the tub of dollies.

Carol said...

Basement Suggestions: (memories of the Jeppson basement circa 1953--1966ish)
1. If you can't afford real flooring--use leftover formica tiles from other projects. Our basement floor looked like a patchwork quilt. My mom loved it.
2. Hang a fer real cougar skin (that your dad actually shot) on the wall--for atmosphere.
3. hang up a few gun racks
4. DON'T open the door to the boys room--stinkola.
5. If the boys start to tease you-just start screaming and mom comes running with spatula/weapon in hand.
5. Get on "Divine Design" and have Candice do a makeover. She's done some spectacular basements.

Alls I'm sayin' is--basements have a life of their own. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad--but it always makes for good memories.

eekareek said...

Looks totally normal to me.

Flem said...

So no offense but people who have vaulted ceilings (indicated by the fact that you can actually take a picture from that high up) are not eligible for "poor me please donate via paypal" or extreme home makeovers. However, you could charge the kids for "Maid Service" every time they leave something out and you could make a killing and save towards the basement.

This is something I have seen but not done btw so don't ask if it works.

Or you could sell your iphone.

marcikay said...

I have a finished basement.. All of my little girls toys are down there.. All of them.. Their bedrooms are on my 2nd floor.. The ONLY toys allowed in their bedroom are their American Girl dolls..

The only time they play down there is to spread out the contents of every game we own, along with at least half of the 30 million legos we own.. Everything else they drag to the main floor to play with..

Its a wonderful dream..

Elder Jack Anderson said...

I would have major RULEZ here people! MAJOR RULEZ. Or, maybe I could go down there to get away from the mess? I'm now envisioning a huge room with one main purpose.... blogging.

Flem, be honest... you were here with the kids alone for like 4 days. Wouldn't it have been nice to say "Go downstairs" while you were trying to watch Project Runway for the 10th straight marathon hour?

Flem said...

Um, the kids WERE in the basement while I was watching Project Runway. I think. They might have been up playing the Nintendo. Or outside. Shoot. Where were they?

No sympathy from me here.

Emily said...

Ahh, what I wouldn't give for a basement! Your house has nothing on my pig pin of a house.

Hazel said...

Cleanest mess EVER! Yeah, where are the spilled drinks? The cheerios that you gave to your kids in piles for breakfast?

My kids regularly drag toys all over, but when the company comes...they all go down, and I don't see them again. I love it!

Carol said...

Lulu, I reached Candice Olsen--she's going to work you in to her next season. Let me know when she's there--I'd like to meet her :)

Carol said...

OK--leaving a comment. Don't see a little box to check Lulu.

Carol said...

One more time.

Elder Jack Anderson said...

AuntV, Don't you tease me! She is my favorite designer evah! I swear, if Candice, Chico and whatever homosexual sewerman she had working for her at the time showed up at my door I would probably.... in all seriousness, die.

Kelli said...

Jeff finished our basement two years ago, and we are a finished basement success story! Almost all of the kid's toys are down there and that's where they are most of the day. Especially when they are both home. Delaney doesn't love to be down there by herself, but she does occasionally. Whenever friends come over, they are always in the basement. I love mine...couldn't live without it!

When you finish it, make sure you put in a bathroom. They love not having to come upstairs to use the restroom.

Anna B said...

Can I just tell you how much I LOVE my basement...until I go down there and see the disaster that has taken place in the matter of minutes. All in all basements are one of my top 10 for living in Utah.

Markie23 said...

Did you call that TV ugly?... and that TV stand bachelor chic?... because those are vastly better than any TV or stand we have in our house.
Just keep me in mind before you go taking them to DI ok?

Elder Jack Anderson said...

Kelli & Annie, you have given me hope. I KNEW that is how it could be. Ally'all naysayers obviously have no "basement control" in your hizzies. And I'm positive it will be awesome for when friends are over. I'm thinking about making the upstairs so unbearable that they'll find comfort from the basement and therefore want to be there. I'm still working out the details.

Markie... I wouldn't mind the TV if it was in some kind of a built in... in the basement. For the family room I want a nice (smaller) hang on the wall job. LCD or plasma, you gize? You know, for when I'm a brazillionaire. 2009 better be good to us. Those cupboards are supposed to hold a TV but then I won't be able to see it from the kitchen when I'm slaving over a hot stove for my family.

Michelle said...

Me too!! I can totally agree with you on this one. Though we don't have baby dolls in our chairs anymore, instead we have an over abundance of legos and train tracks EVERYWHERE!!! I wish we had our babsement finished too.

Jenny said...

I've been really wishing for a finished basement, too. I'd love a place for the kids to play where I don't have to trip over train tracks all day. I guess I could send them down there anyway, but I'm thinking that the spiders, insulation, gas furnace and water heater, etc. don't really mix well with two curious 5 year olds.