The Stoker Garage

For anyone who has had occasion to get a glimpse of the Stoker garage, you must admit it's a sight to behold. I know this is true, because there were several times when I would glance out my front window as people strolled down the street. I knew my garage door was open when their astounded and curious eyes simply could not look away. I never knew exactly what they were thinking, "How can anyone get that much stuff into such a small space?" or "Why do they have so many hockey sticks?" or "How can they find anything in there?" But those were my guesses because I had had those same thoughts.

 We started out innocently enough. We had kids in our family so we needed a wagon and stroller, and every family needs a  lawn mower. My man was developing wood working skills so a work bench is a must as is every type of saw and sander. And wouldn't he really be able to do amazing things with an air compressor?

This wood working area was a compromise compared to his dream of building a yacht. (I shouldn't have brought that up, the dream might not be dead yet.)

Stokers gotta play so we needed a hockey stick, tennis racket, and volleyball for every Stoker.

 No one likes baseball, but we didn't want to pass our prejudice on to the next generation so we purchased mitts and bats. Still no one likes baseball. There's always that chance we might go camping, albeit a slim one, and we could always share, so in came the tents and sleeping bags and packs.

  Scouts need rope and we are scout-rich around here so that means we are also rope-rich.

We're mormon so we are prepared for an emergency, and that's why there are 4 big blue barrels filled with water against the wall and 1 unsealed bucket of wheat for every day use and a cajillion empty white buckets with lids for more food storage.

  We have a giant chest freezer for storing meat, bread, and ice cream purchased on sale and a 72 hr. kit/bin just in case we need to run from a flood in a minute's notice.

I like to garden so I need lots of Miracle Grow potting soil, peat moss, gloves, pots, spades, shovels, etc.

 We never know when we might need to chalk someone's driveway so there's no such thing as too much sidewalk chalk.

This is just a start to the list of amazing finds in this space called the garage.  The only problem is either no one likes to organize these treasures or no one knows how to organize these treasures. 

An old dresser that can't be parted with because of its super artwork by my super dad

There have been some historical attempts made.  My awesome husband bravely entered the fray with his reinforcements (sons). They had to try each item to measure its worth.  There was front yard golfing, basketball, frisbee, pumping up bicycles and much effort expended, but alas we still had the random packed and cluttered garage problem.

Needless to say we are in the "$20,000 worth of car on the driveway and $2,000 worth of junk kept safely inside the garage" club. I've gotten used to this state of living, not because it's my desire, but because it's my reality.  Imagine my delight when my daughter and her husband came to visit this week. In consultation with my post-ACL surgerized husband and with participation from my manly 14-yr. old son, they worked for 2 days until there was actually a space revealed that would fit a car. Just to make sure, I drove one in. Yep. Just like on TV. Every morning I peek out my kitchen door to view the beauty, and then I sweep the cement floor because I can. I'm as giddy as a  person with a clean garage.