45s and Fluffy Found When Decluttering Garage

As appeared in the Albuquerque Journal Rio Rancho section 12/11/10

The walls in my garage had finally closed in so far that it was a tight squeeze getting out of my car.

That is one car in a two-car garage, mind you. I couldn't take it anymore; I could see myself on a segment of an upcoming "Hoarders" episode if I didn't do something fast. It was time to clean the garage, words that make grown-ups bristle and children run for their friend's house.

The process actually started last weekend when my daughters and I started sorting through boxes and bags of old clothes, toys and art projects. Get rid of the stuffed animals. Keep the preschool hand print artwork.

While going through some drawers, my oldest daughter found a stack of old 45 vinyl records and held one up.

"Wow, how old is this mom?" she asked.

I took a look at it and saw that it was "Loco-Motion" by Grand Funk Railroad. "That's from around 1974," I said.

"Cool," she says, "how many songs can you fit on one of these?"

Good Lord. She thinks it's a CD, which can hold around sixteen songs. A 45 is almost the same size as a CD I suppose, but black instead of silver, and with a big hole in the middle.

"One. It has one song on it," I tell her.

"One? You're kidding," she says, laughing. Talk about feeling old. Where's my turntable, Walkman and Easy Bake Oven?

Having sorted and bagged and swept, I moved our donations to the curb last Thursday for pick-up. The garage looked much better, but Fluffy the 4-foot stuffed animal was taking up too much room. He went out to the curb, too. I figured I was safe doing that ever since my daughter relegated Fluffy to the garage during her last room makeover six months ago. No such luck.

To my dismay, the donation truck hadn't been down my street when I arrived home from school with my daughter. As we pulled into the driveway, she saw the pile of donations neatly at the curb. But upon further analysis, she saw Fluffy tucked in on the backside of the pile.

"Fluffy?" she screamed as she opened the door before I could stop the car, running to rescue Fluffy from the deathly grips of the Salvation Army.

"How could you give Fluffy away?" she demanded.

I knew I couldn't win this one, so I allowed Fluffy back into the family. He is back in the garage sitting safely between the vacuum and the bikes, taking up too much room.

Just a reminder: Don't miss the Rio Rancho Winterfest parade this evening at 5:15pm beginning at Golf Course Road and Southern Boulevard. Come out and enjoy this hometown tradition with marching bands, decorated floats and, of course, Santa himself.

Quote of the Week: "It even makes you happy when you're feelin' blue. So, come on, come on, and do The Loco-Motion with me." — The Loco-Motion