Good morning,

Hi Tatoulia :)
WAY TO GO!!! for maintaining and keeping on guard against the creeping clutter. :D
Take care to rest as much as you can whenever you get the chance.

Still extremely smoky here, causing a lot of problems with my allergic asthma.
I think Marty (the cat) might have asthma too because he has been having terrible coughing fits.

Anyways...
Today I have no chores to do except the usual daily tidying up kind of stuff.
Think I will just rest a lot and watch stuff on Netflix.

TTYL

Oh that's terrible about the air, Tillie. I'm also sorry about your pack rats. Just take it easy and don't do too much. I'm sure the kitties will be glad to have clean boxes.

I am maintaining these days and taking note of the clutter creep. Have a busy schedule with work obligations this week. I wake up in the AM wishing it were time for bed. That is no way to live. Also had something upsetting re mother earlier this week, still not ready to post.

Have a wonderful day, everyone.

Good Morning,

There are two big wildfires in California and all the smoke from them is blowing into Nevada.
For days now the air quality has been extremely bad.
Visibility is greatly reduced here. Health department has issued warnings to stay inside.
We are all miserable, including the bunnies and birds.
Oh Well, anyways...
Life goes on here.
Today I will water some things outside, tidy the bathroom, wash the litter boxes and wash some dishes from last night and this morning.
If my eyes ever quit burning I would like to read later this afternoon.

Desert Packrats are still safely living under the house and in the yard.
Met a couple of baby corn snakes living here that are keeping me safe from baby crickets by eating them.

TTYL

Tillie!!!! Thank you. For everything! I can't wait til Diane sees that you are here!


SusanL. Congratulations! You are an inspiration!

Love to all. And thank you, Cory. I love the idea And thank you for this site. You have helped me immeasurably by forming this community. Thank you for giving me a place where I am just me.

Frustrating. my computer running slow. I don't know how I could go back to snail mail for paying bills! I did finally get a couple important ones paid. Um.. After I closed "a few" windows I had open and "a few" documents I had been working on. Yes, even clutter in my computer.

I worked in the "patio door" room yesterday. My motivation was that I needed birthday presents for my great grandson and I knew there were some in there somewhere that didn't get to him last Christmas. Strained relations between my daughter and my grand-daughter, my hoarding situation, and my grand-daughter's very crowded living conditions pretty much made last Christmas a bust. Things are going better this year for daughter, grand-daughter and of course the great grand kids. Such a relief for me. I of course had to try to help everybody instead of focusing on my PROBLEM.

Anyway, I got to be with, talk with, and observe a group of 3 to 6 year old children. I so enjoy seeing their minds working and expanding. It was a very nice change to just enjoy myself and not worry or feel overwhelmed with everything.

tired sleepy almost midnight here. back to worrying tomorrow.

Hello, just got in from a lovely evening with a friend. Very nice time. It feels like autumn here on the Northeast and my cat is snuggled up next to me, purring loudly.

I made the turkey tetrazzini. I wasn't sure what it is, but I found a decent recipe and made it for my Shut-in (take note, Diane) and the report back is two thumbs up. It took about thirty minutes in prep time and it came out very nice. Again, not being sure what it was I just took a stab and searched the internet until I found what looked good and easy but not too easy. (I do not like recipes that call for a can of soup--this one had me making a white sauce and then adding cheese). It was a bit of a victory for me because I measured and laid out all the ingredients ahead of time and it went smoothly. I have counter space, a clean stove and oven, and all cooking pans and utensils within easy reach. I used to have to pile stuff on top of other stuff just to use the stove top. Immediately after, I cleaned the kitchen and ran the dishwasher. What a great feeling.

Even now, I find that when I'm done with a dish my natural inclination is to pile it in the sink. Since cleaning and clearing the kitchen, I now stop myself and put in dishwasher after rinsing.

Grace, you mentioned in your post today some of your struggles. I will tell you I started in on my kitchen one cabinet at a time, and then I became unstoppable. Just find a place to start. For me, I just had finally run out of excuses. I was out of reasons and excuses and justifications to live this way. And I am not being dramatic when I tell you that I was shocked, SHOCKED, to find out how much easier my life is. I'm not done, but I have made my life easier. So much easier.

Will tell the story re my mother some other time. I am savoring everyone's posts right now. Let's treat ourselves well.

Dianne your candor and bravery are admired and appreciated. Your progress is wonderful. I too feel sad. I will tell everyone about something that happened at my mother's house last night. I will post later on.

Good luck with the doggie today. And thank you. I think you are terrific.

Congratulations on your accomplishments, Sheryl! And in 100? heat! Wow! I am jealous that you perform weekly cleaning. Right now, I make sure that the kitchen is constantly kept clean and clear, I have always, even at my worst, had clean sheets on bed once a week, but I don't have a regular list in my mind of weekly maintenance. I need to build your habits into my own routines. Any advice/tips greatly needed!!! And appreciated!!!!

Karl, thanks for the update on colored envelopes.

Yesterday, was pretty productive for me. 1)30 min walk w/ dog; 2)weekly cleaning of bathroom 3)weekly cleaning of laundry room 4) 2 loads of laundry 5) Target, used list and spent $10.60 6)Costco, finished up aisles(OCD) spent $19.27, used list 7)100 degrees took a 45 min nap, before Sunday chat room 8)3 hours and 30 minutes on chat!! Thanks to chat Peeps for all the good ideas and support!! Keep on dehoarding, decluttering and organizing with baby steps!! Thanks for listening!!

Hi Bitsy. I read the post and will give it a shot. I'm glad to hear from you and hope your son is doing better. Please let me know how you are.

Thank you everyone for your support and hard work! Keep it up, I'll write more later! (WTG=Way to Go).

Bitsy, why do you feel uncomfortable answering gratitude thread? Dianne, what does WTG mean? Karl, why does it change color..sorry confused?? Tat, good job with shopping and good luck with the bathroom...how did it go? I will be working on mine tomorrow. LR, nice to see you again, good job on "just the basics"! I always tell myself at least I got a little bit accomplished(that has come from at lot of support from others in my life!) and better than not doing anything!! Did Tillie go on vacation? I only met her once in chat last Sunday night, I think it was. Today I did errands:1) The Container Store spent $.85; 2)IKEA spent $2.29 for a water and ice cream cone; 3)Costco spent $17.50; 4)gas $20.00; 5)Food store spent $21.20; 6)restaurant(Toooo hot to cook in San Diego-100degrees) $15.61includes tip. I walked the dog for 30 minutes and a much needed 1 1/2 nap!! Tomorrow I will start on my deep/fall cleaning again of kitchen and finish the middle aisle of Costco!! Everyone keep up the dehoarding, decluttering and organizing in baby steps!! Thanks for listening to my book!!!

um...
I don't feel competent responding to the post on the gratitude thread... maybe one of you can?

Happy to hear from you, LR. Good work on those papers!

I stopped myself from buying something today just because it was on sale. I had it, I walked around with it, I thought about buying two, and ultimately reminded myself that I have plenty of this type of item already in my house.

Good to read everyone's posts. Good to see Diane's post too. You are all important to me and I need you all. That said, I miss Tillie. If anyone should be in touch with her, please send her my regards.

Let's keep up the good work! I will go work on my bathroom for a while! Wish me luck!

Earlier this week, I got a decent amount of "stuff" tossed out, mostly papers that had been stored for a long time. It felt really good. I also made progress on some outside work yesterday. And then there is today.

Although today is a new day, my body is acting like it's not a new day . . . I'm really tired! So I'll probably just get some basic things done: dishes, laundry, etc. I'll also do a little cooking, perhaps, but I don't plan to be overly "ambitious" otherwise.

Hugs to all.

What does a red envelope and a blue envelope mean??

I got a few errands done today!! I had a 3 1/2 hour lunch with a friend, instead!! I know I should of been doing my errands, but it was so nice just to relax, converse, and vent!! I guess I needed it! Tomorrow I will try and finish my errands and get back to the deep/fall cleaning(that I should of done a few years ago!! Thanks for listening!!

Jar Lady, I agree that you made the right decision in getting rid of it. But, if you don't mind my asking, what caused you to acquire it in the first place?

Nice work, Jar. Let's face it, if we don't laugh, we are going to cry.

thanks Jar Lady. I needed that.

I have to laugh with Jar Lady, it seems so typical of us hoarders!! But, it made perfect sense to me that you would still have those items for a small pet(s)!! I was so glad to see you had placed them out of your house and maybe down the road out of your mind and heart!! Good job!!

Thanks Dianne for reading my other post. I think I'm getting my MOJO back for deep/fall cleaning again!! Today will be for errands, to get them out of the way. I feel a whole lot better in the last few days!! I will try and be on the chat room, on Sunday! Since I have a little anxiety, Diane is right, it is a little hectic trying to answer questions, write what's happening in your life in a few short sentences and the responses come back sooo slow; making my anxiety even higher!! But, I'll give it a shot, this will be my 3rd chat, with you guys!! Everyone keep up the dehoarding, decluttering, and (the big one) organizing!!!Thanks for listening!!!

Thanks Tat(can I call you that?) for the tv thing of roku. I'm going to look into that. I got rid of my cable last Nov when I quit my job. Eveyone keep up the good and productive work!!

Sorry I realized that wasn't clear. I can stream, on my TV, the show Hoarders. I don't have cable TV (I got rid if it a few years back) so now I have regular network tv via an antenna and I have a little box, Roku ( other companies also make a box such as Apple but I have Roku) which allows me to stream different TV shows and movies right to my TV. I can stream Netflix and huluplus (both have a monthly fee of $8 a month--a mere pittance compared to cable). I like to watch the various hoarder tv shows to help me along the way.

I generally don't go on the chat room because I feel uncomfortable. I'm not sure u want to talk to a group. When I've gone on during the day, I've seen LR and Karl there and they helped me immeasurably with a stinky terrible project.

Ps to Dianne. Keep up the good work. I know you are feeling vulnerable. We will shore you up.

Tat, thank you for reading my post. And what does stream a few hoarders mean; from 9-10 at 7:23 post?! Keep up the good work!!

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. I'm so pleased that I finally made it to storage. I need to keep plugging away on it.

Vi, please don't give up. Keep calling. When I needed a therapist for something a number of years back, I got really frustrated because I couldn't reach the person my health plan required me to go through. She was the only person who could coordinate for me, yet she also was a therapist so she'd be in with patients all day long. I complained to my primary care dr and he helped the situation for me. It's tough navigating these waters. Please don't give up.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. Diane, Tillie, Roxie, LR, Bitsy, I'm thinking of you all.

Thank you everyone for your help. It is a struggle and I am pleased to have a good day today! Back to work tomorrow but I feel like I got my 'money's worth' out of my vacation day today.

I did it! I hope Tillie reads this--I did it! I went to my storage space. I cleared out multiple blankets and comforters, which were clean and in plastic containers, big box of hardcover books (painful), dolls from my childhood (easy) and some of my childhood ceramic cats (hello Jar Lady). Some of this was hard, some was easy. Took it all to goodwill. Kept three ceramic cats (already gave one to my neighbor who said she loved it and wanted it). I will have tougher decisions next time I'm there but I am feeling satisfied and happy right now. Also got rid if quite a bit of artwork that I will never, ever hang again--got enough love from me, safe to let it go! G this little mind game I play helps me along--maybe it could help you and others. It's my answer to "but I loved this". "Yes, and I've loved it enough. Time for a new home".

Congrats and warm wishes to everyone. Missing Tillie.

I've been an emotional wreck for days now and I'm finally tired of it. still trying to find a therapist, it seems getting one to call you back is some sort of miracle. Mister and I had a long talk after i blew up over some nonsense yesterday and I've come away with a better sense that I need to fix my self now. Still chipping away at the house, it's not terrible but I need to get things done. COncert tomorrow, super excited. getting out and away is a big deal for me so I'm really anxious but at the same time totally thrilled. I've made a really good friend too that suffers alot of the same issues i do minus the hoarding tendencies. I'm glad I have her. it seems we needed each other worse than we thought.
Thanks for being here and listening. I'll be around, love, Vi0l33t

Morning everyone!

Sheryl, I too am new and just starting to get my feet wet here looking for guidance and support. Together we can do this, I do believe :)

Jar Lady, Sounds like a realy nice set of gifts you have put together for that group. You should be very proud of yourself!

Tat, Thanks for sharing your analogy about if something has been loved for 10 or more years, it will continue to be loved by someone else(if I got that right?). This summer I was donating items and felt good about it, although did also feel some remorse after which had me question if I was not being rash trying ot clear some space in my home :(

Got what I absolutely needed done yesterday and have a few necessaities to work on today. So here I go!

Hoping everyomne gets done enough to feel good about themselves and make even a tiny bit of progress, although not so much they become overwhelemd and burned out.

Strength in numbers.....we CAN do this!!!

Peace...

Congratulations Jar! Nice work. I honestly felt your anxiety as i read your list so I know the feeling! Sometimes when donating items I ask myself, have I loved this enough? And if I find that I've loved something for ten or twenty years, I can assure myself that it was well loved and now can move to someone else's house. Great work! Sheryl, I read your post--a lot going on there. As for motivation, it can be elusive but for me, seeing other people's progress reminds me that I too can enjoy the satisfaction of progress. Try even 15 minutes today and see if that provides you some strength and focus.

I love reclaiming my space. I am happier with more space.

Hello! I'll head over there and take a look at it! I'm a relative newbie here too but will the help and support, have cleaned and cleared out most of my place. Will do my best to help and support you! We all will! Hopefly Tillie will be back, she is practical, positive, a cheerleader, etc. but I will do my best for you.

My first real post is on "Do I help or don't"; could any of you experienced people, look at my post and comment? And should I post on the Daily chat from now on?Thank you so much, I love reading all the posts, especially from new like me!! And experienced who have been there and are still keeping up the good fight!!

I found my reply on Do I help or don't? I'm so confused do I talk on both those sites?? Help, I'm a Newbie to this!!