Hello Day 1, and welcomehere too! I think we cross posted.

How is the desk excavation proceeding?

Tillie, thanks for the understanding, and the support on accepting better instead of failing at perfect.

Tatoulia, nice job on the bag. I haven't done my garage thing yet, but I will.

I have the laundry going and I just need to catch up on dishes and tidy the addition room a bit. Dh is home today and he is playing the guitar and later we are going to cook together. :)

It's sunny, but we have the fire going because it is cold.

Hello Day 1 and a warm welcome! So grateful you found us!

Tillie I didn't see your post, either. Well good morning to everyone! Let's do this!!!

Keep going strong, SubC! You are doing great!

I have a bag with two purses, one tote bag and one pair of worn only once shoes (not exaggerating) and they are in a bag for my cleaning lady. The two purses are Coach and in very good condition and the tote is Calvin Klein, also in fairly decent condition. So that's my bag. I'm happy and I'm pleased with it. I'll have to wait til cleaners are here again. I have to cancel March 6 since I'm taking the day off to go to the nutritionist and get my licensed renewed. Til then, the bag is in the closet and waiting for my ladies.

I may give her another dress or two. I'm just not going to wear them again and they've reached a point where even if I did decide to wear something big, I wouldn't wear either of these. One of the dresses was worn exactly twice. Two days in a row?I bought it for a fancy dinner in my honor for my volunteer work and one of the attendees was going to be in my office the next day, and he was from far away so he had taken a hotel room for the night. He'd warned me that he'd be in the same clothes for our meeting. so someone told me to wear the same dress the next day and to send around photos. So we did. I wore my fancy dress (on a casual Friday, no less) to the office the next day. It really cracked me up. Of course I couldn't believe how fat I was so I didn't enjoy the photos but it was great fun. I know the dress won't fit my cleaning ladies but perhaps they could pass it on. Ok so I think I can fill two bags today.

Ok off to have a coffee with BF then see mom.

Good Morning Everybody
Still not 12:00 noon here yet.

Hello Day 1
Welcome :)
Good luck tackling that desk today.
WAY TO GO! getting that one box of Winter wear donated!

Hi Tatoulia
It is actually less expensive to buy quality items over "fast fashion" when buying new from a real store.
The clothes are better constructed with better quality fabrics.

Hi Subclinical
So true, good enough really is good enough when there are other pressing things to attend to.
Buying from thrift shops like both of us do
when we see something our style, color, size and price (basically free) it is difficult to not end up with an overflowing closet.


I noticed a few days ago A&E has posted a few full length episodes of "HOARDERS" on Youtube.

Lol, Tatoulia, not "hundreds" but definitely over 100.

Skirts, sweaters, blouses, robes, sweatshirts, pants, vests, jackets, dresses, flannel shirts, many different lengths of sleeve and hem, and about four different sizes. This is why I can't walk into my walk in closet.

Our goodwill used to have 99 cent sweater day on a regular basis, and I am certain there was a point when I had over 100 sweaters.

The stall is not "clean", it is "clean enough". And so it is no longer the most important thing I need to do today, and I am learning that that is when you stop and move on to something else, so that eventually you get down to a level where (some - for now) things stop getting overwhelming.

Watching horders on A&E again. I will admit I'm glad I am not on the far end but I can easily see the slippery slope I live in. I pulled every coat I and hubby own to sort as most have not been worn in years. Did three piles; donate, sale, and keep. After a week nothing was sold so I put in donate pile. Yes all the coats never actually made it out of the house. So the sort happened again by hubby and I swear 1/2 the donate coats became keep.

They then moved up to the spare bedroom. It has been a month and I finally rehung up the coats. One box of coats and one box of hats, scarfs, mittens went to our local shelter. Small step but it was a reduction.

I will admit having two pack rats living together makes for a very full house. We both have some organizational skills. We really need to keep up with what we have organized.

Basically it's a start. Today I'm going through the desk that you can't even reach due to the pile on it and in front of it.

Hello ladies and yes it's afternoon and I'm just waking up!

I did get up early to feed kitty then went back to bed.

WTG on laundry, Tillie! I will be forever envious of your clothes line! Congratulations on the new goats and the new class, SubC. It is amazing how getting rid of a payment feels like a raise. I didn't feel that so much with my mortgage due to the awful credit card debt. Now I wonder how I ever actually paid my mortgage!

I cannot believe you have hundreds of items of clothes, SubC! Evening counting socks, I cant get there! I've never had a lot of clothes. I just pair them differently for work with scarves or jewelry or shoes. I am examining what I will need going forward for the spring. I will need a new navy skirt unless I decide to get a new navy dress instead. I have to plan it out in my mind so I'm not haphazardly buying things. Esp since I've decided to return to my roots and buy expensive pieces going forward.

I have been getting rid of my stuff as soon as it no longer fits me. I have one belt that is a good belt but it now hangs funny. So I'll have to bid it a fond farewell. I have no reason to keep it. I do have a beautiful silk damask skirt that fits me now and I cannot wait to wear it in the spring. I received an unexpected Christmas check and I spent it all on one good white blouse. It will look very nice with the skirt.

Ok I'll have to look alive soon. Rainy day. Lots of water building up due to snow here and there.

I am taking a break from cleaning out stalls. The temperature is dropping from 47 to 20 today and it is very windy. I'm trying to work as long as I can stand it because it looks like this will be the best day for a while.

I don't think I need a dress yet since there are still literally over a hundred items of clothing in my closet. I know I can wear the one size dress, so if I keep pulling other things out and making decisions, I won't end up in an emergency.

A few weeks ago I pulled out an old bathing suit and tried it on. I was feeling doubtful, so I called my mom on FaceTime and modeled it. She said it was fine for swimming laps (it ended up not being because the cut of the top scooped water and it felt odd and created drag). Then she asked "do you remember when we used to sit on the beach and watch people walk by?" And I said "yes. And I don't want to be them. That's why I called you."

I might want to be the crazy old lady in the rainbow socks though, but no make up. - i'm kind of looking forward to being old enough to dress like a ten year old and not care. Never a seventeen year old again, but a ten year old - yes.

Good Morning

Hi Subclinical
So wonderful the car is all paid off! :D
WTG! Easter Bonnet for such a beautiful baby girl!
Keep looking in the thrift shop for a new fancy dress but don't wait too long before giving up and finding one in a real store.

Something I have noticed through the years...
Clothes that used to look good on me start to look "off" even though they still fit just fine.
My body and coloring subtly change so I have to try new styles and colors to keep from looking garish.
We have all seen her, that sweet little old lady wearing the too bright red lipstick that cashes with her hot pink dress that looks atrocious with her sandals and rainbow striped socks.
I do not want to be her. ;D

At 9:00am I will hang out the wash.
So happy the hamper is empty.

Tillie, way to go on your laundry!

Tatoulia, it sounds like you are doing a great job on your clothes!

Dh and I went out last night. i was running late and tried to grab my black dress pants so I wouldn't have to shave my legs they are either lost in my closet or gone. I made a worse mess of the closet, but I think they are gone - I have a vague memory of deciding there was some negative thing about them (probably being fat) and that I only wore them to go out with dh and that dh prefers me in skirts anyway....

But since my weight is down, I grabbed a jumper I knew had been too small. It is still too small. That made me sad. Lately my weight has been going up and down the same two or three pounds, but it is a new two or three pounds. And I am getting into better shape so that things only hurt because they are sore because I exercised them a lot, and I am actually starting to like my body. I really thought I could wear the jumper. I remember deciding to keep it because it wasn't "that much" too small - it must have been a long time ago.

Now I am thinking about getting rid of it. It's very pretty, and soft, and I like it, but it made me feel bad about being a shape I have actually been feeling good about. And I think I am more attached to how I would look if I could wear the jumper than I am to the jumper itself. And I have a lot of clothes.

I ended up wearing a skirt that is also soft and pretty and comfortable, but almost doesn't fit - because it falls so low on my hips now I need to be careful what I wear under it. But I looked good, and I felt good, and if I get rid of the jumper and lose so much weight I am reduced to wearing the same shapeless one-size fits all dress every time I go somewhere nice (I have one) I will probably be able to buy myself something nice that looks good on me - even if I have to give up and buy it in a real store, because my car is paid off!

And also my boss stopped me and talked to me in the hall on Thursday about my schedule for next year. She wants me to do a new class, and I have been very busy throwing the skeleton together for her so she can get it listed on the new schedule. She also told me what she had picked out of my list of submitted classes, and it looks like I will have an additional 5 hours a week next year! If that works out, I will feel rich! It will be like a 30% raise. On top of the 20% "raise" I got from keeping my car payment!

Anyway, the reason I was running late was because Easter Bonnet (my other goat) had her babies. Another boy, and a GIRL this time. And - as rarely, rarely happens, the girl is the flashy pretty one with lots of colors and spots!

That is weird when all the people are not around places they usually are. ;D
WTG! for routine maintenance.
Good luck filling the bag.
Happy the dreams are not stressful.

I am all showered and sitting in my bed.
Doing laundry now to have it all ready to hang out tomorrow morning.

The cleaning dreams are fine-neither scary nor super fun. I just like to see my character doing normal clean up things!

Tillie fun to read about your road. My area of the city felt lonely today for some reason. I'd walked down to a store to try on clothes and figure out my size. Everything's going according to plan. I didn't buy anything and mercifully, the salespeople didn't approach me. It was great. I then picked up some small provisions for mom, dropped them off then came home. BF is working all weekend so I hung out with him for a while. Now I've been dancing a lot around the house.

I only did routine maintenance here today and now I'm showered and ready to tuck into bed. Oh! So walking home from mom's, my street was eerily quiet. I have to pass two restaurants and three little cafes and a Dunkin' Donuts and other shops and my street was unusually quiet. There was only one other pedestrian and she looked like she wasn't from around here because she was stopping and looking around frequently. Very odd.

When I went out later to visit BF, everything was back to the usual bustle.

I need to fill my goodwill bag tomorrow. Goodnight, dear friends.

Knowing your history with the road makes it not so lonely for me. (((HUG)))

Good Morning Everyone

Hi Subclinical
Congratulations for the safe deliveries!
My fingers are crossed that the white boys make it.
There are various degrees of albinism with different degrees of physical abnormalities in all of them.
Cleaning up the messes we make does count.
WAY TO GO! for that and for moving the chalk near the board. ;D

Hi Tatoulia
Have you enjoyed your cleaning and organizing dreams?
What I enjoyed in Detroit was running errands for my Granma to all the smaller shops and delis that were within walking distance to the house, up on the main roads.
All the different people, places, sights and smells.

Had not been able to wash laundry for a long time due to all the snow and freezing temps.
Today it will be up into the 40s with no snow till after nightfall so I have the line filled with sheets, pillow cases and kitchen linens.
Tomorrow it should get up to 50 degrees so I will wash and hang out all the bath towels, hand towels and wash cloths tomorrow.
I keep up with washing my clothing and just dry it on hangers or the rack inside.
It was really hard hanging out the wash today because Jack (you're not my cat) kept rubbing all over my legs and feet.

I spent most of my teen years on or near the east end of that highway. It passes a block from the house my grandparents lived in, and deadends not far from the marina Dad and I pulled out of many early mornings.

It was the gateway to the world - the lifeline that ran across the bridge away from the small town I couldn't wait to leave.

A close friend and I were going to drive his chevy nova the whole length once I graduated. Then he got married. So, that didn't happen.

Now I live farther west, about twenty minutes north of it

This is where I live.
Whenever I go into town this is the road I have to travel.
This is the road I have to take to get anywhere else in the world.

HWY50

Congratulations on the goats, SubC. I'm sorry about the possible loss of the white boys. You have been busy!

Getting the chalk to the chalkboard is a good start! Lately I've been dreaming about organizing and cleaning. In last night's dream, for example, there were a lot of people in a bed and breakfast and I was helping with the cooking and I was cleaning up as I went along.

I have stripped my bed and I'm doing laundry. What a relief to have Saturday's to myself and not being a slave to my sibling. He too has been showing up in my dreams.

Beautiful sunny day. Once laundry is done I will go for a walk, including stopping by grocery store. I was overcharged for something. Then while I'm there I can do a bit more of my shopping. I'm always limited by what I can carry. It's been my way of life for decades. If I take car to grocery store, then I need to have BF drive me home with the heavy stuff. I like living this way. As we all know, I don't have tons of room and this sort of self-limiting works well for me and the hoarding tendencies.

The not spending has been a good thing for me. Buying necessities only has helped me drastically cut down on expenses. And it's helped to hone my thoughts re what I will need for clothing in the spring as my weight continues to reduce. Since the weight loss has started, I've been buying fewer fewer but more expensive things. I'm dressing more the way I used to before the weight. I few classic items that can be swapped in and out and last forever. I feel and look more like myself. When the weight was piling on I was buying things that fit and made me invisible.

Well kitty has stopped by for some attention. I will do that then put clean sheets on my bed.

Tillie,

How are you today?

The first batch of baby goats arrived last night! They are very cute, but unfortunately they are all boys. Baby #2 got stuck and needed little assist, but so far they all seem ok. I'm not getting attached though, because two of them are white, and my experience with this momma is that when she has white boys, they just die for no apparent reason in the first couple of weeks. I think there is some recessive genetic thing going on. The third one has spots.

Tatoulia, good luck on your goodwill bag this weekend! So far all I have done in my garage is clean up a mess I made this week, so i'm not sure it counts, and move the chalk to the studio barn because that is where the chalk board is. I will try to do better today. And look forward to hearing about your progress.

We don't want CM releasing the badger!

Tillie I struggle with suicidal ideation frequently. I've struggled with it most of my life. It has gotten better now that I'm not being berated by sibling but it's always around the corner. I fight it.

Whenever I go to the dr and there's a form to fill out asking me if I have felt like harming myself in the last 7 or thirty days-well sometimes I just look at my dr and say, I don't know how to answer this.

I want you to be happy and I want you to be safe. But for now, I'll settle on safe. I have called the hotlines myself and I have done other things. Some days I'm safer than others but ultimately I have a cat who needs me and I hang my hat on that. So although I'm in no imminent danger, and have not ever gone so far as to make a plan, (and in fact I'll ask that you all forget that I told you this), I have battled depression for many, many years.

I love you dear Tillie. If there's anything I can do to help, I will do it.

Oh Tillie,

If you are feeling suicidal, please, please reach out for help. At the very least there are hotlines, and I am sure there are people who know you in real life who would want to help you. I feel very useless from here. But you are important to us. And we want you in a place with safe and solid walls and a roof and healthy food and working utilities!

Cm, it is good to hear from you again so soon! Our weather has been just as crazy!

Good job on your shirts and shredding!

I used to want a Victorian house too! My great grandparents lived in one and I loved it. When we were moving the last time, I wanted to look at them, but Dh said no way, it was too much maintenance. Then I started picking a bunch of houses to look at and he said "I don't get this, a bunch of these are nothing like what you wanted." And I told him. "You told me I can never have the house I wanted, in that case, anything with adequate space and functioning basics is acceptable, so now I'm just looking for land.

And that's how it went. In my dd1's words "when I was 8, my parents bought a tear down. And when I was 9, we moved in without having torn it down." (We did pretty much gut it. Some of the "basics" were less than "functioning." - for 4 months we camped in the barn.) I think the victorian would have been less work.

Tatoulia, I have a wide selection of hoarding talents. Besides the crafty things, there are books, sentimental items, potentially useful things like tools, storage containers, kitchen gadgets (one is good, two is better, someday my kids might want one, theirs might break...) figurines, pottery, cats, elephants, bedding, toys...

I never collected glassware to an excessive degree probably because I break it.

I took the rabbit to school today and she was a big hit.

Still no baby goats.

Good Afternoon Everyone

Hi CriticalMass
WAY TO GO! for all the clothing sorting out and putting away!
Sure is a lot of wet & wild weather all over North America this month.
YEA! for fixing your tablet. ;D


Maybe some of you remember me telling how the roof leaked and the ceiling started coming down in my little room?
My little room where I keep all my personal things, clothes, doll house...
Remember how Steven got up on the roof and pounded around for a few minutes with a hammer?
Well, I did not fix the ceiling because I knew in my heart he did not fix the leaky roof and I did not want to waste my time.
I was right, the roof has been leaking terribly for weeks now and the ceiling in my little room is falling in so much worse now.
This has made me dangerously suicidal.
Steven thinks yelling at me takes care of the matter.
Today he informed me that tomorrow or Monday a man would be by to evaluate the roof AND the carport roof for the insurance company.
I asked him why he would do that because we lost two home owners insurance company policies due to his HOARD already.
So he yelled at me some more.

Anyways, I guess we will lose our insurance again.
Plus I am sure the insurance will NOT pay to fix the roof let alone that POS carport roof.

But it's all my fault because I am an unreasonable B$#%H.

Oops, silly Captcha made me double post!

As long as I'm posting again,

The BADGER says HI!

LOL!

At library computer which is so much faster than my 9-year-old laptop... though it's always such a decision to go out vs. stay home - so many things to accomplish either way. I had to return a book, though. So I guess the home stuff will take slightly longer - see below.

Made some progress throughout this week, anyway. Got my laundry put away, no small feat. In the process I decided to let go of some of those ancient shirts. Some of them will no doubt simply be recycled for rags. If I were living in my own place I'd cut them up myself but as it is better to just get them gone.

I was able to fit my current shirts into the drawer!

However. In order to get to the closet I had to pile bags of Barbie crafting (like fabric for clothes to sew, patterns, thrift store dolls needing spiffing up, etc.) on my bed. That's my new project. I want to go through all that doll stuff and put some away in the storage unit. For that, I need decent weather. Next week's forecast is for sunny but chilly, which will work marginally, but before that...

This is our tonight and Saturday, just copy pasted from the TV station website. I hope those high temperatures are for real, which would mean the snow wouldn't stick around - yet there was also something said about 6-9" accumulation and I couldn't tell if that meant for here. Could sum it up in one word - CRAZY!

WICHITA AREA FORECAST:

Today: Cloudy; occasional drizzle. Wind: SE 5-15. High: 45.

Tonight: Drizzle to areas of rain late. Wind: SE/S 5-15. Low: 40.

Tomorrow: Windy. Rain changing to blowing sleet/snow around sunset. Wind: S/W 25-35; gusty. High: 53.

Tomorrow night: Sleet/snow ends quickly, trace amounts then decreasing clouds. Wind: SE 5-15. Low: 23.

Sun: High: 44 Mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

I just hope it really settles down after that.

Today I got the last of the shredding done and out before the trash pickup! There'll be more as I tackle other paper projects, but for now I'm "caught up."

I replaced my charging port on my Samsung tablet - the part finally came yesterday on the slow boat from China. I'd been having all manner of trouble with the old one - the cord was all wobbly and wouldn't charge properly. I'm rough on the tablet and the cords - klutziness, dropping them too much. I've been really working on being more mindful about how I hold it and where I set it down, though. Nevertheless, that port was toast. It was really pretty easy replacing it with instructions from online.

Last night we actually walked the dog, and also did some rearranging and deep cleaning of the rabbit area. I'm gimpy in my hips and legs today, but glad to be moving more.

SubC - there's definitely a circular relationship between sleep and weight management. One must get enough sleep to lose, and losing facilitates better sleep. I think it has helped my apnea for sure.

Glad you could confide in the work friend and not feel shame. Most of my friends are borderline if not true hoarders. I think it's just way more commonplace than we all would've thought say, twenty years ago. If it weren't, there wouldn't have been such an explosion of shows and books about hoarders and decluttering.

Tatoulia, I am more of a blue jeans gal and with no home of my own haven't kept as many things like dishes anymore. But I had to photograph one of the old shirts for sentimental reasons! Haha!

I used to dream of a big Victorian house to live in with period furniture and all sorts of vintage things - and an amazing husband and several lovely children, pets, plants... It even had an aviary! That dream has morphed into my current one of a bright white studio/residence, very clean lines, minimalist except for pops of color here and there. How we change in unexpected ways as we journey through life.

Onward and upward! Sport water bottle clinks!

At library computer which is so much faster than my 9-year-old laptop... though it's always such a decision to go out vs. stay home - so many things to accomplish either way. I had to return a book, though. So I guess the home stuff will take slightly longer - see below.

Made some progress throughout this week, anyway. Got my laundry put away, no small feat. In the process I decided to let go of some of those ancient shirts. Some of them will no doubt simply be recycled for rags. If I were living in my own place I'd cut them up myself but as it is better to just get them gone.

I was able to fit my current shirts into the drawer!

However. In order to get to the closet I had to pile bags of Barbie crafting (like fabric for clothes to sew, patterns, thrift store dolls needing spiffing up, etc.) on my bed. That's my new project. I want to go through all that doll stuff and put some away in the storage unit. For that, I need decent weather. Next week's forecast is for sunny but chilly, which will work marginally, but before that...

This is our tonight and Saturday, just copy pasted from the TV station website. I hope those high temperatures are for real, which would mean the snow wouldn't stick around - yet there was also something said about 6-9" accumulation and I couldn't tell if that meant for here. Could sum it up in one word - CRAZY!

WICHITA AREA FORECAST:

Today: Cloudy; occasional drizzle. Wind: SE 5-15. High: 45.

Tonight: Drizzle to areas of rain late. Wind: SE/S 5-15. Low: 40.

Tomorrow: Windy. Rain changing to blowing sleet/snow around sunset. Wind: S/W 25-35; gusty. High: 53.

Tomorrow night: Sleet/snow ends quickly, trace amounts then decreasing clouds. Wind: SE 5-15. Low: 23.

Sun: High: 44 Mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

I just hope it really settles down after that.

Today I got the last of the shredding done and out before the trash pickup! There'll be more as I tackle other paper projects, but for now I'm "caught up."

I replaced my charging port on my Samsung tablet - the part finally came yesterday on the slow boat from China. I'd been having all manner of trouble with the old one - the cord was all wobbly and wouldn't charge properly. I'm rough on the tablet and the cords - klutziness, dropping them too much. I've been really working on being more mindful about how I hold it and where I set it down, though. Nevertheless, that port was toast. It was really pretty easy replacing it with instructions from online.

Last night we actually walked the dog, and also did some rearranging and deep cleaning of the rabbit area. I'm gimpy in my hips and legs today, but glad to be moving more.

SubC - there's definitely a circular relationship between sleep and weight management. One must get enough sleep to lose, and losing facilitates better sleep. I think it has helped my apnea for sure.

Glad you could confide in the work friend and not feel shame. Most of my friends are borderline if not true hoarders. I think it's just way more commonplace than we all would've thought say, twenty years ago. If it weren't, there wouldn't have been such an explosion of shows and books about hoarders and decluttering.

Tatoulia, I am more of a blue jeans gal and with no home of my own haven't kept as many things like dishes anymore. But I had to photograph one of the old shirts for sentimental reasons! Haha!

I used to dream of a big Victorian house to live in with period furniture and all sorts of vintage things - and an amazing husband and several lovely children, pets, plants... It even had an aviary! That dream has morphed into my current one of a bright white studio/residence, very clean lines, minimalist except for pops of color here and there. How we change in unexpected ways as we journey through life.

Onward and upward! Sport water bottle clinks!

Hey there Tillie! I had an English muffin with strawberry jam. And KerryGold unsalted butter. Delicious!

I have to really concentrate this weekend. I want to do a good job for myself

Good Morning

Hi Tatoulia
Good luck with your weekend plans!
Fill that bag and shred those papers. ;)
Hope you found something nice to eat last night.

Clear sunny skies this morning but only 16 degrees.
Been snowing off & on most every day.

Good morning!

I'm looking forward to walking to work! It's great to see the sun at the end of the day. I'm going to try to leave work st a decent hour tonight. There's so much work to be done. Large amount. I'm actually thinking of going in on Monday. There's going to be a kickoff for a big project and I'd rather be in the room to read the temperature than to be at home on a conference call.

Plans for this weekend: fill a bag. Also I have a pile of papers. They need to be filed or shredded. I still have BFs shredder. So, I'll fill a bag and I'll take five minute bursts to deal with The Pile.

Coffee clinks!

Hello Tillie! I am excited about filling a bag for goodwill this weekend. I can't wait to feel lighter.

It is nearly nine and I haven't had dinner. I was so hungry when I got home but now I'm beyond hungry. Maybe I'll toast an English muffin and look forward to tomorrow's lunch. Today for lunch I had the second chicken pie my cleaners brought me so delicious. They are so good to me.

Good Morning Everybody

What wonderful posts to read!
Great that you all have a new challenge to do together.

The best way for me to sort out, evaluate, declutter a cupboard, shelf or drawer is to remove everything.
Wipe the dust out and then question myself as I put selected items back in.
Moving things around from where they have always been kept gives me a new perspective on them.

I have been able to let so many things that I have owned for decades go as I continue to do my "Swedish Death Cleaning".

Cm! Great second post! Thank you! That is very interesting about context. Very wise lesson. I'll combine everyone's ideas and do this so that I have one bag to go to goodwill this weekend. We can do this!

Wow SubC! You told someone and she understood! That's great. And she was kind and related. She may not relate to the extent that some of us here can, but honestly, there's a bit of relief to that, too. She gets the busy life, the creative life, etc. I'm pleased.

How are the goats???

I'll do the five minute challenge with you!!


My hoarding took a different path. I'm not terribly creative, so I didn't have tons of supplies for projects. I was more along the lines of buying multiples, buying things on sale THEN finding a use (or not), hoarding books, having stuff in case anyone else needed it, and then keeping anything "sentimental," which meant anything. I love dishes and glassware and stuff like that. I had a few things for projects that I never did but I was able to tell myself, I'm not going to be doing that. So my hoarding was a bit different and although at times it has been painful (that first year was tough), and it still can be painful, I've reached a good spot in my brain. I have to work hard on it, and now I do some of the mental reasoning I've learned from Tillie, which includes, do I need it, will I use it, will I get rid of something else in order to have it, etc.

Speaking of Tille, hello Tillie. Stop by when you can!!

CM I forgot to tell you how proud I am of how well you are doing on your paystub project! We will get through moving some stuff and making decisions. We are here!

I must finish getting ready for work.

Tatoulia, I think the idea of doing the drawers one by one is spot on. I can relate to the "stuff blindness" where one looks but does not immediately see.

So if I were to suggest a challenge it would be to pick a drawer and go through it mindfully. Whether that would entail removing some things and lining them up for individual evaluation, or just taking a single item at a time. Whichever way, or some other way, that doesn't overwhelm, yet allows you to cut an item from the herd and deal with it in a focused way.

I recall when I was going to the clutter club and the leader told a story of dealing with her late husband's socks. They had been in a drawer for a period of time after she'd dealt with most of his other clothes. Finally she just felt ready and pulled or dumped them out, and was able to deal with them quickly.

I pointed out that it was at least in part because she had removed them from their old familiar context. Our minds tend to take things for granted as belonging wherever we've stored them, for decades. We get used to looking at the conglomeration as a whole. So it helps to break that mental expectation.

Of course, one must guard against dumping out too much at a time and having it pile up in another spot. That would probably depend on the size of the drawer in question. If it's a larger drawer, do only half, a quarter, whatever's manageable. A box or basket can be a portable staging area yet keep the items contained while you work through them.

I'm generally a person who believes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But with our clutter, a different approach is needed, namely, shake things up a bit on purpose to force yourself to see them differently, and take it from there.

You got this! :)

Yay CM!

It would be great if you stopped by more often, but don't ever feel like you have to keep it short. I love your long interesting posts.

Sorry you've been in the "pits" but how fantastic that you have all that paper cleared out!

I will be excited to hear what happens with your quilt.

I know the stuff in the new van is frustrating. We set high expectations on ourselves and then can feel overwhelmed when things don't go exactly as planned. Just keep working wherever you can, and things will get better.

I have trouble resisting fabric too. My Achilles heel was always the remnant table, and discount Christmas prints. Since I haven't been sewing since my kids moved out, i've been staying out of fabric stores.

That article about the boy was neat. I will never match him!

I think the hoarding/OCD/depression article was documenting co-occurance rather than causation.

I totally understand your desire for a magic decluttering machine! Also the winter blahs. Here is a quick tip - carrying stuff out of your house is exercise test results in fast reduction. ;)

Tatoulia,

Yay for the cleaning fairies!

I don't think you are wasting time sleeping. Each person needs a different amount of sleep, and it is important for your health to get it. I find that when I am exercising more and losing weight, I need more sleep, and if I short myself I stall out on the weight loss.

I think it is cool that you and your BF have friends all over the world!

I have been doing a "five minute February" challenge on another site, but everybody pretty much dropped out and I skipped the last 3 days. If you want to join me for this last week, maybe I will get remotivated.

I am spending five minutes every day on my garage (except instead of timing, I am doing one or more small tasks) - you could spend 5 minutes on a cabinet or do one shelf?

I took a big step yesterday. I told a "new" friend at work about my hoarding (we have actually been friends for more than a year, but only at work.) I started by telling her how happy I have been to be able to find materials and supplies at home when I need them for his year (we were talking about trying to remember if you had something for class) and how hard it has been in the past. at first, she was like "oh yeah, I have those tendencies too, but I think moving around a lot helps." But I told her, no, I mean, I am an actual hoarder. It's like being an alcoholic. And when we were moving a lot, it made it worse, because there were too many decisions and anything might be the exact thing that I would need and not be able to get in the new location, so anything that could possibly be packed had to come along, and then at the new place I couldn't find anything.." and she said "so you bought more." And I said "yes." And she said "wow. Well good for you for making progress!"

People who teach children and do it well make really good friends.

CM thank you for the nice newsy post!

I'm excited that your quilt is coming up on the bingo prize! That is so exciting. I understand about the bunny fabric. Even though I don't sew, I enjoy looking at fabrics and they are irresistible. Luckily I never buy any. My drapery toile worked for my drapes, Roman shade and throw pillows. I know if I could sew I'd be buying piles and piles of fabrics. It must be hard to resist.

I slept after work tonight. I got out for a very short walk only and went to see BF at his office. A packet from a friend in Switzerland had arrived. Very cute gifts inside.

I know I shouldn't waste my time by sleeping so much.

I feel better knowing that I'll see the nutritionist soon. Just talking to her made me feel better. I'd like to say goodby to the remaining weight. I'm half way there, I think. I've lost 33 and depending on where I end up I'd like to lose another 33. I feel stronger and more aware just from speaking with her.

I have some paperwork to tackle here. I also have put another sweater in my donate pile. I cannot tell you how good I feel since getting rid of that vase I've had for 26 years. I attached meaning to it that when I thought about it, didn't even exist.

I need to do more of that. What do you think? Open a drawer or cabinet and see what's there? I don't need to do vast clean outs, just another look. Now that I'm fairly cleaned out, I should be able to look in a cabinet without feeling dread. And I can decide the fate of things with a clearer vision.

Anyone want to help me form a challenge? Even a one-bag out challenge would be helpful. One bag a week or one bag after the weekend or something like that. I'd like it to involve stuff that is in the cabinets but which I no longer see.

Clawing my way out of the pits.

Not really sure why the pits, just a lot of different things I guess. I did get the student loan paperwork done despite the password delay. That felt good. Also got the pay stubs that were recyclable gone, and the bits that need shredded don't amount to much.

Mainly I wish I could declutter the way I'm (finally) doing laundry - feed the rumpled mess of ALL my clutter into a magic machine that makes it come out neat and as it should be! And anything unneeded is bundled for disposal just like lint goes into the dryer vent. LOL! Know the feeling?

SubC - that article you read may be correct but I've also seen that ADHD might be a bigger factor than OCD in hoarding according to other studies. Who knows. I have both, lucky me...heh...

Bad weather late last week put paid to roommate's proposed trip out of town. I felt bad for her but we had some time to relax and watch extra Star Trek.

We had the bunny event and got on local TV. I'm trying to locate the link to the footage to put on our group Facebook page. May have to call the station if it's not up online and see if we can get a copy or however that works.

We did have some good news in that we saw our repair guy in person and his health is improving. He has been through the wars with trying different medications. So he may be able to start on our sunroom soon.

On Monday we went out shopping, and I had no idea Joann Fabrics had several new bunny themed fabrics - I'm afraid my Wanter won. But I'm thinking in terms of crafting items for the bunny group's fundraiser, so maybe it's okay. Most of the fabrics were bunny themed without being overwhelmingly Easter themed at the same time, which is what I want.

The Easter ones are cute and all, but for the bunny club we don't want to emphasize the connection between rabbits and Easter, as that leads to ignorant people impulsively getting baby rabbits at Easter time. Such people often abandon them when they hit puberty and the people don't want to be fussed to spay or neuter them and otherwise care for them as a family pet.

We also bought some tie dye supplies, because I'm thinking of an idea for watercolor effect T-shirts with bunnies and flowers that we could also sell for fundraising. I'll get a bag of white T-shirts at the thrift store that we can practice on and see if my idea works.

My church quilt Bingo on the first Sunday in March is approaching rapidly! It'll be interesting to see who gets the quilt I made. I want to start working on some new ones.

Tillie, glad your bug is gone or mostly gone and you got to go grocery shopping. Next time you'll know to hide those tangerines!

Tatoulia I think the necklace is fine. I'm sure you'll be finding other items to donate as well as what you already have, so you'll still come out with fewer items and maybe a tax break for the donations so you break even. I'm thinking of purging a lot of clothes as I mentioned before, and getting a new-to-me thing or two that I like better. I keep things forever, and some of them I'm just getting tired of looking at and wearing.

SubC keep us posted on your crochet class. I would like to improve my crocheting and knitting which are very much beginner level. Have you seen this story and video of this 11 year old whiz kid Jonah - man can he crochet!

Crochet whiz kid

Miscellaneous - I've probably been bummed some due to the weather - I'd like a word or two with old Punxsutawney Phil. The bugger supposedly didn't see his shadow on the 2nd but I am not getting any "spring is just around the corner" vibe!

My nice newer van now has stuff in it that is intended to go to storage. And I'm looking at how bad my bedroom is getting - pretty sure I saw a FEMA helicopter fly over earlier. I'm probably going to have to take a large amount of stuff from here over there to ever make it liveable.

That's going to entail making the storage unit arranged nicely, and it's going to give me a reality check about the amount of STUFF I have in total. Eek! I may have to break down and let go of more stuff - fabric I'd hoped to use in sewing, for instance, books, who knows what. I may just have to say if I'm not going to use this whatever in X amount of time, it goes away.

And that may be easier to do once I get going. Thinking about it makes me sad, but I think some of that's the winter blahs talking. As I've said already, too, I'm flabby and out of shape and needing to get back to exercising, which will give me energy and a better outlook.

Well, enough Russian novel again, needed to catch up. Can't say 100% that I'll try to post more often so it can be shorter and just because I'd like to - but I will try. Love you all, thanks for being here.

Good morning!

The cleaning fairies got here while I was still in bed. All clean here! What a gift to have them. They also brought me lunch. I'll likely have for dinner. It was less stressful having them here today since two went upstairs to neighbor's apt and I only had one here. It seemed to be less stressful. Plus I'm pretty well used to them by now.

My towels are in the dryer and I'm washing a winter throw. I should get dressed soon and take a walk.

Nutritionist appt is set for March 6th! It was good to talk with her and I'm excited to get a bit of a tune up! I'm taking the 6th and 7th off. Will go to the museum of fine arts with mom on the 7th. We will see the Boston jewelry exhibit and then have lunch. I was flirting with taking the 8th off but BF will be working and there's not a big point in taking off just to lounge.

SubC, I am proud of you and I also appreciate the visual snapshot of your home. Let's keep focusing on what's next because I know that together, we can do it! I still have more to get rid of. Still too much stuff.

Tillie glad to hear you are eating! I'm tempted to steal one of those tiny oranges myself! I'm glad you are on the mend. I worry so. And I'm glad you hid the rest of the fruit from Steven.

So I'll finish my laundry and then get dressed and maybe go for a walk. We are expecting some sort of storm tonight but the weather people hype it up so much I'm not actually sure if we are expecting much.

A dear friend from Kuwait is coming to visit in March! I am so excited. We haven't seen her in many years, probably four or more. Her daughter was friends with my BF and then we became close to the mom. The daughter we saw a few years ago when she was in the US. Mother will be here for a conference.

Tillie,

I am glad you are eating. Boo on Steven for stealing your fruit!

Very busy week at school. No baby goats yet. Getting warmer, but pouring rain - I get paid on the 28th. New boots soon!

I think one keeps one's seashells in one's school supplies cupboard, since that is what they are for. But my school supplies cupboard is still only a concept. Currently it is an overstuffed "random kitchen/garden/household related stuff and things that might be useful and are sometimes used at school" cupboard.

I know that I have made progress. For one thing, the rooms with the goat paths are piled below my waist instead of way over my head! I guess I listed all those areas because I felt like Tatoulia was giving me too much credit, and they kind of provide a snapshot in time if where I am and what i'm Working on.

Ok, must gather materials and leave for work!

Good Morning Everyone

Hi Subclinical
Reading about all you need to sort out, declutter and organize there.
Remember you did recently do some drawers of shirts Tshirts and pants.
You work out of the house and also have work related homework to do.
The girls will be giving birth any time now so there is even more to do farm related.
You have been managing to get things done whenever you find a few minutes/hours.
You have taken care of pottery related tasks of cleaning, sorting out and organizing there.
I've been wracking my brain trying to think of where does one store their seashells in the basement?
Anyways...
Just keep on doing what you have been doing.
You are only one person and can only do just so much in any given day.
This road to getting all decluttered, organized and cleaned is a long road since you are doing this all by yourself.
Think back and you will be able to see how far you have come!
Don't focus on all that is still not done yet.
In time you will get there (((HUGS)))


Hi Tatoulia
Happy you are seeing the positive benefits of no spend February.
It's a lot like the fasting diet.
Helps you get back on track to a healthier lifestyle. :)

Since I went grocery shopping before falling ill there has been fresh fruit to eat.
But Steven saw my tiny tangerines and stole half of them.
Finished my bananas yesterday and finally cut up my pineapple.
It's now all ready to eat on a dish in the fridge.
Hid five tangerines and still have them for today.
Planning to scramble myself an egg or two today.
So yes, I have been eating. ;)

Oh Tatoulia,

You are so far ahead of me!

The top of my dresser is two feet tall, my walk-in closet is a look in closet, my bathroom has overstuffed cabinets and piles, there are piles on two guest beds again and the sleeping porch is basically a storage room, the closets in the guest rooms are spilling out, there are two large rooms in my basement with "goat paths", the scullery (old kitchen) is a mess, the garage is still messy, the barn is still messy, and the studio barn is still horrendous.

And this morning I am sore and tired from the clay work.

But I put away my desk last night.

Today I go in early because I have a subject area meeting. I also plan to swim and need to grocery shop on the way home.

If I attach that handle this morning and clean up after myself all day and only bring home food, it will be a good day.

I read a research article last night and I read out to dh the part that 80% of people with hoarding disorder also struggle with depression or OCD. and he asked "what percent have both?" I'm trying to take that as empathy.

Tillie,

How are you feeling today?

How is everyone else? It's been very quiet here. Jump in if you come by!

Hello! SubC you are doing so much great work! I am so proud of you. You are inspiring me to do better.

My cleaners come on Wednesday and I'm grateful for that.

Oh dear Tillie, now i'm Worried again. You are not even eating soup?

I'm glad you have clean dishes, but keep taking it easy.

Tatoulia, sounds like things went well with your mom.

I am very glad you are enjoying your necklace and getting compliments! No spending and getting your finances in order is important, but so is enjoying your life! It sounds like the necklace was a very good choice for your treat.

My goats are still not having their babies. Today they made a nest and curled up in it together and laughed at me. That is ok. It's going to be very cold tonight. They should keep the little goats inside where it is warm. I gave them a heat lamp just in case.

I spent the afternoon in my studio. Didn't make anything new, but I cleaned up my work table so that I can put a handle on one of my pieces tomorrow, gathered up some things to take to school, wedged up more scrap clay to use, and in the process emptied two buckets with broken lids and threw them in the trash. I have two more buckets with broken lids and I really should get them emptied and thrown out before the trash service ends - they are salvaged cat litter buckets people bring me because they don't recycle, but eventually the hinge gives out.

Areas that are now clear and ready to use in my studio:
Wedging table
Wheel/trimming area
Half the drying rack
One end of the work table
Kiln

I am trying not to make messes elsewhere as I go. I moved a pile of boxes of seashells into my basement, but besides that,everything I have moved has been used up, thrown out, given away, recycled, or put where it belongs.

The seashells belong in my basement, I just don't know where in the basement yet. Too many things, not enough spaces.

We cross posted. Glad you are building up your strength, Tillie. Will you be able to eat today?

I'm hack from getting mom's additional groceries. It's snowy but warm so the sidewalks were fine. Most people has shoveled. Good to get a walk in

I took my garbage out a bit earlier than allowed. I was worried that once I took my boots off I wouldn't feel like going out. I didn't do anything more at mom's today. I just wanted to get her groceries and mine home.

I'm going to be able to discuss my finances in two more weeks. I'm working on my debt reduction. I talked with someone at work about it (she is wealthy and financially savvy) and she agreed my idea is sound. So give me a few more weeks. I'll also call my former financial advisor since my new one isn't Interested in spending a lot of time with me. My former person is now at a company that I do not want to switch to for personal reasons and he understands my reasoning. But we keep in touch. Circumstances can change.

I am excited about the no-spend February and feel better about myself since I am making wise choices. My March birthday gift will be another session with my nutritionist. I wore my necklace the other day and two people mentioned it. One was a very nice man at the office-he's under 30 and such a nice person. He mentioned he liked what I was wearing and that my jewelry was great. So I'm forgiving myself.

I would like to do a few more things here. I'm doing a quick load of delicates. I have a cat next to me. Sound asleep.

I baked pumpkin bread last night and I remembered all of the ingredients! I also used my old recipe; the one I used in grad school and it is much tastier than the other one I've been using lately. It's more satisfying to eat. I took a third of the loaf up to mom's house.

Good Afternoon Everybody

Hi Subclinical
WTG! for all you did!
YEA! for a clean kitchen!!!
Wishing you lots more time to do lots more ceramics :D

Hi Tatoulia
YEA! for your Mom's laundry getting caught up.
Good you bought a different kitty cereal.
I had noticed great improvement when I use the ones specifically formulated for sensitive tummies.
I am positive kitty truly appreciates the new litter box. ;D


Ten days since I last washed dishes.
Not very many, mostly it was glasses and spoons since I haven't been cooking and also ran out of soup long ago.
But I managed to get the dishes ALL washed today.
Would wash a few, sit down and rest then get back up and washed a few more.
Snowed off & on all yesterday. Been very cold days & nights.
Next storm expected later this week.
All the snow in the mountains is very good to help with drought.

Tillie I'm happy to hear from you and I am grateful you are feeling human again. Great work, SubC on throwing six pots! I always wanted to work on a potters wheel.

I did some errands and shopping for mom yesterday. I then went back to her apartment to give kitty a new litter box. I'm also bought kitty a different kitty food to try since she's been having a bad tummy. When I left mom's for the last time yesterday, I spoke with one of the aides to get the rest of mom's laundry done and someone stopped up this AM to get.

It's almost 1 and I'm just getting out of bed. We had some snow overnight and probably in to the AM.

Mom called with more grocery needs so I'll walk to store soon.

Hi Tillie!

I am sorry that Steven doesn't want to take care of you. But I am glad you feel well enough to give us such a nice long post. We worry!

I am still feeling pretty good about dh feedback. I think he is still feeling bad about his comment, because he is cleaning the kitchen!

The thing I was looking for does hang out with similar objects, but they do not have a permanent home yet. So, it was in the pile in the guest room, and then it was in the pile on the dining porch, and then it was in the pile on the floor at the end of the storage shelf, and then it was Christmas time and I was sick and it was in the way, and I couldn't remember moving it. But I did - because the whole pile was gone.

But I eventually found the pile in another part of the basement, hiding under a large gift bag from Christmas that I hadn't put away properly.

Tatoulia, i'm Sorry you are having a struggle with your mom's home right now. Hopefully she will let you make it better. Did you find something that agreed with your tummy?

I have been catching up on school things today and I worked in my pottery studio. I have all my plans done for Tuesday and Thursday, and most of them for Wednesday, and half of Friday. I threw six pots and wedged up a bucket of clay.

And my kitchen is clean. ;)

Good Afternoon Everyone

WOW! Subclinical!!! :D
So wonderful that your DH acknowledged all your hard work in such a positive reinforcing way!.

So glad you spoke up for yourself.
Words do hurt (((HUG)))

One way to help keep from losing something and having to look everywhere for it...
Is to have specific areas/zones where specific types of items go.
So when you put something down you always put it somewhere in it's designated zone.
Maybe it's not stored properly due to time limits but at least you only need to search in the one specific area/zone for it.
Just think what zone does that belong in and look for it there.
Close enough. ;DS


Hi Tatoulia
YEA! for a good looking bedroom!
So sweet of you to cook for her. ;)
Good luck cleaning up your Mom's place.
Have something light and easy for supper maybe washed down with a ginger ale.


Today I am out of bed and even dressed.
Had some lunch too.
My energy is very limited.
Can't do much in any day.
Don't have enough energy to wash dishes but I did scoop litter boxes and filled kibble & water bowls.
Yesterday I did not get the boxes scooped but with three cats and three litter boxes it isn't so bad.
Steven has been going out of his way to ignore me.
Never once asking me if I'm not well.
If I were to tell him how scary sick I have been he would only start going on & on about how he feels, just minimalizing my problem.
You and the cats are the only ones who know I'm sickly.

I cooked for mom and took the casserole to her. Then we wrote our belated valentine's. I put the clean duvet on her bed. She still has the pile of laundry that I told her I'd pay to have done. I also need to find a vacuum at her place. Her place is just awful. And she seems to be st a point where I could accomplish some things there. I'll pick up the laundry on Wednesday and will do.

I have the kitchen cleaned from the cooking this AM. No idea what I'll be eating tonight. My stomach is always a little turned after being at mom's house.

Hope everyone is doing okay. Would love an update from Motown, Tess, Anony, Cm, Tillie.

I love you both so much.

This morning I was looking all over the house for something I need, and I was very frustrated, and I couldn't find it, and I was grumpy. I told dh I had moved it too many times. But I took a break to do something else, and then I just looked again, and I found it, and I put it on the stool in the entryway. And dh said "you just moved it again."

And I said "but i won't lose it here, this is a staging area." And he said "the entire house is your staging area." Which hurt.

But I am learning to stand up for myself. Even if I am in the wrong, I do not deserve to be treated badly. And if I have made you angry or disappointed, or frustrated, it is still wrong for you to be mean to me.

So I said "that is unfair. Do you know how easily I get discouraged and how hard this is for me and how much I have accomplished?"

He gave me a hug and said "you're right. I'm sorry. Do YOU know how much you have accomplished?"

I asked "how much?"

And he said "you have accomplished so much that it doesn't bother me anymore."

Wow.