Good Afternoon Everyone

Well...
Bathroom is all squeaky clean.
Also washed under bathroom sink and kitchen sink.
Also washed the area by the bathroom door & back door where the water heater and litter box are & washed the floor there.
Wiped down so many areas and washed the kitchen floor and bathroom floor.
Used a dowel rod and a rag to clean way back under the washing machine that lives in the bathroom.
Doing that I found the cloth mousie finger puppet that has been missing for ages.
YEA!!!
Washed it and it is back in play.
Right now the plastic shower curtain and some rags are soaking in the washer.
Washed my broom, dust pan and kitchen trash can.

I would no longer be mortified if someone were to come by for a visit. :)

Looking forward to my evening shower.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
I like your new routines/schedules for time management.
"They" say that the light of computer screens late into the night messes up our natural sleep/wake rhythms.

Of course your home is in better shape this time.
You worked very hard this Summer, spent a lot of hours working bringing more order to it.
All that hard work will pay off with your new busier work schedule.

WAY TO GO!!! for the classroom being all ready for first day!!!

Have fun in the big town, good luck getting all you need and wishing you safe driving conditions.


So far my only plan for today is to clean the bathroom.
But sometimes that's harder than it sounds because Steven keeps "needing" to get in there and I have to stand there waiting for him to get out before I can continue. >:P

Good morning!

I am working on my school year structure - no computer after 8:30 unless essential for work, and today I am practicing my morning routine (which means this will be short.)

Tillie, that was smart bout the heater.

Tatoulia, I think it is good that you are raking time to spend with the new little one.

I look forward to hearing about your closet.

I did not drop anything off yesterday except trash.

But, my classroom is completely ready even down to materials set out on tables. My first lesson will involve introduction of some of our new tools.

My house is more in order than it was when school started last year.

I swam yesterday and traffic was horrible and it took me two hours to get home. (Accident shut the highway down)

Today I need to drive to the next big town away from the city and buy some goat medications. I'll go to the feed store, their grocery, and maybe a thrift store while i'm out. I discovered that the Keurig carousel is perfect for holding my little pots of glaze in my classroom. I need 2 more.

Also lesson plans and more stuff around the house. My ten minutes is up! See you later.

Good Evening Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
I suppose her hysterectomy is more involved since she is mature and also had kittens.
Not like a three month old virgin kitten who rebounds quickly.

We had a few tiny sprinkles at sundown with lots of lightning and thunder and blowing winds.
I actually got two sprinkles on my skin! :D

WTG! for keeping up on housework.
Doing a few little tasks as they arise really makes a difference overall.

OK, so we are going back into that closet.
You did such a lovely job on the linen closet getting it all organized.
You might want to break it down into smaller bites.
Maybe one section of the closet at a time.
Like, what do you want stored on the floor?
What do you want to keep on the shelf if there is room there with the dishes you have stored there already?
If thinking about the whole closet is too overwhelming break it down into smaller bites.

I like that you are thinking of what you can do to make yourself happier. :)

It's been nice here too sleeping with the window open, the ceiling fan on and a nice blanket.
Then pulling up the other blanket around 3am.

Hello, hello. Busy day today. I was working from home but so busy. I made it up to mom's twice today. Working on socializing the little one. She is much less swollen and she seems to be feeling a bit better.

I met friends for dinner tonight and I was grateful for that. Just a little bar that serves Italian food. Then I walked the malls. It's been raining here since about five but it's a tad humid. Sunday Monday and Tuesday felt like fall. I was sleeping with windows open, ceiling fan on and extra blanket. So nice.

Cm that is an answered prayer! I love the idea of the friendship and sewing. Terrific news!

Tillie you are so smart about disinfecting the heater. You have a marvelous mind. SubC, Tess and Debbie, a big hello!

I have not been focused on my home but I've been keeping it up fairly well. I vacuumed the cat hair from the sofa two days ago before putting a clean cloth down. I need to make this weekend about my dining room closet. I just do. There's plenty I can do to make it more usable. And I'll be happier.

I think I need to ask myself, how can I make myself happier over the Labor Day weekend. What changes in my house will increase my happiness?

Hello

Swept and vacuumed this morning.

Was trying to figure out how to disinfect the inside of that Edenpur space heater since I can't disassemble it.

Finally decided that I could use an empty Febreze spray bottle since it sprays a mist.
Filled it with a mixture of 50% bleach and 50% water.
Sprayed into every opening.

Since it is an electric appliance, spraying it should be alright because it will be all thoroughly dry long before I want to use it.

It is important that I disinfect the heater and all the areas where nasty mouse may have traveled.
There is Hantavirus near here.
Nasty mouse is a Deer Mouse variety known to carry the virus.
A man not 100 miles away died from Hantavirus and I live extremely close to Yosemite where they have had people get infected.
Some were just sick and some even died.

Good Morning Everybody

WTG! Subclinical on your 40 hour challenge!

Beautiful quiet cool morning here.
Wildfire smoke is continuing to stay thin and not overwhelming this past week.
Really need to wash the windows and window screens but I have been physically unable to.
When the weather is cooler I can take more time and wash them slower, not having to hurry to get it done before it's too hot out.

CM,

The sewing thing sounds wonderful! Always a clear space to work, and you have to clean up when you are done. Maybe there will be another quilter and you can swap some fabrics - lighten your stash and get new stuff that you want to use in the moment.

Great job on reducing the storage area! Keep on turtling on! A little at a time is all it takes. I have been doing a 40 hour challenge in my studio. Some days I only do ten minutes, but I am up to 31 hours and the studio looks a lot better! Most of the stuff I haven't gotten to yet is in one area that dh actually referred to as "the incredible shrinking pile" (I do still have some drawers and cupboards I haven't addressed)

It's wonderful that you no longer feel pulled to shop!

Good Evening Everybody

Hi CriticalMass
Hope the sewing thing works out.
When I was in school my friends and I would get together at someone's home in the evenings or weekends and sew whatever dresses/outfits we were making.
It was so much fun having company rather than sitting at home sewing all alone.

YEA! for going to storage and taking care of some things there.
WAY TO GO! for catching up on stuff and doing hot spots and recycling!!!
Slow & steady always gets results.

So wonderful the shopping urge is receding.
SPACE, the final frontier!

Hi Subclinical
Wish I could share this cake with you and also taste your frozen custard.

Really nice crunchy green bean snack you made.
WAY TO GO! for a clean kitchen after all that food prep you did today.

Wishing you smooth sailing with all your plans for tomorrow.

Good to see we're all keeping busy. Hi Tess!

Tatoulia, so happy about the new kitty.

Tillie, enjoyed the mouse tale, and happy for you that it worked so you could get him outdoors and gone.

SubC - glad open house went well and the year is starting off with a good arrangement for having your classroom space.

I may have an answered prayer - went to lunch with a new lady from quilting and we seem to have a lot in common. She is connected with a sewing bee group, which I might get to go to - a BYOSM (Bring Your Own Sewing Machine) and project you're working on arrangement.

This could really help me be productive with doll clothes and quilt piecing, and in the process busting my fabric stash. Also yarn - the lady makes throws and baby blankets for charities so whatever I make I would just pass to her to take with her finished ones. They go to domestic violence shelter, police to give to kids removed from bad situations, veterans, people in nursing homes, etc.

On the way home I did follow Badger's plan and go by the storage unit, and grab out that big bag of boxes and packing materials. Brought it home and most went in recycling. I saved just 1 cubic foot or so of bubble wrap since that stuff's pricey to buy. But I'm willing to let go of it at a later date if that seems right to do. I promise not to save tons of bubble wrap for Justin Case!

I'm starting to do catch up things on the computer, sorting and discarding paper, clearing "hot spots," and other projects I had on the docket for after the bunny club event. It is a lot, but it is doable if I pace myself. Slow and steady wins the race.

And one more answered prayer - the desire to shop is receding! I'm reminding myself that shopping really has gotten boring, and that getting this mess dealt with is going to feel so darn good, and is how I want to spend my time now. So that later I can spend my time enjoying and being productive in the freed up SPACE!

Please pass the cake ;)

I have two batches of custard mix (it is really custard, not ice cream) chilling in the fridge for tomorrow, and the dehydrator is working on 2.5 lbs of green beans. I coated them with olive oil, salt, and nutritional yeast and will dry them until they crunch. they will be a healthy, salty snack.

I also cleaned up the kitchen, although there are a few dishes in the scullery sink waiting for the next load.

Hopefully on Thursday I will turn the skim milk from the custard making into mozzarella. I don't have a robot for that though.

Yes, it was jasmine Harmon! She is lovely and sweet like my people. When her mum said she needed to move everything out somewhere so she could work on it, and jasmine actually got her a warehouse, I thought "oh, now you have to. You just have to!" That she still had that much faith in her....

Been chatting with my students today. I have a teen helper for one of my little kid classes and have been going through some prework with another student I really like. I'm learning interesting new things about him. He's much more careful and cautious than he lets on in a group.

Tomorrow I free the green bean slave, set dh up with breakfast and a packed lunch, put the custard slave to work, and do chores. Plus lesson plans, because I didn't get to that. If I have enough time while the custard is freezing, i'll load up some stuff for drop off and work on dishes and laundry.

Then off to get gas (and drop trash) shop at the pottery studio, maybe stop at the reuse store if I have drop offs, to school to put away my purchases and print some more things out (forms for our recycling/environmental program and some class materials I just found) swimming, and home.

The cake is all done.
The pieces are all cut and sitting on individual pieces of wax paper finishing up cooling.
When they are thoroughly cooled I will wrap them up and freeze all but the one I have out for me to eat today.

The dishes are all washed and the kitchen all wiped up.

In a few minutes it will be cool enough to water the grass and garden.

Been nice today not having other things demanding my time and attention.
I needed this break and even got some cake out of it too. :)

Hi Tess
Wonderful to "see" you! :D

Since I am still living in the center of a massive dirty infested hoard, yes seeing the places makes me cringe.
But I focus on the professionals and what they are doing.
How they react to and talk to the hoarding person who is resisting everything.
What the Drs. say about certain conditions that are unearthed that show just how messed up the person's thinking is.
Helps me to relate to what I see here everyday.

My Friend Nate grew up in a squalorous horded house and he has never/will never watch any hoarding program.
Says it's just too much bad memories.


Hi Subclinical
That lady with the British show is Jasmine Harmon who was helping her hoarding Mum.
Loved her series.

GREAT that your Dd can be your swimming buddy!!!
WTG! getting all your slaves to working. ;)


Well, the cake is in the oven.
Taking a break to rest my back before washing up the dishes.
Standing in one place for any length of time really hurts my back but by taking little rests I can do whatever I want to do.

Hi Tess! What have you been up to? I have a hard time with the really filthy houses.

I realize (first hand) that any place you let stuff pile up is going to get dirty, because you can't clean it, but when spaces are full of rotten food and poop, that is too much for me.

There is a short series of British shows that I find better encouragement for where I am. The woman who works with the horders was inspired by her experience with her mum. I think the title of the first one has "my hoarding mum" in it. They're on you tube.

I like the new (current) hoarders episodes better than the old ones for the most part. They feel less sensational.

Tillie, i'm Glad one of us is sure I can handle this ;).

Sleep is the hardest one for me. Dh and I have such different biorhythms and it is hard not to stay up with him when it feels like we just got home. Also dh says that I have to swim, but then he doesn't push me hard enough. Good thing there though - I found out Dd can join the health center as a dependent even though she is married and moved out and independent. She wants to swim with me twice a week, and nobody pushes me like she does.

Today I am trying to get more caught up before I dive in. I have my laundry and dish slaves hard at work, and I just blanched some green beans so I can put them in the dehydrator overnight. After that I might prep some ice cream mix so the ice cream slave can get to work in the morning.

I'm also planning to get my lesson plans at least for tu/th in order before I go to bed tonight. Tomorrow I go out running errands, and if I get stuff together I might do a drop off or two.

Hi friends!

I've been watching hoarders lately. Does anybody else struggle to watch? I couldn't bring myself to watch when the show originally aired. I I was still buried and the show made me somehow feel exposed and uncomfortable. I thought I could watch now that I've dug myself out. But here I sit with my shoulders tense and teeth clinched right. I hope I'm not alone there. It's such an odd feeling.

Oh boy! I see I missed some mouse drama! I need to catch up on my reading.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
I love Fall too. Autumn is my favorite season.
But I'm just not ready, time is moving too fast.

I'm positive you will handle the full school schedule just fine.
Things at home will fall behind at times but you will play "catch up" when you have a few free minutes.
Keep the number one priority your health.
You must relax, eat, sleep and swimming exercise.
With busy schedules you need to let the lower priorities like some housework slide.

This school year sounds like it is going to be fantastic!


I'm glad nasty mouse didn't have to eliminated with extreme prejudice and he's now back in nature where he belongs.
Hope he had such a bad experience in here that he never wants to come back inside.
Twinkles and Scooter miss him, stupid cats. ;p

I had laundry out on the line over night and will bring it in and fold it at 10:00am.
Twinks finished his last dose of antibiotics last night.
He's eating his krispies and snax alright so he doesn't need any more extra care.
Think I can relax now, have a little time for myself.
Maybe I'll even make my chocolate chip, pecan & date crumb cake today.
Been wanting to do that for weeks now.

Hello all.

I'm glad the kitty is adjusting. And I have to confess that I am not sorry the mousie escaped. Poor mousie was probably lured in by the nice cozy home Steven has created and then discovered that all the grocery stores were listed....

I have had mice get into my hoard, and it is horrible and frustrating. Mr. kitty generally does a better job with outside mice than with inside ones.

Debbie, I hope the rest of the move goes smoothly!

I will never know about the squirrel, but I did the best I could. Baby bunnies almost never survive once you remove them from the nest.

We got dh car back last night, so hopefully that is done. It better be!

I managed to partially salvage my day yesterday. The staff meeting was really good and I made some plans with some coworkers and did a little polishing and prep in my room - I have everything set out for my first class on Tuesday.

We got some money, and the science department is going to buy a chick incubator! Also, I am going down to the clay studio tomorrow morning to buy a few new tools for my class.

I swam, and then I picked dh up and we had a fight(around the logistics of picking him up) and I went to the grocery store. Then we had dinner and some wine and the fight blew over.

I have very bad poison ivy on the inside of my right elbow spreading up and down my arm and it is making me extra grumpy.

Anyway, I didn't put The non-perishables away last night and I have a lot to do today - staying home all day today. I'll report back aterinstead of setting myself up for failure with a very long list that I clearly can't finish.

I don't mind moving into fall at all. I love fall! Excited for school to start, but also worried about how i'm going to handle my very full schedule!...

Hi Tatoulia

Thank you and the worthless cats all thank you too ;)

Once kitty's spaying site is all healed she will come around.
I find it comforting that your Mom is not alone even if kitty is hiding nearby.

Read there is a mosquito carried virus in your area.
The EEE virus. Never heard of it, we just have West Nile here.
So please DO NOT feed the mosquitos.

WTG! for laundry, vacuuming and getting trash out!

YEA! for a great start filling that donation bag!

Labor Day weekend so soon.
I am not ready for Summer to end but I do already smell Autumn on the breeze and can see and hear it in the leaves.

Been thinking a lot since this whole mouse thing began.

I am so grateful that I have my food all mouse/bug proofed so I did not have to worry about it.

I am so grateful that the other things stored in my pantry are so minimal.
The two Edenpur heaters stacked to the left.
The electric radiator to the right of them.
The two cat food containers next then the step ladder and then the ironing board to the right.
To the left wall is my tool caddy and right wall the vacuum cleaner.

I had removed all that and had the ironing board and heaters in my little room.

I did not need to remove the food shelves, they were safe.

I am so grateful that my little room had space enough to set those things in there.

I am so very grateful that the rest of my house (except Steven's bedroom) is not cluttered.
Has just the right amount of things.
Lots of open space.

As much of a pain this was it was not difficult and I had the situation under control because I had room to do what I needed to do.

I am so very grateful that I have done all the planning, organizing and work to make my life easier for me.

I have never had a hoarding problem.
What really makes me sad is seeing just how much harder it is to do everything.
At times it becomes impossible to do even the simple things like cook, bathe, sleep
let alone remove a random nasty mouse visitor.

Hello all. GOOD WORK Tillie on he tting rid of the mouse. The cats were useless but only you and I know that. They cannot believe their helpfulness!

Debbie keep moving forward! You'll get good sleep in your new house! Generally the mortgage companies approve the mortgage in advance and then once you are near closing date, they need to make sure that the information is not too old-must be within thirty days of closing. At least that's the way it used to be. 730 is very early to be expected to be lucid and feeling like talking!

I have garbage gathered and must take out soon. Recycling is ready, too. I had to bring out the vacuum tonight due to a large bit of cat fur on the couch. I generally don't need to vacuum but the spread was in the washer and kitty was on the sofa.

I washed some laundry for mom today and I went up again to spend time with kitty. I know she'll come out of her shell. I don't know what I'm so anxious about this. She's very tired and worn out. But she's less swollen. And she's eating well. Mom finds it comforting just to know she's there.

SubC and CM I am thinking about you. You too Tess. And everyone else. Labor Day Weekend I need to tackle the closet. I've started on a goodwill bag and it's 1/2 full.

Hi Debbie
Noticed you had posted one minute before I did but had to run.

Life was not too hard for Granma back then.
They had hired hands to do the heavy lifting and work.

WAY TO GO! unplugging small kitchen appliances!
So much better to be safe rather than sorry.

Hope your broccoli was still warm & delicious. :D



Well...
I was keeping an eye on the heater from the window.
Jack lost interest and wandered off to roll around in the grass.
He loves to roll all around on the ground.
Anyways...
Nasty mouse jumped out of the heater
ran off the porch and into the catmint (catnip) in the garden right there.
I immediately ran out and said a few choice parting words to nasty mouse and brought the heater back in before nasty mouse could climb back in there.
THE END!


It's always something. ;p

Hi Guys

Hi Tatoulia
Hope by now you have had a tasty and filling dinner.
Soon the kitty will forget all about any spooky things that have happened in her life and relax into her new life. (((HUG)))


Back to nasty mouse...
At 5pm both Scooter and Twinkles gave up and were napping in the livingroom area.
The Edenpur was situated in the diningroom area.
At 5:20pm I looked over and THERE WAS NASTY MOUSE peeking out of the heater!
I called both stupid cats that the mouse was there and they said "BS" and continued to lay there.
Nasty mouse ducked back in when I approached.
So...
I picked up that heater and placed it on the front porch.
Jack came over to greet me and I filled him in on the situation.
Now Jack is guarding the heater.
Scooter is watching from the window.
Either way, nasty mouse is outside of the house where he should have been all along and I would not try to kill him. ;D

Hi All! My family all kept me on the phone all Sunday. Even had a sore throat from talking too much. So I didn't get a lot done and just took a day off! Today the mortgage people decided they needed all the stuff I already sent re-sent, updated, reviewed, etc. So that and the gym and Weight Watchers was my day. The bank woke me at 730 am! I couldn't believe it! I said aren't you supposed to wait till 9 to call people? She said no 830 is when we start. But it is 730 I said. She goes it's 830 in Indiana isn't it?
Well first of all I live in Illinois, and second, no in Indiana where I have not moved yet, it is the same time zone. And it is 730. She apologized so I tried to wake up and make sense! I usually am up by then, but I was reading and stayed up past 130 and set my alarm for 830 to get enough sleep. Oh well I will sleep well tonight.

Subc, glad your open house went so well! I bet the kids missed you just as much as you missed them. So convenient that you don't have to have a roommate and can leave things set up now! Nice! New undies and vacuum too! I need undies but am waiting till after the move.

Hope you managed to get something done in spite of having to drive DH around. Is his car almost fixed yet?

Hope the baby squirrel is okay? My neighbors found baby bunnies in the grass after mowing. One didn't make it but they were holding all of the others. I said I had them under the grass like that before and that the mom came at night to feed them I thought. They were trying to feed them. So I hope they survive. They have a large German shepherd in the yard and I am shocked the mom put them there.

I just unplugged my toaster and blender! I always unplug my coffee maker, but forget the toaster and blender and don't use them often. My sis in law had her toaster plugged in while on vacation and had a little cloth cover on it. When they got home it had just started smoldering!!! So I should know better! Thanks for the reminder Tillie.

Tillie, hope you can get what you need re finances from the mail if he won't tell you what you need to know. I can't believe it is 100 by you; I think it is 60 here! It's August for cripes sake!

Boy your Granma sounds Tough! That was such hard work keeping the floor clean!

I hope the mouse makes a run for the outside when the cats are distracted!

CM good luck with getting out of the spiritual slump. Now that I'm alone, I walk around saying thank you God for anything good that happens. I talk to my dead relatives and friends too. I want to believe and so I just act like I do.

Tatoulia yea for the new kitty! She sounds so perfect! What a nice thing you did to give up vacation days to volunteer! You make me hungry everytime, clam chowder is a favorite! I will have to look at the pictures on my tablet where I saved instagram address.

Well I have to go eat my broccoli before it gets cold, so have a great night!

Hello everyone

Busy day at work of one meeting after another. I am very hungry. I stopped up to see little pretty kitty today. I brought her out of the closet and loved her a bit then took her to mom's lap. We just support her and pet her quietly. She then went to eat her food and went back to the closet. I put her new bed in the closet for now, in the opposite corner of where she's been sleeping. She's so lovely. Lovely little cat.

Ok lots to do. Waiting to hear what BF is doing before I start cooking dinner. I haven't done mom's groceries. I ran errands with him last night and we also visited with his across the hall neighbors. They are very kind. They joined us for Christmas Eve dinner last year.

Need to get the garbage ready. I'll also go up to mom's to clean the kitty box.

Good Afternoon Everyone

Hi Subclinical
Hoping your day and busy broken up day smooths out for you.
WTG! for rehoming some art supplies.

Still absolutely no progress has been made on giving me the financial information. >:(


Last night Scooter said the nasty mouse was hiding inside the Edenpur space heater cabinet.
Twinkles agreed with his assessment.
Scooter spent the entire night standing guard waiting for nasty mouse to emerge.
He is still guarding the heater.
Periodically Twinkles comes over, investigates, sniffs and concurs that nasty mouse is still in there by sticking his paw into the narrow space to see if he can snag that mouse out of there.
I placed a grape and a peanut near to try to lure it out. It must be very hungry and thirsty by now.

The construction of the Edenpur is solid and made to not be opened by unauthorized people.
To be continued...........

Awww, she's a calico!

If one of my kids ever helps me get an online presence, i'll tell you guys where it is.

Today is a mess. Dh needs me to drive him places, staff meeting in the middle if the day, and it's raining.

I'm having a really hard time getting my thoughts/day organized and doing anything effective. Too many short pieces of day.

I did hand off some art supplies yesterday at school. Bit by bit.

Tillie, good luck with the disappearing mouse. Glad your food is safe!

Good Evening Everyone

She is BEAUTIFUL!
She will feel safe and loved in a few days. :)

Putting the toaster away is a personal preference.
I use mine more in the cold months. I only have one very short counter and the toaster easily fits down in the cabinet right in front of my Pyrex baking dishes.
Since you use it all the time it's not just sitting out getting in the way unnecessarily.

Unplugging the toaster is nonnegotiable. Just ask any fire Marshall.

YEA!!! Subclinical!
No roommate in the classroom!
Happy open house was great and wishing you another great day tomorrow. :D

Scooter and I heard a commotion down the hall.
We got up to investigate and saw Twinkles had been in a terrible fight with a mouse and the nasty mouse was now hiding behind a shelf.
The nasty mouse used an invisibility cloak to get away from the three of us.
Then Scooter had an incident in the pantry but nasty mouse went invisible again and we haven't seen him since.

All food in my pantry is mouse & bug proofed.
No packages or bags they can open.
I store things in glass jars with rubber seals, everything that comes in a bag or box is placed or poured into a jar, cat snax too.
Cat food is in plastic containers with tight snap on lids.
And of course I have things that come in cans and jars stored in there.
I store no food in kitchen cupboards/cabinets.

Tillie what a sad story about the fire at your house. Both you and SubC put the toaster away. Should I be doing that? I use it five times a week.

SubC great news on your room! I'm glad you are appreciated and valued!!! I would love to see your work someday and hope that you'll consider getting an Instagram acct so we could see some of it. No pressure, just a thought!

I don't have many pictures of the little one. She's still hiding for the most part. I got her out from under the bed today, gave her some livings, and put her on mom's lap for

Hooray for the new kitty!

Open house was great. I was so happy to see all my kids again!

I am feeling very appreciated. My boss came by and agreed to block off my room from use the period before my first class tu/th, so I can come in and work or set up if I want to, and I don't have to share my room - i'm Teaching in it all to other periods. That is a big deal, because it costs the school money to keep that spot open.

I always unplug my toaster and put it away. I did have a toaster catch fire once, but I think that was an outlet problem.

Back to school tomorrow for the teacher luncheon and final details. I can leave my room set up for next Tuesday, because - no roommate!

Good Afternoon Every One

Hi Tatoulia
Why are there no pics posted of the new kitty?
So happy she has found a wonderful forever home (((HUGS)))

I too always unplug small electronics.
My toaster is always in the cabinet when not in use.
Small appliances malfunction and may/can cause fires.
I have an "issue" with small electric things.
They get on my nerves so I only have as few as possible.
When not in use I always unplug them, even the microwave.
The evaporative cooler, Roku, Blu-ray player and stereo are used on a strip to make it easier to plug in and unplug them.
Soon as my laptop or tablet is recharged I unplug the charger.
I have even seen a plugged in but not turned on table lamp decide one day to flame up.
Maybe my "issue" with electric things comes from my father being an electrician and also the house burning to the ground when I was seven so I learned the many ways electricity can start fires or electrocute you.
There was never a cause discovered for the house fire because there was absolutely nothing left of the house to investigate.

Nothing to report today. It's all the same old same old.

Good morning everyone! I have done no work here whatsoever. I have kept up with the usuals: dishes done, clean kitchen sink, bed made, plants watered.

Yesterday I walked and did errands. I made a lasagna and brought leftovers to mom. I did some grocery shopping. They didn't have the frozen shrimp I like so I got frozen bay scallops. We shall see how those work out for me.

The big news, which I didn't mention yesterday or Friday is, we adopted a dear little cat for mom. My Friday volunteer work was done after our delicious lunch (homemade clam chowder and a salad, followed by a platter of cookie and coffee), and instead of going to work I decided to walk to the shelter where I found my kitty. (Let me pause and say, this volunteer work I did was professional volunteer work and not for a charity such as a food bank or soup kitchen. Thus, I take vacation days for this and while company-approved, it is not company-sponsored). There were a few cats at my shelter and each one had people standing in front and "claiming" the cat. I walked past my home and to BF's office and I called mom. I picked her up and took her up the shelter where she'd first met her kitty, and we got a kitty!

She's a dear little thing. Just had kittens. Not sure where/what happened to the kittens. She was spayed on the 19th and there was a sign saying she was on hold. I kept pressing the volunteers on that and finally went to the desk and they said, oh we can remove the hold, and we got her!! Right now she is very shy and has been sleeping in mom's closet. She's been through a lot. I think she'll grow into a delightful companion. She's about a year old. She's coming to mom in identical circumstances as her last cat so we are happy. She's coming out to eat and is a good little eater and found her litter box in the bathroom. So I've been checking in there a lot. During one visit yesterday I took her out of the closet and just hugged her and she was extremely sweet. She's just adjusting right now and my mother has the patience for it.

Today I have to go to work to get my laptop. I'm also going to stop in a store to look for a cat bed.

So the badger isn't around largely because there's a cat in mom's closet.

CM, life starts anew when it get crisp in the Fall. I feel confident your faith will be experience that renewal and guide you properly.

SubC, I've been of the impression that leaving a usb plugged in draws a bit of electricity, which on its own is hardly of note, but multiply by a couple per household by who knows how many millions of households, and there you go. Plus sometimes they feel warm so I know something's happening. Lastly, I'm a big unplugger. I unplug my coffee maker (again with a clock, it's drawing electricity), my toaster (never know if today's the day that the toaster will turn on me and catch fire, etc). So I may be wrong about this but I just can't leave things plugged in for the heck of it. Tv, lamps, yes, but stuff I use periodically (paper shredder) no.

Debbie you are amazing. Tillie, you are smart to take care of yourself. I LOVE THE GRAMMA STORY. As always, I picture her and braided rugs and peacefulness and industriousness and calm and practicality and I can almost smell the house. Thank you so much.

I'm going to plug in my toaster, make an English muffin, unplug the toaster and go to work.

Just hello before I leave for Mass. I'm determined to pull out of a spiritual slump I got into over the summer. I have started, but it's got to be constantly reinforced with patience and discipline. Most importantly I need to shore up my faith that my life is not over, that all the financial losses of the last few years can yet bd overcome somehow. That I will be able to get my own place etc. And in the meantime to refuse to use the uncertainty as an excuse not to tackle the hoard/clutter, or as an excuse to go aimlessly shopping.

So I'm gonna pray, and then have a summit conference with Badger.

Hi Subclinical
YEA!!!! WTG!!!!
You got new underwear!!! :D

Your home does need that vacuum.
Sweeping and cleaning rags just aren't the same as a good vacuum.

My Granma grew up in a very nice big house.
They had large room sized rugs throughout.
But they had no electricity or indoor plumbing.
She explained to me how they took care of the rugs.
Once each year when the weather was nice they would have to empty everything out of the rooms.
Take up the rugs and take them outdoors where they had to beat all the dust out of them.
With everything removed from the room they would then wash all the walls and ceiling.
Since it was a hard and tiring job they would only do one room each day until all the rooms had been thoroughly Spring cleaned.
Other times of the year they would sprinkle sawdust all over the rugs then sweep it all up with the broom.
She said the sawdust helped get up all the dirt & dust.
Granma's stories were every bit as good as Laura Ingles Wilder's.

I'm so happy you will have a vacuum! ;D

Wishing you a wonderful open house tomorrow.

Good luck Tillie!

If you have some idea what the bills are - power, water, Internet, phone? gas?, taxes..., and to whom they are owed, you can call. If your name is on it, you can get information. If your name is not on it, you will at least know whom to call if he dies. If he's dead, they will want talk with you so they can keep getting paid.

Debbie, funny, I don't mind folding he clothes, it's the sorting (before and after) and the putting away. Mostly the putting away. And the remembering to move them out of the washing machine.

My cat brought me a baby squirrel yesterday. I ran out because I could hear the momma squirrel having a fit (I thought there might be a hawk) and he was running toward me as fast as he could go with the little squirrel in his mouth. He dropped it at my feet. I don't know if it was a gift or if he thought I would help him keep it, but he was sorely disappointed. I took him inside and then left him there until I had scooped the little squirrel into a plastic bucket using the plastic lid and put it back by the tree line (it did not look or act injured. Just terrified. ) and its mother had retrieved it.

Tatoulia, why shouldn't you leave USB chargers plugged in? I do it all the time, as does dh, and he is an engineer and does electrical wiring and has never expressed a concern.

How did the badger do on the closet?

CM, i'm Glad you have what you need for your novel.

Sensory kids tend to fixate. Some if their issues are fairly consistent and predictable, but others are categoric and the specifics vary. My sensory kid loved sour and hot (spicy). Still can't stand sticky. D❤️gs went through a stage where he wouldn't eat anything crunchy. That was a sound issue though. He couldn't bear hearing himself chew.

We were very profligate today. Dh decided that even though we aren't done with the car, I needed a new vacuum. And underwear. So he took me shopping. While we were out he bought us coffee and donuts. We couldn't find exactly the vacuum cleaner I wanted, but I got to try different ones that had the features I wanted - just not all together - or with too many extras. There were a couple of local places that could order it for us, but the cheapest was 25% higher than amazon (all costs included) so we ordered it online. Then I discovered that my manufacturer discontinued my underwear (4 years ago-think I needed new?) so I had to choose new brand. That was also only available special order in my size and color (white!) so amazon got our business there too - 10% less and I don't have to drive back to the store.

I worked on cleaning up the glaze area a little more tonight.

Tomorrow is open house!

Good Evening Everybody

Hi Debbie
Thank you. :)

LOL :D
He stole your toast!
Well, you did leave it just sitting out there.


Got the trees watered today.
Washed dishes/cleaned up kitchen. With taking care of Twinkles then What'shisface the kitchen became a dumping ground.

When it cools off a little this evening I need to water the lilac hedge.
100 degrees today.
The forecast for the next ten days is high 90s every day.

Spoke with Steven about the financial black out I am living in and he seemed agreeable to enlightening me.
But not holding my breath because he's lied about it before.
Plan B... I will intercept all incoming mail and formulate a plan as how to use this to my advantage. :p

Hi Everyone! Tillie I just wanted to say how sorry I am for the way you have to fight for everything, even for Stephen to not let himself die! I hope you can get him to give up some control so you can know where you are financially. I hope he takes your medical advice too and gets better! Maybe he will be scared into letting you help. But I think he is an extremely stubborn person and that makes it unlikely. It's probably like admitting he's wrong and that is almost impossible. I am praying he surprises me and starts to let you share in the financial decisions. You are so strong! I read old posts where he was hospitalized before and recovery was months, but afterwards he started to reduce he hoard for a while. You took him to all those appts and put up with the therapists and all. I hope he gets another burst of de-hoarding after this illness. He really owes you that and so much more.

Still no garbage collection but decided to wait till Wednesday when my pickup happens to see if I get a different driver. Otherwise I found a different service and will switch Thursday.

CM, so glad your novel is safe! And with the flash drives etc maybe you can recover most of your stuff. I am getting an external hard drive after I move just to be safe. I had a computer crash once and lost my files because they wanted $80 to recover them for me. When I thought about it, I didn't have anything cared about that I didn't save to the cloud (only pictures). So I put the cpu tower in the tub & drowned it and left it to rust for years and then recycled it. I am soooo cheap!

Glad you got the laundry done and wish you good luck putting away bunny stuff and setting up your room!

Subc, it's funny that stuff about robots doing laundry and dishes! I am always surprised that people complain about those things. It is only folding clothes that I think people really dislike. I do it while on the phone or listening to a book or podcast. And the bad thing about dishes is they never stop! It's not hard or dirty. I kind of don't mind them. I only want a dishwasher to hide the stuff in, haha! I will probably half wash the stuff and put the dishes in it just to have clean counters! I hate cooking and washing walls! I think trying to figure out what to make is what I hate, really. Washing walls is just painful and I think I will get cleaning fairies to do it.

Tatoulia, I am sorry about your brother. I know 2 people very like that and there is no way to deal with it except from a distance. I am glad you still help him but that you keep that distance is so good for your own mental health. Even the argument about leaving the thing plugged in actually happened with one of the 2 people I know! He always went crazy if you said something like "people say that's not good" , he would jump on it and say who are these people, are they scientists? Blah blah blah, and just rant rave and curse about how stupid you were to listen to "People". It was impossible to have a rational discussion. I gave up and avoided speaking to him ever. He made a scene at my husband's funeral because he wasn't allowed to visit. But it was my husband's choice and so I just told him that and walked away. I don't expect to speak with him again if at all possible. I know he's mentally ill and so I just try and stay away from him.

Today I went outside with my eggs and toast and coffee to enjoy the beautiful cool weather and sunshine. My neighbor called me to the fence and while we talked a squirrel helped himself to my toast and I think a bite of egg! She saw him running off with the toast so I gave the egg to the dog next door and made my breakfast over! I have been feeding the squirrel leftover chunky peanut butter cuz I don't like it (was my husband's) but I guess he decided to help himself today. Little stinker!

Well back to work and hope you all have a great day!

Good Morning Every One

Thank you Tatoulia
Thank you for understanding and sorry that you know what I am dealing with all too well.
(((HUG)))

You all are doing so wonderful keeping on with everything.


My brain is filled with my plans of attack here.
He MUST tell me how to pay bills online.
He must give me the sign in info for doing this.
He must tell me what all there is concerning the finances.
If he is so willing to just lay there and die I must know these things.
I have asked him for years and he has always refused to comply.

(Should he die)...
Then I must figure out what to do with all the derelict vehicles.
Who in my area may take them?
Then I must figure out who would help me clean up all the rogue trees and weeds.
Then I need to rent a dumpster and start clearing out this massive hoard.
But I would need to hire help to do the lifting & carrying.
Then I would need to hire people to fix the problems with the house.
Then I would need to figure out how to pay for ALL of this.

He is leaving me with such a mess.
Time for me to fight back.
Wish me luck?

Tillie your strength and compassion are awe-inspiring. You persevered and put your own safety (mental and emotional and only you know about physical) aside. I have been there to some extent, as I am sure you can imagine, but you stayed with it. You are a wonderful human being.

I remember once telling my brother (I was cooking Christmas Eve dinner and cleaning his apt) and I mentioned you shouldn't just leave USB chargers in the outlets, you need to unplug when not in use and he started screaming at me and calling me dirty names and demanding, repeatedly, what stupid #%*¥ in my mailroom gave me that piece of advice. So I said, forget it, not an issue, and he told me Christmas was cancelled and to get out of his house.

Yes I did this for decades. I'm still a bit hungover but I'm getting there.

Tillie I am on your side and again, you are amazing. Also, I take your advice and I wish you were here when I'm sick to bring me crackers and a sip of ginger ale. Just getting out of bed when I'm ill sometimes makes me have to think about it for what seems like hours.

Everyone, you are doing well and please forgive me for not remembering what everyone said.

Debbie! I am so glad you are gear! You are doing a great job staying positive and overcoming obstacles!!!! Great work!!!

CM I'm glad you have your writings. Please consider not fretting too much on the list emails and passwords. If it's been a long time, then maybe it's been long enough to just not access them. I say this with great kindness and compassion, and i picture us sitting on the couch like girlfriends and just talking about past loves and dreams and discussing letting go. There's no criticism between us, just a couple of ladies sipping iced tea and wondering where the time has gone.

Sending out much love and strength. After the badger has had her coffee we will tackle the dining room closet.

Hello everyone

Been a tough day.
Steven would not do anything I told him he needed to do.
He was/is dehydrated because he refuses to drink because he "Thinks" he is up every 15 minutes to pee.
In reality he had gone over 12 hours since he last peed.
He refused to take any of his heart, thyroid, BP meds because he said they would upset his empty stomach.
I said THAT"S what I gave you crackers for!
He said he only needed to get some sleep.
I informed him he had been sleeping since yesterday.
That doing what I say to do would make him feel better. Fixing his heart with meds & rehydrating would make him not be exhausted.
Anyways...
About 3pm today I got real ugly and forced him to eat the friggin crackers, drink the friggin Gatorade and TAKE YOUR FRIGGIN PILLS!!!
It worked.
His color is better, he's not as groggy, he is still dehydrated but he has started urinating again.
He was up and getting about for a few hours and has now gone back to bed but that's alright.
Other than those friggin crackers he has not eaten since Wednesday.
He always thinks he knows better about his health than any health professionals and argues and refuses to comply.
But if some Bozo off the street says something he will listen to them.

Sorry about the rant.
Love you all (((HUGS)))

Happy Friday evening

I guess I scared you without intending to - I am 99.99% sure I am NOT missing any essential parts to any novels! I realize my explanation was rather convoluted, though, so I can see how you may have thought that.

I went to using at least two flash drives, plus some things are on my tablet as well as laptop. And my roommate has a portable hard drive I can back all my data files up on!

I want to get one of those that's my own one of these days, too, and back everything up including the software. In case the 10-year-old laptop's motherboard or some other essential component dies. And so when I someday get a different computer hopefully I can port my system over and keep going. We'll see.

Anyway. I really do think my writing is backed up. The big science fiction novel really needs to be redrafted from the start. I have learned a TON about where NASA and other space agencies are on finding exoplanets, and I've read many awesome books and articles on astrobiology. So my story's going to be a lot better for all that. I'm also not sure whether I want to keep all the same characters. I'll refer to the old drafts a bit, but new writing will be just that - new. And I'll back it up 6 ways to Sunday!

Did laundry today instead of sewing. No yellow box yet, I haven't looked. Getting that pile of clothes out of the way was needed. I can borrow a seam ripper from my roommate maybe, to get by.

Debbie - that sounds so satisfying getting all that stuff hauled away! That's what I want to feel. The weather here is cooler after that storm. Maybe I'll go by my storage unit and grab out a big bundle of flattened packing material I'd saved when I thought I'd be selling Barbies on Ebay, and put it in the recycle barrel here. It needs to go.

Tatoulia, hope you find a wonderful kitty for your mom. I want to go to an adoption event at a bookstore tomorrow. Just to see the puddytats. And maybe network about animal rescue on behalf of the bunny club.

SubC, hope open house goes great. And you got items you will use. My roommate has a worm composter but I don't know if it's still going. I don't know if I'd be able to find something safe to eat at an Indian restaurant, but I'd enjoy seeing the people as you described. In my reading about picky eating, I have run across the idea that American culture got too hung up on giving babies and kids bland food, and that just having them eat what Mum and Dad are having without fuss works pretty well. I don't know if a kid with ADHD & sensory issues would be okay with it but maybe in my reading I'll find out.

Tillie - happy to hear Twinkles is on the mend! And good luck with Steven. Hopefully his instincts are at least as good as Twinkles' and he will eventually get himself the liquids that he needs. You did what you could.

Badger and I will start putting away bunny event stuff, and redoing thd bedroom, and my hope is that the sewing box will be uncovered.

Happy weekend to all!

Good afternoon all!

Debbie, you sound like you are in really good shape with the house! How aggravating about that wire though. I used to have a lot of trouble with my trash service. That was one of the reasons I cancelled it.

Tatoulia, enjoy your volunteer day! What fun about lunch!

The badger is all yours this weekend. Just keep him away from your mom's cat, ok?

Tillie, that twinkles is sneaky! I'm sure he thinks he knows best though. Maybe Steven would like some kitty soup. ;)

I have been puttering around the house and finishing my pumpkin bowls today. I also picked away a little more at the backlog of glaze, and scavenged some parts from a wobbly cart and put the remainder in the metal recycling pile.

For some reason, I was remembering a mom's board I was on a long time ago. One of the moms said she needed a robot servant like in the Jetsons, and one of the other moms said she already had robot slaves and that she got up every morning and set them to work. She had robot slaves that washed and dried her clothes, one that washed her dishes, and even two (named crockpot and bread machine) that cooked her family dinner. She said her husband had invested a lot of money and effort in them to make her life easier, and that it would be disrespectful to let them stand around idle when there was work to be done.

I don't share her particular world view, so i'm Not worried about disrespecting my husband, but it did occur to me that I should be making more use of my labor saving devices. So the dish and laundry robots are hard at work, and I am contemplating starting up the ice cream robot and the one that dries green beans.

Good Morning to All! Well Am Vets came and took all but 2 small tables and a DVD cabinet. But I was getting worried they weren't coming! So happy to have it all gone! My garbage service picked up the recycling and left the garbage (which is full for the first time as I am really cleaning out!) Called yesterday and they said they would come in the afternoon, which they did not. Called today and the problem is a low hanging wire that has been there for the 35 years I lived here. It crosses the street and the driver says it is too low. However there were at least 3 other refuse trucks that came yesterday. This has happened twice before and by the following week they come as usual. But they said they are not coming till it is fixed. I called Com-Ed and they are coming. I don't know whose wire it is but I hope they will fix it. They just sent an auto call to tell me my "outage" s/b restored by 6pm. Well I guess I will try and get a different service just in case. I tried to call the township but their phone is not working. I am in unincorporated part of town. I might try and call the main town and see what they say. What a pain!

Well I emptied everything from upstairs except two beds and an air conditioner. Then I emptied the pantry and washed it out. I have 8 cans of paint (free with rebate) to give away and lots of new paintbrushes etc. My brother gets to look first and then any left over goes to the Restore place. I cleaned out my desk as much as possible and packed files and shredded more. So I guess now I have to eat up what's left in the fridge and pantry. I am going to wait to disconnect my TV and computer till the last day I guess.

Today I think I will work on the garage a little. Luckily I have worked on it for the last year and most of the stuff is gone. I have a mower to give my sister and one I am leaving here till I sell. I am having a service come for the rest of the year at the new place. And next year I plan to buy a rechargeable mower!

The Com-Ed guy has called me 3 times already. He can't see a line that is in the way. He is calling the trash service to ask where it is! OMG they gave him the wrong address too.

Tatoulia, I looked at the dishwasher while babysitting and realized it's 3hrs 46min! Egads! Hopefully mine will be shorter. Glad your ladies came and cleaned so fast! Hope the kitties have calmed down by now. I am with them, I hate to have people in my house!

Sorry you have the pillow dilemma! I hate when I don't like a gift and I have to say I usually just hang onto it for a few years. Then get rid of it. I had a wreath someone made for me like that. It was very pretty but not me. I put it up for a few years and then got rid of it! The maker never asked where it went, thank God.

Hope your Mom finds a cat soon! You are lucky to have her so close and get to see her so often!

CM, glad your eye appt. went well. I just went too and my distance is getting so much better that it looks like I will need reading glasses some day. He said not yet, but I use my husband's to read medicine bottles already! And I guess a cataract is in there now. He said not to worry for quite a while.

Hope you found the sewing box and that you can recover your files! I have lots of pictures and documents I would hate to lose. But I don't save emails except receipts or letters. That would be horrible to lose the novel!

Tillie, glad that Twinkles is better and so hungry for his kibble! Haha, helped himself! I wonder if you ever tried listening to books on tape or CDs? That is how I go to sleep so fast. I can't think about whatever is bothering me if I concentrate on the story. My library has a lot of them and now you can get them on Overdrive through your library, if you have a tablet to download it to. I used to listen on my 45 min commute and then I started listening at bedtime too.

Glad you finally got the groceries! I need to go for 2 things today and I don't wanna! Hope Steven is better so you can have the house back! I know it's hard to clean and just relax when someone is sick in bed!

SubC, I do feel lighter with all the stuff gone! And I had fun with the boys, thanks. We made green slime and something called ooblock? Fun and messy which made them happy! I have decided to just worry about a couch and nothing else till after my surgery. You are right, no pressure to finish it all at once.

Glad you got the worm composter! I compost and my yard is so wormy I almost dread digging! I have good soil. Congrats on the pots turning out well especially the favorite 2! I wish I could take your classes, they sound so fun! Melting glass and immersible blender!

Hope the car is fixed and isn't too bad. That Indian place sounds yummy! It is so rare that parents are paying the kids attention! Always on the phone! So glad your classes are all set and hope you got lots of sleep!

Well I should go do some cleaning and then try to meet someone for a dinner or movie. I am sick of being home! Otherwise I will mow and wack weeds and water the garden. It can wait a day tho if someone is free!

Great work, SubC! Send the badger here over the weekend!!

Yay Twinkles!

Cm I'm sorry about your email problems. I want you to find your novel and other writings. And I also want you to find some peace with it. It may be too early in the process but I do hope you find some peace with it. We are here to help.

Ok I have only a few minutes. Vacation Day/volunteer day for me and my fellow volunteer member sent an email last night inviting me to lunch st his super swanky super subsidized office cafeteria. And it's raining! So I get to bring the beautiful umbrella he gave me last time!

I'll write tonight. And I'm praying we find mom a cat this weekend. The right cat, not all the cats I would take.

I do hope Steven feels better. I know what you are up against but thankfully I never lived with my brother.

Good Evening Everybody

Hi CriticalMass
Hope tonight you are sleeping soundly and wake up tomorrow all rested up.

That little yellow box, WHERE ARE YOU???

YEA! for good eye appointment!

Good luck with all that computer stuff you're doing.
My laptop has that cloud thingie on it but I never even looked at it.

The things that I create I feel the need to send them out into the world, not to keep them for myself.
I feel that is why I was inspired to create in the first place, not for me personally.
Does that make any sense?


Hi Subclinical
YEA!!! WAY TO GO!!!

You have been so busy all Summer break.
So glad you have also been doing pottery too.
Hope you ate dinner and are soundly sleeping by now. :)


Spent the afternoon doing some pencil puzzles and then took a nap.
Did some stuff when I woke up.

Twinkles snuck into the kibble/cereal and was so happy.
He has really missed his crunchies.
He is supposed to be on a soft diet only for several more days but he seems not to have hurt himself.

Steven has been sick in bed since yesterday.
Tried to get him to drink water or ginger ale but he is too mean and ornery so I have given up. :p

Hi CM!

I'm sorry about the email situation. You seem to be handling it well though.

Yay for good eye appointments too! I hope you find your yellow box!

Badger and I chewed through all my classes! They are posted and ready to launch when the director flips the switch on Sunday. There is one page missing a photo, but admin promised to put the photo in for me. If not, I guess parents will email me and say "I can't see the kit" and I will reply with the photo.

I took two pottery breaks. We also ate a lot of snacks. I really need to work on my weight. It is going in the wrong direction. I am hoping school will help - many stairs and no easy snacks.

Did a little laundry, but you can't tell. I might work on the house a little, but I plan to be asleep in three hours and I haven't addressed dinner or done chores.

Hi from the main library this time - the other day I was at the branch.

Checked more old email accounts - it's going to take time to comb through and assess the "damage" - I realized today that years ago when I got a 2nd account, and a 3rd - I held it there for awhile - anyway, when I checked all 3 of those regularly I used them as my own backup for files*, though I did also use flash drives and still do.

Thing is, I once had a flash drive fry itself and the only copy of my science fiction novel begun in 2009 (and still not finished - Calling Space Badger! LOL!) was on it. Fortunately one of those data recovery outfits was able to restore it for me.

So... I don't know if I have any documents, website links, etc. in those vanished emails or not - hopefully not anything I don't have backed up elsewhere. Sheesh. I need a directory of projects etc., but to keep something like that up would cut into my time to be productive that much more. I don't miss my ancient hernia-inducing big steel file cabinets full of papers, but they did what they were supposed to do, as long as there was no fire, flood, etc.

I suppose God is trying to teach me something here and I'm resisting the lesson a bit. It's one of my big spiritual conflicts in life - He gave me intelligence and creativity, so I want to produce stuff with it that seems to be worthwhile doing. But how does one do so without becoming "attached"? Greater philosophers than I have pondered such things.

Ah well. I'm still just checking things and doing pretty well at not getting anxious. I'm going to take that as a sign from my subconscious that either I have backed up what I needed to or it's obsolete (like early drafts of writing etc.) by now so it doesn't matter.

We had a big storm last night with winds in the 70-mph range in parts of town, and 3 inches of rain! My frog had been yelling about it yesterday and he gave out another series of loud croaks this morning, as if to say "See? I told you so!"

I went to the eye doctor today - no more appointments for awhile, yay! My glaucoma test went well, and my cataracts aren't growing much at all. My eyes were dilated, though, and I'm always surprised how long it takes to return to normal and how it leaves me feeling a bit "off" - almost woozy but not quite. I think it's mostly worn off now though, 6 hours later.

Tried making a Barbie dress for the little girl out of a bright patterned kid's sock from the Dollar Tree. I just flew by the seat of my pants as I am wont to do, and the end result wasn't quite good enough to give as a gift. It can clothe some nekkid Barbie of mine.

I was still tired yesterday when I tried to sew. And I could NOT for the life of me find my little yellow sewing tool box. I had it at one point doing something with crafts before the bunny event - so it's most likely hidden in the aftermath of that tornado of hurrying and scurrying and being so glad to be DONE that I have forgotten lots of things. It'll turn up. I need my bodkin and my seam ripper especially!

I should probably wrap this up and head home in a bit - got a few catching up things done on the computer. With the storm and all, my sleep was not great so I hope to sleep better tonight and wake refreshed and ready to sew - and oh, if I could find the yellow box that'd be great!

*This was before "the Cloud" and I don't use the Cloud - trust issues... so I came up with my own way - which I guess wasn't so great either - sigh. It's things like losing data that feed my hoarding monster just when I am trying to starve it out!!

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
WTG! for the six pots coming out nicely!!!

You sure were busy.
So many different things all done and ready for school to begin.

Make sure to take those pottery breaks.
They are important. ;)


Woke up about 5am.
Decided to grocery shop today.
Stayed around the house till 8am to give Twinks his meds on time.
Then went to the grocery store.
Not many people in there.
Got everything on my list.
It's all put away now and I'm just sitting here reading on the interwebs.

Good morning everyone!

Tillie, i'm So glad twinkles is better. Do get some food soon!

Debbie good job on sending things off with Amvets! Do you feel lighter? I agree with Tillie that you don't need to buy furniture right away. But maybe you need a couch to make your recovery from surgery better. It was smart to measure the sectional!

You will hear me complaining a lot come evaluation time. I really hate evaluations.

I hope you had fun with your g-nephews.

CM, I am smiling at you "turtling along". I have a vision of you as a giant turtle with a basket of tasks on your shell. Good luck with your room. I'll be watching for an update. No job too small!

Tatoulia, Maybe Miss kitty was afraid they would vacuum up her mice.

I need to send a condolence card and I am stuck on what to write. The boy I dated in high school lost his father last week. I want to send a card to his Mom, who is a dear lady and was always wonderful to me (I am still a little jealous of the woman he married - I think I got a better husband, but she got a MUCH better mom-in-law)

I think maybe you need to work on not telling people things are wonderful when they are not. Lying is stressful. Maybe you can find somebody who really does like the pillows and actually give them away. Sparkles? Do you know any teen age girls?

I will share the badger with you today. Everywhere I look there are things that need to be done.

Yesterday I had trouble getting out of the house. I finally decided I was overplanning and just left.

I stopped at goodwill, where they finally had the worm composter I was eyeing in the back room last week out for sale. bought that for my classroom along with a few other items - glass to melt on projects, a rack for the little glaze cups, another rack for their ware boards...

BMV to renew my car tags, Then grocery store to drop off the trash and buy some nonperishables we were out of.

I picked up the six pots I made in my class this session (they are all good, but two of them I love - dh loves one of the same ones.)

Other grocery store for dh cookies and some fruit and a roll for my lunch.

To school, where I unloaded all my purchases and the things I brought from home and got my classroom all set up and looking good for open house (I will have a few things to move when I get there because they were going to clean my floor mats last night, so I moved the stations they go under.)

Stopped at another thrift store, where I bought an immersible blender for my class - yay! and some things that go on a shelf to divide it horizontally - as I have been setting up my studio I was wishing I had a few more of those - and there they were!

Picked dh up at the mechanic - his car is in for round two because we only did a "what will it take to drive it safely" repair the first time. Now we are doing the more expensive "And also not worry about it breaking down again" part.

We stopped for dinner at a little Indian place we like. It is funny, because we are almost always the only non-Indian people there, and I am pretty sure we are the only ones who come regularly - they recognize us now and have stopped looking at us strangely and actually make our food hot. And we sit surrounded by conversations we cannot understand and music with words we cannot understand and I try not to stare at all of the beautiful children. (The youngest ones are always so dressed up, and I love the way the adults are centered on them instead of considering them a hindrance to enjoying the meal.) Last night there was a little girl about 6 months old and she was dressed in red and gold silk with tiny bell covered bracelets on her wrists and ankles, and her father carried her in in his arms and held her and shared his plate with her the whole meal - no sticking the car seat on the bench next to mom and handing the kid baby snacks American style.

Anyway, then home, unloaded the car, put away groceries, set up my shelf, did chores, and after typing that out, I know why I went to bed exhausted!

My priority today is to finish all the work I need to do on my classes before open house, and then I need to clean up this house. I give myself permission to take three breaks to work on pottery. Unloose the badger!

Good plan for the pillows Tatoulia :)
Now you can stop fretting half as much.

You're welcome
You all here give me the hope and strength to go on (((HUGS)))

Those condolence cards are HARD.
Reading them is when I cry the most, just can't help it, just can't stop till I'm all cried out.


Twinks took his medicine like a champ.
He laid down on the floor next to his hair brush so I'd brush him after the dosing was done.

Maybe I'll grocery shop tomorrow.
I am all out of fresh fruit & veggies.
The fridge and freezer are almost completely empty.

Of course I can do this. I think what I will do is keep one (just in case she does visit again) and that way I could've given one away to a friend. I like it. Plus I am known for just giving people whatever they say they like and the friend has been the recipient of that. Many times, including a painting I did as a child (one of three. One is missing and BF has the other one), an antique clock that reminded her of her mother, eye cream, etc, etc. so that would make sense. And only keeping one will bother me less and I'll treat it as an act of charity.

Yes I know your woes very well, Tillie, and I thank you for your strength and support and wisdom and love, all of which have helped me to reduce the woes in my life.

I went by mom's tonight and cleaned up a bit. She is getting many cat condolence cards because I put the word out and everyone is answering. Wevtead a few together tonight.