Roxie, I am so sorry to hear about your cat. I had the same thing happen with one of mine who was about 12 yrs old at the time. My Vet told me that audden deaths in cats is usually cardiac related. Still heartbreaking & quite a shock. Hugs & Prayers to you.

OH! Roxie :(

So so very sorry.

(((HUGS)))

Mare - just glad you are OK. I think all of us posting here are on a roller coaster of ups & downs & dealing with difficult decisions. It's OK to admit to feeling pissy.

Tillie - you are one of the reasons I check in on this board several times a day. I can't imagine anyone leaving this board because of you.

And to everyone else who has been so supportive & welcoming as well as giving practical advice - Thank You.

Not sure if I will be in the Sunday chat tonight as my plans keep changing.

Here's to September, Fall, Football & hopefully cooler weather & rain in Texas.

Take care of yourselves & be as kind to yourselves as you are to others.

Good morning everybody :)

There have been a lot of people who come post here or in chat for a while and then just one day stop.
No good bye or nothing.
I always assume it's because of me.
That I said or did something and now they all hate me.
This is how it has always been in my real life.
I haven't changed, so why do they all hate me now?
The friends that kept liking me always ended up dieing.
I always tell new people who want to be my friends that all my real friends die and the others turn on my and try to destroy me.

Anyways...
enough of my little pity party.

WAY TO GO! for all the accomplishments! :D
All you sleepy heads try to get a nap or get to bed early enough.
All you aching folks take care and be kind to yourselves.

When I am feeling down and immobilized I force myself to get up and tackle something.
The physical energy expended helps to settle me down inside.
When I am angry, depressed, grieving, anxious, nervous, etc. the activity helps to reduce these bad feelings.
The feeling of having accomplished something positive makes me feel better.
Feel like I have more control over this chaotic world, even if it is only a small section of my home.

Happy September! :D

I won't be able to be in chat tonight, I am going to the farm for family dinner and cards. Its every Sunday but I don't always go.

If I end up not playing cards then I will be here but I doubt it... :(

I have missed you all and I'm sorry if anyone was worried (ali)! I will get back to my posting self soon I hope. Its hard if I don't have anything positive to say it gets old just saying I'm down, I'm sleeping all the time, I don't feel well.

So will focus on the positive and get back on the right track!

HUGS!!!

Hello ali, I am sorry for my disappearance I was just so down in the dumps but am feeling better now! I haven't been doing a lot except sleeping, I think I need a medication adjustment.

My daughter is back so I am hoping to have some help with a lot of my boxes next weekend! My sister said she will help as well I need to find out if she is still coming it will be great to see her.

I have been struggling with decidions and also am faced with some huge ones like should I move again, so that has me a little overwhelmed but not as much as it did (last week). Ha.

Today I am going to the store... this is huge hahaha.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the Shout Out Roxie. I'm glad you got a new computer because I am really enjoying your posts.

Mare - Where are you? I hope everything is OK. Please check in & let us know how you are. I miss all of your positive posts. Does anyone know if Mare is OK. Seems like she just disappeared. Kara & I were the only ones in the Tuesday night chat & Kara said she had chatted with Mare on another Board????

Tillie - I hope the smoke slows down. I think of you when I see that fire on the news. Also it is time for you to get out and get that Hamburger.

diane & Dianne - so inspired by all you have done & continue to do & how handy you are at fixing things.

and Karl - You are getting a workout on your bike in addition to cleaning & clearing out. Keep up the good work. ( & then treat yourself to ice cream)

I have been working on clearing out boxes stacked in the hall. Lots of old boxes of make up that had to be trashed. And because of my limited trash pick up everything gets broken down into trash & recycling. A few items to donate but out of all that stuff that has been stacked up taking up space very little I want & nothing I have needed.

We had a few teaser days with temps under 100, yes highs of 99 but still under 100, and early mornings in the 60's. I could even get out & play with the dogs in the back yard & then Bam back to 104 temps. I am so looking forward to cooler weather & being able to walk the dogs again. And no rain with water restrictions,(You can only water your yard one day a week at night). Dangerously dry again. I wait until after dark to do laundry when overall power usage is lower.

So everyone "keep on keeping on" & stay cool.

Sunday's plan: Bike to my landlord's, 15 miles round trip, to deliver the rent check. I hope to be back in time for the chat session.

Not enough sleep, again. I spent some half-awake time going through some old papers next to the bed; I found they were all trash-worthy.

Thanks Tillie and Dianne. I took a half then a whole pill and that was all I took. Today pain started and took aleve, which seems to be working, will take another one soon. My brother died of alcohol/drugs at 50 y.o., sister is on drugs, other sister is now off alcohol. fear is based on reality, but today no need to take.
I took some pictures, paintings, frames down from a ledge near the ceiling, in the insulated room in walkway, this morning. There was probably 10 pounds of dog food and mouse droppings that my little mice hauled up there. The must have lived up there for years by the amount of droppings and art covered with pee. Right when I think I am done with squalor, I find another surprise. Now it is totally clean in that room, still some organizing to do in there, but done for now.
This week plan to mostly do things inside where I live. Dishes are done.
Actually as I write this, I realize I am exhausted and will probably rest the rest of the day.
Dianne, they didn't say to ice, so cheek is swollen today, I should have known to do it, just didn't think it would swell.

Good morning :)
Last day of August! :(
I really don't want summer to end.

Very dangerous day ahead for me.
He said the plan for today is to go shopping.
We need to pick up a few items that we actually really need and I worry about him finding other things he would want to buy even though we don't need them.
Our first stop will be at the hardware store to buy some pipe insulation.
Hardware store is a very risky place to take him to.

Already fed the cats.
Now I need to put down fresh water & fill kibble bowls & scoop litter boxes.
Get dressed, brush & braid my hair.
Wash my face & brush my teeth.
Make my bed.

Still have forest fire smoke but they did manage to contain one of the fires and that should help a little. :)

TTYL :D

Diane

(((HUGS)))

Take care and take it easy on yourself.
I understand about not taking any pain meds.
You need them now so please use them.

I never take pain meds for the same reason as you. Both my brothers and both my sisters abuse drugs and/or alcohol and my mother was an alcoholic so I never drink or take any prescription meds except antibiotics.

(((HUGS)))

Tooth was fractured all the way down the root so was not able to be fixed, had it pulled. Did you know it cost $386 to have it pulled, what the heck. It was very difficult because of fracture, lots of drilling and pulling, finally all out. He gave me Rx for pain meds, I said I don't take them. he said you will need these , so I did get it filled. Now I am grateful he talked me into it, wow, all that pulling and pushing, really created some pain, and it is getting worse. Now finally willing to take a pain pill. Addiction is a problem in siblings, so have been fearful of using any drugs.
I got dishes all caught up this morning, cleaned counters, organized a few areas a little then to dentist. I really don't feel like doing anything now, which is the way my evening will be.
Nice reading updates from you.

Hi Everybody :)

Hi Roxie :)
WAY TO GO! washing dishes and taking meds and brushing teeth! :D

Hi Dianne :)
WOW! Fantastic! job!
You did GREAT!!!
Happy you remembered to take your breaks while doing such a lot of work. :)

Hi Karl :)
WTG! getting some sleep! :)

Hi Barb :)
Great plan for the teaching materials!
Happy you have your internet fixed.
I have noticed that appliances do tend to all start to fail at the same time. lol ;)
Good luck finding that ID tag.

I sat down on the couch and was loving the sleeping kitten. Fell asleep with him and woke up 2 hours later! :D

Thanks, Roxie, for noticing when we have been silent for a while.
This seems to be a time in my life when everything is wearing out and needs to be replaced. Yesterday, I was in line for almost two hours at the cable company waiting to replace the Broadband box I need for my internet service. I had been rebooting it everyday as it was wearing out. This week it quit. Last night I got the new one plugged in and i have internet service again.
This morning, the coffee maker quit.
I left work on time tonight with a clean, organized desk. That feels good. My time is my own until Tuesday.
I will have a three day weekend. That is the opportunity to catch up on all my home maintenance and cleaning tasks and to make another dent in the clutter.
Saturday is for laundry and maintenance tasks. Sunday is for bill paying. Monday is the day I plan to look through my "teaching materials" stuff. There is a new first year kindergarten teacher at my local school who is starting with very few supplies and no budget to buy any. I have boxes and boxes of personal items I used in thirty years of teaching. Some are obsolete and need to be discarded. Some are still in like-new condition. They were originally boxed by subject matter and age level.
I hope that I can find what I have in mind for her and don't make a bigger mess trying to locate things.
Have a Happy Labor Day. everyone!

I'm not convinced that the weight gain was due to muscle tissue; feels like I've still got plenty of fat storage to burn off first.

I went to bed early and got 10.5h of sleep last night. Hopefully getting caught up on my sleep deficit now. (It seems to me that it's been weeks since I've been properly rested.) Maybe today I can focus on some task.

Good morning :)

WTG! Karl for getting stuff done and all that exercise.
Yes, that was a bad decision to update when you need the sleep.
Exercise makes our muscles fill up with stuff and that's why it seems we gain weight from exercising.
That weight is OK because it's not fat weight.
Sorry for explaining that so badly. ;)

Happy New Year Diane :)
Hope it brings you all your heart's desires.
Autumn is my favorite time too and I alwways start my new year November 1st. After the last harvest, time for the hoe down. ;)

My To-Dos for today...
I don't know.
Guess I should get ready for the 3 day weekend.
What I mainly need to do is make sure that all my no clutter zones are clean and clear to discourage my hoarder from trying to clutter them up.
He will try to drop stuff where ever but it really stands out when it is the only clutter in my zones.

I want to go to the beach, or the mountains or Redwood forest.
But I never get to go anywhere any more because he only wants to be with his hoard.
We used to always go some place right after all the kids were back in school. That's when the camp grounds are empty.

The smoke is still thick here so I won't be doing anything outside again today.
Planning to straighten my dresser drawers. That should take about 10 minutes.

Happy labor day weekend everybody! :)

I decided to go to the Wednesday dinner and games group; I figured it would have low attendance due to the weekend holiday, and I wanted to help boost the numbers. Since I didn't have a ride, that was 7.5 miles (45 minutes) of bicycling, and the same for the return trip. Adding in the 30 minutes from doing errands earlier in the day, and it makes two hours of exercise, with only one and a half meals during the day. So how did my weight go up a pound as a result??

After I got home, I got the trash and recycling out to the curb, and I did some cleaning of a different sort: the hard drive on my computer was 99% full. I got rid of some huge files left over from a project I was doing a few years ago. I should probably keep better track of my disk usage.

When I was just about ready to go to bed, I noticed that my secondary computer had an error that suggested something was seriously wrong in my browser; I decided it was time to do an update and reboot. What I forgot to account for is that the download would take about 40 minutes, and so I probably shouldn't have started it when I was already ready to collapse with exhaustion. But I forced myself to stay up, and spent some of the time going through paper clutter in the bedroom. (About 2/3 of it turned out to be trash.) Too tired to make a second trip to the curb, though, so that'll stay wait for next week.

Hi Diane :)
So glad you are getting that tooth taken care of.

WAY TO GO! patching roof, paying bills, laundry and getting donations ready for pick up! :D

Good luck finding your shoes! ;D

Sorry the smoke is so thick Tillie, and will be for awhile, that must be so difficult.
I found new roof leaks when we had the big record breaking down pour, so went up on roof and patched several areas today. Finally will see dentist 11:50am tomorrow, really should have done already, but with antibiotics, swelling went down a little so I hoped it would just go away, procrastination and now is worse, when will I learn things just don't get better by themselves.
Paid all bills
2 loads laundry
put donations out on a pallet and covered with tarp, will call for pickup, too much for my car
Yesterday dressed up for business meeting, and had trouble finding shoes I wanted to wear.
Plan to spend time tomorrow am putting together shoes and outfits for work, so I don't have to go through the mad scramble again. I am so used to wearing casual clothes, know where they are, now have to organize area for nice clothes for work next 2 months. have shoe rack waiting for shoes, where are they? scattered that is where

Good morning everybody :)

Spent yesterday in a foerst fire induced fog.
Just sort of wandered around aimlessly.
Talked with a couple of neighbors.
Accomplished nothing much.

The smoke has been very thick here again since yesterday and is still very bad here today.
Too dangerous to go outside and water my trees.
The lack of clear sunlight day after day messes with my brain and keeps me sleepy all day.
It is physically hard to do most anything. I have been coughing an awful lot. I need oxygen.
My eyes and throat burn. The cats are all feeling the same as me.

Anyways ;)
My plans for today are to stay indoors with the windows shut.
Eat. I have some very nice things to eat.
I bought a huge watermelon and have that all cut up in baggies, ready to eat.
Check in with my neighbors to make sure they are OK too.
I have been using a soft warm wet wash cloth on the cats eyes several times a day to soothe them.
Plead with the wind to blow from the East to wash this smoke away from me. ;D

WTG! Karl and Roxie for all your accomplishments.
The little accomplishments are just as important as the big major ones.

TTYL :)

Roxie, you should probably report the "MSN" caller now, rather than waiting for them to call again. Do you know the number they were calling from? Even if you don't know it, it might be worth letting the police and phone company know about the call. They might track them down anyway. This isn't just an annoyance, it's a dangerous crime!

I did make some progress last night -- 15m mostly targetting just one pull-out tray on my desk. I also remembered to brush my teeth.

Today I was out and about, depositing money into two different bank accounts so that I could do one instant transfer and one electronic payment. Now the current credit bills are covered, and I can try to work out how to deal with the rent payment.

I'm thinking that I'll go to a games event tonight, even though it's a bit further than I'd like, and I'll have to bicycle home in the dark... This particular group is expecting a lower attendance tonight, and I'd like to help keep the numbers up. I'll have to get ready right now, though.

Last night I posted to the Quotes topic. Today when I took some time to play a board game, my first inclination was to leave it out for the next time, but then I remembered what I'd posted there... So I put everything back in the box and put the game away.

No new progress in the remaining rooms. Maybe I can get the motivation to do 15m there tonight yet. I'll be in the chat room if anyone wants to join me.

Hi Diane
Please let your friend come stay the night.
You have been doing so much there to make your home nice and I think the house is ready enough for a friend to stay the night.
Think about it and try real hard to talk yourself into doing this.

:)

Worked all day yesterday and today to try to get all the mess out of garage and walkway. I knocked over a can of paint I was using, and it spilled all over the floor I had just cleaned the mud from, I tell you, this month has been a tough one, and I just keep trying to move ahead. I am almost back to pre flood conditions now. Challenging to stay positive, think I did remarkably well considering how stressful this month has been.
A friend just emailed and asked if she could come and stay here for a night or two. I have stayed at her house in Ashland in the past. No one has stayed here in years, and only one person has been in here in a few years. My first reaction is to say no, then I thought maybe it would be good for me, what do you think? Probably would be a nervous wreck.
I won't answer until tomorrow, after I process it.
Plan to do dishes soon. Have to make a healthy meal, have been eating on the run since flood.
Hope all of you are getting lots accomplished today. Tillie, sounds like you are enjoying life.

Good morning :)

Very quiet here and this morning the forest fire smoke is thinner.
The winds will bring in more smoke soon so I have been out watering while it's still nicer.

Haven't made my bed yet or gotten dressed or brushed my hair. LOL ;D
Guess I should do that next.
Want to wash my laundry today, will only be 2 loads.
Probably should cook some food. I have hard boiled eggs but maybe should eat more.
Have a watermelon and some plums.
My new jeans are way too long, should hem them since I don't like cuffs 'cause they get full of dirt and stuff.
Tomorrow is trash pick up day.
We are allowed to put out the big green wheelie bin plus an additional 7 other trash cans or bags or boxes or bundles.
Really depressing to only have out the few bags of kitchen/household trash that I gather weekly when he could easily find so much more.
The air in the house smells bad now from the wildfire smoke. Need to wash all the drapes and curtains. Will wait till the fires are all out before I do that.

Anyways, How's your day going? :D

Hi Karl :)
WAY TO GO! on borrowing the book and dish washing! :D

Good luck with finding your motivation and rent money.

Still dealing with depression and lack of motivation, but at least I have some accomplishments to log.

I went out this afternoon to get some food, and on the way home I stopped at the library. I picked up two movies and, and also re-borrowed the book "Stuff", since I'd had to return it before I was finished, the first time.

I set the timer and focused on 15m of hand-washing dishes, since I had several items that I didn't want to leave for the next full dishwasher load.

I've just realized that I have six pieces of hardware in front of me that are not working as they should, but I don't know when I'll find time and any necessary expertise to do something about them.

I'm going to make sure I have enough money to pay the credit card bills, and if so, take care of them tonight. I'll still need to figure out where to get the money for the rent, and how to get it delivered on time.

Thank you Dianne and Roxie :D (((hugs)))

Been enjoying myself today. Playing, singing and remembering long ago happy times. ;)
There are a lot of really bad memories I could recall but I would rather spend my time thinking about all the good times I've had and the nice/kind people I have known.
The worst part about growing older is that too many dear people in my life have passed on.
But as long as I remember them, their smiles, their voices, they will live forever in my heart. :D

Good morning :)

Well, my hoarder did nothing again this weekend.
He was pouting a lot because I put my foot down HARD when he wanted to bring in 3 more feral kittens.
The cat care all falls on my shoulders and I cannot take on any more.
I am tired, very very tired.

Anyways....
I have fed all the cats their canned food breakfast.
Now to make my bed, get showered and dressed.
Scoop the litter boxes. Put down fresh water & fill kibble bowls.

Going to be very selfish this week and only do the things that I want to do and nothing more.
There is some painting I want to do in my pantry area since I have some paint in here already.

Monday, the start of a whole new week! ;D

Good morning :)
Been up since 5:00am not my idea but just couldn't get back to sleep.
Cats have all had their breakfast.

My To-Dos for today are...
Stir a can of paint.
Clean the kitchen.
Wash my hair.
Hold my hoarder's hand and talk him through tossing out the garbage heaped up near the back porch.

Hoping to take a nap after lunch so I can stay awake for the Sunday ONLINE SUPPORT GROUP at 5:00pm PST.
Hope to see you all there! :D

Hi all,
My workweek went pretty well, although I am still not yet on a regular schedule. We are short staffed and three people are doing the work of six. They are supposed to hire two new people next week, but we will still be short one person. But the work will be divided between us, so that won't be so bad.
I meant to clean yesterday but spent most of the day dealing with a clogged pipe. It is always discouraging when you make a bigger mess than you already had.
I started to panic at first. I have usually had a male partner or landlord that could deal with this for me. I did do what I needed to do on my own. Yeah, me!
Today is a gorgeous day here. Cool and sunny.I will go to church (I need to be with my friends who give me support.)
This afternoon I will tackle the laundry and cleaning that did not get done yesterday and pay some bills. If I don't get the water bill paid, they will shut it off. I have the money, I am just disorganized.
i am so organized and disciplined at work. But I seem to fall apart when I get home.
Hope you all are doing well. I'm glad MayMay is keeping in touch with us, letting us know how she is doing in LA.

Thanks Dianne! :D

Good morning :)
Just finished feeding the cats.
Soon I will make my bed, get dressed, brush & braid my hair, wash my face & brush my teeth.
Need a few things from the grocery store.
My hoarder has been grocery shopping a LOT lately and he has his shelf in the fridge stuffed full and the fridge freezer totally packed too with "his" food.
My shelf is rather bare right now.
I have my list all made out.
It is sorta dark outside. The Yosemite "Rim" fire smoke and low clouds.
The temperature is in the 50s.
Great kind of day for him to do some outside work on the carport hoard. :D

Happy Saturday! :D

Hi Roxie
Of course we missed you! :D
WOW! you sure have been busy!!!!
Way TO GO! on getting so much accomplished! :D

Thanks Tillie,
Yeah I will definitely keep posting while I'm in L.A. :)