OMG! Thank you for the reminders to focus on what I can do in my own life, instead of blaming others. My hubby has just as much problem as I do about hoarding and collecting and not cleaning up after his projects....so guess who I've been whining to myself about...

ha! I'm sitting here looking at a drawer I didn't shut SIX days ago. Geez. Sometimes I am so frigging ridiculous. It's obvious if I got my stuff in order, our home would be so much better that his wouldn't be as much a problem.

Strangely, I have noticed when I focus on my stuff and get on a cleaning and sorting and tossing task of my own, he actually starts tidying up and tossing some of his mess.

Pretty cool.

It's the 10th, diane! Yea!

Kathy: Stir fry sounds good. Glad your mom is better. Sounds like you got a lot done today.

Tillie: Can't say that my outlook was especially good today. Was tired, and that led me to be kind of bummed out. Nonetheless, thanks to the message board and the people who got on chat today, I got stuff done I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. Yea!

diane: I did not in any way think your post was boring. As a matter of fact, to me it was inspiring. And I like how you are standing up for yourself on the dog situation.

Me: I got everything done on my list of goals for this afternoon/evening, other than getting gas in my car. Need to remember to do that early tomorrow morning. Thank you to those who were on the chat today and helped encourage me along. (Oh, found the missing makeup bag while working today.)

Hugs to all. Have a good evening.

Put out the trash, including a large cardboard box from the garage, did the dishes and kitchen counters,folded the sheets and blanket from the dryer and put them away. Made a veggie stir fry for dinner in an attempt to eat more healthy food.

LR tomorrow is the 10th and the big needy, shedding dog goes home, day 27. That is a long time to play fetch. I now understand what you cat people go through with the hair everywhere, always had bichons that do not shed. It is good to try out different breeds to see what kind of dog I will get when I am ready.
Well called the daughter that is to pick up dog tomorrow, she can't because she works tomorrow. I then called the other daughter, she had a lot of reasonable excuses, but I told her I really needed dog picked up before noon so I could spend the day cleaning up dog hair. I almost backed down, feeling sorry for her getting stuck with the pickup of dog, but I am not willing to keep her another day for free when owner already paid $8.oo a day less than she should have. So hopefully daughter won't call and say no, I will then offer to bring dog to her house if she does.
Already did another load of laundry, hanging out. Wind is picking up from north so my air is now almost clean, poor people in Bend. I am 14 miles north of fire.
I had my smoothie out on deck in lounger and enjoyed the cleaner air and took a break from fetch.
I went out to the back yard and finished cleaning it up, folded up all the weed prevention cloth that was under the pine needles. Moved the needles that did not get burned and made a path in yard over fly away dirt. I still have 2 big bags to spread. Just making a thin layer to help hold the dirt down that big dog made into powder.
Just had a though, how boring this must be to you as you read this!!!
Tillie, happy kitty is feeling better, he is one expensive kitty, dental cleaning, yikes, it is $250 here to have dog teeth cleaned. Good there is a working man in the house. Good for something.
I am thinking of you Tillie as I work on reclaiming my no clutter zone. I feel it is manageable now that I have done some of it. My plan is to keep dog on deck//yard tomorrow after she gets up and try to get all the vacuuming and cleaning done, before daughter picks her up, that way I will have most of work done, and can really relax.
Last night in chat I realized again how we make excuses, blame others for the way we are treated, and lack empathy for how the hoard affects others. when in reality, I am responsible for taking charge, get rid of extra stuff, whether on computer, closet, cabinets, deck, garage. Much easier to focus on my hurt feelings than improve my life. Instead of thinking how inconsiderate my neighbor was, I have now just focused on my responsibility to tidy things up. Much easier to focus on how anal he is than think how he must feel looking at my messes. Brat self has said, I will show them what a mess really is. Only makes me look dumb. Ok, I know, I am rambling, anything that do dishes!!

Did the grocery shopping and put everything away, including a couple of things (teacups etc.) that were trying to set up residence in the car...there are some sheets and a blanket in the dryer patiently waiting to be folded and put away. My mom called this morning, she thought she wasn't going to live through the night so she wrote a good-bye letter to us kids but she is OK. She is recovering from dental surgery. I suggested that she take the antibiotics the first dentist gave her even if the dental surgeon didn't think they were necessary. Our family has genetic immune deficiencies and she has an IgA deficiency.

Good afternoon.

Kathy: Glad you did get to make it to the chat last night. Yea for the kitchen work. Cool that your mom is 93.

Vi: When those water heaters go bad, it can be a real pain. Nice that you were able to help your Mr.'s mom with that and other plumbing things.

Tillie: As always, thanks for being here for us. Glad Twinkle is doing better. Green tea/lemonade . . . yum.

diane: Glad to be able to give you a laugh. Am happy you're just one day away from June 10. (I'm losing track of which ones are still with you right now and which have left already, so the June 10th date may not be as significant as before.) I've Googled the fire situation off and on and am thinking about you.

Had a slow morning. Very tired/sleepy, mildly bummed out for no solid reason. I think that thunderstorms kept waking me up last night, which probably contributed to my feeling tired.

Never did actually post my goals this morning, so here are some for the afternoon and evening: eat a healthy (albeit late) lunch, load dishwasher, put away clothes I'd hung up to dry, get more gas in vehicle while there is a break in the rain here, get a few grocery items, add to my gratitude list, vacuum some of the living room, get a couple of bills in the mail, spend at least ten minutes on paperwork.

Have a good afternoon and evening, everyone.

Glad I got to attend at least the last 90 minutes of the chat last night. Good to see everybody is still working...

I did get the dog mess in the kitchen cleaned up last night, and the sharps put away, and even filled the dishwasher and got it going.

This morning however, I didn't do much--listened to my mother on the phone, she is recovering from dental surgery and was so sure she was dying last night that she wrote us a good-bye note (well she is 93). Then I spent some time preparing for next Sunday's talks and fed the dog and ate breakfast and took my meds but haven't taken vitamins yet. Napped.

I still need to do grocery shopping today. And start picking things up around here. Grocery shopping is a big job for me, and I'm trying to put everything away after doing it, so that might be it for today.

Sorry I missed yesterday's meeting, I didn't think we'd be out as long as we were yesterday, but it was for a very good cause. My Mister and I were replacing water lines and a water heater for Mister's Mom since hers died and leaked all over her little mobile home. we managed to pull the old one, replace the pipes, replace and improve the hardware for the washing machine hook ups, and install the new machine. As it is she has hot water again and we only need to fix a few things that we rushed on last night as it was pushing 11 PM PAC by the time we left. everyone was tired this morning, but it's alright. My son starts summer vacation next Monday, so I'm trying to button up the rest of the house by then so it's easier to get things done around here. Both kids together can get a little crazy so I have to prep a bit hahaha.
TOday I only have a little bit to do as far as my dailies. no laundry because I don't have enough even for half a load, maybe I will tomorrow. Just a sinkful of dishes since we didn't eat at home all weekend and I did most of them yesterday before we left, so today I just have to check the litter box, make the beds, sweep and vacuum the house and clean the counters.
I also need to gather up my documents so I can procure a shiny new WA ID card. I know it's silly, but since I don't drive I've just kept my OR Driver's license and it expired last year so now I really need a new one.
I have a feeling it's going to be one of those days where I wear my headphones all day and listen to old goth music, european Rap and EDM all day because I need to stay focused.
I'll talk to you guys tonight, and if anyone needs a little boost today I'll be in chat and I'll check back in around 12 Pacific.

washed sheets, hanging out to dry, clothes I washed last night are hanging, all out in smoke from big fire
I enjoyed most of chat last night, sorry I missed some of it, LR your falling asleep was funny to me, then I spaced out and watched local news then signed off computer, hour later remembered I forgot I was on chat.
It is pretty smokey here, calm winds now, will pick up to 20mph today, which will be tough for fire fighters.
Plans for today: will do more laundry, mostly things covered with dog hair. cook some healthy food.
hope you have a productive peaceful day

Good to see so many of you on last night's chat. For those who were there, yes, I did go to sleep and woke up two or three hours later. Again. But at least this time I warned that that might happen. Sorry to miss all the good stuff I (undoubtedly) missed.

So far, it's a stormy morning here, and I'm extra tired. That means indoor work, for sure. I will probably need some extra motivation this morning, given that I'm extra tired. If anyone wants or needs an earlier-than-usual chat or 15-minute challenge, post your proposed time here and I might be able to join (unless I fall asleep again). I may use some of the time to read in my new book.

Karl: 5050. I cheated when I woke up this morning and used Excel for it. (Inside joke.)

Iced tea clinks, Roxie.

Happy Sunday to all.

diane: I liked that sentence from a few posts back . . . "never thought I would look forward to cleaning." I also liked when you said "good lesson to trust inner guidance when we are urged to do work even if not sure why." I hope that fire situation doesn't head your way, but I'm glad that you've taken steps to be ready if (heaven forbid) it does. Nice that that neighbor eventually apologized to you. The dog toy thing sounds great!

Tillie: Hope Twinkle is doing better soon. Glad that the moth invasion gave some entertainment. I agree with you about letting Barb go earlier in chat if needed. And ditto to what diane said: thanks for taking the time to respond to all of us when you can. Many hugs.

Barb: Hope all your work in getting ready for family goes well. Bought that procrastination book today you've been talking about.

Vi: Yea for "defendable" areas! You've been getting sooo much stuff done!

Roxie: Hope you are feeling more rested. Don't over-do it!

Me: I did meet with friends yesterday morning as planned. On the way there, I stopped off to take stuff to the shredding truck at their usual location, but the truck hadn't arrived yet. (Now I know it doesn't arrive there ?til 9am.) I didn't have all that much shredding with me, so I'll just save it for the next time. Still haven't solved the mystery of the missing makeup bag.

Got the junky floor area underneath my pantry decluttered (for the most part). Looks so much better!

Later in the day yesterday, I got on the chat room at noon (Pacific time) to see if anyone was there, with positive results! We did the fifteen-minutes-at-a-time thing, and I got a fair amount done during that time: some laundry, sweeping, bill-paying, and various other things I don't even remember at this moment. Those times are great for accountability, encouragement, and getting to know each other better!

So far today, I got my back patio cleaned off (no small task), got more laundry washed and dried, and had a pleasant lunch with family.

Plans for the rest of the day: Add to my gratitude list, finish putting away my laundry, and make it to the chat tonight.

Hugs to all!

Tillie thanks for understanding how difficult confrontation is for me. I had a talk with myself first. "you can be kind, just state the facts, and do realize I have rights as much as wealthy people in big houses. I am still a little unsettled from stating the facts, and in a kind way, just not easy. Nice not having regrets for being rude or harsh.
Called fire line this morning, all fires are banned today, so will not finish, most is done, so glad I worked so late last night, knowing it might be my last chance. I can pat myself on the back for all I did.
Today I made two dog toys, they are great. One is out of a felted wool sweater that Max's mom gave me last year, it has a squeaky ball inside, that he loves, seems pretty indestructable. I also fixed his favorite toy that he chewed up, replaced with thicker upholstry fabric. It was so much fun, it could be a good way to make extra money after I perfect it.
I did all the dishes, even put them away. Now just resting. , looking forward to chat.

Good morning, all.
Yesterday I worked on edging the drive and sidewalks while Clay mowed. I need to be outside to supervise. He does a good job as long as I am there to answer his questions about how I want things done.
My five year old neighbor came down and pulled a few weeds with me. He said he wants to work for me, too. I asked how much he charged and he said $1. I asked how many hours he would work for that dollar and he said "Probably about 10." His dad and I agreed that they might need to discuss his price structure a little further. :)
I am so glad that I live in a neighborhood where parents encourage their kids to earn some of their own pocket money. We are a mix of starter homes with young kids and retired single women whose kids are grown and gone. There is plenty of opportunity.
It poured last night in the thunderstorms. I am going to get out and pull weeds from the salsa garden while they are easy to pull. The garden looks good. The tomatoes and squash are blooming and the radishes will be ready to harvest soon.
Then I really need to get a handle on the dishes and kitchen table.
I will try to join the discussion tonight but may need to sign off before it is my turn. I want to get an early start on laundry and decluttering tomorrow. I only have six weeks to get things done before my family comes to visit.
Have a great Sunday, everyone.

Huge fire near Bend, smoke is already so thick here. Fire started at noon yesterday in forest, and has been burning fast and furious heading Bend. Haven't found update this morning but by the smoke here, bet it is still bad. Lots of evacuations. Dogs live in preevacuation area, so emailed family to head home. Other dogs parents will be back from Europe Tuesday. Terrible to come home to smoke and evacuation notice. So HAPPY I did all the work this week to make my property fire resistant, good lesson to trust inner guidance when we are urged to do work even if not sure why.

Today I went to a friend's graduation ceremony for their youngest son, he was 11 when I met him and now he's done with school. picked up the kids from grandma's and went over to their house for cake and Ice Cream and hung out for hours because we haven't seen each other in a while. It's really good to see friends sometimes and I should do it more often.
Laundry is in the dryer and I only have a sinkful of dishes so I'll do them before I head to bed, cats have been taken care of and the kids cleaned their rooms before we left. the places I haven't cleaned yet in the house are still dirty, but mostly they can wait until Monday when I have time to give them my full attention. As it stands My laundry room, den, bedrooms, Kitchen, and bathrooms are clean and defendable. all that's left in the house to clean are the dining room, living room and mudroom. the mudroom is small but I've been using it as storage and I've been using the living room as kind of storage as well for all the boxes ready for the move.
the dining room has suffered from the overflow and at this point is the easiest to clean. Once I clean these last three areas and do a cleaning on the floors I'll have everything in the main house in a defendable state and can sort my boxes. my goal after that is to tackle the garage and to get my donations out of the house.
Tomorrow we'll be at grandma's but I should be able to make the meeting on time or a little bit after. Have a good weekend and goodnight.

Hi everyone, thanks for all the posts telling about your days and progress, and to those not feeling well, warm wishes for speedy return to health.
Today was the neighborhood garage sale in a very nice area of houses a block from here. I go every year, wanted to go so bad. Went out in yard at 6am and worked until 1pm, got really dirty, so tricked myself into not going by keeping busy and dirty. I am glad I didn't go now, but seemed so reasonable this morning.
My neighbor and his girlfriend smoke on their rv pad, leaning on railing, flick ashes on my yard. So once I saw a small fire started last week when she flicked, I decided to clean all pine needles I had put there to stop weeds, and burn all weeds, stickery grasses and some of the pine needles. Past 2 days got out there at 6am and stop when they come out for first cig. Well they sat up there on deck and complained last night and again this morning, so I asked to chat with him. Told him why I felt the urgency to get all flammables away from RV pad. He was upset at first, then calmed down, and I said I have tried to only burn when they are not there, or sleeping. He made her come out and apologize about an hour later. By then I was up in aspen tree breaking off all dead branches. I felt very good that we cleared the air, since I can easily hear them talking about me.
Burn season ends 6/15 so would like to burn all the crap I cleaned up today, leaves weeds needles, a huge pile, was surprised how much more I raked up from under trees, all done with lower back yard, just the upper back yard. I don't really use the area so they have felt it is fine to use it as an ashtray.
Dogs are sleeping, so nice to be able to read all of your posts and say what is on my mind today.
Tillie I appreciate you responding to every one, you are the glue that holds us together.

Hi again, everyone. Afternoon goals, depending on how well my foot (same one that was bugging me the other day) cooperates: put away the laundry that I dried yesterday; put away some tools I didn't put away yesterday; sweep and/or vacuum bathroom, kitchen, and part of living room; pay some bills.

More later. Lots of hugs.

Good morning.

Here are some of my goals for the early part of the day: Get more shredding ready to take to the shredding place, look for my missing makeup bag, and meet with some friends. I'll probably post more goals later.

Have a great day!

Today I cleaned the entire kitchen, floor included, did today's laundry, picked up the mudroom floor, made every bed in the house, and swept the bedrooms and hall. tomorrow will be busy so just laundry and dishes. goodnight all

I am going to post one of my goals for tomorrow before I forget about it: take my "to shred" pile to the once-a-month, low-cost shredding place I usually use.

Hi again to all. It's been a long day, but good.

Went out to that rural area this morning, finished the task out there that I'd started working on yesterday, and did some weed eating and some brush control. Also did some weed eating at another area. Later, I washed laundry (have a lot of laundry to do when I work outside), met with a friend in the late afternoon, then attended a function this evening. After that, I went to the Laundromat to dry my clothes. Read more in the Digging Out book while I was drying the clothes. It has an interesting section on forgiveness (both on forgiving people and also on asking for forgiveness from people). I haven't finished reading that part yet, but it looks like that section could be helpful in a variety of situations (not just in dealing with hoarding situations within a family).

It's getting late here and I need to get to sleep soon, so I'll save my comments about others' posts for another time. Hugs to everyone.

am grateful that I finally went to costco and bought lots of frozen fruit and vegetables, and soy milk to make my smoothies, and soup. Took list and was quick to shop and bought nothing but was on list, no stops at any other store or thrift shop.
I am feeling better today, each day less pain in mouth. Still if I am active and blood is pumping, really feel it where tooth was removed.
even playing fetch I notice it. Once I got home, put all groceries away, played fetch, was pretty tired. Max, bosses dog, is here for the weekend. These 2 dogs get along and play well together, so will be easier. Max is small and other dog is 4 times bigger at least, they got in each others beds, very funny. The little one was playing with big soccer ball, big dog was playing with 4 inch soccer ball, very funny. I used to kick the ball and Molly would stop it then run out for a pass, little dog does it just like Molly, funny but also miss Molly.
they are both resting, so I have time off. Good to read your posts, and know how your days are going.

yay TIllie! I'm glad some of your neighbors are good :)

Good morning! :D

Got up and out very early this morning.
Watered everything, picked some weeds.
Did one load of laundry.
10:00am now and I am planning to fix myself some hash browns & eggs. :D

Neighbors...
Some of my neighbors are creepy & mean but some of them are good people.
They know that I am there for them as they are here for me.
Even at three oclock in the morning they know that I will come help them.
When I see their animals got loose and are out running around, I always take care to get them returned to their yards, corrals, pens.
We only visit over the fence, no coffee.
We all tend to keep to ourselves but whenever there is a problem, we are there for each other. :D

FANTASTIC! WAY TO GO! YEA! :D
for you all using the chatroom! :D

Good Morning Everyone...
There is a planned chat group today at 10:00AM(Pacific)
We will be doing the "Buddy System" clean-up for decluttering
We will set are timers for 15 minutes and then come back and report what each of us done in our 15 minutes.
Hope to see you there friends

Good morning! Getting ready to head out the door soon. Want to finish the work I started yesterday morning in that rural area before it gets hot. I'll probably post more later. Hugs!

finished my bedroom today and cleaned my bathroom, did a sinkful of dishes and washed today's laundry.
tomorrow it's kitchen and kitchen floors. glad I got so much done today. see you all in the morning.

hi everyone. Beautiful day here. Haven't done much today other than maintenance and brushed dog again, really shedding alot. chatted on phone with 2 friends, felt better after they called.
I burned debris today in yard. Fires won't be allowed after June 15th so have most done now, tomorrow will finish.
I will water yard when sign off.
I am really looking forward to cleaning all of living area once dog leaves next week, never thought I would look forward to cleaning.
I agree would be nice to have noon chats. Guess we could sign into chat at noon daily and see if anyone else is available to chat.

Vi: Thanks for posting those links for me. I haven't looked at them yet, but now I have them when I'm ready to do so. I feel the same as you do about vacuuming. It encourages me to pick things up and put them away.

Barb: I'm glad you have family coming (well, scheduled to come, at least). Although I didn't "attend" it, I think that the noon chat thing yesterday was more of an "I'm going to work on xyz for the next 30 minutes, and then I'll report back" type of thing. I wasn't free during that time, or I might have tried to join in on it. If you want to propose a time for a daytime chat at some point, I'd love to join you. I'm expecting to be pretty busy tomorrow and would likely not be available, but another day might work out.

CleanLife2014: I started to post the very thing that Barb said . . . it's great that you're getting a start on this while you're relatively young. Way to go!

Tillie: I'm glad you got some decent sleep last night.

Diane and Roxie: I hope that both of you continue to feel better.

Me: I did get out to that rural area and get some work done this morning. Need to go back tomorrow (or at the latest Saturday) to finish a project out there that I started this morning. I had the time to finish it today, but I didn't want to stay too long and get overheated.

Working out there is a nice reminder that there are some very kind people in this world. When I got there, I saw that a neighbor's trash bag had gotten ripped open and there was trash on the road. I decided to pull over so I could put the stuff into one of my contractor bags. Before I even had time to finish getting my gloves on, another neighbor who had passed by and had seen it came to help as well. People out there are like that: they gladly pitch in to help one another. Being in that type of caring environment is one of the joys of going out there to do work.

I did several loads of laundry today and dried them at the Laundromat. I did some more reading in Digging Out while I was there. I also put clean bed linens on my bed today.

Before I go to bed tonight, I plan to spend ten minutes working on paperwork. I also need to put away the laundry that I dried.

Have a good evening, everyone.

Alright, TUesday night's chat and yesterday were very productive.
LR asked me to post these links as I have found them very helpful...
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/5-chores-you-should-never-skip-even-if-youre-busy-203394 and http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/10-things-that-will-make-you-happier-at-home-174151

I made a list of daily things for me to do combining the two articles:
Laundry, Dishes, Counters, Vacuuming, Beds, Cats

I've gotten caught up on laundry finally so now I'm at my goal of one or two loads a day.

I'm still chipping away at the DIshes. the dishes seem to be my most hated chore.

Counters kind of follow dishes, but they also apply in every part of the house. the great thing about making sure your counters are clean and clear is that you have to put things away and it encourages you to stow everything in the vicinity as well.

Vacuuming like Counters encourages you to pick things up and put them away, and it's nice to be able to walk around in bare feet or socks without your feet feeling grimy all the damn time. If you don't have carpet think of sweeping or using a dry mop.

Beds are maybe the easiest thing for me. nothing belongs on the beds in my house but bedding and stuffies. Making the beds neatly is so nice to do, it's a good start to a daily cleaning ritual and it just feels good looking at a freshly made bed.

Cats need daily maintenance and I sometimes forget to do things like check the cat box or make sure the water is full. THis can be applied to other pets as well.

Many of the steps in the articles are surface cleaning things, but I think it's a good way to start on actually cleaning the house and so far it's been working really well for me.

TOday since I'm still trying to reset everything in the house it's dishes and vacuuming as well as laundry.

Good morning, all.
I just saw the post on yesterday's noon chat. I wish we had more of those. The Tuesday and Sunday chats start way too late for me. I am already winding down and ready to go to bed by then.
CL2014: Welcome to the group. I am so glad you are getting a handle on this while you are still young. I find prayer before getting started helps me focus and know that I will receive the help I need in persevering and in making good decisions.
Roxie: Your "voice" sounds stronger every day.
Tillie and LR: Six hours straight of Bingo is too much Bingo. It was just a way to shut out the world and procrastinate. Not good. There are other healthy ways for me to take breaks without immersing myself in a stupid game. I got my summer pass to the pool. That will get me out with other people and exercising in the sun. That is a better choice.

My family may be coming to spend a few days at the end of July. They have not been here in 8 years and have no idea what the inside of my house looks like now.
I really want them to come and I want my house to be ready. That means revamping my whole plan to declutter, clean and get needed repairs done. I need to pick up the pace.
Knowing my family, they could easily change their plans. I have been disappointed more than once. But this house needs to be clean, comfortable, and livable whether they show up or not. I need to do this for me. And if they do come and I can share a clean , comfortable home with them, that is an added bonus.

Good morning, all.

My goals for this morning are to go do some work in that rural area I often mention before it gets too hot. I will plan to take my usual protective items with me (sunscreen, plenty to drink, etc.) Have a great day.

hello everyone, great reading your posts and all that is going on with you
My mouth pain is much better today. Monday night was a nightmare, went to bed last night when it was still light out, first time in decades. Slept until 5am, so do feel better today.
Went to Lowes and bought a small pressure washer, reviews were mixed online. Followed suggestion to buy 2 year warranty from Lowes, so if it doesn't work for any reason, they replace it with a new one.

Hi, again, everyone.

So far today, I've worked a little on the kitchen floor, done some walking outside while the temps were still cool, bought a couple of bottles of sports drink this morning to help with hydration, met with a friend, and had a nutritious lunch. [By the way, when looking for a T-shirt to wear for walking, I grabbed an old one out of the closet. Turned out to be a T-shirt I'd saved for three decades. The decal was coming off of it, and the T-shirt no longer fit (as I found out today). I'd found various reasons in the past not to discard it. But today, out it went! (Yea!)]

My plans for the rest of the day are to finish putting away the laundry I dried yesterday, finish mopping the kitchen, do a little bit of reading, then try to take a mental break for a few hours. I've been having some muscle cramping that started last night, probably as an indirect result of my Tourette Syndrome. (I've had that happen before.) I suspect that my muscle cramping and the quality of sleep I get tonight will both improve if I get a mental break. (I'll make sure to drink plenty of fluids, too.) Sometimes, all kinds of things can improve when I act on the phrase, "Keep it simple."

Hugs to all.

Welcome, CL! It sounds like you are already making progress. A lot of the people who post here have been working on recovery from clutter/hoarding issues for some time (in other words, have experience with this) and will have many good suggestions for you. This is a great place to post your progress, goals, struggles, and so forth. I've found a lot of help, support, and friendship here.

Good Luck CL! if you need a bit of extra encouragement some of us are meeting here http://hoardingcleanup.com/chat_room at Noon Pacific to talk about today's progress so far.

I'm really glad that you're doing what you're doing and frankly I've started there too. one big box and just chucking it all in. Good job and keep going :)

Hello. I am new here. I am not sure if this is the right category to post in, but I just wanted to reach out.

A little about me: I'm 27, female, a hoarder all of my life in more ways than keeping clutter, and today I am being active in taking steps in learning to let go. I have set up a giant box inside my room and am going to fill it with everything I can find that I don't need. "Need" is the big word I need to fill my head with today. I prayed before I was about to start and then I thought of looking online for a support group. I had other plans of wasting my day today, and it is absolutely gorgeous outside so it's tough, but I know deep inside that I need to do this. I need to make progress. There have been so many dull days that I have wasted in the past. I want to be able to breathe again and look forward to coming home and sleeping in my own bed, not on a couch or on the floor because stuff is on my bed. That's how bad my clutter is. I can't take it anymore.

So here it is. My box. My big, almost empty box that is as tall as my waist and I am nearly 5'9". I hope the picture comes through for a visual of what I am setting myself up with today. My goal is to get it at least half full. Half full of things I either can sell at a garage sale or give away. Right now, I have things inside other, smaller boxes throughout my room that I have, at one time or another, categorized as things I would either sell or give away. The problem with that is that I have so many small boxed laying around that I look at them and I turn away because I don't want to go through them again and again. This time, I have one, big box, that I can neatly put things in that will save space and time and then I can just go outside with it and set up a cheap garage sale out of. That was a long run-on sentence! :p

Please pray for me. I don't ask for prayers much because I am one of those people who thinks others have it a lot worse, in which I still believe. However, I am at a point in which I know I need help from others. I almost died when my ex (boyfriend at the time) opened up my door without me knowing and stared into my horrible room. He hugged me and told me he still loved me. That was about four or five months ago. I called things off a few weeks ago, but we are still trying to be friends. Yesterday, he came over and to my surprise was just outside my door. I had been cleaning up the day before, so I was actually a bit excited to show him the progress since he hadn't seen it since the first time. He was impressed and I felt less-ashamed.

Even though he and I aren't together anymore, I want to someday show him a clean room. I want that someday sooner than later. I know I can do this. I know you are capable of cleaning too, and I am taking that knowledge and using it today to help me to continue to clean. I want that weight lifted and to breathe easier.

I know this rant is a bit unorganized and bounces around quite a bit, but I hope you'll forgive me for that. My mind is on getting started, but I just wanted to take some time and introduce myself and share a bit.

Wish me luck! ;)


~CL2014

Roxie, I agree . . . it is nice to have some people you can trust to come into the house. Sports drink clink to your coffee cup clink.

Barb, although by what you're saying, you spent more time with that app than you would have liked, I still think it's worth remembering that time for fun and R&R is important.

Me: Ran a load of dishes in the dishwasher last night and made it to chat.

I mentioned before signing off chat last night that I had a new use for the insides of paper towel rolls (dangerous territory here), but I signed off before saying what it was. FYI, I don't save lots of those things these days, but I do save a few. I eventually use them up and toss them. The main thing I use them for is to stuff my trash down further into my trash cans (to make room to put in more trash). But I discovered yesterday also that if I staple together the bottom part of one of those cardboard rolls, it makes a decent case to store my used, extra-long reciprocating saw blades. Now my used blades have a home, and I am less likely to accidently get cut by one of them.

More later. Hugs to all.

It is pouring down rain today. I'm glad. It is giving my vegetables and flowers a good soaking.
Yesterday, I downloaded Bingo on my phone and became addicted to trying to achieve higher levels and more points. It was a colossal waste of time. The first thing I did this morning was delete that app from my phone.
Today I need to get back on track with laundry, dishes, and getting the toter ready for curbside pickup tomorrow.

Hi to all.

Roxie: So nice to hear that someone was thoughtful and brought you those groceries. I liked your sentence where you said, "Sometimes the universe brings us what we need, and angels appear." I'd love to be able to share my spaghetti sauce with you, Roxie. I didn't even add any salt!

diane: I agree with Roxie. I like your post about letting go. Sometimes, standing up for ourselves in certain situations may be good and may be necessary. At other times, though, just "letting it go" is the way to go. And I do hope the mouth pain goes away soon and you start feeling great!

Tillie: Thanks for the donation inspiration.

Me: Yesterday, I got most of my posted goals done. I did the paperwork goal first, since that's one of the things these days I'm most tempted to procrastinate on. (I've decided that for me, "Worst things first" is a good personal slogan to help me with things on which I might wish to procrastinate.) I made the phone call next, because making business phone calls is another thing I dislike.

I started having foot pain after working at the storage unit for a while. I think I might have hyperextended something; I've done that (hurt my foot that way) more than a few times the past few months. In part because of the foot, I didn't spend the full 40 minutes working on that organizing project. (At least I did find a missing item while I was there, and two almost-full bottles of two different types of Roundup. Yea!)

Sometimes, when I hurt or am tired, it's hard to know when to push on and when to call it quits. I opted for the latter yesterday, then came home and propped my foot up some during the evening.

I also didn't work the full twenty minutes on the hunting-for-papers-to-shred plan for the same reason (foot), but I did get enough of it done to be pleased with what I accomplished. My shred pile is bigger and heavier now. (Again . . . yea!) Another thing I got done yesterday was to buy a new kitchen mop.

Today I met with some friends midday and had lunch with one of them. (The latter is getting to be a habit! For me at the moment, any increase in socializing is good.) While I was out, I stopped by a bookstore to buy Digging Out. I debated first about buying it. "Am I overdoing it, buying that book when I really need to focus on Buried in Treasures?" I'm glad I went ahead and bought it, though. I read through some of it while at the Laundromat. Although the hoarder (me) is not the target audience for Digging Out, the parts that I read ended up helping me with a section of the BIT book that was giving me trouble. It helped me get some clarity on my personal long-term reasons/goals for decluttering, and I spent a fair amount of time today writing down those personal goals.

Goals for the rest of the evening are to load the dishwasher, get myself ready for bed, and then be at tonight's chat.

Have a good evening, everyone.