Hi friends,
You are making real progress Diane. Woo-hoo!
Tillie and Diane: painting the room and hallway are great ideas. Fresh paint always makes a place seem fresh and new. And pale, pale blue is a great color to use in a space with no windows. It adds a light, airy feeling. My laundry room and unwindowed bathroom are pale pale blue.
I went back to work on Monday. I'll be working 6 to 6 1/2 hours a day five days a week. I have been very tired in the evenings. But my workmates have also said they have been very tires this week. I think once we get back into the routine and used to the daily schedule we will have more energy.
Progress on the clutter has stopped temporarily. I am just trying to maintain the status quo for the time being: dishes, laundry, sweeping, scooping the litter box, garbage taken out, etc. I just need to keep from neglecting the daily chores for the time being.
The 20/20 show should be very interesting.
Barb

Thanks Mare and Tillie. It felt so good to read your comments, I have missed this board this week. I think i will go out there and do a happy dance right now to christen the room, too serious to dance, I will fix that right now. Thanks.

Hi Diane :)
WAY TO GO!!! :D
You have really been doing a fantastic job there!
Make sure to do a Happy Dance every chance you get in all your pretty and clear spaces! :D

Wow diane that is all so amazing congratulations and I LOVE the idea of shopping in out own rooms for "new" treasures I am so going to start doing that!

Hi Everyone. Monday I went to see a friend who moved to a tiny tiny town north of here, it was great fun. Past 3 days I have worked many hours the walkway and little room that is insulated. It is almost useable now, and stays so much cooler than my trailer. I still have about 10 bins and bags and boxes to go through then will need to finish organizing some things, then will be able to use the room any way I want, craft, happy dance, relax, sort stuff from house or garage.
will be so great on hot days to have that room to go hang out it. It is starting to look really great, relatively speaking, considering it was thrown together with all kinds of wood etc., but now that it is all painted, it looks so much better.
I worked non stop many hours yesterday/ again last evening and this morning knowing she was coming over. I was not worried she would judge, just happy I could have someone over, this is amazing coming from the person who began 4 months ago saying I was afraid to clean cause then I would have to have people over!!!!!!!!!!! We had such a nice visit, my life is definitely getting better inspite of the hoard that is still here. Garage sale season is almost over, happy about that. Won't have to see those pesky signs on all the corners soon. They were my drug of choice for sure. As were thrift stores. Now I shop in my own garage and bedrooms. Keep plugging away I tell myself and anyone else who wants a better life.

Cory, the more the merrier.
Looking forward to this. :D

Hi MayMay :)

Hi Dianne :)
I have always loved "spooky". Maybe because I have always been "spooky".
No kidding, my family nick named me Morticia Addams when I was just a tiny little thing. ;)

Hi Mare :)
(((hugs))) and thank you. :D
Reality shows I watch are Survivor and Amazing race.

Hi Cory :)
Nice to see you today. :D

Found a can of very very pale blue satin gloss enamel. Perfect for the hallway! :D

Tillie,
That is great, after all it is for you guys, so you do what works. I can imagine if you get 20 people, that is still a very long night! We are moving both our house and one of our offices so my weekends have not been much fun lately. I am going on vacation in 2 weeks, so that will be a nice getaway from it all!

Thanks for agreeing to be on for the filming. I think it will be great exposure for the website, the support group and the message boards. You may see a lot more people joining your discussions so just be prepared :)

Count me in as well... it being a few weeks away will give us a chance for more input and support, although it is good now, it can always get better.

These days I would feel lost without all of you, thank you again, everyone.

Cory, count me in! :D
Looking forward to getting the word out to more people. :D



P.S. We all voted and changed the rule for chat.
Everybody gets 15 minutes to "talk" then we move on to the next in line.
After we have all had a turn then people can say or ask anything else that they want.

Hi All,
Just a heads up that 20/20 is doing a story on Hoarding. We have filmed a few days with them at different homes and now they want to do a quick filming of me on the Sunday night support group. It won't happen for a few more weeks and I will definitely let you know when they plan to do as soon as I know just in case you want to change your screen name that night. It will be great if you all will log in so this story will show once again that there is help and support available. The more we can educate, the more likely that change will be possible for so many out there. Keep up the great work and incredible support to one another!

Roxie I hope we get to feeling better soon, such a pain in the neck isn't it? Thank you for the encouragement it keeps me doing what I can despite it all.

Gosh Tillie I was sorry to hear about that bad day and hope today is going better... you can rant here anytime, you know! I liked Dianne's answer to that...

Dianne said... Since I have avoided dealing with people helping with things around here for so long it surprised me how debilitating the stress can be. The build-up of dread, the twisting gut when they're here and the......I don't know what to call it when they leave. I just want to eat, watch cop shows or Fearnet movies (those are my cable vices) and go to bed.

I can really relate to this and it was a relief to see it in writing and so well said. I avoid having anyone in especially repair or improvement people unless its my son-in-law who is a pack-rat (hoarder) himself so he doesn't mess with anything or move anything without letting me know first. So odd to have him understand anything really let alone something so very personal.

Really, getting the crap cleaned out of our houses is just one part of changing our lives.

This is SO TRUE!!!

Roxie we seem to be in sync with our nights and days... today I was up at 3 in the afternoon but still draggy... I'm trying to listen to my body but also trying to puch a little as that is always what it takes to get anything done or even thought about. Not sure why I am feeling so stressed ohwait... hahaha yes I am. Daughter still out of town, house not all the way moved into yet, a million boxes in storage to be dealt with this month (son-in-law came by today and told me not to pay for another month of storage and that he is moving everything into the warehouse he has... this is mind-bogglingly distressing) kids started school on Monday, laundry still to be done, no fridge or stove still...

Tillie be kind to yourself, no, you are not alone but I wish there was more I could say or do to help you get through... cats are always a plus if you ask me though! You are such a blessing to all of us and you take such a proactive role here, thank you for that. Your freak-outs are OUR freak-outs! I am glad that is behind you and you got a nap in afterwards. And phobias are by their very nature irrational.

MayMay I confess to being a TV addict... not much better than being a gamer (Tillie can relate, Dianne too...) I like reality shows, too but different ones (Big Brother what a waste of time haha, Survivor, Hoarders of course) and crime shows, suspense flicks... nothing spooky though. Its just another escape and I try to multi-task with little BUT SOME success haha.

Hugs, Roxie... I love reading your accomplishments everyday it really helps me to get or stay motivated especially with the relapse of recent days now going into a week I think. I am not fighting it now, sleeping and up as its dictated to me and feeling alright about it for the most part. This too shall pass!

I am glad to see you on track, Tillie and the Terrible Day past thank goodness!!! Your posts keep me going too I am so grateful for all of you ladies and Karl haha. Why don't we have more men?! STATISTICALLY WE SHOULD!

The summer flew by, we are having that same nip in the air which is seasonally unusual and early... and me with no heat source yet :\

Dianne I agree with so much you said about the shows... and the childhood memories and sparked interests. Very insightful, thank you.

It was nice to see Cory stop in and that was a good tip and now I know why my walls are a light brown in colour haha.

Thanks for that great tip Cory. :D

Hi everybody! :D

I just had the weirdest dream! :D

Cory,
You were in my dream. :)

And so was Matt Paxton, Kim Kardashian and her family, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Russell Brand, Justin Bieber, and of course me. :)

It was seriously the weirdest dream I've ever had! In my dream we were all trapped in a hoarded house together and we couldn't get out because of all the stuff that was blocking the windows and doors.

Hey Cory,
Do you know if Matt Paxton has a crush on Kim Kardashian? Because in my dream, he kept chasing her around and was trying to kiss her. And then you ended up locking Matt in a closet because he kept freaking Kim Kardashian out. LOL. :)

Hey Tillie,
Here is a fun fact for you in case you didn't know. If you mix several colors of paint together, they typically will mix to make a shade of light brown which will be perfect for your hallway. This is the same thing all the cities do with the household hazardous waste collection centers they run. They mix all the paints together they received to make a light brown paint for their graffiti removal programs. You would probably need to mix several colors for this to work though. Have a great day!

Good morning :)
I'm up early today.
Feeding the cats and have the sprinkler going on the lawn.
Going out to water the trees and bushes in a bit.
Accomplished nothing yesterday so today I am ready to get back to my real life.
Planning to look through all his paint and find something suitable for painting the hallway.
There is an Autumn like chill to the air this morning. Time to start thinking about the coming winter.
Where did the Summer go?
Where did all the posters go?

Anyways,
Happy Thursday :D

Hi everybody! :D

Sorry I haven't been posting a lot. I've kind of been going through a funk lately. I don't really know why. It's kind of a weird time to be going through a funk though; considering the fact that in a week and a half I will be going to Los Angeles. You'd think that I would go through the funk after I get back from Los Angeles; not right before I go. :/

Hi Dianne,
I LOVE reality tv shows! My favorite reality shows are "HOARDERS" (obviously!) LOL, "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" on E! (Kim Kardashian is my idol!), "The Badgirls Club" on Oxygen (I actually thought about signing up to be on that show.), "The Real Housewives" on Bravo (I watch all of the different "Real Housewives" shows, but my favorite one is "The Real Housewives of Atlanta"). I also like watching "16 and Pregnant" and its spin-off show "Teen Mom" on MTV, and "Ink Master" on Spike (I've also thought about signing up to be on "Ink Master" too. Not as a competitor, but as a 'human canvas' aka, the person that the tattoo artists tattoo on.) :D

WAY TO GO Roxie! :D

Hi Tillie,
I'm glad things went okay for you today. :)

After a couple of hours the phone guy finally left.
He will return later (tomorrow?) to change out something outside that he has to get a better fitting part for.

I laid down on the couch and immediately fell asleep. All the cats came out of hiding and took a 3 hour nap with me.
I am still exhausted.

Thank you for being here and listening to my freak out. :)
It really helps to know I am not all alone even though my phobias are irrational.

Off to take a long shower and get to bed early. (((hugs)))

((((HUGS))))

Thank you Dianne (((hugs)))
This is totally for him.
My computer speed is fast enough for everything I do but he wastes many hours playing games online and gamers always want faster & faster speeds. :(

One thing that really depresses me is that when he should be doing something/anything around here I see him sitting/hiding at his computer in his bedroom or in the garage playing stupid games.
This fiber optic cable installation would also allow us to have cable TV but I have made it very clear that there will be NO cable TV installed here.
He would just watch TV non stop. Stupid stuff like sitcoms from the 50s & 60s.

Good morning :)

Sure is quiet around here.

Today is the day :(
My hoarder scheduled for the phone company to hook up the fiber optic cables so that he can have faster internet speed. Of course he won't be here cause he's at work.
This means that a person or people will be coming to my house and will talk at me.
I do NOT like people coming here.
I am feeling very anxious and want to cry, lock the doors, close the drapes and pretend I'm not here.
All my "no clutter zones" are clean and tidy but that has nothing to do with how I feel.
I was told that after they install the stuff outside they will be coming inside to mount something on an interior wall.

I like when my few acquaintences come over and am happy to let them in.
But I hate hate hate having to allow other people inside.
My stomach hurts.

This whole thing is just ruining my whole day. :(
Thank you for allowing me to rant.

Hope you all are having better days. :)

Hello everyone, great job Kara, so nice to have you back!

After 3.5 days of Brownie Holiday I spent 2 hours of cleaning the village hall 60 miles away from home. Swept floor 4 times, hoovered the entrance, and cleansed the worktops down between 5 of us.

I have done cleaning just not my home.

Good morning evertbody! :)

My To-Dos for today are few...
Cook food then clean the kitchen.
The goop he used to fix the leak under the kitchen sink should be all dry by now so this is a great way to test it.
Looking forward to using my new faucet. :)

Well I am making good progress and an online friend has been spotting me for 15 minute stints, its been very helpful of course...

Cleaned and swept the bathroom
cleaned the kitchen and swept it and the hall

Still working off and on, 15 minutes, 15 minutes!

Oh p/s!!

I will be in and out of the chat where if anyone would like to join me for chat and/or chores!

Today I want to get back into things... feeling a little stronger today, so will do some hits every time I get up to include:

Clean the bathroom
Sweep and mop everything I can get to
Start back in on the bags and boxes, 1 at a time in 15 minute spurts
Vacuum
Dishes (only a couple)
Keep my little dog happy!

To the Day!

Bonnie I love this too, it helps with everything from doing a chore to posting my accountabilities stuff to just hearing how everyone is doing and feeling more connected and motivated.

I haven't been able to do much this week but coming here helps that, too... not feeling so down on myself and knowing this will pass and I can get back into things again when I can.

Thanks Tillie!!!!!!

WAY TO GO! Bonnie :D

Done, Done, and Done!! Took it to the post office and off it went. I cannot believe how expensive it is to mail stuff. Certified from NY to IL cost $6.41!!!! Whatever, the main thing is it is done!! And, I have to admit, if I had not posted it earlier this morning I probably would not have gotten it done today!!

Hello All!

I woke up this morning with a wicked headache. Also, something that I did yesterday did my back in so my day is just getting started. I have one goal for today and that is to get my mtg modification paper work in the mail.

Oh, and I caught a mouse in one of the traps I set - EWWWWWWWW.

Good morning :)

My To-Dos for today....
Clean the bathroom.
Sweep floors & porches.
Wash the floors.
Vacuum the carpet.
Dust.
Wash my hair.
Water the trees & bushes.

Monday, the start of a whole new week. :)

WAY TO GO! Dianne :D

Wow Dianne that is wonderful and inspiring... maybe I will tackle a few drawers myself this week. Still fighting being so tired but getting some better. I think I am adjusting to the new medication increase, it makes me drowsy so coupled with the fatigue.. well.

I hope to see everyone in the meeting in just a few minutes!

Hello gang!

Tillie I think I will not watch them if they are that scary... living alone and already spooked out too often haha... thank you so much.

Hope everyone is alright today, still thinking about you Janie and hope you come back.

Ready for the meeting tonight... looking forward to seeing you all there.

Hi everybody :D

Hi Dianne :)
He got the new faucet installed. Don't know if it leaks yet because he messed up the drain pipe down under the sink and it leaks real bad now. He put some stuff on it and I have to wait for it to dry before testing it all out. :(
WAY TO GO! on asking the installation men to repeat the explaination and making a big effort to understand them. Technical stuff is never easy. :D

Hi Roxie :)

More (((HUGS))) for Janie :)

Hi Mare :)
Those movies have big very scary monsters in them.

Hi everybody else who reads here! :D


What am I doing today?
Got up and fed the cats, filled water & kibble bowls, scooped litter boxes, made my bed, got dressed, brushed my teeth, washed my face, brushed & braided my hair, put on sandals and a wide brimmed straw hat, grabbed my shopping list, went into town to the grocery store, came home & put all the food away, stuck to my list and did not buy any junk, cats all went out into the garden and played while I stood guard, grabbed a bite to eat, sat down and turned on my computer. :D
Will now just tinker about in here till
5:00pm PST online support group. :D

Janie, so sorry to hear about your brother. We're here if you need us. ((hugs))

Dear Janie

(((HUGS)))

Please take care and come post here to let us know how you are doing. (((HUGS)))

"A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they'd be asked the "half empty or half full" question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz. She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed - incapable of doing anything. It's important to remember to let go of your stresses. As early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don't carry them through the evening and into the night. Remember to put the glass down!"

Ohmygoodness, Janie... so sorry to hear about your brother... do come back soon (here, I mean) and lean on us for support and encouragement for anything and everything...

Hi MayMay, big congrats Karl, yes indeedy... 15 minutes at a time is working for me, too, thanks to the chat, the buddy system and everyone here.

Ohyes Tillie I had forgotten you saying about the blurays and DVD's. I have many but no player at the moment so I watch them on TV or the internet, depending, right now I have all the movie channels for free so am trying to take advantage of it, in fact I just recorded The Thing, is it good? Is it overly scary? Prequel?! Is it any good? I have to be careful not to spook myself too badly as I just learned (from the doctor) that I am in hyper-vigilance mode because of brain chemical activity... go figure, but it does explain a lot of the anxiety.

Yes the getting out was huge for me, first time alone in I-don't-know-when, very exciting and it tells me its possible and I can do it again.

That is so good Diane... I can so relate, congratulations and remember how much we love and think about you, you are a far cry from incompetent, stupid, or a baby! A FAR cry!

So good to hear about your daughter and the cleaning up, the beds... wow.

Today still fighting fatigue so decided to just give in and slept yet again, ahwell... doing what I can!