I'm on my way to the dentist this morning. It's not my favorite place to go, but I need to take care of myself. And it is good to get out of the house.
Yesterday I had big plans but did not get them done.
I am learning to take the slow-going or non-productive days with the good without beating myself up.
Today is a new day.

Hi everyone! :D

Thanks Mare,
I always love telling that story. I always refer to the story as "THE NIGHT I FELL IN LOVE WITH FIREFIGHTERS!" My mom, on the other hand, hates it whenever I tell that story. She always refers to the story as "THE INCIDENT!" LOL. ;D

WAY TO GO Roxie! :D
Yeah my boyfriend and I laughed about falling in the toilet for hours. LOL. :D

GREAT JOB TODAY Dianne! :D
That's hilarious that your daughter used to do that to her Barbies. LOL. I never did anything like that to my Barbies when I was younger. But one time, when I was like 6 or 7, my dog chewed off a bunch of my Barbies heads. I called that little incident "THE BARBIE MASSACRE!" LOL. :D

WAY TO GO Barb! :D

GREAT JOB TODAY diane! :D
I wish I would be called for jury duty one day. I love watching trials on tv. I want to be on a jury so badly.

Hi Karl! :D

Hi Tillie! :D

I hate thieves too! I hate thieves and stalkers! I've never really had a problem with thieves; but I have had some problems with stalkers before. Like my ex-boyfriend; after my ex-boyfriend and I broke up, he stalked me for like 2 years. :(

Great chat session tonight! Thanks to all who participated.

Isabelle, check out the hoarding-level pictures to get an estimate of your level.

Tillie, sorry you weren't there tonight, I was hoping to see how you did the time limit protocol, but I was able to wing it as tonight's moderator.

Thank you Tillie, exactly right on the thief taking a sense of security, last night locked garage and gate. I usually leave unlocked hoping someone will take hoard, but it scared me that someone took that big metal carrier off RV probably while I was home, since I rarely leave, why do they take something I actually use? Yes, thanks, need to go camping, summer is slipping away, put $75 gas in RV on way home from mechanic. Need to put water in tank, plug in to get refrigerator cold, and hit the road, depending on weather, sounds like lighting is on way this week. Nice Cory dropped in to say hi.

Hi Roxie :)
WTG! on all you accomplished. :D Soon you will be brushing your teeth AND scooping that litter box every day. Practice makes perfect. ;)
I have no medical insurance so no medical care.

Hi Dianne :)
FANTASTIC! Job you did with the furnace room! :D
So happy you are getting a new system installed. :D

Hi Karl:)
If I were giving a party I would serve...
cold cuts
cheese
assorted types of bread
potato salad
my family favorite jello salad
iced tea
cookies or a cake



Lime jello salad...
2 boxes of lime jello
celery cut in about 1/4 inch bits
carrots diced
scallions (green onions) sliced in small circles
peas fresh, canned or frozen (uncooked)
Make the jello as per instructions on the box
pour it into a 14 by 9 inch pyrex cake pan
add the fresh raw veggies and put in fridge to set
Use as much veggies as you want in it. Add any others you may like in it too.
Serve with a spoonful blob of mayo or Miracle Whip on top of each serving.
This is a summer time favorite of mine. :D


Hi Diane :)
Sorry the smoke is there. :(
Hoping you do go camping at the lake. Summer will soon be over and I don't want you to miss out.
WTG! on all you have accomplished! :D
I hate theives. :(
They steal more than property. They also steal our peace of mind and feelings of security.

Dianne, so happy you reported all that you did and your thoughts about it. Really helps me to read the process your mind goes through, especially throwing out stuff you could have cleaned. I spent the past 3 evenings washing stuff in the yard, had so much, dirty storage stuff, tools etc. Now I look at it and think I wasted too much time on it, need to practice throwing dirty stuff away, was doing that for quite awhile, easier than washing, then having to haul to thrift store, if I don't need it.
Yes we all have down days and just look at the hoard, churn and feel defeated. Now I know that is time to stop and do something else.
Smoke is really thick here today from fires from lightening strikes, so didn't ride my bike to get rv, a neighbor was driving by and I asked for a ride, this was a first for me, never ask for help, was so great. This morning talked myself into selling RV, then when I picked it up, and drove it home decided I love it, so much fun going to lake in. If smoke is this bad tomorrow, may just drive up to a lake, and stay overnight with Molly.
Sure will miss the cargo carrier, it was a big rectangular metal thing, held all my gear. Can try to see if my bike rack will fit on RV.
Dishes are done finally, now have to clean off counters. I watered all the shrubs, trees this morning, finished washing rest of the storage stuff in yard, worked lots of hours already. I got jury duty notice that I have to get in the mail today, it is overdue. I was on grand jury in January, and do not want to do jury duty again so soon, plus will be working. Today is hottest day of week, plus smoke so I am going to lay low the rest of the day.
Happy so many of us are on here regularly, great being part of positive change.

Good work, Dianne! Wow!

I was up late last night (5am), and got up just past noon. I noticed the date on the milk was looking dangerous, but it still smelled OK, so I used up the last of it for whatever meal this was. (I'll call it breakfast.)

I still haven't figured out what to do about the dinner party; I told one person I was planning it, is all. I've been having trouble with motivation lately.

How wonderful to hear Cory dropped by! :D

My household trash situation...
I use one of those sturdy plastic 25 pound "Tidy Cats" litter buckets as my only trash can.
I keep it in the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
A plastic grocery shopping bag fits it it perfectly. I line the bottom of the bag with a mail box store flyer in case something put in it is drippy.
Every day I remove the bag and take it outside to the big wheelie trash bin.
Sometimes I take it out more often depending on what has been put in it.
I never allow food garbage to remain in the house over night.
This helps keep bugs and mice from coming in to eat. :D

Good afternoon Barb and Tillie so nice to hear from you both.

What a productive day you had Barb, yes, very inspiring for me... I have the same experience with bags and use the plastic wal-mart bags most of the time, a tall kitchen bag when I have more than that.

I hope you get your strength back Tillie and have a good day of rest.

I am in the same boat, so taking it easy as well, doing small tasks during the day but nothing too much really.

Cory stopped by the chatroom earlier and he may be back, I hope others will come in and see him there.

Tally Ho!

Good morning everybody! :)

Had a lot of plans for today but need to rest.
Still have to water stuff outside but other than that today will be quiet sitting down activities and a nap after lunch.

Hope all your plans for today are easily completed without any surprise interruptions. :)

Thank you all for the birthday wishes.
Yesterday was a very productive day. I took Jazz for her rabies shot, dropped off the school supplies at The Salvation Army, got caught up on dishes, did one load of laundry (washed, dried and put away) and sorted another ready to do today, cleaned out the cat box, and took one bag of garbage outside. Tanner mowed and trimmed and cut down some vines and weeds. Because he did the yardwork, I could concentrate on the inside. I went out for dinner to celebrate my birthday.
Today I am cleaning out the refrigerator and going to the grocery and Farmer's Market. I also hope to get another bag of garbage out of the house again today. Trash pickup is Thursday and I would like to have the toter at least half full.
I tried filling contractor bags, but found they were too big for me to fill in one day. During the night, the cat and dogs would get into it, rip the bags and take out anything they though interesting. It was a losing battle.
The tall kitchen bags work better for me. I can fill one a day and get it out of the house for pick up.
Hope everyone is doing well today.

Today I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and I did a little churning... then just looked at everything for a while. I have a habit of looking at the stuff and being paralyzed for a while and sometimes its just hard to snap out of that.

I will be doing my best to focus again but taking a break at the moment. Missing everyone here, too.

If anyone is up for a chat I will be in there, if I don't answer right away I will be back soon, I tend to go in and out hahaha.

Hello everyone, its a new day!

Wow MayMay that is so funny and true, yes we should be able to trust those fine firefighters hahaha. Thank you for telling that story.

Hi everyone! :D

Today I went to work. Then after work I went to my boyfriend's house. I gave Cory, Matt, and Snuggles all baths. And I fell into my boyfriend's toilet. That's right! I literally fell butt first into his toilet. LOL. :D

Hi diane,
I'm sorry to hear about your bike carrier being stolen. I hope the cops will be able to catch the person who stole it.

Hi Mare,
Yeah I'll never forget the very first time I rode in a fire truck. I remember it happened a few weeks after I turned 18. There was a single car accident at the end of our street; and while the firefighters and paramedics were helping the person in the car, my parents and I watched from our window. Then after the paramedics left to take the person to the hospital, I went down to the end of the street to talk to the firefighters and ask them what happened. I talked to the firefighters for about an hour; and I told them that I liked their fire truck a lot. After I said that, they asked me if I wanted to ride in the fire truck, down to the fire station, with them. I remember being in so much shock when they asked me that. I was like, "OMG!!!!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" And they were like, "yeah! And we'll show you around the fire station too." After they said that, I was like, "YES! I WOULD LOVE TO RIDE IN THE FIRE TRUCK WITH YOU GUYS AND SEE THE FIRE STATION!!!!!" :)

After I got back from the fire station, my mom was SO MAD! She gave me a HUGE LECTURE about how I could've been killed and stuff. I remember being like, "OMG! Are you serious mom? They were firefighters! Firefighters are supposed to be people you can TRUST! Back when I was a little kid in elementary school, I was taught that the 2 types of people I can always trust are firefighters and police officers. So stop being mad at me!" LOL.

Even though my mom was really mad at me, I DIDN'T REGRET GOING WITH THE FIREFIGHTERS AT ALL! ;)

Diane, sorry to hear about the bike carrier disappearing -- I guess if it's been a while since you've used the bicycle, it might have been gone for some time without you noticing? Or do you know for sure that it was there recently?

So an hour and twenty minutes but I took my time eating and playing with the dog, still it was longer than I thought, go me!

I really enjoyed your post diane thank you and you're welcome haha, yes a great chat last night for me too. I agree about the structure.

Well... I forgot to look at the time but from my last post until now I have:

Put away the groceries,
hung up my new blouses,
put the shower curtain rod and hangers up, still have to add curtain,
had a good lunch,
and played with my sweet dog, Gizmo, what a joy.

I also put a call into my son-in-law's brother to bring me that appliance out of the basement, waiting to hear back from him (left a msg on h is voicemail). I am sure looking forward to being able to actually cook. Oh and I also bought:

1 small frying pan.
And another thing in:

1 electric double burner (small appliance for cooking).

Oh hmmm... it is 6 38 pm I guess that was dinner not lunch hahahaha.

Tally Ho!!!

correction:
My friend is NOt coming to help today.

thanks for the replies Roxie, Mare and Maymay.
Today I drove RV in to have leak fixed. I went to put bike on back cargo carrier, SURPRISE!! some thief took it, I kept looking, like it should be there, it was gone. Bike fit inside. Biked to police station and filed a report. I biked home, haven't biked in years, so hot and exhausted when got home. They just called, $195 to fix leak, will bike tomorrow and pick up. I will have it fixed, but sure hate paying that much for a few new hoses, should be able to fix myself. Now that Molly is doing better want to take a trip to lake and stay a few days. It is my only luxury, so maybe I will keep it another year, needs 2 new tires, will have to get new tags, over $200, insurance $200 for 6 months, so would be cheaper to stay in motel!! Not while Molly is still here, she barks in motel, quiet in RV, plus I prefer being in nature. Great to wake up with lake right there. Bummer cargo rack is gone, carried my blow up boat etc.
Last night after chat washed more bins and other stuff in yard until after dark, used my solar lights, fun. Today not so fun dealing with all the stuff. My friend is coming, her book group canceled, so won't be in town today.
I am too hot and tired anyway.
Today have to do some paper work, that has to be mailed, read work papers, for a phone meeting with boss, work Sept and Oct. sort and file the stack and toss and shred some.
Will do dishes today. Maybe it is a good thing it is hot and I am tired, I will get some things done in here. Thanks all for chat last night, it was so great having 15 minutes for each person. I think several of us have problems with anxiety, having a set time, adds the structure we need.

Today I finally got a ride to the grocery store with a trusted friend, and it went really well... I felt good mentally and strong physically!

I put away the freezer and refrigerator items so now I have to tackle the rest of it, as well as putting up the shower curtain for which I bought a rod and hooks today. So in:

1 shower curtain rod
1 set (12) shower curtain hooks and I know where the curtain is.
1 small vacuum cleaner
1 are rug for which I actually have a clear space in the living room!!!
3 new blouses which I sorely need. If there is something I do NOT hoard it is clothes, I could list everything I have and it would be... *counts in her head* roughly 16 items I use regularly and a few winter items that are in drawers. I have set a goal to get new blouses and jeans each month so this month I did the limit and just love them. I is a denim shirt.
1 bottle of draino stuff
1 bottle of dish detergent
1 can of comet
I forgot a couple of necessities so will start a list.

Onward and upward, cheers!

Anne - thank you so much, I have really been enjoying myself and everyone here so much. I have a habit of throwing myself into things full throttle hahaha.

I know what you mean about the therapists and other health care people. I receive county services so I have learned that they may very well leave when they find a new and better position, even though it feels like they are leaving me hanging, I have gotten better about the losses.

Our weather has also been atypical, so cool and pleasant, not really like summer at all so far.

diane - loved reading your posts. I was in Japan for 3 years but did not keep a kimono what a shame. I think the idea of pressing and framing/hanging on a wall is wonderful and if you have one you're going to throw out send it to me and I will do that hahaha!

Wow everyone is doing fantastic! So encouraging and motivational.

TO THE HOARD!!!

I plan to tackle some more of the boxes and bags in my clutter room today, but haven't decided which ones so I think I will just grab them one at a time willynilly and see how I do. I also will wipe out the refrigerator, feed and water the dog of course, put trash in the trash can to be taken out later if it fills up, tell myself to get rid of the excess hair stuff and old earrings *working on that*, sit outside and enjoy this unseasonally cool weather, and throw out the big box the a/c came in.

diane - I had an old toilet at a previous house because my husband was a plumber! I used it as a planter which at first looked rather hilarious but as things grew and cascaded over the top and the ground cover got thicker it actually looked pretty neat hahaha.

MayMay - yes it was a huge adventure to drive it, it was empty thankfully, I told them they reaaaaalllllly wouldn't want me driving to a scene at 25 MPH!

I have a dog he is such a sweetheart - loyal, always nearby usually right beside me, and a great companion and comfort.

Kara Hello Kara so glad to see you and you are doing great.

Tillie that is so funny about the bins labeled STUFF hahaha.

Dianne that is a list that could be mine except for the game. I am finding a lot of things we all have in common which makes me feel safe and understood, what a joy.

Tillie I am still having a problem with getting out and to the store but today is a new day and we will see what happens.

WooooooooHoooooooooooo Kara!!! I am so glad you are posting and chatting and I love the 15 minutes tasks we are doing, so helpful.

Barb - welcome and so good to have you posting. I have started a journal but am not being regular about it yet, its a new day though with new opportunities, Yes charting feelings is helpful for me as well.

Yesterday my mood took a dip, after finding this where I was on a pink cloud - reading and posting and ohsovery happy! Those highs always result in a dip afterwards but I understand it and give it time to just pass. I am better this morning!

Roxie I completely understand how you feel when you can't get online I feel the same way. My electricity was off for a few hours last week and I thought I would go mad hahaha.

Also the feeling defeated over the oddest things... I find my moods and thoughts going all over the place from time to time and I am trying to keep a chart to see if there are any triggers/situations involved. I have to be careful of even doing that as the journaling itself can trigger some deep emotions which I am giving myself permission to just feel even if I do a lot of crying... its cathartic.

To Be Continued, still catching up!!!

Good morning :)

WAY TO GO Karl! for cleaning out the fire place. :D
Closets are good places to store stuff that we want close at hand yet out of sight.
Great plan and lots of fun having a party on Friday.


My To-Dos for today....
sweep floors & porches
clean bathroom
wash floors
vacuum carpet
dust
Days like today make me glad my house is so small.
One room that is the livingroom, kitchen & dining area with one bathroom. ;D

Wishing everyone a GREAT new week.

Tonight's primary task was to scoop the ashes out of the fireplace. I took out some ice cream for incentive, and used some empty ice cream cartons as containers for the ashes; those will go out to the curb Wednesday night. I also returned some items to the closet I'd previously cleaned out -- I decided it's better to keep the floor free for the box of vacuum cleaner attachments, so I put the cloth briefcases up on the shelf (which now has room!), and put the backpack on the hook with the cloth shopping bags.

As I mentioned during tonight's chat, I'm hoping to host a dinner party on Friday, the day before the inspection. This would be both an additional incentive to get everything in order by then, and a way to celebrate the accomplishment. (And possibly a few extra sets of eyeballs to check whether I've overlooked anything.)

Hi everyone! :D

Thanks AnneW,
We are leaving for L.A. on August 24th. I'm SO EXCITED for the trip! I'm excited that I get to help another hoarder again, I'm excited that I get to have a crew with me this time, and I'm also very excited that I get to go to L.A. again. This trip will be my second trip to L.A. My family and I went to L.A. 9 years ago for a family vacation; and I absolutely LOVED IT there. I loved L.A. so much, that on the last day of the vacation, I cried because I didn't want to go home. I'm from a small town in Ohio. But in my heart, I'm a total CITY GIRL! :D

Hi diane,
OMG! THAT IS SOOOOO COOL that your high school boyfriend played for the "NY Yankees" and the "Atlanta Braves". Sorry to hear that you guys aren't friends anymore. It sounds like his wife has some jealousy issues. Some of my guy friends' girlfriends have jealousy issues too; so I totally know what that is like. And I kind of always have a huge target on my back because of it. :(

Thanks Roxie, I had forgotten about coke, you are an encyclopedia of info. How long did it take the professionals to go through all your stuff? I think it is so great you had that done and are working on maintaining a clean house. I do get frustrated at the amount of time I am spending, but now have gone through almost everything and see I have to go through and get rid of so much more. his winter I can have fun sorting little things, mostly want to get all the outside stuff in appropriate areas before winter hits.

WAY TO GO!!!! :D
everybody on all your accomplishments and maintaining and insights and future plans!

correction:
My high school boyfriend played professional baseball.

Thanks for the laugh Tillie. The rust remover didnt work so when tried to twist wingnuts, they just broke wings off, so now sledgehammer might be a reality. It has a sign on it "Chicago Pottery" no wonder it is so heavy, it is a real pottery toilet. Never saw one before, so now I am sure it is worth lots of money----yeah right--Thanks for saying he labels bins "stuff", love it, thought I was the only one that used perfectly good bins for stuff I will never be able to find!!!!
I found some American League baseballs. My high school played for NY Yankees and Atlanta Braves, He had the whole team sign one ball, one has several, and a couple just him. I will have to look online and see who some of those guys are later, I did recognize some of the names. Brought back so many memories, he really loved me and I took him for granted, then married someone else, broke his heart, by the time I realized my mistake, he was married. Stayed friends for years until his wife said she would burn their house down if we ever talked again. Amazing how baseballs could bring a flood of emotions so intense. Also in that bin were 3 silk Kimonos I bought in Japan in 1981, guess I have been a hoarder for longer than I thought, they were buried under lots of junk.
Today I emptied more bins and they are in yard ready to be washed, amazing how much crap. Organized all painting pads and rollers, have enough to last for the rest of my life, now want to take paint from all of areas and put in that one area where pads and rollers and brushes are, so not looking all over for them. Still want to use most of paint before winter so don't have to give away!! Put more stuff from deck in garage where it belongs. Never thought the day would come where I had more storage bins that stuff, it is happening. Now have to wash another drainer full of dishes, have to talk myself into it.
Sorry to hear about the migraine, and happy to hear you are on the mend. Fun as usual reading all the chit chat between you all! Quite a community it is turning out to be.

Hi Kara,
Congratulations on your progress!
I find that taking time to visualize what I am going to do and how it will look afterwards does help. Then I am psyched up to dive right in. Beginning the first task is sometimes the hardest.
Also I keep a spiral notebook to record 3 things that I want to do today and check them off as they are accomplished. If my emotions get in the way, I can jot down in the notebook what I am feeling and why.
Last week I was able to keep up on the daily maintenance tasks and made some appointments to see the eye doctor and dentist. Those are things I need to do to take care of myself.
Today starts a new week.

Been really good today. And more importantly FEELING really good. I can see the bedroom floor now. Not sure what to do with the clothes on the made bed yet. I can see my vision coming through my work.Haven't dealt with any of the "STUFF" yet. Spent 20 or so mins looking through past sketch books. My vision doesn't mention where these things go. Office maybe? Haven't started there yet. Nearly time of me to move furniture. WWWOOOOOOOOOOOHhhhOOOOOOO! Chat to you tonight.

Good morning :)

This morning I need to go into town and shop.
I need food and some cat stuff and want some other stuff too.

But first I must....
feed the cats their breakfast
scoop litter boxes
fresh water in their bowls
get dressed, brush my hair, wash my face & brush my teeth
need to wash the kittens face, he has allergies and after playing in my hoarder's bedroom his eyes water from being in the dust
fold up my bedding and make the couch ( I sleep on the hide-a-bed sofa) so my bedroom is also the livingroom
I have a little tiny room where I keep all my clothes and stuff but it is too small for a bed

Remember ONLINE SUPPORT GROUP tonight at 5:00pm PST.

Have a great Sunday! :)

Diane,
A sledge hammer sounds like a lot of fun! :D
You could get out a lot of frustration smashing up that old toilet. Just be sure to wear eye protection, long pants, shoes and gloves.

My hoarder has a large collection of plastic storage bins all full of a complete jumble of everything.
He has labeled them all "stuff" so he has no idea what is in them and can't find anything without dumping them all out. HAHA ;)

Better be careful about playing the "firefighter card" -- someone could interpret that as a threat. "Gee, it would be a shame if something were to happen to this store, and all of these firefighters happened to be busy."

Hi all, Sunday is here already!!

Been visualising my bedroom after printing out idealistic imaginery.

Awoke at 7am and lay on my bed til 8.30am visualising. Spent 30mins doing thus:-

a)taking off unwanted pillow and cushion cases
b)actually making my bed
c)picking up clothes and folding them in piles on the bed.

Feeling I am making progress. 9.30am now so I am going to make some breakfast and go and meditate.

Enjoy the day.

WAY TO GO diane! :D

Hi Mare,

That's AWESOME that you got to drive one of the trucks once. That's one thing that the guys won't let me do. They've taught me all about the fire trucks and they've also let me ride in them, but they won't let me drive any of them. They don't want to risk me accidentally crashing one of the trucks. LOL. :)

No, I don't have any children. I just have 3 dogs. :)

washed some dishes, still have backlog
washed several storage bins and other junk in yard today
I realized I have enough storage bins to open a store
I got rid of so much stuff, have to decide which bins look best, use them and get rid of the rest
Guess I had planned to get organized several times, bought the bins then just filled them with all kinds of junk
having empty bins all over the place, looked really trashy, finally dawned on me to clean and stack them then decide which I will donate
Every day I plan to work inside and do maintenance, then end up in garage.
I had an old toilet in the walk way room, drug it out, it is olive green and weighs a ton, very ugly. the bolts were rusted so couldn't take apart, sprayed with rust remover, hopefully can take apart, too heavy to lift into car. How about a sledge hammer?

Hahahahaha that is priceless!

We have so much in common its spooky. I served as a firefighter for a few years in a very small town (no traffic lights, no grocery stores a convenience store) in Georgia. I am physically unable to gear up and actually fight fires so I served as the safety officer.

The town was so small that everyone knew all of us anyway but taking the trucks in for gas was the highlight of the week (usually haha)! They even let me drive it ONCE!

Do you have any children if you don't mind my asking?

Hi Mare,

Yeah when the manager of the store came up to talk to us, we played the "firefighter card". LOL. ;)

When he came up to us, I asked him if there has ever been a fire at the store. After I asked him that, he said no. And after he said that, I was like, "well that's good. But you wanna know something?... If there ever is a fire at this wonderful wonderful store, all of these guys standing behind me are the firefighters that would be putting out the fire. Manager dude, say hello to "Company 36"". And then after I said that, he just stood there speechless for about a minute; and then suddenly ran away. LOL. :)

That is hilarious I know what you mean, too. When my 5 children were all teenagers we got into a lot of trouble in grocery stores, then nobody said anything because I got a job there and they were chicken except for the manager who would just give me a look and we would trrryyyyyyyyyyy to settle down hahaha. Memories!

If I had decent transportation I would go at night, late like that we have a 24 hour one... but at the moment I have to depend on someone to take me and they are not night owls like me. I would risk it even if I had a cell but without that too I am just a fraidykat!

Its hard, the people anxiety and the agorophobia. I am practicing some exposure therapy but still can't get past my front stoop quite yet, but one of these days I will.