Woke up at 3am and tried to go back to sleep for an hour then got up at 4am, and vacuumed, did dishes, sorted a stack of papers. I wrote on here about reading my moms journals, but that was what woke me up, thinking I wish I would have known how to handle her in a kinder way. I wrote a page in a notebook about the feelings I was having, that helped some. The wood guy was scheduled to bring another cord of wood at 9am today so I was out there watering and cleaning up until 11am, then called him, message machine so left a message. Nice I have this group on days like this, I know the thing to do is look at the feelings and then get back to work. I felt like my mom wrote, nobody really cares when wood guy didnt show and didn't call. My good fortune is too have this message board and less clutter, so I don't have to feel bad for long, and making progress is so healing. Really looking forward to group tonight, reassuring knowing you will be there Tillie. Maybe the stinker will join in!!! Trying to make you frown go upside down!! Reading your post made me realize how lucky I am to be alone, and once clutter is fixed, it really will be wonderful. Thanks to all of your honesty, we can make life better as a clean team!! See you at 5

Good morning :)

Janie,
WAY TO GO! on all that cleaning, straightening, organizing and maintaining! :D
I hate yardsales too and would rather just send the stuff to donation. I'm happy you saved yourself the the frustration of having to handle the stuff again and again and didn't bother trying to sell your boxed up donation stuff :D

Diane,
(((HUGS)))
I know how emotionally hard it is to read daily journals.
I read my Grandmother's journals.
It is never too late for us to change our paths.
Try to make peace with ourselves and move forward.

Hi Karl :)
I hate this waiting.
Happy you had a pleasant evening, hamburgers, YUMMMY. :D

Hi Ali :)
Hope you can make it to chat. :)
Take care of yourself and don't over do. (((hugs)))

Hi Roxie,
Keep up the great work. :D


Well, I have no hope that he will do anything today, or ever.
Wish I had friends. Then I would call them to all come over often.
Maybe he would be embarassed and do something if people were always showing up around here.

My plan for today...
Strip his bed and wash everything.
Only because he gets really pizzed off when I do this. "evil grin" emoticon.
His bed only gets changed at most four times a year.
I absolutely love clean bedding and can't understand why he likes sleeping on stinky nasty sheets.
He will pitch a fit and violently throw things around in his bedroom when he discovers what I have done.
But I don't care. "mad face" emoticon.
The stench keeps oozing out from his room and invading my "no clutter zones" cluttering up my air. ;P

Then at 5:00 pm I will be in chat. :D
Hope to see you there!

Coasting on too little sleep but basically I'm okay. I rallied a little yesterday and got a sink full of dishes washed. Also, although later in the day, brushed my teeth. I could not bear to not have another little X on my calendar. It's working!

Janie, your whirlwind energy reminds me of myself when I was in my 20s and 30s. Now, I get tired just reading of yours and others' amazing work here! Way to go all of you!

Karl, disappointing about your landlord, but we're proud of all your work and your willingness to keep digging in.

Oh Karl, So sorry to hear that after all your anticipation and work to get everything ready for inspection your landlord did not show. That had to be frustrating. Good news is your place is now ready to go and you were able to have company over.

dianne, I can really relate to how emotional dealing with your Mom's journals must have been. Sending you a big ((hug)).

I am fairly new to this board but I am so impressed by the hard work everyone is doing but also for all the support. As I struggle to get my life & home more in balance I really appreciate all of you.

I hope to at least stop by the chat support group tonight. I have not been feeling well so not certain I will make it. My surgery is Thursday and I am pushing to get as much done before that as possible but really needing to pace myself and not overdo it.

Wishing you all a Happy Sunday & a great week.

I got about four hours of sleep, then got up and did the last bit of cleaning in the kitchen. The scheduled inspection time came and went; landlords never showed up. I took a nap to catch up on the missed sleep.

I hadn't gotten around to scheduling an event to celebrate the cleanup. But as of last night, a handful of friends had been talking about getting together to watch some movies on DVD. In today's email, the host wasn't feeling well and had to cancel, so I sent out an invite to come over to my place instead. Only one of them got the invite in time to respond and come over, but it was enjoyable in any case; we made some hamburgers and played a board game.

I made sure that the kitchen was back in a clean state at the end. If landlords marked it wrong on their calendar, they might show up tomorrow morning instead.

Today I worked here decluttering until 5pm, then too tired to go to Bend summerfest, so will go tomorrow. I found 4 journals of my moms, that I had from when I moved her here before she died. I finally was ready to read them.(10 years after death) Took me 2 hours to read them, and many tears were shed while reading. She was a thrift store shopper and compulsive overeater, so most of journals contained daily accounts of what she bought, what she ate, and how lonely she was, it was so sad to read how tortured she was. She felt like no one had ever liked her personality, so very sad. She went to church and taught sunday school, took college classes into her 70's, but just never had close friends. I have come to be like her in some ways. By reading the journals, I understand more why I have become a hoarder, isolating myself from close friends. Read it at right time, because I am finally letting people back into my life, and reading journals affirmed I am doing the right things before it is too late. To die at 76, still trying to lose weight and find bargains, is so very sad. She daily wrote who called her, 5 kids and very few calls. I felt the feelings, and am thankful for this site that is saving my life. Thanks to you all. Hugs

Hi MayMay :)
Hi Roxie :)
Karl, waiting to hear how it goes. :)

Well, I cleaned the bathroom, swept floors and porches, washed floors, vacuumed carpet, generally straightened, did some laundry, tidied the kitchen and tried to make it look like I was extremely busy here.
He walked into the house with his shoes on onto my freshly cleaned floors. He knows the rule is NO shoes in the house but he never obeys it. :(
He has not done anything except move from playing games on his computer in his bedroom to playing games on his computer in the garage.
He did churn a few items once when trying to look busy.
He still has stuff on the back porch and pumphouse. I will give him till evening then I will move them.
He will complain that now he can't find ANYTHING.
But he can't find anything anyways. lol :)

At least my "NO CLUTTER ZONES" inside are nice and clean now and it smell like lavender scented Pinesol. :D

Ah, I get to live vicariously through each of you: swimming with MayMay, gallivanting and having fun spitting seeds with Diane, etc. Makes me smile.

Dianne, I concur with your interest in nature and in your efforts to teach your grandchildren about life and its other living creatures. I had wonderful freedom in childhood, barefoot, exploring neighborhoods, woods, creeks, quarries and many other places. I guess one cannot be so free today, but running barefoot and exploring nature are good things. Once my brother brought home an injured bat and nursed it back to health.

I remember crawling underneath a neighbor's house to get to know the puppies born under it. What a cavern that was!

I got to dig my hands in clay when a neighbor who was a potter let us try our hands at it.

Sneaking down to a ditch and catching crawfish was forbidden but we did it anyway. Fun and interesting and memorable.

I have not seen either of the kittens previously mentioned though the moms are here every day of course. I scold both that I want them to bring their babies back, but they just turn their noses up at and stare blankly at me.

I got teeth brushed and dishes put away yesterday. Not much more. Today I am feeling better, though, so we'll see.

Karl, I'll be waiting to see how the inspection went.

Dianne, you are accomplishing a great deal and I am proud of you, as I am proud of Janie and Diane and Tillie for their work.

Hi everyone! :)

Today, after work, I am going to go over to my boss' house and go swimming. I always love swimming at my boss' house because he lets Cory, Matt, and Snuggles swim in the pool too. Plus he has a water slide. My parents also have a pool. But my mom always hates it whenever Cory, Matt, and Snuggles swim in it. Plus they only have a diving board. Diving boards are cool, but I love water slides more. Lol. :)

Thanks Janie,
You are so sweet. :)

Hey Karl,
Good luck with the inspection today. :)

Hey Tillie. :)

Good morning :)

Scooter went off to the veterinarian this morning for his second round of shots. Got a clean bill of health and an appointment in 3 weeks to be neutered.

Have a Red Tailed Hawk in my yard this morning eating all the baby Robins. :(
Usually it's a Great Horned Owl out there eating everything.
Oh Well.... the circle of life. :(

Planning to do a lot of cleaning around here while he's home.
Been thinking that maybe if he sees me working hard he just might get off his butt and do something, anything around here to address his clutter. This has worked before.
The goat trails are getting more narrow and the piles are getting taller.
There is a lot that is really just trash, stuff he needs to toss.
Some of my "NO CLUTTER ZONES" have stuff in them. The back porch and the area outside the pumphouse. :(
Today I will move his stuff away from there and sweep the areas clean.

Hi Janie :)
Hi Karl :)

Counters and stove top are clean now. I still need to do the floor, and take care of a couple more miscellaneous items. I'll need to set an alarm before going to bed, to make sure I'm up before the landlords get here.

HI :D

Hi Roxie :)
No, I haven't read Dr. Robin's book yet but hope to some day.

Hi Dianne :)
(((hugs))) for trying to save the goose.
Sad when a person is so afraid of germs that they miss out on all the wonders around us.
I was so excited when I found a tiny dead bat by my porch because I was finally able to see what the bats that fly around me in the evenings looked like. He was so cute! :)
WAY TO GO! on getting so much accomplished! :D

Hi Diane :)
Sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day! :D
Have a GREAT time tomorrow. You deserve these fun times. :D

Hi Karl :)
Enjoy that well deserved ice cream! :D
WAY TO GO! for all the progress you've made and doing maintenance! :D

I was too tired to get anything done this afternoon, so I took a nap; slept for about an hour, then just rested for another hour. I think I'm recharged now.

Tillie, unfortunately a long URL is going to cause problems with the margins whether it's a clickable link or just plain text. We'll have to see if we can work out what you're doing wrong.

Dianne, I have mixed feelings about your son-in-law's reaction. Wild animals do often carry diseases that would be good to stay clear of. On the other hand, kids who grow up in a sterile environment don't develop the resistance they'll need -- and barefoot in grass is just fun, too.

Right now I'm going to have some food, then I'll set the timer for 15m and get the dishes loaded into the dishwasher, and hand-wash any remaining. With ice cream waiting for me when I've finished.

Went to the lake with friend today, and we walked around it, then had lunch, sitting on log by lake. We had a cherry pit spitting contest to see who could make pit go the furthest. Yes, I won.
Now home, feel too tired to work. Put 1 load in washer, now will hang it out to dry. Tomorrow will get some work done in morning then go to Bend summerfest, fun to see all the art, then Sunday hope to work all day. Then the group.
It was so good going to the lake and laughing at creative ideas we came up. Best entertainment is a creative mind
Now home just laying low, maybe will get 2nd wind and get some work done.
Nice to hear what you have been doing.

Tillie, no worries. The issue is fixed and I appreciated your attempt to link us to a very interesting show (can be found on Youtube).

I had two robins in my yard yesterday. Love to watch the birds. The feral cats do not seem interested in nor do they bother my songbirds.

Karl, WTG on the stove cleanup. Don't give up. Little by little will get it to beyond good enough. But since inspection is tomorrow, good job!

I just ordered some microfiber cleaning cloths as I've heard good things about them. Need to keep my stainless steel new appliances shiny, after all.

Has anyone read Dr. Szasio (spelling?) book? Interested in your impressions. Matt Paxton's book I think is good and a good starting place for someone who knows or is related to or living with a hoarder.

Not getting much done today, just trying to feel better first.

Hugs all around.

THANK YOU CORY!!!!

(((HUGS))) :D

I was just trying to make clickable links like Karl does.
From now on, if I post any links you all will just have to copy and paste them into the address bar.


Anyways.....
Great to see you all and to read all your accomplishments. WAY TO GO!!! :D

The robins are fledging and I have kept all the cats inside to give the chicklets a chance to learn how to fly and get back up in the trees.

Made some food, rice and veggies then cleaned the kitchen.
Been watching "The Hobbit" on bluray.
Don't know why our internet went down but so happy we got it back! :D

Done :)

Thanks for the heads up!

Cory ;)

Thanks MayMay :)

Hey Tillie,
It's okay. Don't feel bad. You didn't know that the link was going to affect the margins.

I said I was sorry :(

Then I lost my internet connection until just a few minutes ago.
Sent an email to Mr. Chalmers and when he reads it I am sure he will help me. :(
Again, sorry :(












So there! :P lol

I've finished cleaning the oven (I did more with it than I'd originally planned), put out new aluminum foil for the bottom, and also on the drip pans. I put a bucket of water in the microwave for 20 minutes to liquify the gunk -- there was more than I'd thought! It still doesn't look as clean as I'd like, but I think it'll do. I also made sure the fridge and freezer looked clean on the inside.

I think that does it for the appliances. I still need to wash the top surfaces and floor. Inspection is tomorrow.

Yeah -- I was wondering whether we should ask for moderator assistance, or to just wait for fifty new messages to go by.

Hi everybody. :)

Hey SusanL,
Haha, "Cleaning Gangster", love it! :D

Hey Roxie,
I hate going to the grocery store too. There are always so many people there. Although, I do love it when I go grocery shopping with my friends who are firefighters. Especially when they are wearing their fire department shirts and their fireproof suspenders. We always get so many stares. It's so much fun! Lol. :D

I think Cory is the only person who can edit and delete posts on here. Once the post with the long link disappears onto the second page, then I think the page will go back to normal. :)

Tillie, could you delete the post that has the long link? It is doing weird things to the thread so I cannot read the right hand margins. Maybe someone else knows how to shorten the link? I watched the Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners on youtube yesterday and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the heads up.

SusanL, gangsta sista, WTG.

I am having another difficult start to the day but hope for a rally later. Hard to breathe, hard to get moving.

Yesterday, I bathed, shampooed, got on clean clothes, brushed my teeth and did the grocery shopping. Put away all the groceries (yes!) and paid bills online. The grocery trips take it out of me, but I was so glad to have supplies in the cupboards.

Daughter saw the clean garage and declared me a 'cleaning gangster' :)

Looks like a really long link on July 11th is busting the margins and making it difficult to read all the way across. Maybe a kind editor could remove the link? Or else we can start a new thread for the daily chat?

way to go Janie, you really got a lot done today.
Just finished stacking the wood, I am soooooo tired physically, I will be 65 this year and I think I should do the work of a 40 year old!! Was great to get it done, but took much longer than I thought it would (wood)
Tomorrow when I get home I plan to catch up on some maintenance. Looking forward to walking around the lake tomorrow, but also have feelings about not getting to work tomorrow when it will be cool enough, in 80's, to get lots done, need the social interaction so will go tomorrow, and love the peacefulness of the lake.
The real treat tomorrow is that garbage will be picked up so will have lots of fun throwing more stuff away. the other great treat when I get home is reading all of your posts, love knowing how you are handling life.

Oh well,
I keep trying every thing to post links. :(

Sorry :(

Hey diane,

Yeah I was very excited when I found out that my parents' neighbor got a puppy. :)

The puppy is named Dorothy. My parents' neighbor was having trouble thinking of a name for her, so he let me name her; and I decided to name her Dorothy. She is named after Dorothy Breininger. :)

Maymay sounds like a lot of fun romping with the pups

Last night moved my remaining cord of wood closer to house. This morning moved a little more wood, then worked in garage until wood arrived at 9am. He was on time for the first time ever, was able to stack one cord before I was too hot in the sun, want to finish tonight. I sorted two bins and found 3 fitted sheets for a friend that asked for some sheets. Organized the sorting area a little better. I slept soundly after moving the cord of wood, hopefully tonight will be a repeat, after stacking 2 cords wood. I am physically tired but happy I got the wood. It is in the 80's today so much better than yesterday.
Tillie so happy smoke is clearing and you have the energy to do all the tasks. I may do some work in here or may just rest then stack wood. Tomorrow will finally take a day to go to the lake.

I just found out that my parent's neighbor got a German Shepherd puppy. :D

Now Matt, Cory, and Snuggles have a new friend to play with whenever I take them with me when I go visit my parents. :D

Hello, all. Good to read your updates. Tillie, glad to hear the smoke is clearing and you are feeling better.

Diane, are you okay? You sound a little down sometimes when writing, at least it "feels" that way to me. Gentle hugs.

Janie, you are doing great work! Just remember to include a little time just for you in there.

Yesterday I did more of the same as before: brushed teeth, did dishes, later put dishes away, broke down the remaining cardboard boxes in the kitchen and finally unpacked a huge scratcher lounger I'd ordered for the cats. Blackie immediately claimed it as his own.

Good morning and thank you :)

Big "WAY TO GO!!!" for getting things accomplished! :D

Yesterday the smoke was a lot thinner. They said this "Bison Fire" is the largest ever had in Nevada. Over 1000 people have finally gotten it 61% contained :D

We are feeling better and should be back to normal in a few days. :)

Need to do some cleaning around here.
Already fed the cats and then ran the duster around the walls and ceiling to remove little spider webs.
Want to use the vacuum attachment and get some of this dust off everything.
Need to clean the bathroom. Have the bathroom rug soaking in the wash because "somebody" peed on it. My only girl cat does that when she is unhappy about all the other cats here. :(
Need to sweep floors & porches and vacuum the carpet.
As always, need to scoop litter boxes, take out trash and fill water bowls with fresh water.
I will be so much happier when I get all this done. :)

So, does anybody else have any plans for today? ;) Bet you all do.

Janie, facts of life, seems to always take longer than we think to clean. It has taken me 3 days to clean and paint the shelves in storage room, thought it would take 1 day. Good you are doing one area at a time. You just keep plugging away at it, impressive.
Tillie, hope you are doing OK in the smoke. Hugs to you.

Another hot day here. Went through another few bins and boxes this morning. Rounded up more donations, since trash is full. Once the back seat was totally full, drove it to Goodwill, then went to library to pick up a book I had placed a hold on, read newspaper there, then to bank to pay for wood in cash, then to pick up RX. It is hot. I ordered two cords of wood that were going to be delivered tonight, he changed it to tomorrow 9am, cause too darn hot. Happy about that.
I am so happy I picked up book, it will be good to have book I am looking forward to reading, will help me slow down and relax when so hot.
This morning I was moving stuff to there proper home, and was going to quit for the day, and knocked over a box full of essential oils, yep, managed the mess immediately Tillie.
As I haul more stuff away, I can see some progress, but when I returned and saw my sorting piles, yikes, will try to finish more, or at least condense it for tomorrow am work. Keep thinking if anyone looks they will think sorting piles are always like that!! Productive day, just warn out from heat.

Hey Karl,

He had his back turned because he was going to go let all of the dogs outside. Snuggles, my newest puppy, was really freaking out and barking like crazy while I was laying on the floor playing dead. And my other 2 dogs, Matt and Cory, would not stop licking me while I was on the floor. I think Matt and Cory both knew that I wasn't really dead. It was so hard to keep my cool and not burst out into laughter while they were licking me. Lol.

Oh, man, last night my computer completely crashed and I finally gave up fiddling at about 3am. This morning I turned it on and fed the cats, made coffee, and came back. It was saying it failed to start up and should it run tests. Well, duh.

So, tests run and whatevers fixed and I am happy again. I'd be lost without my computer.

I did little yesterday, but I did brush my teeth, put clean dishes away, rounded up dirty dishes, and broke down a few cardboard boxes so they could be recycled soon. I know I need to be doing more.

Thank goodness for all of you and your posts. ((()))

Wow, MayMay, you're definitely giving me some serious competition in the practical joke department!

I'm a little confused, though. It seems to me that if I saw a loved one's body on the floor, apparently incapacitated, then I would either try to administer first aid, or call emergency services. Neither of those is consistent with him having his back to you, while not holding his phone. What was he doing?

Thanks diane. :)
Yes me, my boyfriend, and my crew aka (my friends) are always doing crazy stuff and having fun. :)

MayMay, sounds like you have so much fun, thanks for sharing it with us.
Tillie, so sorry smoke is bad, it can really zap your energy and make you feel bad. Hopefully winds will shift. Hang in there.

Hey diane,

That was originally what I thought about doing. Lol. But then once I heard him freaking out, I actually started playing dead. And at one point, I opened my eyes to see if he was looking at me. And when I opened my eyes and saw that he had his back turned, I decided to grab his phone, which was a few feet away from me, and quietly crawl to the closet. Once I was in the closet, I used his phone to send a text message to my phone that said "JOSH I'M NOT DEAD! LOOK IN THE CLOSET!" hoping that he would grab my phone and read the text message. Once he grabbed my phone and read the text message, he seriously had the best reaction ever! It was HILARIOUS! I don't know what freaked him out more; finding out that I snuck off to hide in the closet, or my phone receiving a text message from his phone telling him that I wasn't dead and to go look in the closet. Lol.

Hey Tillie,

Sorry the wildfires are so bad near where you live. :(

(((HUGS)))

GREAT JOB TODAY Janie! :D