HI Everybody :)

Wonderful to check in here and read all your progress.
WAY TO GO!!! :D

These days of constant smoke have really taken their toll on me.
I slept in late and was still exhausted when I got up.
Did a few things then spent the day napping off & on. I am just exhausted and my eyes hurt.
The cats have been sleeping a lot too and not eating much and the kitten's eyes are badly watering all day & night.
There's lots of things I would like to do and it's frustrating that physically I'm not up to it.
There are about a thousand people fighting the fire. My thoughts are with them. (((hugs)))

You all bring me so much joy and insight, loved coming in from working and reading your posts for my reward. Today I painted the last shelf in the storage room off walkway, no smell of the rat poison or charcoal lighter fluid, thank goodness I have learned to take care of my messes immediately, Tillie I didn't know that was a rule, never neglect a mess. My motto was leave a spill until it dries, and maybe it will go away magically. I am learning to do things differently on here. Sorted 2 bins of stuff today, then washed 5 bins in the yard, now they are dry and ready for donations. Too hot out for me to do anymore outside for now.
Did dishes, cleaned most of counter, then took this break to get some encouragement to do more today. Reading your posts gave me that help.
I posted most of my stuff from past days on July Challenge, felt good to get that caught up.
I straightened up some of sorting areas.
Tillie, hope you are doing ok with the smoke, thanks for the site to read news on fire.
Roxie, RCT, Roxie clean teeth, 7 days, that is so great. I have been brushing daily, thanks to you, did miss one day so brushed twice next day. Will get back to 2xday, just not ready yet.
Maymay, you are so funny, I can just see him looking at you dead on the floor, then you open your eyes and start laughing (in my mind)
Janie, thanks for the informative post, so nice getting to know you. My yard was a huge eye sore until 3 months ago. I bought this trailer on 1/2 acre, no houses around me, just bare land, so I started the projects, that never got finished. Then 2 really nice houses were built above me, with decks that look down on my yard. Then 2 years ago a huge house with layers of decks, was built across the street from me. So from the top deck they can see my lovely unfinished projects and various piles of junk. I cleaned all dead bushes etc out, got rid of some junk, the rest is now stacked neatly. This was done in many days of long hours, trying to avoid dealing with the interior of the trailer and garage which only had little goat trails. Now have done so much inside it is getting better each week, not by leaps and bounds. Have been really motivated to clean areas in garage and storage that have infestations of rodents and spiders. I had ear to ear grins reading what you wrote Janie.
Never have given a cyber butt kick, and would be glad to start next week
How will I know when a butt kick is due?
You all have become so important to me, thanks so much.

It is so good to read your posts, everyone. Dianne will understand that I am a bit withdrawn at the moment, but I do come and read and get inspiration each day. In fact, I tend to want to sign on here first thing with my computer.

I have seven straight days of teeth brushing in my pocket now. I'm continuing to calendar this and that method seems to be working for me.

I did a load of dishes yesterday and removed more items from my car that were left there from my last cat supply shopping trip. I am now using regular plates to feed the indoor and feral cats their daily canned food, as my pro cleaner suggested (rather than paper plates) as I've run out of paper plates. Not sure I like this. On the one hand, the cats can lick the plates cleaner than paper ones, plus eventually I know I'll pick them up and wash them. Maybe that is the con: I have to pick them up and wash them.

I need to go to the grocery store but I just woke up half an hour ago so who knows when I'll go... I seem to rally later in the day.

Good morning everybody :)

Another day of taking it slow and staying inside as much as possible.
Hoping the smoke here will not get too bad today.

Tidied up the bathroom and swept near the litter box. Fed the cats & gave them fresh water.
Need to straighten one of my dresser drawers.

TTYL :)

Good morning everyone! :D

I don't have that much planned for today. :)

Today I just plan on going to work. And then after work I am going to go over to my boss' house and hangout in his hot tub. Lately I have been having really bad neck pain; and my boss' hot tub always makes my neck feel better. :)

This morning I accidentally scared the crap out of my boyfriend.

My neck was hurting really badly last night; so I went out to the living room to lay on the floor for a little while because that always helps relieve my neck pain. And while I was laying on the floor last night, I accidentally fell asleep. And this morning when my boyfriend saw me asleep on the living room floor, he totally started freaking out because he thought I was dead. He thought I snapped and actually killed myself. Once he realized that I was just asleep, he asked me why I was asleep on the living room floor; and I told him that it was because my neck was hurting really badly last night and when I came out to lay on the floor, I accidentally fell asleep.

Hi Roxie :)
WTG! on all you got done yesterday. Hope today was a good one for you. :)

Thank you Janie :)
That is different isn't it. lol
WAY TO GO! you got a lot accomplished even with going off to work. :D

Diane, Diane , Diane
well, at least it wasn't more rat poison or worse. ;)
WAY TO GO! for returning that camera and finally getting the new AC unit!!! :D
Dealing with that spill is one of the rules of staying clutter free.
It's the rule called " never neglect a mess".
As soon as you see a mess has been created, you deal with it. :)
WTG! Fantastic job! :D

Thank you Karl :)
I will keep trying till I get it right. ;D

The air currents brought thick smoke here this morning and it has stayed all day. It was dark and orange colored light here all day.
I am feeling very tired, dizzy and weak from trying to breathe.
Did a few tasks then mostly rested inside with the evaporative cooler running.
The cats are feeling tired and down too.
Fortunately, so far none are near enough to me that I'd need to worry. :)
Hope everyone else is safe too.


http://www.mynews4.com/mostpopular/story/Wildfires-in-Northern-Nevada/M4lOTUWwI0ebqcGR9BflUQ.cspx

Tillie, when you click on the link button, the dialog box has "http://" already entered for you, probably in case you're going to type in the address by hand. Try hitting the Delete or Backspace key first, to erase that text, before you paste the link that you want to share. I bet that will fix the problem you're having.

Hello, another interesting morning. Cleaned and painted two more shelves, then moved more stuff out to sort, in the mean time, I knocked over a bottle of charcoal started, which quickly soaked into clothes and linoleum on floor in a storage area. Made it easier to decide to throw away those clothes, cut that section of vinyl and removed it, the fluid socked back side of it. Then got some water/vinegar/soap and cleaned the cement in that area, that lighter stuff sure stinks. vinegar helped get it up and the thick dirt on cement, never been cleaned obviously. I had only planned to work a few hours then take the day off for fun, the spill caused those few hours to stretch. I was done around noon. It was in the 80's by then so decided not to take camera back, then I thought, "you say you will do something then make excuse to stay home" so got in car drove into Bend, went to Costco and returned camera without a problem. They had about 6 air conditioners left. The camera and AC were exactly the same price. So glad I told you I would go today, if I procrastinated until tomorrow, probably all AC gone. Also got some frozen berries and soy milk to make frozen drinks, better than ice cream for a treat.
Traffic was so heavy, decided to go directly to Costco and not go to lake, maybe tomorrow. I really like my quiet yard, crowds not my thing. Tomorrow will be hotter so may go tomorrow, if not lake will go to river, which is closer. I felt like getting new AC was fun enough for today and I had to get prescription food for my dog and would have been too late if went to lake, so all in all, very good day, and proud of myself for dealing with the spilled charcoal starter without letting it wreck my day, and went to return camera in spite of the fact that the spill threw my plans off by a couple hours. Laughing at the group last eve. made today even better, thanks.

http://www.unfuckyourhabitat.com/

http://www.unfuckyourhabitat.com/

Yesterday, I brought the garbage bin back up from the street and collected the week's mail. I sorted through the mail, loaded some cardboard into the car for recycling, and bagged up one full bag of clothing to donate. I brushed my teeth and did the dishes, and tossed some garbage.

How's everyone today? I always hope when I sign on to see others' names instead of my own as the last post!

Good morning :)

Over night the winds change direction and by morning the air is clearer. But by afternoon the wind changes again and has been bringing a lot of smoke this way.
I was able to sleep in this morning to make up for coughing keeping me up from sleeping last night.

My To-Dos for today...
Sweep floors & porches
Vacuum carpet.
Dust.
Wash floors.
Do one load of laundry.
Shampoo my hair.
Water the lilac hedge.

Then for some fun I plan to paint the things I made for the dollhouse.

Hope everyone has a GREAT Monday! :D

At the Sunday support chat, I said that I planned to take care of the foil lining in the oven before the end of the day. At 4am -- still up -- I remembered this, and decided to at least get as far as removing the old foil. As I did so, I noticed that there *is* some cleaning to be done in the oven, after all; the walls are probably OK, but the door needs a little scrubbing.

I went back to the computer and got sucked into reading page after page of Web entertainment. It's now getting close to 6am. I'm going to get some sleep. Not sure how I'll balance work and cleaning duty over the next few days.

Hi Diane :)
So happy you like the Tillieisms ;D

How I remember what people posted so I can respond to each one.

I don't.

I open 2 windows on my laptop, read one post & respond then an other etc...

Switching between the two windows is easy and convenient. ;)

WTG! You are amazing! Filling that whole big bin and cleaning and painting as you go along!
All your hard work will all come together soon and you will have time and space to craft.

See you in chat :)

wow the board is active today!!! How do you remember what people individually wrote to respond to them personally? must be a lot younger than me!! Fun reading everything.
Today I cleaned those shelves, I call them Tillieisms---spray before you clean so dust lays low. You can't organize a hoard. So sprayed shelf that had rat poison, wiped with wet paper towel, threw out. Painted the shelf and wall behind it to trap any remaining poison. Then put more stuff in garbage cart. It is full, with little space left for house garbage the rest of this week. Threw away anything that appeared to have rat poison on it. disappointed to have full already, will just bag extra stuff for next Friday after pickup. amazing, last week I didn't get garbage cart full because of heat and the past 2 days I was a, throwing away machine. I think working lots of hours in a row is good to allow me to see the extent of the hoard and be willing to toss many things I would keep or clean to give away. Tillie-ism, amnesty-can throw away anything I want without guilt. This is getting easier. It is 86 out now, that is the maximum temperature I can tolerate.
watered plants, and trees
started the day by doing dishes, have piled up a few days, not bad
I enjoy you so much, doll house conversations, hoarder Barbie and hoarder house, funny. Enjoy reading all the trips to the dump Dianne is taking, amazing to me, my dump is quite a drive.
It was fun painting today, love using my hoarded paint so don't have to give away. And area looks so much better, and mice prefer the unpainted darkness so much better, they are probably sending a protest to the police, vandalism of mouse hideouts. guess should get up and move around before settle in for the support group. Thanks again for all your humor and wisdom. Oh yeah, Dianne the stuff you said yesterday was one of the nicest things I have ever read about myself, caught me by surprise for sure, meant a lot to me that I have a positive affect on you. Thanks so much for the kind words.

Hi Janie :)
The smoke is less but still causing everybody discomfort.

About housework...
I hate all those mundane mind numbing tasks too.
But they are so much easier to do and you can get them all done in a very short amount of time when you don't have to try working around too much stuff.
Floors can be vacuumed, swept or mopped in just minutes.
Laundry is a breeze when you are able to do one load of wash as soon as you have enough items to make a full load. Rather than trying to climb Mount Washmore.
And putting the laundry away is so easy when the shelves, drawers and closets are accessable and not over stuffed.
When there is only the one days worth of dishes to be washed, dish washing is not a major task. And when the cupboards, cabinets and drawers are neat & tidy, putting the washed stuff away is not a problem.
Dusting is easy when there are only a few items you have to pick up and dust off too.

Yes, I really do hate housework but want a clean home. I deserve it and so does everyone else here.
This is what we can all have once we get that clutter gone, straighten & organize what we have and get all caught up on the backlog of regular routine household tasks. :D

Hi Roxie :)
Thanks. We are used to living with skunks around here and love seeing the mothers and babies out walking around at times.
No way does anyone around here ever trap skunks because nobody wants to be the one to open the trap to let them out. ;D lololol
This skunk us used to the outside lights and all the noises we make.
I plan to just wait her out and see what happens.

Hi Dianne :)
WAY TO GO! WOOHOO!
You got a LOT accomplished! :D
I found the trashed/cluttered dollhouses to be sad too. :(
I like my dollhouse because there is never any clutter or messes and it's a nice escape for me. :)


Remember tonight at 5:00pm PST is the online support group.
Cory just may be there tonight. ;)

Janie, I'm glad to hear you are enthusiastic in your decluttering.

Tillie, skunks will naturally move on before long. However, she is probably nested right now in your area. You can leave her alone and when her young are big enough they'll all move along. Or at that point you can add bright light at night, noise like a radio or tv, rags around the area soaked in ammonia, etc.

Should you decide at some point to do humane trapping, you must toss a blanket or other disposable item over the trap before trying to relocate it, in order to avoid the spray. She'll probably spray so say byebye to any cloth drape.

Diane, a schoolmate of mine from my overseas high school founded the Cascades Raptor Center in Eugene, OR. I have not been there but what I've seen online indicates it is a hugely popular site to visit. I admire her so much for her rescue efforts. Started in 1987.

Yesterday I brushed my teeth, did one load of laundry (still need to put it away). I don't remember if I did anything else, but the laundry bit was good.

WTG! MayMay :D

Hey Tillie,

Yeah I just realized that. Lol. :)

Since I couldn't go to the link from this page, I just went ahead and typed the link in. :)

It's so awesome! :)

MayMay
one of the links I tried to post IS
a hoarded Barbie dream house! :D

Good morning :)

Taking it easy today.
Need to wash up some of the fruit I bought yesterday. Think I will eat the cherries first. :D
Want to tidy up the kitchen a little.
Maybe I will wash the litter boxes today rather than tomorrow.
This evening I plan to water the grass. Some of it is still alive but mostly it all looks pretty dead.

So, what are ya'll up to today? :D

I love the idea of a "hoarded dollhouse"! :D

I think they need to make a "Hoarder Barbie doll" and a "Hoarded Barbie Dreamhouse" for her to live in. And then they also need to make "Cory Chalmers and Matt Paxton dolls" to help "Hoarder Barbie" clean her "Hoarded Barbie Dreamhouse". Lol. :D

Darn it!
I tried to post links to tiny cluttered doll houses.
Yes, there are actually cluttered doll houses done as art. :D

I think it would be funny as hell to have the doll house filled with tiny newspapers, tools, books, clothing, and assorted clutter.

I have a problem :(

He has the carport piled high and packed full of misc assorted "stuff".

The back door leads out to a porch that leads directly into the carport and there is an opening directly to the left from there to get into the back yard, which is also terribly cluttered, with my clothes line in the center of the back yard.

For the past 4 days there has been a skunk living in the carport.
I wish it would go away. I don't mind when they just pass through my yard.
I want him to clear the area so it will move farther away from the house.
Skunks sleep during the day and I don't know exactly where it's sleeping.
Then I worry that it may be in there because it is a safe place to escape from coyotes and it may be having a litter in there.
If so, then I don't want to disturb it and risk the litter.

Anyways, thanks for listening. :)
I just needed to get this off my chest.

Hi Dianne :)
Thank you.
You must have needed that long nap.
WAY TO GO! for getting the usual stuff done.
Good luck with the paper shuffeling. ;)

Hi Diane :)
Big (((hugs))) and WTG! for the shopping trip and not buying unneeded stuff!
WOW! that huge trash can is already half full. :)
You are doing amazing!
I told him that I wanted to go to the little diner in the casino and get a hamburger. He said the better place for hamburgers is this other restaurant. And I said can we go there? And he said he didn't want to. :(
I will keep working on this issue.
I am concerned about that rat poison you got into. :( Take care and if anything comes up remember to tell a doctor about this.
The air was a pale yellow today due to the smoke and my eyes are sore & tired right now.

Speaking of things left behind by previous owners...
When we moved in here he was up on a ladder pulling stuff down off high shelves in the garage.
Pulled out a big handful of wire and then noticed the blasting cap attached to the end.
LOL :D
I called the sheriff who was here to get it before I even hung up the phone.

Another beautiful day in Central Oregon, under 90 degrees with a nice breeze. Took a trip to Goodwill to dump 2 old TV's and Christmas stuff. Went in the store and bought some brand new bins, want to throw all the ones with mouse stuff on them. It was strange walking in there, used to be so familiar, now felt odd, like why was this so much fun. It actually was fun to see some of the stuff I donated last week on the shelf for sale. Took a look to see and sure enough, there is some of everything that I could ever need, so might be easier this week to give stuff away knowing I can find it if I ever need it in the future. Went to Walmart, across from Goodwill, to check out cameras, very informed sales person, left not buying anything, even though cameras are good prices there, still need to return camera to Costco before I buy one. Sales person said she had heard the same thing about the camera I bought that doesn't work, reassuring. Felt good only buying what I was looking for, and also helped my fear of shopping. Don't want to do it again any time soon, but was good for me.
Now home relaxing.
Put so much stuff in garbage cart this morning, my 95 gallon cart is 1/2 full since yesterday pick up. I didn't write everything down for July challenge because of the filth, just wanted it gone. Amazes me how I keep finding bins of stuff stashed in strange places out there. There was a box of rat poison the mice had chewed into, so this powder covered a shelf. Old owners must have stuck it up there, anyway when I pulled stuff out, powder got in my nose, later I saw the box, went in immediately and took a shower, and decided no more cleaning today, my nose started bleeding and is still burning from breathing rat poison. probably won't be pulling stuff out of high places without a ladder an inspection first in the future.
how is the smoke Tillie? Did you have hamburger?
Dianne and Susan, thanks for your kind words always.

Hi Roxie :D
WAY TO GO! on your accomplishments!

Welcome Janie :D
From your posts it looks like you will fit right in with us.
WAY TO GO! for all you have done already! :D

I'm new here and wanted to say HI! I recently got a part-time job and will be going back to work on Monday. I was looking for a support site to keep me on track and found you all here. I started my clean-up process on 3/20/13. From what I can determine, my first floor could be classified as a Level 2. My upstairs bedrooms & bathrooms, and my basement could be classified as a Level 3. Money is an issue so I'm trying to clean-up on my own, one step at a time.

To ease into my clean-up I started on the first floor as these are public rooms and not as bad as other areas. In the past 3-1/2 months I have de-cluttered the kitchen, dining room, living room, entryway and powder room. I'm currently working on the family room although today I haven't really accomplished anything as I have been reading a lot of your past postings to get familiar with this group. Keep up the good work!

Hello, everybody. Yesterday I put away clean dishes, brushed my teeth, and rounded up all the dirty clothes into the laundry basket. I moved two donation bags of books from by the bed to the back door so I can put them in the car next time I use it. I threw some garbage out It's not much but it is forward movement.

Tillie, I think of you and the brushfires and hope you are okay.

Dianne, I applaud your movement forward and hope you will not beat yourself up for any backsliding. Just brush yourself off, be present here, and take one more step forward, okay?

Diane, I always look forward to the posts here. I depend upon daily reading to keep myself moving forward, even a tiny bit. Mice? I don't have them here due to the cats, I guess, and maybe the raccoons.

But in my last home I smelled something really odd and finally figured out that when I turned on the stove I was "cooking" mouse droppings. Ew. Anyway, my son (then living at home) figured out an ingenious mouse catching routine with an empty cardboard box. I think they are so cute I just cannot kill them. So he'd take the box far away and release the mice, until all were gone.

Yes Karl
Plan something to celebrate! :D

Good morning :)

I have fed the cats.
Now I need to get dressed and go to the grocery store.

Have not made any more plans past that point.

Last night I glued 2 shelves and a banister together for the doll house.
Had been working on the pieces for the past few days. Need to paint them next.
I am very pleased with how nice they turned out. :)
I measured the doll house....
14 inches long
7 1/2 inches deep
14 inches tall
It has 6 rooms and 2 hallways :)

Happy Saturday!

One week until inspection. I thought I was "just about ready" -- the real clutter is gone, anyway -- but I still have some significant basic cleaning to get done. I'm sure I'll be able to get things into shape, though. Maybe I'll try hosting an event for later that same day, to celebrate the inspection.

Hey diane,
You're invited to come and party with me and my crew anytime! We'd love to have you party with us! :)

(((HUGS)))

Hi Diane :)
Isn't it interesting what mice will chew on?
I am fortunate that all the mice here attracted snakes.

(((hugs))) it was their loss not to have the pleasure of your company at their party.

Mariana,
I am about 80 miles from Reno.
There have been quite a few wildfires this past week due to lightning.
We are under a "Red Flag" warning, meaning that no burning is allowed and other preventative measures are to be taken.
Fortunately for you the temperatures have cooled down and only get up to the 90s and no more thunderstorms are predicted. :)

Sorry to hear about bad water, sore back, and fire near by.
Amazing what we all have to face, not just clutter, lots of other challenges.
Last night I did go up on roof for awhile and to my surprise, the neighbors that live around me all had a party on the deck above my roof, that I was not invited to. I had to talk to myself, and force myself not to listen to what they were chatting about. I felt hurt and sad that I was not invited. So when I was pulling weeds this morning, I pulled weeds along my neighbors driveway, above my place, the one with party last night, it helped me to get over resentment by doing something nice before he was awake. And today went well, other than mice droppings.