Thanks diane. :)

nice to hear you made it home safe and sound MayMay

thanks for sharing your story, very interesting hearing about your situation. You are so lucky you are able to keep areas clean and peaceful for yourself. Nice you are able to ask for what you need.

I just got home from Houston about an hour ago. I am so glad to be home. :)

Cory and Matt practically attacked me when I went to pick them up from my boyfriend's house. They were really excited to see me. :)

Hi Dianne and diane. :)

Thanks! You two are so sweet. I'm glad I can put a smile on both of your faces. :)

Tillie,

I'm glad you decided not to end your life. :)

Diane
There was a time when I could not clean any more because I live with a hoarder who filled up the whole house with stuff and would get very mean and nasty if he thought I even touched any of it.

Then I thought about the situartion and said
"I live here too!"

I started small, one tiny area at a time boxing & bagging up all his stuff and putting it out in the garage or carport with the rest of his hoard.

Reclaimed the livingroom, kitchen, diningroom, bathroom and all the cupboards & other areas.

There is also a tiny room here that he had so full that it could not be entered & the door could not be fully opened or closed.
I made him empty it and I made it MY room. A place for me & my things.
Before this I was having to dress in the diningroom because that is where my dresser was due to his cluttering up all other areas.
I fixed it up so pretty with paint & new carpet & curtains and decorated with my things.

He has his bedroom, garage, carport & yard where he can hoard to his heart's content but not the whole house.

There is a small part of the yard that I claimed and keep clutter free.
This is my garden. Full of flowers, shrubs, trees and a small patch of lawn.

I made these "NO CLUTTER ZONES" and defend them daily to preserve my sanity.

I was so very depressed by the situation that I almost ended my life.
But I stopped because I saw another way out of the mess. :D

so nice your house is clean so you can do spring cleaning, I am still too buried to do much cleaning, so good to hear you are able to keep things organized Tillie.
Maymay, got a smile on my face reading you hugging those wonderful men!!

Hi :D

At 6:30am this morning I decided to roll over and see if I could fall back to sleep.
Just woke up at 9:15! :)

I needed that.

My plans for today...
The usual tidy ups.

Taking a mental inventory of stuff, getting ready to tackle Spring cleaning.
I do this cleaning one small area at a time.
No reason to knock myself out doing it all in a day like I used to when I was young.

When I was 20 I went to my Grandmother's house and did her Spring cleaning for her.
Spent the week there.
I washed her walls, pulled out the fridge, moved all the furniture, got into every cupboard and corner.
This is how I learned to do Spring cleaning, with my Granma directing me.
We did the whole place up.
This is one of my most treasured memories.
We had such a wonderful time together. :D

Dianne
Sounds like a fun day you have planned. :D

Hi diane,

Yes I did! :)

I hugged 5 firefighters! :)

It's so funny because I actually know a bunch of firefighters and paramedics back at home in Ohio because my boss is a retired firefighter and my boyfriend is a paramedic; but whenever I meet firefighters and paramedics that I don't know I still always get really excited around them and I can't stop smiling. :)

I didn't get to meet any paramedics when I met the firefighters though; because the paramedics already left the scene of the accident. :(

There was a single car accident that was right next to the hotel that I am staying at. The driver was fine though. One of the firefighters that I talked to said that it was caused by a seizure that the driver had.

did you get to hug the firemen?

I just met some firefighters!!!!! :)

I love Houston!!!!! :)

You were right Tillie! Exciting stuff does happen all the time here in Houston! :)

I'm going to really miss this city when I have to leave to go home tomorrow. :(

Dianne that is wonderful news about Jakey! :D

It would be very nice to live with someone who appreciates Spring cleaning, home cooking and fresh line dried laundry. :)

You have so much on your To-Do list make sure you pace yourself to prevent burnout.

My plan for today is to do a load of laundry and get that hung out in the fresh Spring air.

Do some general tidying ups.

Play with the cats.

Think about what I have in the pantry and make something yummy to eat for supper.


My Apricot tree is in full bloom. So beautiful!

I plan to spent some time outside talking to and encouraging all the trees, bushes and plants. ;)

I also plan to make a master To-Do list for my Spring cleaning projects.

What I like best about lists is I can look at them and see my progress by how many items are checked off.

TTYL :D

Good morning everybody :D

Hi diane,

If a topic on here has more than 10 posts in it, then the envelope will turn red. :)

oops--------red not read

why are some of the envelopes read on the left side of listings? thanks

It is cloudy out today and my motivation is grey also!! will make my to do list and get started even though I would rather play computer games.

OK my little pity party is over.

The house is back to normal. I ate lunch.

The house is small and I do not allow him to clutter inside here except his bedroom.

So it is easy to do my routine cleaning.
I can take my time and dance to some of the music I play.

Today's music line up was...

Rolling Stones "Flowers"
Eagles "Hotel California"
Doobie Brothers "Best Of The Doobies"

Right now I'm listening to
The Police "LIVE"

There is still housework that needs doing but that stuff falls under the heading of "Spring Cleaning" and I will get to that soon.

Hope Ya'll have been dancing today too. :D

Hi tillie, sounds like you have a full day, is it too much? I am so excited to start a new adventure, tackling hoarding. Did dishes and paid bills today, and have more on to do list, off to exercise class, first time in over a month.

He went back to work today!
Why is it when he gets sick he acts like a two year old.?
Constantly underfoot, whining and needy.

Anyways....
I am physically and mentally exhausted.
The house really needs a good & proper cleaning.
I have been doing the minimum tidying up and cleaning.
Why bother doing a good job when he is right behind me messing it up again.?

I am so looking forward to getting this place clean. :D

Today I will...
Sweep floors & porches
Clean the bathroom, all of it
Wash the floors, scrape up the gum he chewed, spit out then tracked in on his shoes
Fix up a bucket of hot water & orange scented pinesol and wipe down everything
Dust
Vacuum, not just the main areas but move the furniture & vacuum under it.

Then I plan to spend the rest of this week resting up in a much cleaner house.

Wishing you all a pleasant day with smiles & laughter. :D

OMG! They were just talking about Dayton, Ohio; which is my hometown, on the national news. :D

CNN was in Dayton because of the blizzard that is supposed to start there sometime tonight. :)

I always love it whenever my hometown is on tv. :)

Hey Tillie,

That's awesome! :D
I love Legolas! :)
He was my favorite character in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. :)

I just watched a worldwide special with Peter Jackson talking about the next HOBBIT movie.

Legolas will be in it. :)

Thanks Tillie. :)

(((HUGS)))

MayMay
It's very nice that you have that support. :)

Thank you Dianne :D

(((hugs)))

I needed that!

My boyfriend always tells me that whenever I'm feeling really depressed I should always talk to him about it.

I've been suffering from depression ever since I was 19 years old. And I have always been really good at hiding it though. Even though I really wanted to tell someone about it.

I used to have this really weird and kind of disturbing way of dealing with it. And one day my boyfriend accidentally found out about it while he was on my iPad. He asked me why I never told him about how bad my depression was. And I told him that I was really embarrassed about it and that I thought he would think I was crazy or something. He told me that he would never think that I was crazy for having depression. And he also told me that I should always tell him about whenever I'm feeling really depressed or feeling like I possibly want to hurt myself. :)

Hi

It's now 5:30am Sunday.
I have been awake since 3:00am.
Stress from worry and depression cause insomnia.
Wish he would see how his hoarding and neglecting the house and property effects me.

I'm planning to wash all the cat blankets and table cloths today.

Maybe I will get to take a nap.

I should never post when I'm down, only when I can be cheerful.
Sorry :(

YEA! Andi!
You did an amazing amount today! :D

Thanks for the laugh. I loved your telling about how you plan to do laundry. lol :D

Yes it can get so complicated that nothing can get done.

There will always be more laundry to wash.
Good enough for today is much better than waiting for perfection.

Keep working at it like you did today and soon you will be amazed at your progress.

Today I did a load of laundry. Kitchen linens.
Went through the deep freezer and got out some things for me to eat the next few days.
Watched a movie on Netflix and surfed the internet reading interesting articles. :D

Hi All,

After lazing about for 2-3 days, I finally convinced myself to "do" something and got back on the cleaning horse. (Perhaps I should call it a Bucking Bronco instead of a horse--for all the times I fall off/get bucked off of it. hehe) I started on my ground floor (kitchen and living room)--just because. I can pretty much pick anywhere because there is something to do everywhere--tis the nature of the hoarding beast though.

Well, I did about 3 hours worth of work. I hauled out 5-6 grocery bags of recyclable paper/cardboard, picked up pop cans and plastic bottles, broke down some boxes, and swept the kitchen floor. (Yep, I found my kitchen floor! hurray!) However, looking over the room, I can hardly tell I did a thing. But that will have to be okay--I am secure in the knowledge that I DID do a thing--several things in fact.

I had an epiphany today that I'd like to share: The load of laundry that I am planning on doing doesn't need to be perfect because it won't be the last one that I ever do. For example, Sometimes before I get going, I start planning in my head as I lay in bed. It does something like this: I should do laundry today. So, if I am going to do laundry today, before I go downstairs, I should pick-up all my socks in the room, if I am picking up all the socks from my room, I might as well gather all the towels too, since I'm going downstairs, I should balance my plate and mug on top of the laundry to put in the kitchen, if I'm going into kitchen, I should gather up all the dish towels, if i gather up all the dish towels, I should put away the air drying dishes to get the towels underneath them, if i am putting away the dishes, I might as well wipe down the counter tops, if I wipe down the counter tops, I should put the pop cans that have gathered on the counter tops into the recycling, if the recycling gets full, i should take it outside to the curb, however, the outside recycling is full because my neighbors got to it first, so if I have a full bag of recycling, I have no where to put it, if I have no where to put it, it will block my door, if it blocks my door, I won't be able to get in and out, and if there is a fire, I could be trapped and die. So, I can't do laundry today because I don't want to get trapped in my house and die.... So, even before I get started, I make myself exhausted and feel defeated. That's why I am trying to learn, just do that one thing--just do a load of laundry, if I miss a sock or a towel, no big deal because there are more loads of laundry in my future--this one doesn't need to be perfect.

How about you all? What did you do today?

Good morning :)

Other than the usual daily tidy-ups around here I have no plans.

He had plans but I said "NO".
He wants to visit a thrift shop. He is bored.
It is up to me to redirect him when he wants to fall off the no acquiring wagon. So, I have to be the big meanie. :D

There is pleanty for him to do around here, no reason for him to be bored today.

Weather here is clear and sunny but cold.

My Daffodils are all blooming like crazy! :D

I need to wash the windows first day it is warm enough for me to get all wet. Not today.

Life is an adventure! Enjoy it. ;)

Hi Dianne and Tillie. :)

Yes I am a very lucky girl. :)

I always love telling the story about how I met him. I remember when I first told my friends the story they were like, "I wish I had epilepsy so that I could be taken away in an ambulance by a sexy paramedic." Lol.

The ambulance ride to the hospital was actually pretty fun. Even though I was really embarrassed about having the seizure.

Good morning :)

Dianne
Sounds like you are off to a good start today! :D
Happy you have some company to help sort out books and pumpkins.

MayMay
In life I have found that often something good usually comes out of negative experiences.
Sometimes we just need to look closely to find them.
I'm certain that your Houston experience has had many positive turns. :)

I am keeping the cats separated for now in the hopes that the girl (my feral blue eyed albino) will get over her anger at my little gray (feral tabby) boy.
He honestly did nothing to offend her. I think he smelled "wrong" to her since I let him outside and he rolled in the dirt.

My hoarder is still home. He is grouchy.
Kept me awake all night ratteling around in his bedroom. TV on too loud, moving stuff around, swearing, stomping his way to the bathroom again and again.

The weather here is COLD.
Lucky if it gets up to 50 here today. Sunny but breezy.
Not a nice day to be outside.

If he stays out of my way today I plan to...
Clean the bathroom
Sweep floors & porches
Wash floors
Vacuum carpet
Dust

Then I need to find something enjoyable to do.
Been thinking about making peanut butter cookies. ;)
We all need to plan a little fun into our days! :D

Hi Dianne and Tillie. :)

I love having spa treatments. :)

Especially massages. I normally get a full spa treatment once a year; but I get a massage once a month. :)

Tillie,
I also hate going to the dentist. I can't stand it when they have their hands all around my face and in my mouth. It totally freaks me out.

I hate going to the doctor's office too. Not because I don't like them touching me, but because I always feel like I'm being judged by the nurses and the doctors when I'm there. Like sometimes when I'm there a nurse will take me into the room and take my blood pressure and stuff, and ask me some questions; and then, as she's looking at my medical chart, she'll look at it and then give me a weird look. :(

I love paramedics though. Paramedics are always so nice and friendly to me. I love that whenever I'm being medically checked out by paramedics they always call me either "sweetie" or "sweetheart". :)

I've been medically checked out by paramedics 3 times. The first time was when I was 17 years old; after I had an epileptic seizure in the back of my dad's truck at "Max and Erma's". The second times was when I was 19 years old; after I was in a really bad car accident. And the third time I was medically checked out by paramedics was almost a year ago; after I had another epileptic seizure; this time I was at work when I had the seizure.

That was actually when I met my boyfriend josh. He was one of the paramedics that responded to the 911 call when I had my seizure last year at work.

Dianne,
I will definitely let you know what happens with the hoarder's home.

I'm still sad about it too. :(

At least I know that she has a family that loves her and cares about her and will let her live with them if she does end up losing her house.

I still feel really bad that I'm not going to be able to be there when code-enforcement does the inspection. :(

Good morning :)

It is like a three ring circus around here.
I have to juggle 5 cats, one sickly bored man and try to keep up with keeping the place tidy.

I am tired out before I even get out of bed.

Not planning on doing much today. Will just try to hold down the fort for now.

At least the winds we had yesterday have stopped.
Constantly blowing wind wears me out even when I spend the whole day inside.
In some areas the winds were so strong they blew down power poles.

Three of the cats got into a nasty ugly cat fight.
No one got hurt. For some reason the only female was on the warpath and decided my little gray cat must die. That never happened before. :(

Anyways...

Everybody find something fun today & laugh a little. :D

Dianne

One of the first lessions I learned about helping my hoarder is to never say...
"yes you cleaned that over there BUT look at what all you did not do yet!"

They are already overwhelmed when looking at the project as a whole.

It is really so very important to say positive things about what has been done and never be critical about what still needs doing.

A hoarder will lose all their motivation to continue when met with such criticism.

Later, at another time, I will bring up the conversation of what areas/projects need to be tackled soon.

He really is so overwhelmed that he doesn't know where to start or how to cut down areas into "Do-Able" sized tasks.

MayMay

Hope you have a fun relaxing time there. :)

I could never do that.
My biggest phobia is being touched by humans.
Can't stand it. Makes me want to scream.

I have a really hard time going to the dentist because they touch me.
I stay away from Dr's offices too.

Oh well ;)

Today I am going to treat myself like Kim Kardashian by going to a spa and having an all day spa treatment. :D

The spa treatment that I picked out is called "Day of Relaxation". And the treatment includes a one hour Swedish massage, rejuva + facial, a spa body silk body wrap, a manicure, a pedicure, a hair styling, and a gourmet lunch. :)

Thanks MayMay :)

I have him in his bedroom with the DVD copy of the Hobbit to keep him occupied.

He has food & pleanty to drink so maybe he will stay in there. ;) lol

Hey Tillie,
Sorry to hear that your husband got sent home from work. :(

All the Guys where he works sent him back home & said not to return till Monday at the earliest.:(

Good news is that my apricot tree is all in bloom. :)
Lots of blooming daffodils too. :D

The wind is blowing hard.
It is snowing in Carson City.

Hoping tomorrow will be nice enough for me to go outside.

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!

He felt well enough to return to work! :D

So I slept in.

Will do a few things to tidy up around here but mostly I'm taking it easy today. ;)

Everybody have a wonderful Spring day even if the weather isn't exactly Spring like. :D

Today "the Hobbit" was released on DVD/BLURAY.

I drove into town to WallyWorld (walmart) and they had a one day sale on the movie.
Any DVD or BLURAY or combination sets of DVD/BLURAY were all priced at 24.96.

I bought the combo pack with BLU-RAY 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + ultraviolet.

YEA! :D

Tomorrow the prices all start at 29.96 and go up from there.

I have spent this afternoon watching "The Hobbit" on BLU-RAY and eating spicy jelly beans. :D