Good morning!

Hanging with my sidekick while he eats his oatmeal. (He asked for chocolate cake)

I think we will dig sweet potatoes today.

And finish the laundry.

I do have a bunch of toys in my car that his parents downsized from their house as "too young or not interesting" and sent back for the "toy library" in my basement. I haven't looked in the boxes but I think they all originated here. I refused to store the large plastic slide. It was not cool enough, too big, and not hard to replace.

The irritating shirt is in the clean laundry and will be added to the donate pile today.

My coworkers were pleased at the addition of my old ice cream maker to the teacher resource closet.

Great willpower, SubC!

Yesterday was the most fun I've had in a very long time. Great conference, I stayed for the excellent cocktail party, spent some time in my colleague's hotel room to decompress before dinner and then dinner was excellent. So much fun. I am exhausted today naturally but such is life. A lot of my work stress has dissipated.

I couldn't believe how much fun it was.

Update - drove home past contractor house. Box of sports balls. Wasn't tempted. Don't need them, not my job to find somebody who does.

Bean is staying until Monday night! We put away some of the laundry.

Good morning!

Slow start this morning because the power went out yesterday. I forgot when I set up the coffee maker and didn't set the clock. If you don't set the clock, nothing happens when you press the button that tells it to run the program that makes the coffee in the morning.

I'm picking Bean up after school today. I'm actually not sure how long I'm keeping him. Might give him back to his Daddy overnight tomorrow and then reclaim him..

Need to get ready for school and put away some laundry!

Good evening!

Tatoulia, you make an excellent point.
I went another way.

I hope your conference was fun!

I made good choices today! I had some extra time this morning, and I thought "I should put some of this laundry away." But then I thought "no, laundry is the easiest thing I do and if I don't put it away, it still slowly disappears from the baskets. What I should do is set myself up for success. Transitions and getting started on things are the hardest for me, and I want yo stop collapsing on the couch."

So, I gathered up all my papers and put them in four stacks - plan for tomorrow, plan for next week, general resources, and nothing to do with school. I put plan for tomorrow in my teacher bag and the other stacks on the dining porch so I couldn't pretend I was at the table because I was going to start using the materials "in a minute" while I chain snacked. Then, I put all the laundry baskets on the couches, so I couldn't sit on them at all. Then I set out a pot because I keep wanting egg salad and not having any hard boiled eggs, and I set out the chocolate cake recipe with all the utensils and bowls and non-perishable ingredients. I put the tape and the pen next to the jars of salsa. I set out the herb scissors and my gathering basket, and a glass to remind myself to drink water, and then I had just enough time left to put Bean's toys away.

When I got home tonight I put the eggs on, got myself a glass of water and made the cake. While the cake was in the oven, I took the dishes to the scullery, labelled the salsa and put it away, washed the counter, cut the chamomile, and had another glass of water. Then I took the basket out and picked in the garden until Dh got home with dinner.

I did chores and took a shower after dinner, and I still didn't put the laundry away, but it's bedtime. I think I did good.

Drive another way. 😀

Your daughter asked for a slide and you got the slide. Mission accomplished. You have stuff. Don't need that stuff. Other people will take that stuff. We are on a hoarders message board for a reason.

Off to my conference.

Good morning!
Coffee clinks!

I'm bathing my brain in caffeine.

I did sleep a little longer last night, but I don't know how I'm ever going to catch up.

On anything

I am still coming home thinking I will make good use of my evening and I am still watching videos and snacking because I am tired. It is such a deep, comfortable rut, that was just waiting for me from last year.

Yesterday when I was driving home I passed a collapsed play set in pieces with a free sign. It was only three miles from my house, so I went back with the truck and got the slide for Bean - his mommy told me to get the next slide I saw (this happens a lot out here) so she could attach it to the play set in his backyard.

But, the guy came out to help me load it. He was very sweet, but he tried to convince me to take the whole thing (not to clean up the yard, just in a "are you sure? You're welcome to the whole thing. There's no limit. He'll grow into these swings. I can help you put it in the truck" way.) He told me he is a contractor and he's being paid to clean out the whole property. That there's a full barn and they have a dumpster for trash but that he'll be putting a lot more out because he hates to throw away things that are still useful. (the slide was in much better condition than most that I see by the road - not even faded.)

I am now torn between "I need to start driving the truck to work" and "I need to find a new way to drive to work".

Also, if I can find 20 minutes to go back and put a slide in the truck after work, WHY can't I come home and pick up Bean's toys?

(Also, even though I know all the joys and benefits of Bean's city neighborhood, my heart is screaming "this is a nice house! It has a barn and a big yard! It's three miles from my house and probably about to go up for sale! Bean's family should move!") It has been made very clear to me that my kid has no intention of moving until her youngest has finished attending grade 6 in the really really good public school her kids will walk to. - unless a fantastic opportunity to upgrade turns up in their neighborhood.

Ok, now rambling - this is another rut. Open to suggestions!

Good evening, everyone. Rare day where it's just me!

I continue to add to the goodwill bag. BF and I are gearing up for hazardous waste day.

Big and long day at work. Tmr is an all day conference followed by cocktails then dinner. I skipped tonight's dinner even though I had made the reservations for it. I went to today's cocktail party for a very short time, enjoyed a very tart non-alcoholic lemonade, then went back to the office to work. I ended up taking the train and then a shuttle bus home because I'm just so tired and I needed to go to the pharmacy to pick up meds.

My goal for this weekend is to look through the closet again. Keep working toward fewer things.

Good morning, all

SubC yes I need to clean out my car. The trunk is organized but is having a ton of stuff in the trunk organization? No of course not. It's just hard to face sometimes that I need to do things.

That's a good point on the tabs not using electricity. I am a bit of a bugger when it comes to things being plugged in. I hate to see cords, esp phone chargers, plugged in for no reason. I unplug my toaster and I don't keep my computer On and plugged in when I'm not using it. A long time ago, my friend let me stay in her VT house even though she wasn't there. The next weekend when he4 husband went to the house, he thought every appliance was broken. She said no, Tatoulia probably unplugged everything in the kitchen.

When I mentioned computer, above, I only have my work laptop. I took my laptop to hazardous waste day without ever firing it up to see what was on it. Easier for me.

Good morning.

I'm not feeling the exclamation mark today..

Day two of week two of school and I am running on coffee. Yesterday was a really good day, but I need to find more time to sleep. Also, Bean's toys are still all over the floor.

Cm, I am excitedly looking forward to your big news!

I hope you can just let go of the old computers. Are you sure there is anything on them you need? Is there something specific you are missing? I have two old iPads on my desk. One is broken - as in, the computer is physically broken with a cracked screen and a charging port that won't connect to the charger. The other one is too old to upgrade to any browser that will work on the internet. They are there because I never remember/have time to drop them at the apple store at the mall to be recycled.


Tatoulia, it was the comment about "some old papers..that were [your] brother's" that made me think your car might need a look.

Also, to add to the CM entertainment show where people who don't know what they're talking about explain computers. i don't think open tabs use electricity. I have twelve tabs open on my iPad. I turn it off. Sometimes the battery runs out and it turns itself off. When I turn it on again, the tabs are still open.

Took some art supplies that Dd2 left here to one of the other art teachers at school yesterday. Also remembered to pack lunch.

Dishes are still behind, laundry not put away, barely keeping ahead of lesson plans - papers all over great room, and haven't looked at the garden for days, but taking time to enjoy the good stuff and keeping up with my classroom.

Bean's Daddy picked him up at school yesterday. Bean helped me take the greenware cart down to the kiln. He pushed the cart ;) all by himself ;) (I held on to the front corner to "steer" - as long as I didn't touch the handle I wasn't "pushing") "(Bean) push cart. Grammie steer." Then we got to the scary looking freight elevator "Grammie's cart go in elevator?" "Yes, the cart is going to go in the elevator." "(Bean) NOT go in elevator!" I laughed. "No. (Bean) not go in elevator. Grammie not go in elevator either! The cart goes in the elevator by itself."

Ok, things to do!

Hi CM, I am excited for your new computer. Please see if your town has a computer recycling program such as Boston's. It's part of our hazardous waste days.

As for the tabs, and try not to laugh while you predict my next words, you should shut them down and close your computer. You know vastly more than I ever will about computers but the electricity and leaving the computer on all the time, even when it's sleeping, can't be good for anyone. Sometimes leaving tabs open is like having a membership to a gym. I might actually go to the gym tomorrow but ultimately, I will not. But I'm able to with a membership. I say just start closing some of the tabs. Try it. For me. See if it uncluttersvthings for you a bit without having so much going on when you just want to log in and check one thing.

You can laugh, we are all friends here

Well I have to do some straightening up and getting ready for tomorrow. Two big days in front of me at work.

P.S. More boring computer stuff that was part of what I meant to say in previous post -

When I keep it in Hibernate mode because I hate having to get all the tabs and stuff back (which on the fast computers at the library takes no time at all by the way), then the cache gets full and that's another thing that really slows it down.

So it's a Catch-22. Have it ready to go, albeit sluggish, or have to wait and remember all the things to reopen each time I boot up. Neither of which is conducive to productivity - but definitely conducive to frustration and stress.

Having a pretty good day. Roommate had to go into the office, and I took care of her pets this morning then have just been doing this and that of mine at a leisurely pace. Laundry in the dryer. Relaxation music and nature scenery on YouTube on the TV. Ahhhh... 😊

Found some sleeveless cotton tops end of season clearance at the thrift store for 50 cents each the other day. Those were very much needed. Some of my ratty ones can now be purged, and some "not really ratty but shorter than I like to wear out and about" can be demoted to sort-of-ratty status. LOL.

Really do want to go through all my clothes, and streamline. As I've probably said before, clothes aren't my major stuff problem. They are probably one of the easier things to pare down for me. So I'm thinking go through them anyway, and enjoy an easy win.

Soon, I will be tackling some much more challenging items. Things that will require lots of decision making effort, which is tiring. But sometimes I've been known to get on a roll with it, so let's hope I can again.

Life has been in limbo a bit, just waiting to hear about some things. I called my friend's daughter and they're still in the process of arranging the funeral. Big family with various travel arrangements, having trouble getting hold of the priest, this and that. Hopefully it'll work out soon.

Weather report, because it has become a tradition with me here - still several hot summery days, possibly some rain in a few. This past weekend was cool and rainy; I drove across town to my cousin's for her grandson's 1st birthday party on Saturday.

I'm sitting here typing this and the computer screen is freezing frequently and Chrome saying "Not Responding" when it does. I will be SO GLAD to get a new computer with a fast processor and oodles of RAM. The paradox for someone like me who has a gazillion tabs open (ADHD brain thing) jumping back and forth between internet and Word and graphics software, is that it takes so durn long if I shut the whole computer down between sessions, to boot it up again and get all those tabs and apps open again. Plus I never know when I'll actually be having a spare moment to work. Or suddenly need to.

But soon the entire pattern of my days is going to be changing, for the better I daresay. And I'll have a computer that can be a workhorse, nay, a racehorse, rather than a stubborn mule. Speaking of decluttering - when I get the new computer, I need you ladies to BADGER me to get rid of the TWO old computers I currently have, and decide also what to do with this one that might be okay for someone who could get a little mileage out of it yet (like with Linux operating system which I tried and didn't like but some people use it on old computers and love it).

That is a total of three computers that need to go away - but at least the first two immediately. I'm pretty sure there's little if anything that needs to be copied from them or deleted - they do not need to be taking up space around here. One of them is a laptop of mid-90s vintage that is a real "antique."

I'll have to take a picture of my new racehorse computer when I get it, and post it on Instagram. Might shop seriously later this week or by next. I was just waiting to see if I was going to have a funeral to attend but now I can see it'll be awhile and I'll not be super busy otherwise, I don't think.

Big news tomorrow evening, fingers crossed, stay tuned.

That is sweet about the toy shelves!

Our goodwill specifically does not want old fabrics. But the city is also rolling out some sort of textile recycling so I'll wait to see what that looks like. In the meantime, I'll see if I have anything to bring to the upcoming waste day.

My car isn't too bad but yes I'll take the challenge. How do I know it's not too bad? My friend organized the trunk! But the glove box etc may have some of my brother's prescriptions in them. I have some stuff in the trunk that I do not know what to do with and I'm not ready to donate. Let's say December 1st to make a decision. Honestly I haven't been to my car in so long. Maybe today.

Tatoulia, I'm sorry you are suffering!

Thanks for the note about the fabric recycling. My local goodwill also recycles fabric, so they WILL take stained and torn items - it's worth checking.

I'm starting to think we should challenge you to clean out your car..

Bean and I made 3 loaves of bread and a pie. We got donuts this morning. My love language is carbs!

I took the shelf of bins to his house and brought home the other shelf. I set it up in the perfect space in the scullery and put a bunch of his toys on it. He is accessing them more than he did when they were crowded into baskets on deep shelves in the great room, and the great room looks better (well, not right now, because there are little people all over the floor, but when it is cleaned up...)

Checking in on everyone!

Lila, I've heard how donation places have huge trash bills because people donate things instead of throwing them out. What a mess for you to handle! I am very careful in what I donate. If it's trash, it's trash and no one wants my stained shirt. The city of Boston does have a textile recycling drop off as part of hazardous waste day.

Our next day for that is two weeks away. I'm not sure that I have any hazardous waste but I will take a look at papers. I think I have some old papers in my car that were my brother's. If I haven't taken them out and shredded them here already. I don't know because I'm not at my car frequently enough to know. I do need to go to my car today or tomorrow because I have a donation bag for goodwill.

I'm suffering from anxiety. Job related and mom related. Mom has been pretty calm, so I'm happy for her.

Big week at work. I wish I had taken this coming Friday off. I really need some time off to relax.

Bf and I had a lovely, unplanned night together on Friday and then on Saturday we went to watch our friend's kids play soccer, then we went to the Museum of Science with them and did other fun stuff. We walked a lot this weekend. I'm working on getting a handle on my weight.

Hi Lila,

I'm sorry about the dumpster, but good progress on the food!

I threw pots. I also canned 7 pints of runny salsa. New recipes- arg! I tried to tilt the ladle so I got a thicker scoop, and I put the two very very thin quarts that were left ("makes seven pints" it said!) in the fridge to drain tomorrow and eat the salsa fresh and use the liquid for soup base.

Hopefully all my lids will seal. The kitchen looks better.

My Dh is a good one. I promised him the old ice cream maker will go to school Tuesday or Wednesday (probably Wednesday)

Ok, I am up waaaay past my bedtime!

I went to the store and it made me so tired. I only got one bag of things. Now I feel ready to go to bed. I have a meeting though, but it's a casual/social meeting and I am going to try and keep it to an hour and a half.

I had to dig in a dumpster today. Where I work someone donated stuff last week because their parent passed away. But the stuff obviously was in a hoarded home because it was dirty and had a very unpleasant smell along with water (?) damage. Well we looked at the stuff and decided it was unusable so tossed it all. Fast forward to today where this person said they donated a few items by mistake and the family wanted them back. Thus my dumpster diving. I could not bring myself to say we threw them out. Items are recovered but I just feel kind of icky.

I am seriously so exhausted. I think I have long covid.

oh SubC, you are like me! Get a new toy, feel overwhelmed by it, never use it, but can't get rid of the old one... I am so glad your husband helped you! Now will you be donating the old one? Custard sounds lovely!

Yesterday I got the rest of the fridge sorted. I did not wash all the shelves, but I did consolidate a lot of things where there were multiple open bottles/jars - ketchup, mustard, pickles, sauces. Now the fridge is closer to empty and it is easy to find things.

I also gave away some produce last night and some today. So it is getting down to a manageable amount left. Another lady is coming for lettuce. I am glad because it is beautiful lettuce, but more than we would eat and I did not feel like a salad from it. It is soft leaf lettuce which I like on sandwiches or wraps but not so much in a salad.

Went to church today, worked, did a social visit, came home with a headache, took Tylenol and am resting. I have a meeting in 4 hours.

Let's see, what's left? Cabbages that I need to put away (need to wipe out the downstairs fridge, or ask son to do that). I have a nice looking vegetarian tamale casserole I think I'd like to make. I have all the ingredients. It just seems daunting, as I am tired.

I will look at my planner and try to do a thing or two today. What are the rest of you up to?

Good morning! (Just barely here)

I was starting to spin my wheels, so I came to report and refocus.

Tasks done -

delete things from my computer so that I could reinstall banking ap and pay my cc bill - this took over an hour and a half.

Chores
Tablecloth dry and on table
Two batches of custard frozen.
Dishwasher emptied
One load washed and put in the dryer.
Shelf that is going to Bean's house for his toys dug out in basement, cleaned off, and set up with almost a full set of bins (must find more matching bins)

Space under the counter in the scullery cleared out.

Doesn't seem like much.

There is a lot of backstory on the frozen custard though. You may remember that I had an ice cream maker I loved and made a lot of frozen custard for me and Bean. It would only hold half a batch of custard, and the motor started overheating and seizing up so that I had to stick it in the fridge before doing the second half of the batch. Also it was very loud.

Dh found the entire situation unacceptable, so he researched ice cream makers and bought me a new (used) one for Christmas. The new one has buttons and a screen and it is bigger than the old one and generally intimidating. So I stuck it back in it's box and stuck the box out of the way under the scullery counter, where it promptly got buried.

Now I couldn't use the old ice cream maker because Dh had gotten me this new one, and I couldn't use the new one because I was overwhelmed by it. Also, I couldn't get rid if the old one because what if.. So I had two ice cream makers and no longer made frozen custard. Yesterday Dh commented that he should have realized this would happen and made a date with me to make custard together.

Anyway, yesterday I finally dug the box out (shoved everything else back until this morning), cleaned the ice cream maker, read the instructions, and made two batches of custard. This morning I froze both batches of custard. The new ice cream maker is easy to use. Clean up is a little harder, but since it freezes the full batch in 45 minutes (instead of half the batch in 50) I can make a lot more frozen custard on one day, so the cleaning time per batch is less.

I am going to take the old ice cream maker to school (and leave it) so I can make ice cream with my pioneers classes (one or two classes each week) during our dairy unit.

Ok, the thing I really need to do right now is chop tomatoes for salsa.

Dh came in for dinner, but very slowly so that I got grumpy from waiting. Then he accidentally spilled curried beet sauce on my tablecloth. The tablecloth is in the wash now, but honestly, it has stains already and is due to be tiedyed.

I am torn between feeling like I had a good day and the sense that nothing I did today is really going to last - it will all need to be done over again and again.

Lila, that is a lot of work! I hope you have a good sense of satisfaction.

Yay for your son!

I was in the garden, or the shower, or cooking..

I picked the dry beans and some more yellow beans, gathered a few tomatoes, pulled some weeds, and picked a batch of beets. Then I cleaned up the kitchen and took a shower. I put on comfy clothes that make me feel domestic and prepped all the beet greens for dinner. I made brown rice and an Indian dish that used MY onions, MY garlic, MY jalapeño, and MY cream. It occurs to me I could grow cumin seed. But the salt, pepper, brown sugar and curry powder will continue to be store bought. (My friend grew pepper one year and said it was a pain and very not worth it.)

Then I rang the dinner bell, but Dh is working on the new tractor and apparently couldn't hear it. In about two minutes I'm going to eat without him. He's having fun.

post 4 -

I wiped the cabbage and peach juice off the stove and one counter, and took everything out of the produce bins in the fridge. Tossed what was bad, washed out the drawers. Trimmed more cilantro and pput it in a vase of water to freshen. Picked out the oldest big carrots, trimmed and peeled them, and stuck them in the freezer (my dogs love these for treats). Put the good produce back into the clean drawers.

On the stove I have a few kiwi fruit, apricots, and peaches that I can't tell if they're still good. They LOOK good, but have been in there for many weeks. Before I decide, I'll cut one of each open and try them to see if they're still fine.

I did not finish the rest of the fridge but I am exhausted! Resting.

post 3 - where are you guys?? SubC??

I made a cabbage salad out of the smallest head of cabbage and ate a big bowl of it, and am enjoying my peach iced tea. I got my son to take the kitchen trash out for me.

My kitchen is a wreck of peach and cabbage but I am about to go in there and wipe things down and sort the fridge. Someone is coming to pick up some produce so I'll put it on the porch for them.

post 2 today -

I opened the 4 boxes and sorted out all the produce. First I cleared off half the kitchen table, where the peaches were, and wiped it down to put produce on.

I took the bin of peaches to the sink, sorted out all the bad ones, then took the heavily bruised, overripe and soft ones and washed them, peeled them and started cutting them into a big pot. I mixed in a little lemon juice and froze an ice cube tray of those for smoothies. Then I added sugar to the rest and cooked them down into preserves. I just finished, and put them into two mason jars to store in the fridge and use. I saved out some of the syrup and am making peach iced tea with it, yum. I also ate a peach or two and my son ate two. I still have about 15 that were not very bruised, on the counter for eating.

Then I took out all the cabbages from the boxes, peeled off any dried out/bad outer leaves, and put the cabbages on the table. Then I took several heads of lettuce, peeled off any bad leaves, trimmed the stem, and put those on the table. Sorted all the parsley and cilantro, trimmed the ends and put them in cups of water to freshen up.

Sorted out any bad tomatoes, and put the rest in a box on the table.

Sorted out the onions and sweet potatoes, put them on the table.

Asked a neighbor and my other son if they want some of this produce, and posted some on facebook.

I have not gone through the fridge. There is more produce in there that needs to be either used, processed, given away or tossed. Yes I have lots, no I can't possibly eat it all. I feel guilty. I will get it dealt with so the guilt goes away.

I am resting now, and then will get in the fridge and see what I find.

Oh! And I talked to my other son and he has a special tool for cutting drywall that is on the wall, and he said he will come over and cut that mold section out for me! I am so relived.

"do anything." Good advice. The produce situation is bothering me the most. I am so blessed to have friends with gardens, but the abundance has overcome me a bit. So, first I will open the four boxes of produce someone brought a few days ago and see what is in there. Sort/put away what I can (cleaning out the fridge in the process). Decide what I would like to give away and ask some people if they want some.

After that, I will try and process what needs to be processed first, which is peaches, and will see what seems to be next.

The boxes and cabbages and bins sit there mocking me with their abundance, and I feel terribly guilty if they are wasted, so this is what I will work on right now. I am wishing for a few ears of fresh corn!

CM, I just realized that I never responded to the loss of your friend. I had, but then part of my post got deleted and I didn't realize how much when I retyped. I am very sorry. Even when a loss is expected, it is still just as much a loss. I hope both you and Lila can find comfort. Losing the people we care about us the hardest thing there is.

Lila, keep working on protecting your time from work, and honestly, do anything. Anything is progress.

If you have a freezer, you can just wash, core, peel and freeze the peaches, and make jam or cobbler or anything later.

You can also chop the onions and freeze them for cooking, or sauté them and freeze them that way ready to add to things when you cook.

I have washed two loads of laundry, dried one, made two batches of vanilla ice cream mix (one is cooling) washed and trimmed up some yellow beans and sliced a few tomatoes, and unloaded, loaded and run the dishwasher.

I also realized I am missing free mulch day, which is kind of a problem, but also, I have so much else I need to do..

Lila, I am thinking about the end of the day problem. I'm thinking maybe I will try taking a shower when I get home. If I lay out a change of clothes and leave a healthy snack in the fridge maybe I can do better.

CM, so sorry for your loss. I had a funeral yesterday and it ripped my guts open all over again. I came home and my brain was so fried (like SubC said she feels after work) that I just poured a bowl of fruity pebbles cereal and that was dinner. Then watched mindless tv. Bad habit on both counts... I will do better today.

I used to have a husband (not the current ex) who would do things like cut out the moldy drywall. When I was not married, I always had a boyfriend who could do it. This is the first extended period in my life with no one to help me and I really don't like it. It feels like another reason to sell and downsize my home, but that in itself is an overwhelming and complicated task that can't be done until and unless my separation is final.

Today is my real day off although I already have people texting me wanting to have a call or work on things. I might get back to them this afternoon, but I want my morning to myself.

Goals for today:
Do something with the peaches (your ideas, SubC, reminded me of freezer jam and maybe I could try that for some of them. I do have a freezer.)
Make some kind of cabbage salad and start eating it, and clean out the small fridge downstairs where I can keep two of the cabbages cold so they last longer
Find someone who would like a cabbage and some onions, maybe the neighbor who I gave tomatoes to last week

My house is such a mess omg. I cannot prioritize. The storage stuff still outside, the mold!! the rain coming, the kitchen... ahhhh.

Good late, lazy morning!

So wonderful to see all of you here! (Still missing Road! Still interested in Jules.)

Cutting out sheetrock is very easy - mask, gloves, utility knife, trash can. Replacing sheetrock is hard.

Lila, I'm not sure what to tell you about the food. None of that is shelf stable. You need a freezer or dehydrator, or you need to can. The easiest thing would be to find somebody who cans and give them the peaches for halves. Onions can be chopped and frozen or dried. (If it's very hot and not too humid there, you can dry them on a screen in your car or garage - but you car or garage will smell like onion for a long time.

Oh! Actually, if it's very hot and not humid there, you can try pureeing the peaches (bruises and all), cooking them down into a thick sauce and drying them on parchment paper on a cookie tray to make fruit leather - Park the car in the sun and crack the windows. Only try a little bit the first time though - I don't know your climate and it could go badly. You can do the same thing in an open oven, but it heats up your house - so it's a winter thing.

There are some good Indian recipes that use cabbage and lentils - maybe search for something you like if that interests you?

Tatoulia, I did enjoy the compliment, and we have a number of very good teachers who could each be "the best" for a particular kid - including me, but our high school English teacher is in a class all by herself. It's not just that she is fantastic at teaching English or loves her job. She is single, she rents a room from a friend, she has no pets and as far as we know no romantic relationships. These kids are her life.

CM, I have a meter square, cm gridded commercial paper cutting table with a blade arm in my basement. I understand completely.

I am really struggling with the executive function issues. I wasted my whole evening yesterday watching videos. I don't have time for this. The problem is that I get home and my brain is too cooked from school to do anything. I know what I should be doing, and there are tasks like picking beans that are no more mentally challenging than videos, but I sit down on the couch because I am tired, and then I get a snack because I am hungry and Dh isn't here and I don't have the energy to make dinner, and then I just stay there because I don't have the mental and emotional bandwidth to get myself out to the garden.

I have got to find a way to make it easier to make good decisions in the evening before this becomes a deeper groove or I will never stop falling into it.

Hello ladies

It's been quite a week. My friend died Wednesday morning. And the Queen yesterday, which is now going to be connected in my mind. It's also been 25 years since Princess Diana died and that was in this time of the year too, and Mother Teresa. Plus the anniversary of 9/11 this weekend. A lot of things to ponder. And I haven't heard yet when my friend's funeral will be. I'm guessing next week.

Tatoulia I shred my address from papers and mail too. I remember when I used to go to the local clutter club support group, there was lively debate over whether this was necessary. I don't think either side managed to change the other's mind, lol.

You are tending more and more towards minimalism in the sense of simplicity and not owning an item like a shredder if you can find a way not to. I've always been the type, since I was first out in the workforce and could buy things, to think how cool it was to own my own equipment, from stapler to 3 hole punch, filing cabinets, and eventually things like a guillotine paper cutter, a binding machine... at one point I even had a medium sized copy machine that a business was going to throw out. It had some little part broken and I thought I could fix it but that proved to be more trouble than it was worth. I ended up taking the whole thing to be recycled.

Many years ago, too, my ex boyfriend was going through some sort of existential crisis I suppose. This was all around the time we were breaking up. He sold his house because he didn't like having a mortgage and being tied down. Any wonder why marriage, home, kids, and so on were not attractive to such a man? 🙄 Anyway, he was deciding to go very minimalist, and getting rid of his possessions, and making plans to leave for a second master's degree in a different state, and to sell his car.

In hindsight I should've seen it coming when he moved into the house but bought hardly any furniture, only one chair for himself, no couch where we could even sit together, and in the winter wouldn't even turn the thermostat up to make me comfortable. I felt frozen out in more ways than one.

Why I'm infodumping all of this is that it pertains to my relationship with stuff over the years. After the breakup, I bought many things out of a sense of NOT wanting to experience that feeling of miserliness and deprivation, and the rejection by him of all things family and domestic oriented.

And now, with the passage of time, of course, I have come to reckon with the contradictory trends within myself. I feel drawn towards minimalism - but it must be MY minimalism, completely disassociated from his closed off style. It needs to feel fresh and warm and creatively life affirming. Or else obviously I'll hate it and rebel against it.

I'm working on figuring all this out! 😅 I am looking with a more critical eye at the equipment I've thought I needed to have my own versions of, and whether I could get by without some of it, based on frequency of use, availability of public versions (such as copy machines, haha). Some things have gotten smaller and more compact in 30-plus years too. That helps. Then you factor in Covid and the way it affected being able to access facilities such as the library, and that can make a person want to go into zombie apocalypse survival mode and hang onto things to feel self sufficient. Talk about conflicting forces!

Whoa, I didn't set out to ramble so much but oh well. I think I'll wrap this up for tonight and I'm sure I'll be back fairly soon to chat more.

Lila, I'm glad you are leaning towards cutting out the sheetrock, definitely wear a protective mask when you do. And I hope your laptop situation resolves satisfactorily and with no data loss or frustrations. I haven't bought my new one yet because there's been so much going on. But hopefully soon. I still have some things to back up and directories to purge junk files from so I can be puttering with that in the meantime.

SubC, glad school seems to be off to a good start.

Hi everyone.

SubC I shred everything with my name. Habit. Not sure of the reason. Really no reason. I just do. Any box in the recycling (although I receive minimal packages) I take the labels off and shred. Again just to do it. I don't know if it's privacy or not having people identify my trash with me or just what but I do it. Othing private about my address. It's all over the internet and my deed is in my name not a trust. But still I shred. Habit over 30 years in the making.

Lila take good care of yourself. And SubC you are the best teacher. Enjoy the compliment

Thanks SubC, I think I should cut it out too. I don't really know how. I will look on youtube and then if it's not too beyond me, and I have the tools, I will do it. But it needs to be done asap and I am so tired and need a break.

What would you do with:

1) a large box of peaches, lots overripe and/or bruised? No way I can eat them all. I don't can anymore. Please give me the simplest or best way I can save them for something.

2) 6 heads of cabbage. I don't even know what to do with these as much as I enjoy eating cole slaw, or steamed cabbage. I am vegetarian so no bacon.

3) several boxes of onions. I want to use these but I really don't have a cool area in my house where they would keep in this summer heat.

If anyone (SubC, you are good at this kind of thing) can tell me how to not let this stuff go to waste I would appreciate it!

Hi Lila!

I would cut the Sheetrock out. We painted bleached and then Kilz over some when we moved in here and it slowly bled out.

Nice job o the trash and the kitchen!

Don't forget to rest.

Today a middle school boy told me "you are my favorite teacher in this whole school!" And I said "that's because I get to teach the super fun classes." And he said "also because you are the best teacher." He's wrong - but he's too young for High school English and I'll take the win as a matter of opinion on some of the others.

It's looking like a good year.

Finished my taping, didn't get to the cupboard. Left school at 4:33.

SubC, so sorry about the glass. I know that scenario all too well, and wouldn't wish it on anyone, even once.

CM, it's so hard when our friends pass. Sad for us, left behind.

There IS black mold at the base of the sheetrock where it got wet.(colored black, don't know if that makes it 'black mold')? I sprayed bleach on it. I don't know if I need to do anything else - have someone cut it out? spray it again? advice helpful, I am broke but do want to be careful of our health.

Tatoulia, the pyrex is just the thick, plain glass that is round and has a plastic lid. I liked it because I don't like to microwave things in plastic. I have all my pyrex boxed up because of Teen's glass-throwing rages, so this one must have been several years old.

I was pretty sick SubC and then tried to go back to work Tues-Thurs, and am now exhausted. Home for the day, then a funeral, very sad. I miss posting here and hope to have more time now.

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, very behind from being sick. I got my new planner out and worked on it, and am 80% done transferring info and stuff from the old planner. I hope to finish that today.

My laptop is not working so today's goal is to back up the files and then mail it off for warranty repair. I have been trying to back it up all morning with poor luck. It freezes. Will try again. Sometimes if I shut it down and leave it for awhile, it will work for a bit when I turn it back on. So annoying.

Also my kitchen got really awful, so this morning I unloaded the dishwasher, loaded it, it is running, and I washed out the gross sinks. There are still cookie sheets and frying pans in the sink to wash by hand, but I rinsed them and moved them from one side to the other so I could wash out the nasty sinks. I will wash them later.

I also went out and finished filling the second garbage bin and put both out to the road to be picked up today. Once they are empty I probably can almost fill one of them again, already, with stuff from the water heater room that did not fit in the full garbage bins. I am deciding what to do about the mold before I put the rest of the tools and things back in there, but, it is going to rain in 2 days so I have to get it done fast.

I am supposed to have "off" today but I really have to make some calls and emails for work. Maybe an hour's worth of work.

Teen has a music lesson they begged for this afternoon but may be refusing to go. I would like to go speak with the manager and see if there is a way to work this out. They want me to pay for 3 months up front but that is a lot of money I don't have, especially if they have an autistic meltdown and won't even go.

We also have the bug people coming to spray for wasps today. I am deathly allergic, literally, so we have to spray for them when they start getting in the eaves.

I am tired already. Ok, going to try to back up the laptop again. I hope to come and serial post about all the great progress I make today.

Good morning all!

Tatoulia,

Thank you for coming by!

Do you shred everything with your address on it?

Isn't your address a matter of public record? I remember when I was a kid looking up my friend's addresses in the phone book - you just had to know their dad's name.

You can go to my county website, type in my name, and get my address, my property tax records, and pictures of my yard. If you know my address (like from seeing my mailbox on the road) you can get my name and those other things.

Last day of the first week of school. Hopefully I will meet the rest of my new kids today.

I forgot how tired I get. I keep trying to plan to do something in the evening, but then I just watch videos. Very bad habit. I really need to not establish that. I also have not yet managed to leave school by 4:30. (My last class ends at 3:30 each day) this is something I definitely need to work on. I am working on getting the kids to do as much cleanup as possible.

My house is getting more disordered, but I have managed to keep up with the trash. I am also keeping up with my classroom. Today at lunch I expect to finish the last big job on my summer prep list (securing some small sorting shelves to their supports with double sided tape so they don't come loose and dump things.) and after that I'm going to try to spend ten or 15 minutes a day cleaning out and organizing that last cabinet.

I wish you guys would post more. I miss you. Hopefully you are all busy in a good way and not staying away because you are overwhelmed or discouraged.

My paper shredder has been on its last legs for a while. It jams all the time. So I've made the decision to recycle what parts of it I can, and I may not replace it. I'm thinking I'll bring stuff to work and use our manual shredder. We also have bins to for commercial shredding but I do not want to cost the company money. If this idea doesn't work out, I'll buy a new shredder

All I have to do is tear my address out of any envelope and bring that to work. I'm in the office two days each week, which ought to be enough. I don't get bank statements or anything like that. I think I can make this work. One less thing in my home.

Very stressful couple of days. Going to shower soon.

Forgot to add - definitely had an increase in paper load yesterday, but it is all in active use. I hope to purge more paper this weekend when I do further planning.

Good morning!

Tatoulia, Dd2 loves her new city/geography/weather and her new job. Dating seems to be going well. She doesn't call much. 🙂 (she's in her mid 20's, she's supposed to be too busy for her parents!)

I left my classroom in good order yesterday. I will try to do it again. I dropped off the recycling before school. The class I'm taking went well. I didn't try to throw in the studio, I just worked on decorating a rather involved piece and relaxed. I will need to throw more this weekend.

I did get a load of dishes run yesterday, and Dh apparently got take out for dinner, so the house is a little bit better.

Two of my former students came by- a college sophomore whose little sister was attending for her first day, and one who graduated in 22. They both looked happy.

It was good to see my kids again. My seniors are going to be a mix of dragging their feet and tugging at the kite string.

I'm already seeing that I still have an hours of sleep challenge.

Must go!

Sorry I missed that. Kudos to your daughter! How is your other daughter settling in?

Thanks CM. School went pretty well. Too tired and to late for details.

Glad you got the debit card fixed.

Tatoulia, it was my Dd - his mommy built him the castle. And an airplane made from a box and tinfoil and cardboard tubes. She gets her imagination from me and her skills from Dh.

Lila, what does the Pyrex dish look like? Is it clear glass or is it milk glass with a pattern?

Yes I love Pyrex. I don't collect it, per se. I only have a couple of dishes and I use them. Same holds true for my coffee mugs. I use them. Every single day.

Of course your story grossed me out if I think of it.

SubC good job coping with the wine and glass. Never an easy moment, is there? I love what your husband made for your grandson! WOW.

Cm I'm sorry for the emotional upheaval.

Cleaners came today, instead of Wednesday, and not a moment too soon. So I have a nice clean bed for tonight.

I voted in our primary today. Both of the district attorney candidates are problematic and so I left it blank.

Very quick

Lila, do take precautions in case there is mold. Recently read a very sad cautionary tale of some folks with toxic mold issues. It can even cause madness in addition to the physical effects.

SubC I hope you have the best school year ever. The page seems to be loading okay - I always have to fiddle with it on my tablet but then it resizes itself. At first it comes up in very tiny print.

Hi Tatoulia, Road, and Jules. Hope all is well with you.

I finally got my new debit card activated; had to have the bank help.

My 98 year old lady from church is in her final days on this earth. 😥 I know she will be going to a better place but it still feels sad. Especially since the Covid years and crazy stressful events made it hard to visit her.

I'm just trying to keep my head above water with these emotional things. Still big changes in daily life coming soon, and now that I have the debit card working I will be able to get the computer, though I may wait until after my friend's funeral to level out a bit.

Still hot weather here too. Possibly a brief cooling off on the weekend. I don't want it to go too quickly from summer to chilly fall. But the icky hot could end and that wouldn't break my heart.

Good morning.

Slept as well as could be expected, no crazy dreams to report (or any that I remember.)

Lila, I would never have guessed green bean casserole.

Did the friend come? How is the room?

I am finally starting to find my excited about school.

Last night was just really hard. I didn't need to be reminded about how far I still have to go. And the housekeeping falls apart so fast.

But I will make it through the week. And I know I will be excited when I see my kids. I'm sitting here this morning drinking my coffee with two tiny animals and a mushroom painting that have watched over me all summer and thinking about my seniors from last year and vowing to enjoy every minute with the ones I have this year, and wondering who will show up in my classroom this week to make me say "I can't retire until x graduates." And also, I am remembering that even though my home is a mess, my classroom is awesome this year! (Although I still need to organize that one cupboard..)

Ok, things to do, people to see, worlds to conquer...

This is just a wail.

Kitchen trashed, dishes backed up, school planning stuff everywhere.

I have one class that uses books and materials that are mine, so I keep them all at home. In a cupboard in the scullery.

Got everything else ready and Decided to have a glass of wine to relax me while I packed those things.

Put the wine on the edge (only available part) of the scullery counter. Turned and knocked it for a loop with a cardboard tube I was moving.

Wine and shattered - really really shattered, like splinters, glass everywhere. In a room with stuff all over the floor. An hour later the stuff is packed, the scullery floor may be safe (I keep thinking of Bean's little naked feet!) it has been picked over, wiped up, mopped, and vacuumed. I have two boxes of "check for glass" in the laundry room, three fewer cleaning rags (embedded glass splinters), and one fewer wine glass.

I am drinking my glass of wine. I have to get up for a long day in 6.5 hours.

I feel like it used to be more fun and less hard, but I honestly can't remember any more.

Dd built Bean an indoor climbing castle from scrap wood and an old bed. It's amazing. He loves it.

Ok, tomorrow is another day. And the first day of school.

So glad I could give a helpful idea, Tatoulia! Aww SubC, Bean's day is so cute to read, even when he has a tired/sad minute. I miss my Tot and hope to play with her soon!

I am so tired today! You won't believe what I found as I finished going through ex's junk from that storage room. No really. Guess. You could guess all day and never guess what was in the old tattered box full of leaves, spiders, under the belt sander and empty wrappers. It was a container of leftover green bean casserole!!! I kid you not, a Pyrex glass dish with green bean casserole inside, it had to be from ten years ago or something!!!!! It smelled like hell. But I could identify the french cut green beans, nearly decayed to oblivion, and some barely recognizable crispy onions on top. So revolting!!!! WHY it was in the storage room with the tools, we'll never know. I will chalk that one up with the empty OJ bottle I found in his den that said "PEE" on it.

Good afternoon!

Lila, you are doing great!

Tatoulua, I love that you learned something new and helpful today.

Bean and I did not bake today because the storm turned my power off for 4 hours.

He had a little bit of a hard morning. Usually he lights up when I come in to get him in the morning, but today he said "Daddy get (bean) up." I said "Daddy is at Daddy's house." And his little lip quivered, but he countered with "Momma get (bean) up." I had to say "Momma is at Daddy's house too. Can grammie get (bean)up?" He looked sad for a minute, but finally agreed "Grammie get (bean) up, then play."

I don't think he liked that the house was dark from the storm and the power outage either, but he did get to "help move big trees" with the tractor after the sun finally came out. He might not have slept well too, because after a bit he said "tractor tired. Papa put tractor away so tractor can rest. Tractor need lunch." So I gave him lunch and now he is napping.

I am tired too, but I am fleshing out lesson plans and double checking materials lists. Back to it!

Sending you love and support, Lila.

Oh my goodness, I feel like I failed a really big test. I have paint cans to get rid of but didn't want to waste a bunch of cat litter, esp since it's been hard to find at the stores. I COULD BE USING USED CAT LITTER I never even thought of that.

Good morning, SubC. Good job on the dishes, and the recycling! Celebrate every step.

My son washed off all the paint cans. One was big with only a little paint in it, so we put the cat's dirty litter in it and let it set so we can throw it out. That's the rules here. Dried out, or cat litter soaked and dried, can go in the trash. Then I took a photo of the other 10-12 cans of paint, partly full, and put it for free. There are a few interested so they are in the driveway.

This morning in the cool weather, I went out and sorted a few more boxes from the storage room. And buckets. Apparently ex has a habit: any time he repairs ANYTHING, he saves all the old parts - thus the old toilet seat that was in there. I found an old wax ring from the toilet, old door knobs that don't work so he replaced, many many other things like old pieces of pipes or drywall, and literally 30 or more old sprinkler heads from the yard that were replaced over the last 20 years. It is so much I think both big trash cans are going to be filled.

I moved a few more of ex's things into his room as well.

This morning a friend is coming, I think, to work on the room and I just now realized he has to turn off the water. And the water switch is in that filthy bathroom downstairs! The one ex never cleaned. The one Teen has thrown every used towel, paper towel, piece of trash in. I could shovel it. I am horrified but, what better motivation? So now I am going down there and putting all the towels in the wash, rest of stuff in trash, and then will start cleaning like your list said SubC. I'm going back to look at the steps now.

P.S.

I think I will order the new big daddy sheep, and maybe also the mommy sheep if he is still playing with the animals a lot in a week (right now they are one of his favorites), but I will try to sort out a box of other toys and find something that can go.

Good morning!

I forgot to thank Jules for the introduction. Pleased to see you here!

Tatoulia, I'm glad you got your nap.

Lila, I'm sure you are being very sensible about the process, I just wondered. I will look forward to the departure of the couch with you. For now we will just enjoy the cleared out, soon to be repaired storage room!

It is raining very hard here. Mr. kitty has not shown up, so he must be hiding in the barn. I set my alarm this morning because I need to get my body back on my school schedule, but I did not want to get up when it went off. I stayed up too late last night because Bean's parents stayed pretty long after he was in bed and then I had to do chores, put away the food from the dehydrator, and clean up some of the dishes (as much as would fit in the dishwasher)

I must be making progress on me, because I cared about the dishes enough to at least get the dishwasher loaded and started before I went to bed. I still have a messy kitchen this morning though.

I tried to work on getting my school stuff together yesterday, but all I really accomplished was recycling a few sheets of paper. Still, that is something, right?

I'm also pretty sure I am counting on getting too much done during Bean's nap and this evening after I take him home. But the first day of class is pretty routine - introductions, tour, labelling stuff, handing out clay, demo and simple project, clean up and go. I always over plan.

I cannot find my three hole punch. It has a place to go, but clearly I did not put it back the last time I used it. And now I need it. and it is probably buried in a mess somewhere.

Arg!