Hello Everybody

WAY TO GO! Subclinical!!!
Getting all the evaluations finished except the ones with impending possible updates.

LOL about your kitty agreeing with Scooter. ;D

WTG! your Dh doing the window trim.
WTG! you for putting away the decorations!

So, how is the new desk working out for you?

Hi Tatoulia
The kitty medicine is a necessity so doesn't count.
WTG! for a GREAT start to the no spending challenge!

Should the power go out there are you still able to stay warm?
Does the new fireplace heater still work without power?

WAY TO GO! Dancing & dishes & clean kitchen counters!

Your lunch plan sounds solid.
A nutritious moderately salted meal at a reasonable price maybe three times a week.

I have never been able to understand the reasoning of people who buy a daily cup of very expensive coffee or tea or hot chocolate.

Did a little more of this & that.
Then I gave myself a nice pedicure.
Steven did not go shopping today since the thrift shops are closed for MLK day.

Good job on the not spending Tatoulia!
The cleaning fairies are essential because they provide a foundation for greater progress by reducing your stress. It's like making time for sleep when you have too much to do.

My kitty agrees that waiting for the mouse is just THE WORST. So exhausting!

I set an alarm to look at the moon, but the clouds had rolled in, so I went back to bed.

I put all the Christmas decorations away.

My grading is entirely caught up!

My evaluations are done* sort of.
I have one pottery student who has apparently glazed nothing this semester, but he has also been absent the last two weeks, so I am going to check the return cart tomorrow before I write that. His should be done by the time I leave school tomorrow - looking will take longer than writing.

I have 3 students in a very subjective class whom I want to meet with one more time before I do their evaluations - those will be the hardest and will get done Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

I have two students who owe me a paper by Friday lunch and it will determine their grade.

I have one student who left in October but didn't withdraw until last week, so I am waiting to hear from my boss about wether or not I have to do an evaluation for her.

I have one student who has definitely been doing her work, but has apparently turned none of it in (I really have to keep up with grading) who I will see at the end of the day Friday.

And I have nine evaluations that are completely done, but I have one more class with those kids on Friday and I want to hold them in case I decide to add something.

Everything else is turned in.

Meanwhile, dh put the window trim up on one entire end of the addition because he was off today. It looks nice.

And I folded up my desk and put it away in a closet.

Tillie I didn't spend any money this weekend other than BF's cat's medicine. I hope he forgets that I paid for it because he pays for everything.

It's getting warmer in here and I did get up to do the dishes, dance a bit, clean the kitchen counters.

I've given some thought to my spending and I will continue to buy my lunch in the days I go to work I can buy a nutritious and delicious salad with chicken on it for very little and it holds me all day. I gave this some thought. I only go in to the office three days a week. And the place that makes my salad is a family-owned deli and they don't oversalt their food. I also sometimes enjoy a can of soup and I have at least one at work. So I'm comfortable with that. I never buy coffee or anything like that.

My kitchen smells fresh. I did not clean the bedroom carpet. Procrastination.

Thanks for agreeing the cleaning fairies are a must. They are so great. Knowing that every two weeks my tub is scrubbed is worth its weight in gold.
That's so great you won $$ on the Red Sox! I secretly root for the cubs at all times.

Hello Everybody!

Hi Subclinical
So happy to know the barn babies did fine last night.
WAY TO GO!!! working on the evaluations!
YEA! for XMas lights and laundry & best of all the paper decluttering!

Hi CriticalMass
Nope, when he hands me a broken or otherwise useless item I hand it back to him telling him why it is useless.
He puts it back into the hoard saying it was "good enough" when he got it.
See, it's all my fault that the hoard is unorganized and stuff gets ruined because I refuse to allow him to reclutter up the inside of this tiny house with stuff.

YEA!!! you got to see the moon!
Your paper decluttering plan sounds well thought out and a great way for you to greatly reduce the amount of papers in your life.
I never watch or follow sports but several years ago I made a bet on the Red Socks and won big time since nobody thought they would ever win. LOL
I also had the TV on one year waiting for the Giants & As World Series to start when I had a 3.5 earthquake at the very same time the ball park in the bay area had a very major earthquake.


Hi Tatoulia
If there was no cloud coverage of fog the blood moon eclipse was visible there.
It was visible for all North and South America.
Hope you and Miss Kitty are staying snuggly warm by the fire today.

You absolutely must keep the cleaning fairies!
They are a necessity.

Did some of this & that today.
Just 1:00pm here & I just had lunch.
Planning to continue doing some of this & that the rest of the afternoon.
Just puttering about.
It's cold outside and the wind is blowing rather hard.
Right now I am sitting on the couch with a sleeping kitty curled up next to me and another one sleeping in the rocking chair.
Scooter is in Steven's room sleeping because it's hard work waiting for the mouse to show up.

Ok I'm just getting up. My house is terribly drafty and it's 4F. it's sunny, though. I'm have the fireplace on and a tiny cat is curled up next to me on the couch.

Yes BF roots for the patriots. I'm largely non-competitive but I do enjoy a baseball game or a hockey game. I don't watch sports on TV. I enjoy the experience and the culture of the games. Like which songs the organist is playing or what stuff you yell when you see a particular player. But I have no interest in who wins or loses. BF slept all night and he's feeling better today.

Tillie I missed the blood moon last night. I'm not sure if it was visible from here.

SubC you are doing great! You can do this! Is the new desk helpful to you? WTG taking care of your furry friends. I'm sorry your sleep is interrupted. I have terrible insomnia and some days I am a wreck.

Thank you for your thoughtfulness on my debt, CM. I appreciate the reinforcement. Those are things that I "technically" know but since I haven't been applying those lessons, I need your words now more than ever. One thing I cannot cut back on is my cleaners. I need them and enjoy them. But I can stop using my cards and I can stop shopping. I do not need any new clothes. I have more things that will fit me as time goes on plus I'm fine. This is about being thoughtful and resourceful and digging out of debt. So thank you all for your help and encouragement! All advice welcome!!!

Tillie whether I move from the couch remains to be seen.

I love you all.

SubC, WTG on one class evaluations done! May the other two go really fast and a whole lot easier. Don'tcha just love it when kitty brings in a "live toy"!:P We haven't had that happen here - I guess before I lived here the next door lady with Alzheimers was in denial about the severity of her mouse problem and my roommate-to-be got some of the overflow. She had two previous cats but still had to do traps to get rid of the meesers. Wow, your weather sounds cold - hope you stay well and the animals do okay too.

Tatoulia - you can get the debt payment done, I have complete confidence in you. You probably know the strategies - first don't incur any new unsecured debt, then pay the high interest ones first and the smaller balances and use the money from that to add to payments on the rest and they will get paid off even faster. I could kick myself for not learning to budget and live within my means when I was young. But what's done is done. I've learned a lot of frugality strategies by now. But I need to bring in more income.

I got more of my paycheck stubs worked on while watching Star Trek Deep Space Nine last night and am going to type more of them today. Two of the file boxes of paper in my storage unit awaiting their ultimate fate are spiral notebook journals. I did a TON of journaling. But a lot of it was depressing, repetitive worrying, overthinking, etc. I'm going to flip through those and type a document with highlights just of events and positive things, only noting the sad if I discern a spiritual necessity to do so for some reason. Then I'm going to SHRED those journals!

The remaining paper to "go through" is life business - of which I've already probably shredded/recycled several times what still exists, so hopefully those will go quickly. And I may have a small amount here at the house that needs to be acted upon in some way then discarded. I so look forward to a very minimal amount of paper in my life that can be kept up with - to keep documents like bills only for a year or whatever in case there's a question, then have ritual shredfests.

Tillie - when Steven gives you a broken whatever, do you take it and pretend it will work so you can throw it away before you go purchase a good one? ;)

Last night we went outside to see the Super Wolf Blood Moon eclipse. The sky was clear and we had an excellent view. It was awesome. Sorry about the clouds in your neck of the woods, Tillie - wish I'd had a good enough camera/telescope to take some pictures to post. I was so enthralled by the three-dimensionality of the moon.

My Kansas friends rooted for the Kansas City Chiefs in the football game but I guess the Patriots beat them by a few points and will go to the Super Bowl. I'm more of a baseball gal and a nerd, and my roommate is not into sports at all, which is why we watched Star Trek! But I felt bad for my football friends. Tatoulia, I take it you and boyfriend probably root for the Patriots? If so, I hope they win.

Good morning Tillie!
Enjoy your day off.

My day is bright and sunny with snow everywhere. It has warmed all the way up to 8! The barn dwellers handled the night just fine. Most of them needed fresh water this morning of course, but I was very happy to see that bunny's heat lamp and shelter worked so well that her water bottle didn't freeze!

I didn't get anything done last night beyond boxing up the Christmas lights, but I did switch over the laundry this morning and I have completed the grading and evaluations for another class - before lunch! 27 to go. I am also "decluttering" a little as graded papers move from waiting piles into folders ready to return this week and evaluation notes get used and recycled.

Good Morning Everybody

Another dark dreary cold drizzly day.
No pressing things needing done.
Can't play outside or do laundry.
Guess I get the day off. :)

Youtube has Jasmine Harmon's Extreme hoarders.
She is very compassionate, grew up with a hoarding Mum.

Hi Subclinical
We posted at the same time just now.
WTG! being caught up on some grading and doing more evaluations.

Nine below is scary about the barn babies.
Heat lamps, nice bedding and snuggling up together should be alright. (((HUGS babies)))

YEA! for undoing the tree and starting the wash.

WAY TO GO!!! Kitty for being a big brave protector.

Stay safe and warm and hope your sleep isn't interrupted again tonight.

I forget that people actually park cars inside garages.
YEA! the project you did for your Mom went well and you got to visit too.

Guess you could bring your BF some nice hot soup instead of a cake.
Hope he feels better soon.

I love the whole feel/idea/emotion that the word
SIMPLIFY
instills in me. :)


Well Darn!!!

>:(

Tonight is the last lunar eclipse until 2021
and I will miss it due to storm clouds.

Totally missed Haley's comet due to fog when I was living on the island by San Francisco. >:(

So, today's update.

I did not sleep well because I had caffeine too close to bedtime. It never used to bother me, but now it does. Then around midnight the cat apperently caught a mouse, brought it upstairs to show off, put it down, and had to catch it again. I was up until 2.

The load of wash I started this morning is in the dryer.

I only did 8 evaluations, but I am completely caught up on grading for the class I did them for (two other classes still behind on grading)

The Christmas tree is down -ornaments boxed up but not taken to basement, lights off but not boxed up, tree cut into pieces and turned into a nice bed of yummy pine boughs for the goats, tree skirt (sheet actually) in the wash.

It snowed all night so we are snowed in again, and the temperature has dropped. It's supposed to keep dropping to negative nine. We have a nice cozy wood fire (and plenty of wood on the porch thanks to dh) but I worry about my barn babies. They have their pine bed and lots of extra straw and food, and I set up their heat lamps. I've been taking them fresh water all day.

Hopefully before I go to bed i'll get the wash switched over and the Christmas things put away. Maybe a touch more work on grading or evaluations. Still having 39 evaluations to go is worrying me.

Tillie, thank you for the cranberry tip! I let you know how it turns out!

My car is kept a commercial garage, so cleaning it out would have been ok. I did more shoveling and went up to mom's. It has been freezing rain and our shoveling company does half the job. And I need the exercise.

At mom's I did a project she wanted me to do for her. It went very well. Good to visit with her.

Bf coming doen with something. I'm worried. He's home napping. Not sure if he'll be watching football.

I'm just laying around now.

I'm in the mood to simplify my life. Will do some relaxation exercise now.

Hi Tatoulia

Cold, sleet, snow & ice sounds like a bad time to clean out the car.
WAY TO GO!!! Shoveling snow!!!

GREAT! that you are mentally ready for the challenge!!!
I am too.
One aspect I like is that I can shop at home and use up all my supplies.
Food, condiments, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc...
I enjoy when cupboards are empty and I get to buy all the "new & improved" versions as I replace them.
But I will NOT allow the toilet paper supply run down.
Scares me too much just how much he goes through weekly.

Depending on how many dried cranberries I plan to use
I juice one or two oranges and also put in a bit of orange zest.
It coats them about as much as vinaigrette coats a tossed green salad.
Then I let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour so it can soak in, marinate.

So nice that the laundry room work isn't going on yet. LOL

Be safe out there in that cold icy city.


Paste waxed table and dresser tops.
Did a bunch of dusting other stuff.
Sorted out and tidied up my sewing stuff drawer.
Opened some windows & airing out the house.
Ate lunch and just thinking about what I'll do now.
A nap?
That cats are all napping.

Hello everyone! We've gotten our first winter storm and I did some shoveling today. Now I'm doing laundry and enjoying some coffee. Tastes so good!

Great work, SubC! 27 evaluations! So very pleased by your hard work!!

Cm I think what you are doing is wonderful. When I shredded my diaries, I also had to sort through some emotions as I read them. I'm glad they are gone. They took up a huge amount of space and I don't want anyone reading them once I'm gone. These work stubs are playing an important part of your life and you're finding a different way to view your life and accomplishments. Keep up the good work.

Tillie the chicken and rice casserole sounds delicious. I also have been thinking a lot about soaking the cranberries in orange juice. I'm not sure if I will bake today. I was thinking about a football cake for the BF and whoever he'll be watching the game with...but he's not feeling well so I'm thinking of skipping it. I'd love to make a pumpkin bread as I have fresh eggs and a new can of pumpkin but I'll eat too much. It's just too delicious and we have tomorrow off the honor Dr King.

I will go to mom's today to do a project for her. We have ice and sleet right now. I'd also like to clean out my car.

Mentally I am ready for the financial challenge. I will not be using my cards and will only be paying by cash. So other than bills, cat supplies, food, I won't be making purchases. I've never had credit card debt before and I know I can knock it down. I'm treating this the way I treated my student loans, which was essentially a constant focus on paying them down. I'm up for the challenge.

Ladies, you are great.

Good Morning

Another dark cold gloomy drizzly day.
Nothing pressing needs doing right now.
Can't do laundry until Tuesday due to the weather.
Can't play in the dirt outside due to the weather.
Can't make the bread yet since the bananas are still too green.
Have a partial can of paste wax that I've been wanting to use up.
Think today would be a good day to do that.

Hi Everybody

YEA! WTG! Subclinical!
Getting 27 evaluations done today!
Great that you put clean sheets on the bed and I hope you are sleeping peacefully there now.
I suppose having a box of anxiety hiding in the basement can be a good motivator?
Thanks for the kudos.

Hi CriticalMass
I don't know...
Free good food might be worth dressing somberly and mingling with mourners. ;)

WTG! for the paper decluttering project.
It will be so much easier to carry around when it's all been digitized.

It can be very cathartic to revisit past memories and view them from where we are at today.

Hi Tatoulia
OK THE CHALLENGE IS ON!!!
Really wish Steven was participating.

The good thing about a no shopping challenge is it gives us a chance to see and evaluate our spending habits.
When we can't buy things it eventually becomes easier to not buy things impulsively.
It also makes us more resourceful to find other ways to manage.
Makes us look around and shop at home for whatever we may need.

Before I go to the store to buy something I specifically need I usually first ask Steven if he has one.
Of course he always says he does.
I then ask if he can find it. LOL
He will go look and look...
If he does manage to find it, it usually is broken or all dried up and useless or missing parts.
I play this game because he says he has ALL this stuff so we don't ever need to go to the store and buy necessary things and pay a lot for them because he buys them second hand for cheap.
Then I go to the store and buy a fresh new unbroken necessary thing.
So much easier, cheaper and rewarding to just let the store keep it until I need it.

Oh, meant to tell CM - I tell my student all the time that I am going to take him home with me one of these days. He always says "ok!" I think he wants to be Cory when he grows up.

Cm, that is great that you are going to get rid of that box! I bet you will feel a lot lighter once you have processed it and let it go.

Tatoulia, I wish you luck on your credit card challenge! It is great that you don't have any other debt! Are you able to stop using your card during the not buying challenge and go to cash only?

Tillie, great job on the housecleaning!

I did not bake today. I did not finish my Wednesday classes. I only took three ornaments off the tree that had to go in a special location. I did change the sheets and do a load of laundry and I procrastiorganized for a while in the basement this afternoon, making use of some areas I had cleared out until I ran across a box of anxiety and went back to my evaluations. I did complete 27 today - three short of my goal, but my eyes are tired and I am making too many typos and thinking much more slowly, so I need to quit and go to bed.

Homemade lemonade, Tillie - that sounds good! And chicken & rice. I'm eating fried chicken and scalloped potatoes leftover from the funeral the other day. It's so yummy that church better hope I don't start crashing all their funeral luncheons!

SubC, I wish I could borrow your cleaning ninja student! I'm sure I could keep him occupied.

Tatoulia - Debt, I haz it. Student loans. And I had credit card debt, had to do a bankruptcy and wish I could donate to charity the equivalent of my forgiven debt, it felt so bad to know I'd racked it up on so many unnecessary things.

As for the student loans - I don't know if I'll ever be able to do anything about them, but I'm going to start researching about ways to bring in more money. I so want a better life financially for that and for being able to afford a place to live.

I've been doing a rather quirky "decluttering" project that ties into this in a peripheral way. The OCD part of me refuses to simply shred or toss a lot of the financial information in my life. I have lugged around a box of every paycheck stub from every paycheck I've ever earned. I am going to let go of them - but not before data entrying them into a document.

Yes, I know. It's not necessary. But I choose to do it. Work and Love - Freud's two big areas of life that mean a lot to people, and I've flubbed both - or have I? Feeling like I'd run out of options and needed to go on disability at 49, after roughly 50 jobs in 30 years, with gaps here and there - retaining the information on the pay stubs helps me feel it was real, that I did actually work and earn some money. And that I might be able to do it again in some fashion.

The process of typing them out is taking me back through Memory Lane, good times and bad times and in-between times. Not only on the jobs themselves, but with the guys I was dating, places I was living, and some skeletons in my closet that thank God are in the past mostly by now.

It's been a sort of therapeutic process in a way; I feel like since I've long wanted to type the info, I needed to just go ahead and do it. Either type them or toss them. Go big or go home. Etc. I knew I would be reminded of dark times but I think facing them, and being aware that I'm okay now and God's got my back, is going to help somehow.

What has stymied me the most over the years I don't believe is work per se. It's workplaces. I'm the square peg. I'd usually start out on a roll with my intelligence and be the shining star. Then my emotions, ADD, anxiety, people issues, and other assorted demons would catch up with me and the rot would set in. Then I'd end up being the problem child.

I began to try to figure out what aspects of jobs/workplaces I might change to make things go more smoothly, but alas, the problem was my brain, and yes, sometimes my attitude was immature though I feel I've grown out of some problem hangups. Even back in college I would look at the bulletin board in the campus job center and feel so frustrated. I'd find jobs that were almost right but had one or two things that for most people wouldn't matter at all but for me were dealbreakers. And also practical issues such as driving and being alone in a sketchy place fears/phobias.

Anyway, I should be done in a day or two with the stubs, and this weekend has been a good quiet time to do the project. I found TV shows that make my roommate happy but don't distract me too much, so it's all good. The physical stubs will indeed be going bye-bye, don't worry. There are other typing projects I intend to do this year which will help me get rid of other paper I've been keeping, move ahead on writing projects, and other good goals. I can intersperse typing work with art and craft and other goals, as well as general decluttering of physical objects.

So yes, I'm weird and obsessive but I'm embracing it and seeing where it leads. It's like some kind of paradoxical profound thing. LOL!

I accept the financial challenge, Tillie! Thank you! Let's start now and have it run to the end of February!

You guessed it, SubC. Credit card debt. No loans. No house/car payment. In choosing a work-life balance, i took a big pay cut. My pay is slowly creeping up to what I'm used to. The debt represents a lot of different things?shopping, trying to support my brother, trying to be all things to all people. As soon as I pay off my debt, I do want to buy one final car. I was originally going to sell the car I have now just to get rid of it but I'm keeping it. Part of the motivation to get rid of it was I wanted to make sure I didn't go back to seeing my brother every weekend.

Ok I've had a pretty good day and I so want to just take a bath and climb into my nice clean sheets. These are my famous last words as I generally then stay up way too late.

Good Afternoon
Cold homemade lemonade "Clink!"

Well...
I made my chicken & rice casserole.
Cleaned the kitchen.
Ran hot water & vinegar through the washing machine to clean it.
Scooped litter boxes.
Took out the trash.
Then I swept the floors & vacuumed the carpeting.
Getting the carpet vacuumed made a big difference in the overall look of this place.
There was cat fur, carpet/sisal bits from the scratch posts, other kitty assorted random stuff, catmint (catnip) leaves strewn all around and tracked about kitty litter.
Only about 4:30pm here.
Before I go to bed I will shower & wash my hair and put clean sheets and pillow cases on my bed.
YEA! :D

Good Morning Everybody
Iced chai masala "Clink!"

Hi Subclinical
Sounds like perfect weather to stay close to the burning fire working on evaluations.
Hope you get to reward yourself with something wonderful smelling from the kitchen.

WAY TO GO! with fish activities in class.

YEA! for getting the cans back up to the house!
So glad you slept for 10 hours, you needed that. :)


Just now 9:00am here.
Have a tiny post-it note of tasks to complete today.
House really needs a good thorough cleaning but I will not do that today.

The place is "good enough" considering.
Nothing gross, just starting to look neglected.

CM,
I enjoy your lovely short story posts.

I used to knit. I was going to say I knit, but then I realized haven't knit anything in at least three years, maybe four. I still have a large stash of yarn though - and an intention to knit some funny stockings for everyone in my family for Christmas 2019. I should get started soon because I know that i will go from "I have plenty if time" to "what was I thinking? I will never get these done!"

It ?s always the clean up afterwards... I have a student who gets great joy out of cleaning and organizing. He is in my last class of the day twice a week, and always stops working a little before everyone else and stays a few minutes late to wipe down surfaces and put the last few things back where they belong. He's my angel! I can tell i'm doing better too, because last year I often had to stop him and say "class was over 10 minutes ago - you're going to be late for pick up." But now I never do!

Tillie, i'm Glad you are getting out some. Wish Stephen could lose the truck keys while the truck was in a good place. Do stay far away from the carport!

And yum for the baking! It's close to freezing and pouring rain here with the temperature scheduled to drop. A nice day to bake, but really must do evaluations! At least I have a fire to curl up near. Maybe I will reward myself by making something quick that smells good if I finish my Wednesday classes.

One of my kids brought me delicious warm muffins from cooking class after school yesterday. He's a terrific cook. I told dh "S could poison me. I pretty much eat anything he hands me without question."

Tatoulia, yay for feeling better!

What kind of debt do you have? Not asking how much, but what forms? Do you need to pay off credit cards, or loans? I have a car loan and we have a home loan (not a mortgage) i've been paying extra on the car loan and will hopefully get it paid off in February. The home loan is variable rate and it has been driving me crazy to watch the interest go up lately. Currently it looks like it will take us about ten years to pay it off.
We took it out to help finance the addition, so it was definitely worth it, but I still hate paying the interest!

Day length is part of my struggle as well. All these grey clouds don't help.

Yesterday I did not get my ice, but it was fine. I lifted part of my lesson from Berkeley. I took in some interesting items from the ocean centered portion of my childhood, and I found my fish activities folder from years ago. (I FOUND my fish activities folder!) Then I stopped at the pet store and spent 75 cents on goldfish.

I feel like the lessons could have been better, but the kids were engaged and two of the classes ran out of time before everyone finished all of the activities. Best of all, one of the parents let his kid take home the fish at the end of the day.

knowing that the weekend weather was going to horrible, I forced myself to bring all the empty trash cans back and put them in the studio barn. Now they are not up by the road getting covered in ice, and I will have them ready at hand if I get out there in the next three days - yay me!

Then I slept ten hours and woke up feeling like I have been rolled down a hill in a barrel. Today all I am asking if myself is to see how far I can get on the evaluations. And maybe some laundry.

YEA! Tatoulia for a good day today at work! :D

Good luck with your budgeting.
I know the outside building re-do was expensive.
The redoing inside your place was important since you did so much decluttering and needed to see these improvements and your friend was able to visit and help make it beautiful.
Since you didn't have a hoard of clothes laying around to fit your new smaller size, you have had to add items.
This laundry room work will probably cost you too.
If you would like I will do a month long challenge with you where we only buy food, tooth paste, TP and any other necessities.

So, is Monday the rug shampooing day?
Just think how that will make the room smell so fresh and how lovely the clean rug will feel on your bare feet. :D


Today I bought bananas and oranges because when the bananas are ripe enough I plan to make
banana, dried cranberry, walnut bread.
I soak the dried cranberries in the orange juice with some orange zest.
It comes out more cranberry bread and the banana part is just what holds it all together, makes it super moist.

The sun is coming up a little earlier every morning and going down a little later every day.
I think that is really helping my mood and general outlook on life. :)

Hello hello!!!

Great reading your posts, SubC, Tillie and CM!!!!

I won't remember a word but I'm so happy to read of your days and accomplishments. SubC you are so industrious and I envy your swimming! CM glad to hear about your decision not to buy those precious quilts. Very hard to resist things like that. Chicken and rice casserole sounds so tasty!

I was back at work today. Much better day than I've had in a while. Felt normal again. I had a few mtgs, I did some work, had a sandwich with a colleague and then coffee with someone else. A good day. I walked to and from work.

I'm feeling aggressive in reducing my debt. This is helping me in making decisions re purchases. I need to get real about my debt and start knocking it down. I've been spending too much on me and my house and I need to pull it together.

We have Monday off. My challenge is to shampoo my bedroom rug.

I say this every January: my mother used to pray for February 1st because she knew it would be light til 5 PM.

WOW! CriticalMass
What a wonderful post! :D

Hope you do plant a few annuals this year.
I know what you mean about garden "burn out".
That's why I am making mine a minimal garden with a LOT less watering, fertilizing and weeding.

Makes me happy that you are enjoying sewing doll clothes.
That's like me playing with my doll house.

GREAT! that you are not tempted to buy quilts and plan to make your own to donate.
Bet looking at the quilts gives you a lot of inspiration.

I opened a licensed daycare when I left medicine.
It was fun and really did my nerves a lot of good.
Who wouldn't just want to spend the day playing with little kids and get paid for it too.

Sure do understand the difficulty in making and keeping to a schedule around someone else's schedule & routine.
Steven really has to work out a schedule and stick to it so I can do things without him in my way.



Well, I went into town.
Had some lovely conversations with people I know.
While I was gone Steven had to stay home because he has lost his house key and couldn't lock the door.
He left soon as I got home, gone shopping AGAIN!
Even when he does donate something he brings in far more than he ever lets go of.

Anyways...
Tomorrow I am going to make my chicken & rice casserole.

warning - another of my Russian novel length posts

Motown sorry things aren't so rosy with your hubby on communication. I think we hoarder types are anxious control freaks and can turn snarly really quickly. Somehow if there's a way to break the bad communication style, and find a method that is more relaxing. Maybe try a different form of communication - writing? The texting may be a good way to go.

The American Girl dolls I bet are so much fun to actually play with a little girl. I have the dolls and make the clothes and it's sort of like being a mom or grandma. Plus now I've returned to doing the Barbie clothes. Each type of doll sewing is enjoyable in its way. The 18" ones are easier to sew and cute, while the Barbie ones appeal to my fashion senses, so that's fun.

Tillie, thanks for the encouragement as always. I have given myself permission to pass along craft and other UFOs over the years. Most of it's just down to stuff I really do want to finish. I've realized that in dealing with a creative ADD brain, there are two choices: 1) ignore the constant flow of new ideas - and feel terrible FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). I don't know if I can stand the FOMO. 2) Reward the brain for generating ideas by taking them seriously enough to do anything from jotting them down on pieces of paper to going out and investing money in supplies. The bad thing about this second approach is that I can practically feel the dopamine rush, so I'm rewarding idea generation and guaranteeing the brain will continue churning out more ideas than I can follow up on in 20 lifetimes.

I enjoy hearing about your gardening, and I suspect the others do too, vicariously, as we wait for warmer weather in our respective climes. I think I'll plant a few annuals this year - I had been rather burned out on gardening but feel more like doing a little. And there's always helping roommate with weeding and such, which I got lax about. Hoping I can do some of that before the mosquito population comes out in full force.

I too hope there's no way the carport can damage the structure of the house as it collapses. And that if it does, Steven will be willing to clear out the resulting mess. I know. A gal can dream on behalf of another.

The cotton rocking chair cushion covering sounds like a great way to use the fabric and a convenience for you in keeping up. Kitties sure do like to leave fuzz around. WTG for finding some kitty blankets to bless the shelter kitties with.

I can relate to wanting to rescue quilts and other handmade items! The church guild got some donated quilts and tops including a beautiful Cathedral Window quilt (those are a lot of work!) from a lady that's 100 or going to be. The new secondhand fabric place here in town has such a variety of things people have made. From what I understand it's someone's collection and she's selling it off to benefit some charity. I look at the vintage quilt tops and blocks, but luckily I want to make my own to donate to church, so I'm not tempted to buy any of hers.

I didn't know you had done daycare - I bet your kids had fun and loved you.

Steven said "little by little it will get done!?" Fingers crossed!

Tatoulia, I am happy for you that you're able to balance your creative pursuits so well. My roommate knits, and she taught me basic garter stitch and I started a baby blanket for the crisis pregnancy center, but I have a long ways to go, and it got put aside. What I've observed about knitting is the ease with which it can be picked up and put aside. Most all my creative favorite things require setup - tables, machines, wet paint... and cleanup afterward.

They also require visual and mental concentration. My roommate loves to watch TV and knit, and I'd rather get something accomplished even though I like the shows. One of these days I'll get coordinated enough to have some handwork that I can do easily - maybe I'll even pick up the abandoned knitting. I got rid of quite a number of brand-new skeins of yarn a couple years ago, deciding to keep only what I want to make into baby blankets and when the yarn I kept is gone, I want to only buy yarn for then knit or crochet one project at a time, and donate the scraps.

I should probably go through clothes at some point. I can SO relate to you, SubC - with my cold I may have lost a pound - but that's not Pound 31 following the post-2016-surgery 30 lbs. No, it's part of the 8-10 I swore I wasn't going to regain but did. Still, I'll take it. But I relate to wanting to postpone wardrobe additions until I can try on clothes and feel the same delight I did right after the 30 lbs. loss. Especially with jeans, which of course would have to be what I most need.

We must keep fighting not to get discouraged - winter IS a difficult time for the weight battles AND the self-esteem battles. Yes, It will get easier. You likely feel it more this year due to leftover fatigue from your illness I bet. Make sure and get your vitamins.

All I can offer re the evaluations is empathy - in my crazy job hopping past I was a graduate teaching assistant for one year, and I remember all those papers to grade. Definitely build in some incentives - whatever works for you - fresh cup of tea or coffee every five evaluations, something like that. If you're able, work with music on.

The days are just SHORT still, that's all, even if the sun sets later by a little bit (when it's cloudy, hard to tell). Don't know if I mentioned, but we have this new routine where I do more animal care early in the morning so roommate can get ready easier since she has an annoyingly long commute. She pays me a little which is also nice. I get up before she does, because of the tight quarters I find it easier just to do the routine on my own then go back to bed.

I try to stay awake reading or playing on my tablet, but this week it's been harder. If I fall back to sleep, I then oversleep because I've been so tired from the cold. Then the afternoons fly by, roommate comes home, and my time is not my own, she wants conversation, the dog is in the middle of everything. I just have to shift gears and accept it or go to the other room. It's not horrible, but there again, I'm just set in my ways from so long of living on my own.

Just have to look at some of the things I am getting done and continue to be patient...

Good Morning


Cold & frosty with scattered sprinkles this morning.
Could just stay home and clean with him making messes behind me.
Pretty sure I am going into town for a while just to get away from him.
Only 7:30am so I will wait until 9:30 to leave.
When I leave the house lately the cats get all weird and needy acting like they were afraid I have abandoned them forever.
Anyways, have a grocery list all made up and two empty water bottles to fill.
He's still sleeping and the truck is parked behind the car, again.
He said he would move it last night but I have to get him to move it now.
Keep telling him to get rid of that one derelict car and we won't have this [problem.

Hi Subclinical
You did great finding enough to fill 5 cans and a bag too!
So happy you swam.
Good luck assembling lesson plans, hope you get your late start to the day due to ice.
When I had my daycare I was always thinking up new activities to expose the toddlers to to keep them happy and learning.
Finger paints, cookie decorating, picnic outings, collages...
Yes, if you need yogurt cups or any other thing like that just ask the parents.
I was always happy to send whatever the teacher needed.
Wishing you all the best finishing the evaluations.
I know you CAN do this.
Put that new low desk through a real trial workout.
WAY TO GO! for everything you did today!
Hope those wicked voices have been silenced and no longer telling you lies.
(((HUG)))


Got the kitchen all cleaned up, again.
Thinking I might go into town tomorrow just to get away.
All depends on how I'm feeling and what the weather is doing.

So far, my reaction to the trash is "I am never doing this again"

Here is what actually happened today - I procristicleaned a little and turned in 19 evaluations - 12 I had ready and 7 new ones. I have a total of 93 (74 left) to do by the 28th, so if I don't start working on them I am going to be tied to my desk all weekend.

The house is a little better but the dishes are still backed up.

Then I worked on the trash, because the deadline for that was tonight and I simply cannot fail at another thing I promised my dh I would to. I managed to take five cans and one big black contractor bag up - I gathered up all the styrofoam and a bunch of plastic containers like yogurt cups and sour cream containers that I was planning to either salvage dried up glaze from or wash and reuse for paint cups, etc. I haven't made time to take care of the glaze in two years (I did do the orange). There will be more at the end of the year, I know a whole bunch of people (classroom parents) who would save me plastic food cups if I do actually need them and probably even wash them for me. I threw in some plastic flower pots (the kind you buy starter plants in) because I have too many.

I taught. I loaded the school kiln. I swam. I had to stop for gas, so I ran in for bread.

I still have no lesson plans for three classes tomorrow beyond "fish" I will be winging and a prayering it. Maybe the predicted ice will delay school? I usually wish that doesn't happen, but just this once would be ok. One class. My first one is the hardest.

Berkeley has some great open source online material, I may just "steal" some of that.

Tillie, I keep hoping Stephen will mean it.

Hi Guys :)

Been raining off & on since last night.
Got a lot of "this & that" done in here but still have things to do.
One of those days where you go to do one thing and see other things needing doing so you do them and get sidetracked away from what you were going to do in the first place.

Steven was going into town to pick up his free pizza.
He said he earned 3 free pizzas because he bought so many other pizzas while he was working at his job.
Anyway...
Since the pizza place is right by the animal place I got him to drop off my two big bags of donations.
YEA! They are done & gone! :D
For some strange reason he brought me back a burrito.

Then he went into the garage saying he was planning to gather up some stuff to donate.
He actually said "little by little it will all get gone"
WOW!

The strong winds and rain have brought the center part of the carport down to three feet off the ground.
The nails holding the corrugated metal roof on have all started pulling out and the large metal sheets are flapping noisily in the wind.

OK enough procrastinating.
Time for me to wash the dishes. :P

Good Morning Everyone

Subclinical you are only one person and can only do just so much at a time.
Your job, the evaluations are the #1 priority right now.
All the housework (except animal care) will just have to wait.
Whenever the negative voices start up in your head
say very positive things to drown them out.
Life happens and kitchens get messy, laundry piles up, floors need sweeping, etc...
Your DH will survive and maybe even pick up some bread at the store all by himself.

So happy you put your quilts on the beds between dog visits.
There's nothing like a sweet old quilt to warm up any room.

Good luck with the evaluations today and afterward everything else will fall in line.
:D



Hi Tatoulia
WAY TO GO! being all dressed and ready to go to work on a stay at home day. ;)
What you do with your quilt is bring it out and drape it over a chairback where you can see it but it won't be disturbed.
Some people use quilt racks to display a quilt safely.
Quilts are a work of art that are also very useful items.
When I use one of the "human" size quilts that I made I put it on my bed and cover them with the blanket or a sheet to keep the cats off them but I can still enjoy their warmth.

Yesterday I was so involved in sorting out and decluttering that I let everything else in the house go to heck.
So today I will clean the filthy kitchen, sweep & vacuum the floors and generally get things beck in shape.
But first I will finish my tea and get dressed.

SubC, I'm going to have to ask you to take a deep breath. Now another. Now another. Try to quiet the panic as you move through your tasks. The garbage can wait. Do the important stuff first. You are doing great; you're just overwhelmed. Breathe, do a few jumping jacks or something else, and then get through your evaluations. You still have nine more weeks of trash service. This removal service is a gift and an experiment: is it something you find helpful? Should you do this once a year or more often? You'll only be able to answer that question at the end of the 12 weeks.

Tillie, I too love those homemade grandma quilts. I only have one right now, and it's in my drawer. Someday I'll have to decide what to do with it.

I decided to work from home today. I am dressed etc and then realized I wasn't going in.

I'll write more later.

Tatoulia, you are doing such a good job with your clothes!

I am not brave enough to start tackling my clothes yet. My weight is down, but not enough, and I seem to be at a new set point where I gain and lose the same three pounds every couple of days.

I'm impressed that you are still walking in the cold too.

Tillie, I wouldn't be able to resist those quilts! I have family quilts, some nice, some in not so great shape. I wanted to put them on the beds and use them, and I do sometimes, but my children bring dogs now, and the dogs are hard on things, and all the blankets have to go in the washing machine, so now I put the quilts away when they come. Which makes me a little sad, but I don't want them destroyed in just a few years.

We don't have any special cat things in the house, the cat is sure the whole house is his. We do have an old bathrobe in a tub in the garage in case he is outside at night and wants to sleep in it. I think half the time he sleeps in the hay though - bed and breakfast when the mice come out.

I am feeling very discouraged. I don't have any trash ready to take up tonight, and I have a ton if evaluations I need to do today. I cooked dinner last night and the kitchen is a mess and the house is getting worse generally. I am trying to remind myself that the kitchen used to be like this ALL THE TIME. Probably worse. But it just feels discouraging.

The voices in my head are pointing out that I regained part of the weight I lost when I was sick - (which is good) and that now it will never come off again. (as long as I kept exercising my weight doesn't matter!)

And that I am still behind on lesson plans and grading and I am a bad teacher, and everyone else can manage their evaluations just fine, There is just something wrong with me (I was able to give the new teacher who has a new baby a tip to help him finish faster by using a template he didn't know about)

And that I made a promise to dh and I can't even keep it for three weeks. (The trash)

And I am going to lose control of the house again and I haven't really accomplished that much, it's mostly just moved around and if the kids hadn't moved out it would probably be worse than it was (not true!)

And I haven't done any clay work since Christmas and I am not a "real" potter, I am just a dilettante....

It is winter. I know it is winter. January is hard. All these evaluations are hard. I'm doing ok. But it's hard to believe.

Dh brought my new desk home last night - he had to go pick it up at the shipping office because even after plowing, our driveway is "impassable" (we both have 4wd) I think I like it. It is smaller than the coffee table, but less obtrusive and much lighter. I think it will work ok. I can sort things and then pile them on my actual desk in the basement and bring one task at a time up to work on.

For now I have a fire going and the desk in front of it and once I feed dh breakfast and pack his lunch (voice - there is not going to be enough bread for his sandwich on Friday, I am a terrible homemaker!) and get him off to work, i am going to start a load of laundry and do evaluations there until it is dry - with a break to switch it over

I will re-evaluate from there, but I have to remember my priorities today - evaluations, lesson plans, trash. (Go to work, swim) Dishes and cleaning up the kitchen are not on that list. Going to the store for bread is not on that list. Dh can eat out. He knows how to wash dishes. He can survive a few days without a housekeeper so I can focus on my job and health and work that makes a permanent difference.

If I say that enough, will I believe it?

WTG! going through the skirts!
Happy there was a warm mall to warm up in.
Make sure not to stay outside too long when the temps drop too low.

One problem I have here is that people donate beautiful old, old, old crib/baby and doll quilts.
Hand made hand quilted, perfect condition, many signed and the thrift shops sell them for 50 cents to 2 dollars.
When I see one I bring it home, wash it and when I bring it in from the line all the cats want it.
Every one of them curls up on it soon as it's their turn.
Right now I have the newest quilt at the foot of my bed with a kitty softly snoring on it.
People these days don't appreciate these kinds of things and when some old lady dies they donate them.
My pillow cases are all the old elaborately embroidered ones with the hand crocheted lace edges bought for no more than a dollar each.
My plan is to use these treasures until they are all used up.
Not save them for some "special" good reason like the lady before me did so when I die they will not have gone to waste. ;)

Great work, Tillie. I know that blue feeling. I'm glad you went through the cat blankets. I got rid of a lot last year. This year I have kitty's new bed and one throw that we both use. I do have one other bed for her, which is washed and put away. Now that my house is actually clean, I don't find it nearly as creepy to share a blanket with the kitty. I've always kept up with laundry but I think knowing my house was dirty made me think of everything as being just so filthy. And I used to have cat blankets everywhere. We are both glad for the order in my house now c

I tried on skirts today to see what I could eliminate. One. But there are a couple on the cusp of being shown the door.

I am going to bed now. Got just under 3 miles in tonight. When I got too cold I went into a shopping mall and walked around to warm up. And then I was perfectly fine once going back outside.

To the office tmr.

See you all tmr.

Good Evening Everyone

Hi Tatoulia
I know what you mean...
Back in the late 70s early 80s I made way to many zucchini breads.
Walking in the cold burns more calories because you shiver so much. ;)
When the weather is cold like today, I just stay inside whenever possible.


I had a small stack of cat blankets/quilts to put away properly.
Since I am sorta melancholy anyways I decided to go through cat bedding and let some things go.
I had 5 cats a year ago but only have 3 now so there was too much.
The boys still have plenty of nice blankets & quilts and I feel content with what I have bagged up to be donated to the animal shelter.
Then I also went through my towels, wash cloths, pillow cases, table cloths, my blankets, sheets, etc...
Everything is neatly folded and all tidily put away.
All together I eliminated two big plastic bags worth of unnecessary stuff.

Tillie I still eat too much! The pumpkin bread is so delicious. I prefer it over banana bread and other quick breads. I used to make a poppy seed loaf quick bread which was delightful. I also used to enjoy zucchini bread right up to the day that I didn't.

I am running dishwasher and doing a load of delicates in the laundry. I am partially dressed and need to get a walk in today. It is so hard on cold days when I'm working from home. I never just get up and walk. Will push myself today.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
Your pumpkin bread sounds delicious!
Wish I had someone to share my baking with so I could bake more and not have to eat it all myself.
LOL ;D

Big storm in the area but it has been very selective about where it's dumping all the snow.
Not a single flake fell here.
But it's just too cold to play outside in the garden.
Haven't decided what I'll do today.
Need to decide what I want to cook and eat next now that the enchiladas are almost gone.
No plans or need to go into town.

I like the cushion idea, Tillie! I got my garbage out this AM then walked to work. Tonight I walked halfway home and met up with BF. Now I'm here and just hanging out.

The pumpkin bread was so delicious. I think I'll buy another can of pumpkin and make some more this weekend. I cut the loaf into thirds and then slice the thirds then I give to BF and mom. Everyone gets a third. So delicious.

We have Monday off. I think our first noticeable snow comes this weekend.

Motown I only recently started having cleaning fairies come to my house. Culmination of de-sh$&ing and dehoarding my house, starting a redecorating project with the help of an artist friend and paying off my mortgage. A lot of years went into this. When I first bought my place, I had a house cleaner once a week. That faded away when my job ended and I didn't go with the newly reconstituted company. I got another job but never got the house cleaner back. Over the years, I became overwrought with life and possessions and over buying and overspending and taking care of a collection of people instead of myself and it just got worse and worse and embarrassing and dirty and overwhelming. Then I came here, to this community. I couldn't believe how warmly I was welcomed! I'm still a work in progress. Now I have two ladies who clean my house every other week. I would like them every week but that seems excessive. I'd have to have them start changing my sheets and doing other stuff. I'll wait til I'm older and can't do those types of chores easily.

We will get there. We will draw upon our collective strength.

Good afternoon everybody

Almost 1:00pm.
Washed some cat blankets/quilts and have them on the clothes line.
It is cold and overcast today but the things should dry.
Melting some wax on the stove and making a candle.
Already made another one this morning.

Steven has just taken off for the thrift store. >:(

He sits around all the time when he's here and has not done anything constructive.
His excuses used to be that he had to go to work and now he still doesn't do anything.

I did some dusting and cat fur removing and plan to wash some more cat blankets/quilts soon as the ones on the line are back in play.
Can't have all of them wet at the same time, the cat's said so.

Have a bolt of nice cotton fabric that I have no other plans for and have decided to use it to cover the rocking chair cushions.
This way the cushions will stay fur-free and human ready and I can just toss the used fabric and put down another piece when it gets too fuzzy.

Good Evening Everyone

Hi Tatoulia
Sorry you had an upsetting day.
Take it easy on yourself, treat yourself to some quality down time.
WAY TO GO! getting the basic daily necessary things done anyways.

Hi Subclinical
WAY TO GO!!! for all you got done while procrastinating on the evaluations!

You are NOT giving up by taking advantage of the trash cans.
The amount you add to the landfill is just a tiny drop in the ocean compared to what all goes there every day.
You are simple cleaning/clearing/decluttering your home and property in the fastest easiest way so that you can get on with other things in life.

The carport roof...
The center part of the U shape is touching the tops of stuff underneath it.
But, it has yet to drop the full force of all it's weight down on the stuff there, crushing it in a most pleasing way.

So happy I gardened yesterday.
Today it was bitterly cold all day, no warmth what so ever.
But the laundry dried wonderfully since it was above 32 degrees with a breeze.

Cm I forgot to say that I'm sorry for your loss. I'm so pleased that you know how to arrange flowers and that you could make a beautiful and loving arrangement.

I forget what I read.

Tillie I have yet to get the basket for my desk. For now I haven't needed it. I'm keeping up with things and haven't had any paper on my desk.

Wow! Everybody came by while I was working today. Not on my house (mostly) - on my student evaluations. 12 done, 13 started, 68 untouched. I did get all the laundry put away and the dishes done and the train packed up and the wood box filled, and a metal shelf in the animal barn cleared off and the floor swept, and a guest bed made and a doctor's appointment scheduled and dinner cooked. Because it's amazing all the stuff I can get done when I am not wanting to do evaluations.

Tatoulia, i'm Sorry you had an upsetting day. Really, laundry and dishes are enough to get by.

I am leaving my white lights up on the porch and stairs at least until early feb.

I haven't started the trash cans again yet. I don't know what is going to happen this week. I'm not sure I have enough energy to clean out AND do evaluations. And dh hasn't done anything. I kind of thought he would start on his workbench area by now, but he is working on the window trim instead - which is good, but the rash is time limited. Maybe he thinks he will do some later because I have enough to fill them for now.

I don't actually feel good about using the trash cans. I feel kind of awful about giving up and sending all this stuff to the landfill. But I am proud of myself for pushing through it and clearing out.

Tillie, how much farther can the carport fall with all the stuff in there?

Motown,
i'm Sorry you have difficulties with your dh. That is one area where I am blessed! I'm definitely going to hold on to the coffee table for alittle while while I adjust to the new table, but I talked to my mom today, and she encouraged me to get rid of it.
Tillie ousted my favorite shows, although clean swerp and decorating shows are fun too.

I think I would plan to walk to work if it was only two miles, but then never manage it because I always have so much stuff to take with me.

Critical mass, i'm Sorry about your friend's mother.

I didn't know you were a flower designer. I bet you get to use your eye for color and pattern and balance a lot in your quilts too.

I didn't understand any if those big words, but I understand "hinky" - ouch!

I think "notice it and do it" is a fantastic plan. Not sure I would darn socks though, are they really good socks?

Ok, need to get a good night's sleep if i'm Going to survive thus week.

Hello everyone! Glad to hear from you!

Cm you are doing important mental work! Keep it up! I laughed at your UFO remark! So true! I'm not terribly creative so I don't have a lot of projects that I've started. I'm working on my baking these days. I used to knit a lot but it's no longer something I enjoy. I never fell into the idea of buying too much yarn the way my mother did. I had a few missteps here and there on projects but ultimately I'm not very good at crafts. It must be so hard to be around fabrics and yarns and other wonderful things.

Motown, I'm so glad you are here! I bet you would look odd walking to work! Since I'm right in the city, it makes sense to walk to work and home again. It's under two miles in, and then walking home I'm trying to take a longer route so that in total I'm closer to four miles. I only go in three days a week.

Tillie you are doing such hard work in the garden. I know this will give you a lot of relief as you continue to consolidate.

I'm a slug tonight. I did laundry today and have it folded and put away. Ive emptied my dishwasher and I still need to gather up garbage and get it out. I have to clean the litter box.

I'll do this soon, I hope. I had a somewhat upsetting day so I'm just trying to relax.

Hi CriticalMass
My condolences on the passing of your friend's mother.
How wonderfully sweet of you to make the flower arrangement.
I'm sure it will help easy the grief some. (((hug)))

WAY TO GO! for consciously acknowledging the contents of bags/boxes/bins and knowing what needs to be done to deal with their contents.

Finishing up all the UFOs before starting any new projects would really help keep the chaos down.
But if some project no longer inspires you, is not coming along as you want or is just simply frustrating you are allowed to just abandon it.
Donate or toss.
They are not failures, because along the way they taught you good lessons as to how & what you do enjoy doing.


Hi Motown
On Youtube you can find episodes of "Hoarding Buried Alive" and "Hoarders".
Also there are many other decluttering, cleaning and organizing videos.
Just type in the search bar for "decluttering, hoarding clean up, cleaning or organizing".

Keep doing whatever you need to do for yourself and your sanity.
Someday there really should be a light at the end of that tunnel that's not an oncoming train.

That carport...
A covered space large enough to park 2 cars is attached to the side of the house.
Sometime long ago someone added an extension for one car to the carport roof on the side away from the house.
It is that part falling down. Today the center part is 4 feet from the ground.
It is covered with lots of leaves that are now wet and yes, snow is heavy too.
The corner support posts are still holding up the front and back so what I see looks like a huge U shape.
Depending on the corner support posts, it could pull down the whole carport roofing.
Which is alright with me since that entire roof has been neglected and is damaged by a tornado years ago and lots of other weather related damage.

So, I have not been on in a good while. But I sure have missed you folks. Just now got through reading just enough to feel somewhat "caught up" with the goings-on with y'all.
Subclinical, I hope your new desk works out for you. I really would consider just sticking the old coffee table back in storage just for a few weeks to see if your new desk meets your needs and expectations. Then it can still be donated without remorse. You had asked if I watched cleaning shows while I clean or organize; I honestly didn't know such shows exist. Please elaborate or give me some good recommendations. I have those few episodes of "Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo but other than that, nothing.

Wishing for snow here in Arkansas but will not likely get enough to make things pretty. I don't like to go out in it, prefer to enjoy it from inside where it is warm and dry. I detest cold weather. I don't even like cool weather.

Tillie, I, too, struggle with a SO who is mean and nasty whenever I try to discuss anything with him. He is not fond of communication and I cannot seem to get through to him just how important it is in a relationship. I have begged and pleaded with him to have a conversation about a budget as money seems so very important to him and he always tells me how stupid I am when it comes to finances. In fact, we have been separated since Christmas Eve. At least you finally got Steven to discuss matters of utmost importance regarding finances, etc. We just start to be able to talk a little via text messages but then we cannot seem to get along in person at all. We are both hoarders so...And I do hope you can get some of the hoard of vehicles out of your yard and get parking spaces to suit you both. And for heaven's sake stay away from the carport. I just hope that it doesn't majorly damage the house if it does give way. Snow can do that, right? I am so glad you are enjoying your dollhouse. My 4 yr old granddaughter EmmaClaire has a knock-off American Girl doll from Target and my mom got her a little friend for her for Christmas. I have had so much fun looking at Pinterest dreaming of all the cool things we can make and buy for the girl dolls. It's like an alter ego and how much fun it is to live vicariously through an 18" doll! I know you are having fun in your garden as well. I used to have a nice yard and flower beds, etc. Back when I cared.

Tatoulia, if only I could just buy what we need from week to week. If it were just hubby and me at home then we can be super frugal but with all the kidlings around I don't control the grocery buying, my daughter does that as she gets EBT. Hubby and I buy things that are just for us, like a rotisserie chicken every Sunday afternoon and some salad stuff occasionally. I am envious of you having your cleaning fairies. Someday when my "permanent house guests" have finally gone (or when we have given up and just moved out into another "place of our own") then maybe I can control the tidiness better. I can't imagine walking anywhere, much less to work. I work almost two miles from my house. I would feel foolish walking and carrying a purse and a lunch bag and a yeti of coffee! Also yay for your clear desk! I don't even keep mine at work clear. It is as cluttered as my, well, everything else!

CriticalMass, I LOVE your term for the things that we don't know exactly what to do with. Stumpers! You should trademark that term!

So, I have done a little more but every time I turn my back on what I just did the piles reappear. It's like trying to dig a hole in dry sand!

Gotta go get a little more done on this Monday afternoon before I leave work.

Take care y'all!!!

Hi

Weekend was cold here and not helpful toward getting over this sinus thing I've got, but I'm making some progress.

My friend's mother passed away Friday after many health issues. I went and got flowers to arrange using the florist skills I have a diploma in and at one point had hoped would be my career but it didn't pan out.

It was satisfying to have my hand in and know I can still do it, though. I did the bouquet for my aunt's funeral this past March as well. Buying flowers at the grocery in bundles and a vase and ribbon at the dollar store I can end up with something that would retail for 2-3x as much made up and this way it's tailored toward the person from the get-go.

Plus for a funeral it's important that an arrangement be larger and more visible, which is feasible when I make it myself and keep the stems longer. I'd thought about just going with a plant, but I'm glad I did what I did. Took it out to the funeral home last night.

Today I don't have much to do besides take a leisurely shower and get ready. The Rosary service is tonight and the funeral in the morning.

Decluttering is still on my mind - and the need for it screams from my surroundings, of course. I'm feeling optimistic that this year I'm going to get a lot done - there seems to be a flow to it. Logjams exist, maybe new ones will temporarily occur in the process, but I feel like I'll know how to deal with them one by one.

Tillie, enchiladas sound yum. I think about making a panful. I have a can of sauce. Would just need the corn tortillas and a big bag of shredded cheese. My Mexican lady from church used to have her kids and grandkids over and so I learned some secrets from being part of the assembly process a few times.

SubC - you are doing well - sounds like you have gotten a ton of stuff gone and I know you'll be able to see it through to the finish line. Hope the new desk is everything you want it to be. I want to get an office swivel chair on wheels at some point, lightweight but of good quality, that I can move easily to different places where I live now and then take with me someday. Sitting on the floor is fun but I have a hinky hip joint - iliotibial band syndrome and trochanteric bursitis if you want the fancy words - so I can't sit that way for extended periods without later facing The Revenge of the Aging Body!

Stretches might help some, and I'm still frustrated that it has taken me a long time to get close to resuming a gym routine. I'm still determined to get it going though. Such good endorphins when I do go.

Back to decluttering then I'd better go get in the shower: What seems to be helping me these days is that I'm doing a mental shift in awareness. Kind of vague to describe, but basically it is like I'm going "There are those socks in a bag. I will darn them." Instead of just walking by the bag unaware for the 1,284,395th time. "Here are the Barbie doll patterns and here is the fabric, and the sewing machine stands ready." "Let's get the embroidery design transferred for that one quilt, and decide on block designs for a couple others." (And decided on them.) "For the next plot point in the romance novel, this." "Later, for the science fiction novel, perhaps this new direction. At least jot it down."

With my crazy way of wanting to do so many things, this is what works. Maybe not everybody would want to do quite so many things. Everyone has their optimal preference. The thing is, I want to finish my UFOs (Un-Finished Objects) and at the same time my brain keeps finding new things to start - but I'm trying to be at the switching station and get the UFO train to keep on going down the tracks to its destination, whilst halting or slowing some of the newer trains for awhile and hoping the end result will be a more logical, sustainable, and satisfying flow. And getting the socks darned.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
Winter scenes and décor can be kept up until the Spring equinox.
WTG! for a tidy and pretty desk!
Did you find a nice hamper for the papers and a convenient location for it?


I have laundry hung out on the line today.
Thinking about maybe doing some dusting and possibly polishing.
Pretty physically easy and gives nice to see results.

Great work on the garden Tillie and I'm glad you set limits. I bet that enchilada was tasty. SubC it must be a good feeling to use your trash cans. That was a great idea to get the service! Yay for taking down a lot of the Christmas decorations. I still have the tiny scene in the window by my desk. I'm enjoying it, and telling myself that it is a winter scene and not a Christmas scene. It's adorable and I love it.

I have kept my desk absolutely free and clear, and it looks so lovely.

I'm doing a few loads of laundry. I just washed and dried kitty's bed. Now to get her to settle down.