oops - I sold the medical thing for 60%, not 30%. Much better lol.

post 2 -

This morning I cleaned the two big living room windows. I did the glass and then used polish and did the wooden ledges. I also wiped out the window tracks which were pretty bad. I feel good about getting this done and now the room just feels brighter. I started vacuuming the drapes but burned out and will ask my son to finish it.

I noticed more dust on bookshelf 1 ALREADY so I wiped the edges beyond the books. I need to find some kind of book shelf duster. I might have one somewhere - funny thing, I tend to keep buying cleaning supplies and not using them,

I also finished wiping off the last end table and vacuumed inside it. I need my son to wipe out the inside. I started vacuuming the edges around the walls and he will finish that. He is having breakfast and then I will get him in here to vacuum. I think we will even move the couches and vacuum under/behind them. Goal: when couch is moved, dust the 2 wall shelves.

Also: remember my big medical unit I paid thousands for? I sold it to a friend for about 30% of what I paid (I am happy with that) and she picked it up the other day. I also took down the ads for the other big item in my bedroom and offered it for free to a friend who I thought could use it for her kids. She was SO thankful for it! I gave it to her yesterday and that freed up even more space in my bedroom. That felt really good.

My kitchen table is now re-cluttered completely. The bar is about half cluttered. But, my living room/dining room is the cleanest and most decluttered it has been in years.

I have one bucket of toys and a couple small boxes of stuff that were in the end table that I will sort. I plan to look for a duster with a long handle to do the entry chandelier and the liing room ceiling fan.

My Christmas tree should be getting put up today so I am motivated to finish this living room!

Good morning friends!

haha, I love the 'donate' sign on the bar! I may try that! And I also love the comment on seeing our house as a storage facility... ugh. My home IS a storage facility. Again I cannot fathom how I have taken out loads and loads (literally, dozens of trips) in my SUV to donate, many many full trash cans, and an actual yard sale... and STILL it resembles a storage unit! If I reverse the thinking and imagine bringing all that stuff back IN, I don't know how it ever fit!!

Yesterday I managed to finish bookshelf #2 completely! It is all dusted and nice. I donated one book from there too. I also dusted a map and end table (which now has stuff on it from the shelf, stuff that is keep but has no home yet). I have one more end table with a very very dusty printer on it to clean and then the two wall shelves, and that is ALL the living room being done.

I have a very dusty home though. Maybe I don't vacuum enough (1-2x/week). Remember I dusted the other side of the living room the day before thanksgiving. Well one week later those surfaces have so much dust you can write your name in it, clearly. So I need to go back and re-dust that side of the room which won't be as hard since the surfaces are clear.

But it is frustrating to me to have to dust every week. I have never kept up with that and once a surface gets cluttered the dusting gets put off for months. I am going to dust it all today though and get son to vacuum. We are getting our Christmas tree today so I have to clean and get a space ready. Two weeks ago a tree would not have fit :)

Good morning!

I did two loads of laundry last night and that made me happy. Folded and put away.

Today I going to a church sale to get my wreaths. I also want to start wrapping presents.

SubC I am sorry that your school didn't hold up to their end of the bargain. I am sure you feel betrayed and it's hard to rebuild trust after that. And you must feel that they do not value you. I'm sorry.

Road, that makes me snicker about my Remote Storage Facility. I used to actually have a very large storage space, packed front to back and top to bottom. I was attending some workshop at the office and one of the sessions required us to (privately) make a commitment to do something. And I committed to get rid of my storage space by Dec 1 of that year. And I did it a month early. Not only was it costing me 400 a month, it turned out that I got rid of everything. Donated all of it. All. My childhood bookcase, the desk my grandfather made, etc. ALL. and then I looked at my house and how basically I'd been operating as a storage facility for some future event that would never occur. I saw myself as needing to be the person who swoops in and says, ?oh I have that!' Whenever somebody needs something. I had to come to grips that I was trying to operate as a free store for other people. It was an important mind shift and I haven't slipped back. Occasionally I'll see a bargain and want to buy multiple items but now I stop myself and remember that it's not up to me to buy things at a discount to give to other people for free.

Lila! Amazing bookshelf work! Wowie!

Hello everyone! I had the day off. I slept in then spent time with BF. Right now I'm trying to figure out if I should have dinner start laundry or go to sleep. I guess I should start laundry while I figure this out.

I'll go do that now. Otherwise, an hour will pass and I'll still be sitting here with no progress being made b

Good morning
Coffee clinks.

Lila, good work on your bookshelf! I am proud of you for jumping in and doing instead of procrastiplanning!

Maybe you should put a little sign on the bar "please leave items to be donated here".

I will start another thread for weight loss.

Yesterday was good, so I am back to my original plan of denial as far as work goes. I am a coward.

Bean learned how to say "hug" and he gave me three of them! He is a busy little fellow and not super cuddly, so that was pretty great. He went to the zoo with his daddy yesterday, and he got out his animal book to show me all the things he saw. At the moment he loves giraffes and elephants and anything he can call "doat" (goat) - deer, antelopes, bongos..

My pots came out pretty well at my class, although I left one set in reduction too long.

I did one task from my "advent calendar" list yesterday, so I am only 1-2 days behind.

I am back and am so proud of myself! I got three whole shelves of the 2nd bookshelf done. It is hard work to me! I took off every book, blew off the top with compressed air (out the open window), then wiped with a dust cloth. Then used pledge to clean the shelf, then put books back. Also there was a statue and a few frames I took off and cleaned. I even found one book to donate! I also found three large high school yearbooks that belonged to my first husband. I guess I kept them for our kids, but I am over it. So I messaged my local son and asked if his dad is coming to visit anytime soon (he lives across the US) and if he is, I will just give those to my son and he can pass them on when he sees him. If not, I will mail them when I send the Christmas boxes (with all the photos and mementos) to my other son who lives near his dad. Feels VERY good to let those go!! I also found a box of math flashcards on the shelf and am donating those.

So now all I have left is the 2 bottom shelves of books and the top of the bookshelf with all the ceramics. I am almost out of canned air so will grab some more when I go to run errands later. I used up a whole can of pledge this week so I found another can (instead of buying more).

In my bedroom I just got out 2 small boxes of dog food samples and sorted them by protein type, and put the ones with lamb into my dog's bin. When the lamb is gone I'll do a different protein until they are all used up. More free space!!

I put away a few things on the bar but now I am tired and needed to sit. The groomer is coming to cut my old dog's nails soon. Then I will try to get the bookshelf finished along with the 2 end tables. They just need to be dusted.

Tell me about your decluttering/cleaning efforts!

Holy cow! Look at all the posts! I am opening a new window so I can read them and respond here.

SubC - babies are so awesome, everything is magical! I took grandd, almost 3, to a Christmas party yesterday and her face was just lit up the whole time. So fun for you to enjoy Bean! Thank you for the thoughts on wrapping paper - I had no idea! I already have a lot from last year but will be thinking of using other things as well or if I run out, like that brown paper they use as packing paper. That would be fine with a ribbon. I admire you being a teacher. That can be so rewarding but also thankless, according to my teacher friends. I am a volunteer as my work, and it got to the point everyone asked me to do everything because I was always willing. I recently started saying no to things I don't value, so I get that. May as well enjoy my work. I am so sorry that you are 'not ok' SubC, that is hard and I'll pray for you. Hugs.

Road, I'm glad you like my details! It really helps me to post it because otherwise I feel like I got nothing done. Seeing it in print makes me feel accomplished! I like reading others' details too. oh, I have soo many dollar store plastic bins! I need to use them or lose them! And omg I relate on the parenting/son thing! One of my boys is also disabled and I sometimes feel I have failed him. He is older than yours but never got his GED or a job or anything. He is very helpful at home but I feel like I was so focused on my other child's medical issues that he took the back burner, since medically he is okay. There is nothing that will fix his disability, but I would have done better when he hit 18 on getting him more help. I will.

Tatoulia, so nice to hear about your kitty! 16 is great. Our last kitty was almost 19 and had a full wonderful life. Ours is a year old and is my autistic child's emotional support cat, which he does beautifully.

I gained a few pounds for Thanksgiving but then lost them again so am back to square one. I am eating Cheez-its instead of my smoothie so obviously I need to put on the brakes here. I am also drinking coffee to try and get myself moving this morning. What do you guys think? A separate weight loss/get healthy thread might be nice! Then it won't get too mixed up with the hoarding stuff. I will post on it if SubC makes one.

Okay, the coffee is in my blood so now I am going to get off this couch and do some actual work. I need to feed the dogs and let them out, then (I was going to write 'look over my lists and rate them in order of importance' but then I won't actually do anything so) I will work on bookshelf #2 and a bit of my bedroom. I also need to re-clear that darned dining room bar, the bane of my existence, which clutters up all by itself while I am sleeping! Actually people just keep putting things there instead of away. They are not used to it being empty. I will put it all away and then encourage people to not put things there. I'll come back and update when I get tired and need to sit!

Ok Road, schedule the thing. You can do it! Don't worry about the laundry unless it's wet.

I have my own thing I am avoiding that I know I have to deal with. It is meeting with my boss about the things that have happened with my employment this fall. I cannot just leave it alone even though I desperately want to. I cried all the way to school yesterday. But she was out for the day, and once I got to my classroom, everything was fine. Mostly. I got two kids names wrong and then dropped a piece of pottery I was using for an example (my three purchases are now balanced out) and one of my students asked "are you ok?"

So clearly I am not ok and I cannot keep faking it.

Besides the broken pottery, I donated the stuffed monkey Bean used to play with to the new and like new toy drive. He has lost interest in it and it is fairly large and still in mint condition.

I did not do my new advent calendar idea yesterday even though I had it written out. Not enough band width. Maybe today.

Hi all,

Ok, I took a 1/3 of a 1 mg. Melatonin so I'm not long for this world... the evening is coming to a close.

Sub c, no laundry today although it stared me down about 6x. And I did not schedule the thing! Tomorrow I will have to put on my big girl pants and unplug from he old feelings. What you wrote or wanted to write was beautifully. Stated..

Tatoulia, that's cool about the bed. I am pretty sure I have 76 rolls of wrapping paper... I had an annual tradition of hitting hallmarks the day after Christmas. I would buy up paper and certain ornaments. Thankfully, that bleeding has been stemmed (?) good idea on the alternatives, also. In my family we got into habit of not exchanging gifts except for the kids.

Ok I really have nodded off 10+ times so I'm going to stop before someone gets hurt!

And then the guidance counselor asked me very nicely and I did the iep on my lunch.

Good morning.

Apparently over break we had some type of water event in the boiler room. My kiln is damaged and currently unusable. I am trying to schedule a service call.

Yesterday I wrote "March 630, 2020" in the date space on my whiteboard. (I only have teenagers on tu/th.)

I also got emails that the guidance counselor needs feedback for an iep for one if my students by Friday, that my class proposals for next year are due the 14th, that I have a new student starting Friday, and that I need to schedule a gynecologist appointment. I will be ignoring the iep email. I seriously do not understand why we participate in those. We aren't legally required to honor them, they aren't provided to teachers (the email was my first notice that this kid has/qualifies for an iep) basically, the kid only needs this if they are leaving us.

Feedback I want to give "due to a horribly painful ongoing family situation student is reliant on older sibling for much care and assistance that should be provided by an adult. Student is often disorganized, missing materials or assignments, and on the verge of falling asleep in class. Student is aware of these things and apologizes, but is a child and doing the best they can. I recommend student remain with us in supportive and familiar environment. Financial assistance should be offered or increased as needed."

I still don't have an accurate contract for this school year, but IEPs are definitely not in it. I did reread the staff handbook (which has been edited since my illegal contract change but no notice was given) since my irrelevant contract does say I will comply with it. I'm supposed to be emailing all my families every week about what is happening in each class (I don't and don't plan to.) and labeling everything nonconsumable I buy for class with the school's name - with stickers "available in the office" (since most everything in my class gets wet regularly, I got a permanent marker instead and started working on that yesterday - not going to do the paintbrushes)

One of the things I have always loved about my job is that our legal status as "not a school" has allowed me to avoid all of the time wasting administrative b.s. that happens in schools and actually spend all of my classroom time teaching. I am an hourly employee. I am paid for the hours I actually have students in my room plus one hour of planning per week. I am paid at a much reduced rate for an hour and a half of lunch time each week - which I usually spend in my classroom doing clean up/prep/email, etc. I literally "don't get paid for this $#*+" and I am done volunteering for things I don't value.

Meanwhile I dropped off recycling yesterday and donated a plastic bowl from my studio to my classroom (permanent marker, things don't come back.)

SubC thank you for the suggestions! I will follow these and post on Instagram. I still don't know if I have any wrapping paper if I do, I will use it up.

Long day at work. Glad to be home. Craving sugar. I have raspberries and pineapple.

Cleaners come tomorrow. My house is really messy. Unusually messy.

Kitty is in her bed. It is definitely made for cats. It's a bit smaller than her old one. She's so old these days. I can't believe how long we've been together! Sixteen years. Just hanging out together.

Yay! You improved my day!

If the gift needs something "sturdier" than tissue you can always use plain white drawing paper or newsprint. But I think if the gifts will be set out together, your burlap bags would go great with plain brown paper grocery bag paper, string, and little bits of greenery or things like cinnamon sticks, fresh flowers (right before gifting), or dried fruits and plants.

Ate a healthy breakfast and working on my advent calendar idea.

SubC, thank you! I don't need to buy wrapping paper. I have so many beautiful Christmas cards, both used and unused and I am happy to use plain white tissue paper. I do love the look of white tissue paper over the red or green that are available this time of year. I am sold! Great idea and there's something about this idea that harkens back to my childhood. You just reminded me, I purchased burlap gift bags from a fabric store last year and will have those, too. I was going to get rid of them when my friend was cleaning my closet but she told me to keep them. So there's my homespun Christmas and I'm pretty excited! Thank you!

Good luck today! I hope the sore arm feels better!

Good morning!

Hi Tatoulia,

This is the part where I encourage you not to buy more Christmas wrapping paper if you are out. The dyes make it toxic to produce and difficult to recycle, and it usually comes wrapped in plastic.

There are tons of alternative wrappings if you ask google, or just plain white tissue paper decorated with an old card or magazine cut out, a stamped paper bag, even just a ribbon for people who are getting their package in the mail and already opening it.

I got my booster shot last night and my arm is very sore, but so far I feel fine. It is back to school for me today, so I have to focus on that this morning.

Dh made me very yummy and healthy dinner, but I "rewarded" myself for getting the shot with candy and then still ate dessert, so not good choices weight wise. Lila, how did you do? (Should we ask?)

Road, did you schedule your thing? And check the laundry!

Road don't be so hard on yourself. Your son was having a fun time and you were having bathroom issues.

Hello everyone!

Okay so I'm going to do my tapes nightly to help me to be mindful when I eat. There is no reason that I need to gorge on sweets right now. I'm not going to any parties so I really only have Christmas Eve and Christmas to worry about. For Christmas Eve dessert I'll either make an almond cake or I'll make my mother's sour cream cookies.

A lot of garbage out today. I just finished working. It's 10:40 PM.

I stayed up til 3 AM. I need to hop in the shower now and not delay my bedtime any longer.

I have to see if I have any Christmas wrapping paper. I cannot remember what happened when my friend was cleaning my closet.

My house is a mess. But, I got five more packages to the post office tonight. Just envelopes with Christmas napkins. I may have already told you about those.

Kitty is definitely snuggled in to her new bed. Good night.

Ok Road, it's after noon here and Bean is napping, so schedule the thing.

Can your ds go to things like the football game with friends, or does he need you to be there? Was he happy watching the game with you? Sometimes you only need to ge a good enough parent.

Bean and I gave beenndusting today. I am realizing how filthy my house is, and he loves to wipe things.

I am thinking about making myself an advent calendar with a job and a treat for each day.

P.s. I'm game for sharîng health goals/updates for whoever wants to participate. I have many health issues, one of which is weight. And I agree it's tied into accumulation of Excess "household padding."

Ok, I am not quite up for making those appointments but I am now going to get out all the necessary paperwork so that I am getting ready to get ready to make those calls... lol.

If I don't return by noon you have my permission to konk me on the head as a reminder...

"don't forget the radiologic imaging scheduling, Road!"

Hey all,

Lila, I'm enjoying following your progress. I appreciate the details because hearing how You evaluate things sounds very familiar. I got into a system of sorting over the years of using various dollar store divided trays for tiny things and Clear shoeboxes for Sorting larger things, etc. which resulted in 3 or 400 large clear plastic bins being stuffed with Whatever random things Needed to be cleared out for a given holiday and clear plastic shoe boxes and divided trays... lol.

Tatoulia, always intrigued to hear about your remote storage facility... your storage "annex" aka the goodwill. My ears also perked up at "limoges."

SubC, hope you are feeling less teary today. I am a big crybaby And most of the time I don't mind it but it's no fun when it gets away from you. Hope that bite is on the mend...

We were hosting this year. The H went out of town with his brother for a couple days so wasn't available to help much before hand. Actually he did help out a lot when he got home. With the exception of the table. I asked if he could find the leaf and then he found it and without asking for help put it in himself and proceeded to push the two sides together brute force style and broke the table. Then he spent 4 hours trying to fix it. I am the one In the family with the fixit brain. But since I never finish anything he ends up doing it and he will usually try 5 other complicated things that take forever and don't work before he relents and does my easy way that works. Laziness is the mother of invention! Anyway, there were chairs brought up and down, chairs were cleaned, there was piano key cleaning, and entertainment unit organizing, the fridge, the bathroom, the porch, and most of the things were cleaned and fixed. The entire time we were getting ready I remember thinking if this house wasn't such a disaster this would not be nearly this much work nor this stressful... but most of it came together as planned. I felt so rusty after all this time not really entertaining, I downloaded a little guide and that helped a lot. I made a few of the recipes in it but mostly used it to help break down timing of everything beforehand and on the day.

I took my son in to the neurologist and got orders for MRI and EEG which I was expecting. Need to make those appts today. Hoping to get them done before 12/8 appt with neurosurgeon so hopefully we don't waste any more time. The guy had pretty good bedside manner although you could tell he didn't seem to have any experience with Down syndrome. He kind of raised an eyebrow that we got referred to the surgeon also which made me feel relieved at first (like it was no big deal) and then I thought well, maybe he doesn't really get the physiological differences and why this condition is so dangerous. But in the end I decided this is why you should TRY not to panic til you really know something.

My sons high school won the state championship in football for their class, so that was exciting. I managed to get him to the send off at the school which was fun, but then we bailed on going to the actual game which I later regretted. Then again I wet my pants three times when we got home which proves to me I am currently unfit for public events. It's ridiculous! We watched on tv and when he saw his fellow students cheering in the stands he tried to high five them through the tv screen. Ugh! I crumpled. Parenting FAIL! If his brain worked just a little better he's the type of kid who would be begging to go to the game but because he can't argue that for himself I have to do that for him - and when I don't he misses out. Oh my god that was the worst. WRACKED with maternal guilt today I'm afraid. I know you guys understand... I am an awesome mom in a lot of ways but when you screw up on something big it kills you. I know part of this is because I feel like I mishandled some of this medical stuff. I mean really the doctor mishandled it. But because I have so much medical trauma b.s. I have to sludge through for everything, if they drop the ball I may be able to scoop it up or I may not. I don't know if that makes sense. But I have to find a better way of handling this stuff.

Good morning!

I moved the slippers to his little bench for him to discover. He will also see the lights on the tree for the first time today. (I don't think he remembers last year)

Tatoulia, ok, I'm glad the cat bed worked - is there an animal shelter that might take the old one after you wash it? Here they take towels and blankets with holes in them even.

Doesn't everybody love mail?

Lila, I am sorry about your night. Lost sleep makes everything harder. We will certainly support you on your weight loss journey. I think sometimes the extra personal mass is connected to the mass of extrernal stuff - they can be a result if the same emotional struggles and difficulties making good decisions. Several of us post now and then about how we are doing with our weight, but we have never gotten super organized about it. If anybody at all would prefer to have that be a separate thread - just say and I will start one.

Meanwhile, what are you going to eat besides your green smoothie? I think planning what you WILL do works better than planning what you won't. Or are you starting with a green smoothie fast?

Knuckle still stiff, but I can bend it all the way if I force it. Minor swelling.

Wow, you guys came alive while I was gone today! All these great posts! And hi Road, glad to hear from you.

I am sooo tired. My autistic kiddo was up all night having a hard time. Which meant I slept 3 hours. I had to be up at 7 and had to speak in front of groups twice today. Then came home and spent all afternoon listening to kiddo vent. It was necessary but my brains hurt now. It is 9pm and I am going to bed shortly.

So you can guess I did very little on the house today. I did take my little 'tub' of paperwork that I am working on and sorted it all out. Threw out a few things, put some in a pile to go to that "file me" tub in my room, and put the action items back in. There is a lot of stuff I need to work on tomorrow in there.

I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow - doing tons of work from home - so I will try and get a bit of cleaning and decluttering done tomorrow.

ALSO, are any of you interested in a little weight loss support on here? Like, we could share how we are doing and cheer each other on? I am trying to start over my healthy eating/exercise tomorrow. Goal = 1 green smoothie, no junk, and get on the exercise machine even for just 5 minutes.

Good luck with the booster!

Well I ran my errand and came home and guess who is sound asleep in her new bed. There is plenty of room for her!

I don't know what to do with her old bed, which is several years old. I can wash it but I'm not sure that I can donate it. Our goodwill is overloaded with things they have to throw out (and their disposal fees are through the roof) and I'm pretty sure a well-used 4 to 5 year old cat bed won't be re-saleable. I may just wash it and put it in its own, clear trash bag in case anyone wants it while trash-picking.

I chose a dress and a sweatshirt to donate from my closet. I have four dishes ready too. Need to do more.

Did I mention I've packaged up the things to mail? A few gifts for kids (projects) and Christmas napkins for the elderly. Both kids and the elderly love mail.

I have to get my last load of laundry out of the dryer, start the dishwasher and head into bed.

The slippers by the fire sounds cozy!

Tatoulia, I think it's kind to let your mom believe in the rollator.

I'm not sure about those cat beds..

Dishwasher is running, Bean's books are wiped down and tucked in the Christmas chest, and his slippers are washed and nearly dried in the dryer! They came out great. I set them near the fire to get the last of the damp out of them.

Off to bed - Bean day tomorrow and my booster in the evening after I return him. I'm counting on not feeling too crummy to teach on Tuesday. Cross your fingers for me.

Glad the hand is on the mend, SubC. Yes! No shoes in the house!

Once, when I was living through a difficult time, I had an impromptu dinner at a co-worker's in-laws. The Mother answered the door and asked,what size slipper do you wear, dear? I felt so loved at that moment.

I went to mom's and did some straightening. I took all the clothes off of her rollator (wheeled walker with a seat) and I put it in a corner, out of the way. It is the old person's treadmill. Just gathering clothes since she's been in a wheelchair full time. She says she'll be using it again and I admire her optimism. She also thinks she'll be coming here again (13 steps on a tall brownstone stoop). Truth be told, she couldn't do these stairs even at age 75. She always did this weird thing where she'd lean over and have her hands on the stairs in front of her. I used to say, just stand up snd treat them like other stairs. Anyway, I've stopped dashing her dreams so I agreed she will need the rollator again soon.

I then went downtown and bought cat beds for my cat and mom's cat. They may be small. I took the tags off of one and I'll see if my cat will use it. So far, she doesn't like it so I put her old one back out. If not, I'll return the other one and see if mom's cat will use this one.

Pitch black here but I'm heading out. I haven't had juice or fruit in several days and I miss it.

Hello again.

Cat bite is much better - the knuckle is still very stiff and sore, but the swelling is mostly down and the other joints bend normally.

I took two big stretchy kitchen bags of stuff to the thrift store. Mostly curtains and decorative pillows that had been packed away in the basement. Also a few toys and fall or Christmas decorations.

I came home with three books for Bean and three books for me. And slippers for Bean. My mom is buying him new cute slippers for Christmas, but these will be for him to keep and wear here. The hardwood floors are cold on his little feet and his parents want him trained to not wear shoes inside. (I don't, Dh does - maybe Bean will train Dh?)

While I was gone Dh put up our outside lights. We disagree over the design and this year he did it the way I like. ❤️

Hello Road! Yes things are overwhelming! But we got a glimpse of you! Don't ever feel that you have to catch up in order to write. That's been the rule since I joined in 2013 (!) and it works for everyone. I've seen a lot of people cycle through and people are very supportive, so come as you are! I do enjoy going back and reading the posts, for the company they provide.

SubC we cross-posted last night. I'm glad you are keeping a watchful eye on your cat bite. SubC I am so sorry that you are crying so much. Let it out. When you talked about being on vacation and allowing yourself to feel, it reminded me of back when I was in college. I went to community college, university, and grad school at night. Went during the summers, too. Worked full time as a secretary by day. Whenever we would so much as have Columbus Day or other day off, I would get sick. Full blown headache, stuffed up, "my hair hurts" sick. It's like something in me would keep me together and the second I could let my guard down, I'd get sick. Hang in there.

Lila, you are doing great. I too would have nothing to wear if I had to attend an in-person meeting. 30 lbs would do me good too. So far my office reopens in January. Right now I have three things I can wear to work (I've been going in since June, but rarely is anyone else in on my floor other than my temp). I think in addition to listening to my tapes (actually digital and on line) , but you know what I mean) I'm going to have to look at my dresses each morning and night) including the three I bought for my March birthday in 2020 at a little boutique on Charles street in Boston. I have worn one once and now none would fit.

So let's do what we can. Let's keep taking care of each other.

I'm doing a quick load of laundry before I head to mom's.

Thanks for the support on the goodwill items, SubC. I will go through some stuff today and hopefully get to my car.

Good morning!

Road, it's a busy time of year. I totally understand about the bandwidth. It's part of why I've made no progress for months and also - I have been crying a lot this vacation. It's not that things haven't been lovely, it's just that I am finally relaxing and letting down my wall and then every little thing just shatters me.

I got an evite to the staff Christmas party - it starts about half an hour from school halfway through my last class. I am the only person teaching at that time. I cried. Dh and I had an argument about wether or not Bean could ride a particular riding toy in the house. Dh raised his voice. I cried. My daughter is considering taking Bean east to see my parents during part of my Christmas break. I cried. I cried over a load of laundry, and running out of the right kind of salt, and not being able to find my pie pan for 5 minutes. I cried over an old headboard with no sentimental value that Dh wanted to throw away (dsil salvaged it and took it home)

We do a lot of emotional labor. We get tired.

CM, how are things going for you? We miss you. And I worry about your plumbing.

Lila, that is great about the bookshelf! Don't feel bad about the tv. Sometimes you just have to rest. Can you do things like fold laundry or sort out a bin while you watch? Then you are getting something done and moving a little more.

I don't know why, but I just remembered a day when I was much younger when our schedule was so tightly packed that I threw all the kitchen items I needed into a box and a cooler in the car in the morning, and I took my kids to all of their things, and during Dd1's scout meeting, I chopped up and combined all the ingredients for dinner on a park table while Dd2 did schoolwork so that I could toss them directly into the pans I had left on the stove when we got home and the guys could eat and get to their activity on time. That was insane and I begin to see how everything got out of hand! (Normal parents would have picked up fast food)

Tatoulia, I think your shopping is ok. You use the thrift stores as a "kitchen library" the way I use the reuse store as "offsite craft storage". (That has become more complicated with the pandemic - you can only shop for 15 minutes and you have to make an appointment to donate on a day they are not open for shopping, so my donations have been piling up.)

Ok, last free day, must get busy!

Oh my goodness - I don't know how I didn't post for so long. I feel like I was constantly thinking about you guys.

I am reading through right now. Occupied with post iep stuff and then medical stuff for my son and then thanksgiving...I seem to only be able to handle a certain volume of emotional baggage at a time. It's not what I would call an adequate volume... back later,

I eat out of avoidance, myself. And yes I love the sweets and the breads. I am trying to learn new habits. I know all about nutrition, but I just want to eat.

Again I watched TV for hours and hours today, wasting what I intended to be a working day. I watch tv to spend time with my teen who doesn't want to do anything else with me. I just need to limit it a bit or take more breaks. I feel bad because I didnt get enough done.

I did get the one bookshelf completely done. Everything is dusted and clean and it does feel good. It certainly looks WAY WAY better than its twin bookshelf that did not get cleaned. It is a motivator to get the other one done (in a couple of days... I need a break from books).

I also got a mostly clear path to my clothes closet and to my dressers. I did a load of laundry and donated one shirt and one stray sock (they repurpose fabrics). Then I was desperately looking for clothes to wear tomorrow for an interview in front of a lot of people. I went through all my drawers and put all the sweaters that are too tight to look nice into one dresser. Then the other dresser has 2 empty drawers now for ones that fit. I have about 6 things laid out on my bed right now to try on before I go to bed to see what fits and try to decide what to wear tomorrow. I am a nervous wreck about it. Gaining weight has been terrible for my self esteem. Nothing looks great on me. I have got to get 30 pounds off ASAP. I actually need to lose about 60, but if I lost 30, a lot more clothes will look nice on me.

I also got the kitchen bar about 75% cleaned off again. Man this is just so annoying having so much junk to keep finding homes for. I am getting more and more motivated to just let things go!!

Lila, I kept thinking about what a big job it is to clean a bookshelf., you are doing a great job!

No need to try to eliminate from the bookshelves. Those things hold a value to you. You'll find more than enough stuff in your house to relocate! Leave those things for now! You will gain much more pleasure from them once they are no longer dusty.

Well I bought a lot at goodwill today. A lot. Five are gifts for BF. Limoges serving pieces. I also got kitty five new cat plates. And a few pieces of Corning ware for myself. I actually put some stuff back that I had.

Now I will take away five of the cats dishes and donate them (she eats off of vintage ceramics, mainly Johnson Bros transfer ware). I decided to switch up what she uses so I'll just take five or six pieces of stuff and donate it. I also have some kitchen stuff I can donate. I don't follow the one out/one in rule but I do need to look at what I have with fresh eyes. I think I mentioned I purchased some ceramic platters that aren't working out. So those will be donated. I know that I have room for my things now so I'll have to "clean house" to keep that balance. I can't add stuff just to add it. I have to go in and cull the herd.

Lila I have a terrible sweet tooth. It's awful. I had gone to a nutritionist and lost a great deal of weight. Once pandemic hit, I started baking brownies every Friday. I love nothing more than a brownie ala mode. The pandemic was only supposed to last for two weeks. Remember that? We had to not touch our faces for two weeks. Well by summertime I was still baking and eating brownies. And it undid all the hard psychological work I'd done with my nutritionist. Since that time, she has gone on to be a life coach. I still have the cds she made me. I have different things I listen to now. Trying to stop the binge eating sweets. Not easy! So I'm fat and have a closet full of very beautiful clothes. Not a lot of clothes but very nice clothes. So I'm back to listening to tapes to help curb my anxiety and overeating.

Don't worry- Dh is very thorough.

It's gotten a little better as the day went on today, but will probably stiffen back up and swell more again overnight.

Lila, that bookshelf was a challenge! I usually put dusty ceramics in the sink, or even dishwasher.

As far as my weight, I mostly keep trying to move more and eat less. Like tonight - we have vegetables in sauce over rice. Dh took his serving, and usually I would have just taken the rest of the rice, but I left about 1/3 of a cup - which meant I used less sauce because there wasn't extra rice soaking it up.

Water, black coffee and unadulterated tea are drinks - everything else is food because it has calories. I try to remind myself that a glass of wine = dessert.

Take one more trip up or down the stairs to put something away, do xyz before my snack, ask myself why I'm eating (am I hungry, or something else?).

Not that it's working.

I found some things to part with today. I will probably take them to the thrift store tomorrow.

omg, the shelves are hard!! It is kicking my butt. There are two tall bookshelves, each with 5 shelves plus the top has stuff on it. There are 2 wall shelves too but I havent touched those yet. I am amending my goal to be, get ONE of the bookshelves cleaned. Because even though I did a little on this shelf yesterday, today I have worked on it twice already and about half done. Of the five shelves, I took every book off three of them. I used compressed air to blow the dust off the top of each book through an open window, then wiped each book with a dustcloth, stacked them all, then wiped and polished those empty shelves, then put the books back. The fourth one I did was full of ceramics and little teeny boats ad shells and stuff. I took each item off, blew off the dust with compressed air, wiped it down. Then cleaned the shelf and put things back. omg I am exhausted. The very bottom is about half full of books, and the very top is covered in dusty ceramics my kids made. I will do those next... needed to sit for more coffee. Hurts my back and feet doing all that. I'm going to take naproxen, and work on my closet path and dining room bar counter before going back to that shelf.

I would love to get rid of some of these things but I just don't think I can. They're all special. Maybe rotating them in a box would be better... once I have room for a small box somewhere.

I will reconsider donating at least something before I call it done.

Tatoulia and SubC, I also need to lose weight, for health reasons. Would you feel like sharing what you are doing to lose weight? I am struggling.

ohhh SubC, cat bites worry me. Especially to a joint. Do take some extra vitamin C and zinc to try and get your body to fight off anything. And if it isn't better quickly you might need antibiotics.

Have fun on your errand run, Tatoulia. I am hoping I don't need to go anywhere today.

So far I have eaten a plate of leftovers for breakfast, and made a loaf of candied yam bread (in the oven now) out of leftover sweet potatoes. I swirled a little homemade cranberry sauce into one half. When it's done I will sit down and have a slice with some caffeinated coffee to get me going again after the break.

Well, I better get my laundry in now and start working on my list I posted yesterday.

Do watch the cat bite carefully, SubC. My mother, a few years back, had a cat bite and was hospitalized with it. Her hand was like a lobster claw. It was si swollen the fibers were barely visible. So keep letting your husband clean it out!

I am going to get out now. I want to go to goodwill. Drop off, look around.

I have more things to package for the post office. Our main post office is open on sundays so I may just package everything tonight and get mailed tomorrow. I buy paper napkins and send them around. People seem to like getting them as gifts, the postage is frequently more than the packet of napkins but it brings a great deal of cheer for little money. And I'm still saving because if I bought a more expensive gift, the postage would still be high. So I save money on the gift, lose money on the postage.

Hello again.

I set myself the following challenge this morning:
Part one - do not create another dirty dish until all the dishes that can go in the dishwasher are in the dishwasher
Part two - keep my new washer and dryer going while I worked.

So, the second load is in the wash, first load in the dryer - in the dryer! Not hung out in 34* weather!

The dishwasher has been emptied and everything that would go in it is in it but it isn't full yet.

I am eating oatmeal for brunch.

After the oatmeal I am going to clear off Bean's toy shelf, wipe it down, and replace some of the toys. Some of them are ready to come out of rotation and I have new ones I want to put out. While I am doing that, I will hardboil some eggs for egg salad later.

Good morning.

Lila, it will be easier this time because you didn't bring any new things in. And last time you got rid of stuff. So worst case, that stuff on the bar just goes back where it came from.

I also have tons of stuff my kids made. I'm sure there is a gentle way to pare down to the things you really want and then offer the rest to them and if they don't think it's worth them keeping then logically, why is it worth you keeping? But emotions make everything more complicated.

Yesterday I made Dd1 take home her sister's thrifted build a bear sloth which said sister left here in August "for Bean." I am quite sure the sloth is leaving quickly, because Bean is getting tired of it as Dd2 won't take it back. I also made her take her American girl horse. Bean loves horses, and while he is too little to really play with it, he likes to say "Pat" and pet it, and make horse sounds at it, so I think it should go on a shelf in his room. It is hard to store. I think sil was annoyed with me.

Tatoulia, my weight has stalled also. This is a hard time of year to lose weight. We just have to keep moving and keep trying to make good choices.

I am feeling a little sorry for myself this morning. I was planning to either finish off the apples or throw pots today. But the kids brought their dog for the visit. Mr. kitty and the dog do not do well together, and yesterday morning, the dog was barking at the front door because mr. kitty wanted to come in. I told dsil, "I am going to go get the cat" (which I thought implied "hang on to the dog" but dsil was still half asleep and just heard me explaining why I was leaving the room.) I went out the garage door - dog still barking at front - picked up the kitty, came back around to the garage door (which has no glass) opened it, and there was the dog. Dsil did come running to get the dog, but not before Mr. kitty bit me badly. Right in the central knuckle of my left index finger. Dh has been doing a nice job cleaning and bandaging it, and I do not think it is an infection concern, but the finger is swollen from fingertip down into the hand from the trauma, extremely sore and tender, and will not bend. So I will not be doing either of those things.

I did do my first load of laundry in the new machines yesterday. Dh is displeased because the new washer is much louder than the old washer, but it works well and actually spins the water out of the towels! And I like it. The new dryer is lovely - quiet, with a reasonable amount of heat.

Anyway, I am going to try to find a way to make good use of my day.

It is easy to lose ground, isn't it? But you are right, it will be easier this time. I try to learn the habit of putting things where thy belong. Certainly an easier prospect now that I have some open space.

Sorry about the weird punctuation in my last post. I was using dashes and they translated into question marks!

None of us can afford to get sick right now. What a weird time in our lives, to be sure.

Yes! You found some things on the shelf to dispose of and things to send to your son! Pretty good work!

I have to go get my laundry. Have to hang the unmentionables so they can dry overnight.

Goodnight all.

Tatoulia, what a good suggestion, thank you. I started to vacuum one shelf today but quit because I could not fit the vacuum end above many of the books. So I do think taking each one off and dusting it, then cleaning the shelf and deciding about putting it back, will help me. I hope to do the shelves tomorrow.

Today I mainly took time to relax, put a few things away, make a fruit salad and then reheated all the many Thanksgiving dishes for a 5:00 dinner with my kids and grandd who did not come yesterday. I was a little unhappy that grandd was still coughing a lot. I told them I cannot afford to get sick again (last time I caught her cold I was sick for over a month and had to go to the ER). I am taking vitamin C, zinc, D etc to try and stave it off. I washed my hands a lot and am disinfecting everything. Sigh.

Anyway we had a nice dinner and time together after.

Oh, I did do one thing with the shelves today. I pulled down a few paper 'phone books' from church, saved the essential ones and threw the rest away. I pulled down all the grade school yearbooks I saved for my kids, took 3 of them out and put them in the box I am mailing to my son who lives back east. And I took 3 borrowed books off the shelf so I can return them to the person who owns them next week.

I have found that as I clean and declutter if I do not stay on top of the other rooms, they clutter right back up. The dining room/bar is at least half covered with things and I don't even know how that happened. And my bedroom once again it is impossible to get to my closet... the floor is covered. I did not bring in any new things. They just relocated. So my goals tomorrow, in addition to the shelves, is to once again clear the bar (which will be much easier this time) and make a path to my closet. I also need to do laundry and choose something to wear to church on Sunday.

Hello everyone!

Lila, do you have time to take every book off the shelf? Then vacuum the top of each book. I know you have done several rounds of decluttering your bookshelves?I know that all too well?how about putting a few of the things in a box? Just to give you more visual space? I'm not a fan of putting things in boxes but you might enjoy cleaning each shelf and each book then seeing if you really want to put everything back. Suggestion ?certainly feel free to reject and no need to justify yourself. I find putting things in boxes help me get rid of them later. Please bear in mind, I do not have children so I don't have anyone to give my stuff to. My will leaves everything to my BF and one of my richest friends. I figure my richest friend will know what to do with the money. When I told BF I did my will and left everything to the two of them, he said oh good, because Friend will know how to handle the money. And guess what? Rich Friend said the same thing, I'll know how to dole out the money, don't worry. I even told her that if she wants to keep my life insurance she can and she said no, she'll take care of everyone with it.

So, when I get rid of stuff, I'm getting rid of the things that no one will want. I'm keeping only the stuff that I want. Not storing for anyone. And that's a pretty terrific feeling. A much different sense of what needs to be done. But bear in mind, I thought I was the keeper of all things and everything is important until I started here. Our dear friend Tillie (you would have loved her) used to talk about how we are building our muscles. And she's right. It truly gets easier and easier. The hard days will be there but it gets easier and easier.

I hope I live a long time but I feel this imperative to get rid of things.

I wish I felt the same imperative of wearing the beautiful clothes in my closet. I really need to get these pounds off.

SubC, congratulations on new washer and dryer! And I love the description of your friend and how he's grown!

I did not spend a dime today. Not exactly true as I stopped at the grocery store. But you know what I meant. No Black Friday fury for me.

Tatoulia, you are so right about the clean home making one feel more like getting rid of things. I know that even though I did not quite finish the living room dusting, having most of the area and dining room all clean and clutter free feels SO GOOD that I want to get rid of more things. I plan to do the book shelves today, probably will get rid of several items so it is not so cluttered and is clean like the rest of the room. How nice of you to do that for your mom.

SubC, that is great about your tree! I too am thinking about where to get a tree this year. I often put it off until a few days before Christmas, but this year I would like to get it early, like within a week. That means I need to get the space ready for it.

Today I am drinking coffee and looking at my two tall bookshelves in the living room. I used to have 2 or 3 more bookshelves in here but a few years ago I slowly decluttered and got rid of one and put the other downstairs. I hate dusting the bookshelves. There are books, yes, and probably 99% of them have made it through several declutters and are the books I want to keep. But there are also many other things on the bookshelves. Most of the shelves also have little ceramic statues, things my kids made, things we brought home from trips. Frames with no pictures in them (but they are frames my kids made or a friend gave me who passed away - I would like to get pictures into them). Even the tops of the shelves are covered in things. The issue is that my kids made most of those things in ceramics class or wood shop or art class. They are adults not but I doubt they want any of these. I treasure many of them but the ones I don't I just CANNOT get rid of them. My kids come over and point them out and are proud of them. So we'll see, I may just dust them all and rearrange. If I get rid of a few other items it will look nicer.

Is there some secret way to dust an extra dusty bookshelf?? I hate it. I guess a vacuum is my best bet but every book top if thick with dust, ugh.

Happy Black Friday!

Lila, I am sorry you felt down about your day yesterday - it sounds lovely to me! We just had Bean and his parents and my Dh made a really yummy hearty fall vegetable stew and puffy fry bread. And I made pecan pie because that is what everybody likes.

You did a fantastic job cleaning.

My new washer and dryer got delivered this morning, and my son's friend who is just getting established came to help switch them out and take the old ones for the house he bought and is doing a gut Reno on. It was fun to watch one of the daredevil wild boys who left chaos in my house for years very carefully maneuver large appliances around, watching out for walls and being careful not to scratch the floor - lol!

The very best thing so far was a phone call I got this morning. Our neighbor down the road grows Christmas trees, and we've been cutting ours there for 19 years. Their website says they are closed this year because their supply of trees is low and they are giving everything another year to grow. We were discussing what we were going to do about a tree this year when she called to tell me "when we said ?closed' we didn't mean you." I was so happy! So we are going over around 3.

Happy Thanksgiving 🦃🍁🍽

I am here in my pjs, need to go to bed.

Lila you did so much! I hope you are happy with your clean home, even if your guest had to cancel!

The cleaners ended up cleaning mom's room on Wednesday. It is so nice and clean there! Then they came here afterward. They texted me that it will be easy to keep mom's place nice and that they will do it for $XX. So I'll have them every other week to mom's. I'll keep them every week for me because I am used to it.

I think mom will be in the mood to get rid of some things. It's so clean and I have to think this will help her to decide to reduce her possessions further. Time will tell.
I sat with mom as she ate her Thanksgiving dinner and for the first time, I wasn't feeling all itchy and anxious due to the dirt. She used her mother's China and it was a lovely meal. Then BF came here and we had dinner together. Afterward he drove me to work for a second so I could pick up a fed ex package I need to send tmr. We then ended up sitting in the car for a really long time in front of my place. He was talking quite a bit. While we sat there, I got a text from my friend who said she just parked my car and did I want her to drop off the keys. I told her to stay where she is so we picked her up and drove her home.

Now I'm doing laundry because I feel like I deserve to do laundry.

Going to go get it and go to bed. Goodnight, everyone

Happy Thanksgiving!

Every year I feel a little bit like a loser than I am online on holidays instead of hanging out with family, but they won't be here til dinnertime and my husband and daughter are not very social. No one wants to play games or anything so I am just in the living room alone. I love the smell of the food cooking, and the happy feeling that no one from outside the home will bother me or ask me to do anything today, so I am content.

This morning our one guest for dinner messaged me that she has a fever. So she is not coming after all. I had to laugh a bit because really I did all of this cleaner for her!! Having a guest meant I had to get all of this done. So I am very glad she was supposed to come, and now I feel so motivated to finish cleaning that I will!

This morning I had my coffee and then started prepping. I baked the dinner rolls, got the turkey out of the brine and prepped it and got it in the roasting pan. I made the stuffing from scratch and stuffed the bird and put the rest in a dish to bake later. The turkey is in the oven now! Yum yum. Husband offered to help so he chopped the onions and celery for the stuffing, and he cut the fresh green beans so I will be making the green bean casserole soon. I also will make fresh sweet potatoes with my grandma's recipe. I am making homemade stock for the gravy as well. I made the cranberry sauce the other day. Let's see... what else? Pie is bought this year (Costco) and DIL is bringing another dessert. My husband is making the mashed potatoes too so that helps. What a feast it will be! What is on your menu?

Long post but cleaning update: late last night I dusted the coffee table. My son is going to vacuum again this morning. I'm going to dust the rest of the living room so it's done (but I am NOT taking all the little/big ceramics etc off the wall shelves and bookshelves, too much work for today. Feather duster, and will do that next week sometime).The kitchen definitely needs to be cleaned again but I am cooking so that will wait til later.

My son and DIL and grandd are coming over later and my other son too. I am going to take some time to relax and enjoy the peace in between tasks!

It is 9pm on Thanksgiving Eve (lol) and I am still cleaning. I did get the whole kitchen table cleared off, dishwasher run, various surfaces dusted. I cleaned the baby gate which had gotten kind of gross. I washed off the play kitchen for grandd, and I cleaned the whole TV stand which was covered in dust and pet hair. Cleaned every shelf and cabinet on it, AND the dvd cabinet as well. Even donated 3 movies.

Believe it or not there is still way more to do and tomorrow morning will be busy. I think tonight I will reload the dishwasher again and wipe down the kitchen and maybe the coffee table. Tomorrow I have to clean the windows and sills, wipe down the leather couches and put the blankets over the bad spots, dust 2 more end tables and 2 bookshelves. Get my son to vacuum again... and cook everything. omg I need to put the frozen rolls in the pan to thaw overnight tonight too.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Update: the kitchen table is almost cleared. I am about to send my son to take the donations bag and box on the table to my car, put the litter box liners in the garage and put the duct table downstairs in the tape container. The only things left after that is a potted plant that might stay there, and some dog brushes I need to find a home for near the living room. He is unloading the dishwasher and taking out the trash now so I can re-load the dishwasher.

I also put away everything that was on the fireplace mantel and dusted it and a cabinet.

I need to organize and dust the dvd shelf, 2 end tables and clean off the play kitchen and then I think the living room will be pretty done. Windowsills too!

SubC, my grandbaby has been sick with a fever and cold, and I am nervous now. I told my DIL that if anyone is sick, I would be happy to drop off Thanksgiving food, or have our dinner another day. Last time grandd was sick with a 'cold,' I caught it and was dangerously ill for over a month with 2 trips to the ER. I just can't be risking that again. I hope they don't gloss it over and come anyway if someone has a cold.

Table has not been touched BUT thank you for asking... that is just what I needed. I am finishing my coffee and then that table is going to be totally cleared off!! I will report back.

Hi Lila,

How is the table going?

Our house was always a mess and nobody cleaned but my mom, and it seemed like she cleaned all the time. Sometimes I would help her dust because I liked to do it. Also, sometimes she made us clean our rooms, but they never looked all that great because there was always too much stuff in them.

Bean is taking a nap, Dd is working, and Dh is changing the oil in the tractor. I need to go get the laundry off the line. Soon I will only hang laundry when I want to and not have to plan around the weather!

Vacuuming also needs to happen.

A new washer and dryer, congratulations SubC! That will be so nice! I too don't know how I would live in a 'perfect' home. Thinking back to my childhood, there was never mess. I don't know who cleaned. We had a very small house. My Dad had a "junk drawer" and that was where all the random items lived. But we had a full basement that was FULL of stuff. Boy, if I had a full basement, I could be clutter free! I just need more storage... or to live with less stuff.

I got the chairs wiped off and brought in. Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I haven't cleared off the kitchen table. That is my task today. I also need to dust the living room and mop the bathroom and entry. I put the turkey in brine this morning and made homemade cranberry sauce.

I really need my son to get out of bed and help me.. I do better with someone to run things to my car or fix things or whatever. I hate running up and down the stairs (main level is up a flight of stairs).