Tillie I want to reduce further in November. What would make the most sense in this situation as a goal? Should I look to do another pass at dining room closet? I bet I can make different choices. What do you think? Could you help me define a goal?

November 1st

A whole new month already.
Anybody have a specific challenge they want to do?

I would like to do some of those things I have been wanting to do but was too busy doing other more important necessary things.

I want to get my garden area all sorted out and cleaned up.
When Springtime comes I want it to be easy to keep.
As long as the three remaining cats aren't needing hospice care I can work out there off and on without physically over doing it.

I am glad to be back with you all here. It was a great visit. She's an easy houseguest, once I get over the constant talking.

Kitty sends her love, Tillie. She was a very brave girl when we had our visitor.

I am glad to be back with you all here. It was a great visit. She's an easy houseguest, once I get over the constant talking.

Kitty sends her love, Tillie. She was a very brave girl when we had our visitor.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN
to Tatoulia's little black kitty!

So happy you had this nice visit in your new clean home.

Yes, I saw that fire on the news.
Great way to donate the comforter to a good cause.

Sounds like fun you all handing out the candy together on the steps.
I understand how weird the crowds can get, I have spent some Halloweens in Detroit.


I'm sure your weight will get back on schedule soon.
It's a busy time of year with so many things to do and see in a big city.

Hello hello and happy Halloween from my black cat!

What a great visit with mom's friend. She's my friend too. Important stuff: kitty held up very well and so that was great. Each evening friend would say, let me clean up the kitchen. We tried to get a lot of walks in. We saw mom at least once each day. Saturday was a rainy windy nor'easter. I had day two of cake decorating class and friend went to mom's. I've done all the laundry now and I have the new comforter and pillow I bought for the fold-out ready to donate. I was going to see if I should keep the comforter but there was a big fire on Saturday I believe that displaced 100 students and there's a bedding and clothing drive tomorrow night.

I have kept up with things on my end. Friend was so much fun. My weight may have taken a hit as friend eats normal meals and I'm more of a one meal a day. However, I couldn't have friend eating alone as she would refuse to eat if I werent hungry. I don't blame her. That can be very uncomfortable.

So it was great and wonderful and mom had a great time.

I am going to do a bit of relaxation now. The city is crazy between the Red Sox victory parade today and now Halloween. My neighbors and I sat outside and handed out candy. We ran out of candy before the crowd turned weird.

I am so thrilled that CM got the plumbing fixed!!!! SubC i would like some applesauce right now! Tillie I'm glad you are back.

Tomorrow is first day back in the office. I was tired today, working from home. I decided not to go in due to parade and Halloween.

I need to shampoo the bedroom rug. It is a disgrace. This weekend. No excuses.

Oh! The scaffolding is still up, SubC. But they took the wrapping off. I don't know why it's still there other than one neighbor is having a dispute with the company. Who knows. I can't tell if they've painted the house or not but I believe they have. So I'd like it all to just go.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN CriticalMass

Waiting for someone to come do things is more tiring than doing any tedious task.
So happy this wait is over.
Poor kitty (((HUGS Kitty)))
it is hard having strangers tromp and bang around in your space.


I never get any trick or treaters way out here so I only buy the candy that I want to eat.
Must have some candy, it's Halloween!

I always iron dry fabric too. It comes out better than sprinkling/misting it later.

Enjoy your movie :D

YEA!

I have managed to stay awake today!
Got the kitchen all clean.
Did all cat related stuff.
Went through my jeans and blouses.
Everything still fits and is still in good condition.
5 pair of black Wrangler jeans
25 assorted style/color blouses/tops
Have enough really nice socks too.
Tidied up and even dusted the livingroom/dining room area.
It's 3:35pm and I think I will be awake until at least 9:00pm.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Hope everyone's doing well. My roommate and I are still finding it hard to believe the plumbing is done!

He was supposed to do my van today but got behind, texted me once that he was coming in an hour but that was hours ago. It's okay, we'll get it done.

I've not done a whole lot - took a nap. I think there's like this residual tension from all the waiting and wondering and I just felt like a nap would do me good for unwinding. If he'd come at the expected time I was thinking of doing laundry including quilt fabric that I press dry. I didn't want to set that all up until I knew how the day was going to go.

Don't know if we'll get any Trick-Or-Treaters or be forced to eat all that candy ourselves - LOL!

I'm going to go watch my video of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and see if I can coax girl kitty out to play. She's been a bit withdrawn, probably from all the guys tromping and banging yesterday.

TTYL

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Hi Subclinical
WAY TO GO! for all you have been doing to take good care of yourself.
Enjoy your cozy fire.

Spent yesterday afternoon napping on the couch with a cat.
Just keep getting so sleepy, can't keep my eyes open.
Then long before 8pm I go to bed and sleep.
Whatever I don't get done in the morning doesn't get done.
Gets so dark so early in the evening now and there isn't much sunshine early morning.

Yay for plumbing!!!!!!

Yay for working vans!!!

Yay for Steven making progress!!!

My life is crazy busy right now.

The basement is currently a mess from dd2 looking for a Halloween costume and me dragging things out to find canning stuff (I didn't can last year)

Pottery show/sale looming and I don't know when i'll do the prep work.

Swam 2000m yesterday. Ate a good dinner. Got 7 hours of sleep. Did yoga this morning. Taking care of myself. We have clean underwear and clean dishes.

I don't have a costume for school today, but I do have fun lesson plans.

I am not perfect, but I am getting better.

Happy Halloween! (It is going to rain all evening here, so I will have my fire in the wood stove.)

Hi CriticalMass
Wonderful to read your post!

YEA!!! HAPPY DANICIN!!!
What a relief the plumbing is finished!

One thing I have found working with hissy fussing cats...
I force them to share the same space by placing the "newcomer" in the "resident" cat's space inside a kennel.
This way they can see each other and smell each other but both are safe from any physical contact.
After a while they both calm down and relax.
I stay nearby softly talking to both of them.
Very important to not show one favor over the other so there is no jealousy generated.
I will sit on the floor by the kennel and slowly give both cats snacks, little bit by little bit to make snack time last longer.
Then I release the cat back in the other room and shut the door.
This gives the cats a chance to learn together.
After a while I can bring the cat out without the kennel, do the snack time routine and supervise any interaction before returning the cat to the bedroom.
I would not trust the boy cat any alone time with the bunnies.
Feral cats here eat even the adult cottontail bunnies.

So happy the van is so wonderful!
Yes, get it all maintained before Winter sets in.
Steven got my car serviced this past weekend.


Some of those plastic drawer units can't take much weight in the drawers.
I have seem many of them where the drawers constantly fall off the tracks and don't open or close very easily and constantly need the drawer realigned.
Maybe one of those low plastic storage boxes, like the kind that can fit under a bed.
Some of them are not any longer/wider than a typical storage bin.
I got one from Walmart for Twinkles to use as a litter box.

YES! pack that printer away!
Make room to sew!
Winter is the best time to sew!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :)

Ah, been away again more days than I intended to be - but I come bearing good news! :)

THE PLUMBING WORK IS DONE!!!

HAPPY DANCE!!!

Now he is supposed to do the transmission fluid flush and oil change on my van tomorrow morning. Due to the delays with the other things, this works out well for me because Friday is payday. The van, by the way, has been SUCH a blessing since I've had it. Starts without fuss, runs like a dream, heater and AC actually heat and cool - going to be so much more comfortable in winter, just as I've already been in summer.

I hope I haven't lost too much lovely Indian Summer weather time - rain is coming in and it will be in the 50s rather than 60s-70s. The fall color of the trees here has been off the charts because we got rain at just the right times. Many trees multicolored - so cool - and others all one gorgeous red or orange or gold. But the leaves are starting to fall more, and some branches are bare.

Tillie - hope you and the lost boy cats are coping better. It's so hard losing our beloved animals. The cat situation here is moving along slowly - still segregated with brief reintroduction periods and Feliway pheromones and so on. We hope soon we won't have to go through all this - it's inconvenient for us trying to get to one part of the house or the other, and give enough individual attention to each cat.

I learned that boy cat will also try to go after my bunnies, which are larger than my roommate's bunnies. He took boy bunny's face in his paws but boy bunny was like "Seriously, dude?" and turned away. But between that and the fear of the bunnies chewing the vinyl flooring, I'm just going to be 100% supervising when any bunny is out playing. Part of the scenario may be the fact that the cat books we are following say cats need to go through the hunting and killing sequence in play with toys, so we are awakening more natural instincts. So time to put extra safety measures in place.

Decluttering tasks can take place during such times, though - I'm continuing to make progress on getting rid of some old receipts and such. I can work on that while supervising bunnies. Tillie, I totally get what you mean about when there's less stuff it will get more difficult to decide what to let go of. I experienced some of that when I moved the storage unit to this side of town. I'll continue to evaluate what things I truly want to keep.

Glad Steven got something done, hope he will do more. And good for you learning to be more chill about when to work and when to relax than the unbalanced ways you learned as a child.

Well, the World Series is over - Tatoulia, congrats to the Red Sox, a fine team. My Dodgers hopefully will get another chance sometime. I understand what you mean about the compulsive talker friend! I have a phone friend who can go a minimum of two hours. I get a stiff neck holding the phone. She can use speakerphone on her end but I can't because of my ADD auditory processing issue. In fact, sometimes I have to ask other people not to use speakerphone because it sounds like they're down a well. My friend is semi-homebound though so I understand she gets lonely.

SubC, glad you worked things out with hubby about the space for now. I love those big guillotine school paper cutters! If I had the space I'd find myself the biggest one available. I have one that's like 18" or 15" but it's put away - one of these days... Have you looked into any of the books on organizing for right-brained or creative or ADD people? I've found a few helpful things in that sort of book. One thing that sometimes helps me is project trays - you may already have that going on with your ceramics. Something you can lift up and set aside without having to dismantle an ongoing project.

I'm going to have to reconfigure for these Barbies I've adopted this year! Plastic shoe boxes hold them, but when I want one out of a box under several other boxes, it's a pain. I think I'll get some of those plastic 3-drawer things like people use for scrapbooking paper/office supplies, etc.

Can't remember if I mentioned this but I should soon have stuff off the craft table in the family/bunny/art room. Both I and my roommate want to be able set up our sewing machine(s) and work on quilting and whatever (doll clothes for me, too, of course). All I really need to do is find a place for an inkjet printer that's sitting there - I may even pack that printer away since I use my roommate's laser printer in her office anyway, and that printer's out of ink which is not a high priority.

Well, hopefully I will get time to pop in tomorrow, but if I don't, have a Happy Halloween! Beware the spooks!

Good Morning

He has finally gone back to work today!
He took Friday and Monday off to use up some of his days off time from work rather than lose it at the end of the year.
He spent a lot of the time sorting/sifting through that hoard between the back door and garage door.
There is a noticeable difference. The footpath is wider now and the heaps/piles at the edge are not as tall as they were before.
I think he may be trying to make room for the huge amount of clutter/hoard that's under the now 'dangerously precariously hanging down ready to completely collapse at any time' far side of the carport roof.

Anyways...
Very cold today. 55 degrees in the house.
Have a load of laundry to hang out.
Need to carve my pumpkin.

Tillie, you are a great cheerleader!

I made apple sauce.

It took 14 hours. The first three hours were getting the kitchen and scullery clean enough to make apple sauce.

I also lost an hour when a jar broke and I had to empty, refill, and reheat the canner.

I will end up with 21 quart jars of applesauce. This is neither cost effective or practical, but the applesauce is so much better than anything I can buy.

I wish I had made twice as much - next year. A batch in September and a batch in October. There were also some inefficiencies in the process due to things I forgot.

And I hate my canner. It is too wide for my stove and too short! Why do they only make canners 9 1/2" tall? They boil over constantly. It is messy and frustrating. I looked online and couldn't find a taller canner, but I did find someone suggesting a tamale steamer (13.5" and it has a rack) dh said I can buy one if I get rid of the big steamer. I'm going to check it out at target.

The old things will be taken away when dh or ds takes them.

It will be so nice once the home renovations are finished and all the materials for this are no longer needing to be stored. :)

When can the old stove and water heater be taken away?
That is not a "woman" type chore. Those things are heavy and awkward.
Maybe someone can come help you get them loaded up.
I have that same problem here with anything we replace, the old units sit out in the way here for years.

I pictured your paper cutting table just as you described it.
Like the one we had in high school art class.

Two boxes of saved jars is not bad since you use them.
Good that you don't waste your precious time on the jars that have tenacious label glue.


Little by little the kid's things are being taken to their new homes.
So a little more storage space is needed for them for now.
So nice your dolls no longer need to be stored but are nicely displayed.

Remember you were sickly weak & tired with anemia for quite a long time and couldn't function much.
Even still you kept up with whatever you could manage.
Don't be discouraged by what still needs doing.
Look at what you have done and know that in time, you will eventually get your home sorted out, functional and a lovely place for both you and your DH. :)

Good morning!

The basement is divided - my half is split into two rooms with the stairs down the middle, and his half is a big empty space. The problem is that you have to walk through my half to get to his half. My half also has the water heater, the heat pump, the chest freezer, a dehumidifier and the pantry cupboards in it. Also my egg/milk fridge - all of which need space around them and paths to them. He gets upset when the paths are less than 3' wide.

He let me put my exercise bike in his half.

Switching halves would not work because of heating and finishing issues.

The studio barn is semi divided - there are defined shop spaces, year round parking spaces, and a pottery only area. But then there is a big area that is storage/projects/winter parking.

When I cleaned out my pottery area to make it more functional, I moved a bunch of stuff into that space (I also moved an entire carload to my son's house, some things to my basement, and some things away forever.)

Also in that space right now is all the flooring for the addition, the window trim, and 5 huge beam covers that were recently delivered. Dh us finishing the beam covers and putting them up (there were 7) and he needs space to store and space to work. The old electric stove from the old kitchen that needs to go to the recycling is still there (there is also a dead water heater in the garage. I can't lift either thing alone and the whole experience is not woman friendly.)

The pick-up needs to be parked inside now or it won't start. That is what happened yesterday.

At the moment, the paper cutting table has become a dollhouse stand. Each of my kids had a dollhouse. Dd1 took hers. Ds's is buried in the mixed pile in the studio barn. Dd2's is now on my 3'x3' paper cutting table. (The surface of the table is ruled and there is a giant blade on one side that needs to be sharpened.) I have had it for about three years and only used it as a table to park things on in my studio. A friend was getting rid of it because she thought it was dangerous and also she couldn't sharpen the blade. Dh (unlikely) or ds could sharpen the blade for me. I might ask ds when he is here for Christmas. I might wait.

Thing I didn't remember to say - dd2 works for a company that designs clothes. She brought each of us a t-shirt when she visited this weekend. So I am up a t-shirt. (I try really hard to tell you guys everything I get except normal weekly food. And clay. I only buy clay as needed because it is expensive compared to anything else I buy and never goes on sale. I don't think I get very much?)

Also, I save jars because they are useful and I am a teacher (last week I used two saved jars to take spiders to class) but I only have one large box and one small box of saved jars. Enough to do a project with one class. I give them to other teachers if they ask. Yesterday I looked at the counter in the scullery and made a decision - if the labels on the jars leave behind gook when they come off, I will not attempt to remove the gook. I will just recycle the jar. The jars are not worth it.

Yeah,
it is very difficult when there is no place else to put things to make room.
Can the big paper cutting table do duel work, multitasking?
That way he could see that it is a very useful table for you.
You two share the space in the basement and studio barn.
Is there any way you can divide the spaces so you have your space and he has his in these areas?
A line down the middle type agreement?

What I had to do here was to make all the inside of this tiny house my territory (except his bedroom) and let him have all the carport, huge garage (including the full loft) and yard, except the tiny square I call my garden.
He was the one who told me I could store the space heaters and a few other things in one tiny specific area of the garage he chose to give up.
If I could eliminate the freezer in the pantry I would be able to store that stuff in there.

I know you are working hard to get things organized and any excess eliminated.
You also tend to the animals, school work, food bank, housework, pottery, home improvement, etc. and family.
I feel that you need some space that you don't have to move your things out of.
You also need time.
Time to keep up the great job you have been doing sorting out and finding permanent homes for the keepers.
Doing this all by yourself takes time.

He tries to give me warning, but sometimes he doesn't realize he'll need a space until he needs it, and often he underestimates how big a job he is asking me to do.

Also, when he is waiting and he sees me shifting around things that he thinks should just go, he gets angry.

He was very sweet today and helped me carry my big paper cutting table back to the house and put it in the basement. He did it grudgingly and said "you are never going to use this." But he did it.

He also feels like once an area is cleaned out, it should stay cleaned out. But sometimes stuff comes in faster than it goes out, and my process is iterative - I will bring things into more active space or shift them into less active space depending in what I am working on, and sometimes the quantity gets reduced as things move, but sometimes the group gathers up more "like" things from elsewhere.

And a lot of stuff is like the dolls were for so long - I move the stuff for him, but then he eliminates the storage and the stuff can't go back, so it is now crowding a new area with nowhere to go...

I'm glad someone lit a fire under Steven. Maybe they will keep fanning it for you.

Good Evening everybody

Hi Subclinical
So very sorry your DH is angry.
Wish there was a way to help both of you through this.
Would asking him to point out to you areas he needs you to focus on so that he can do the things he needs to do?
Not everything, not all at once, just so you have time to get moved out of his way before he needs the space?
With Steven I am just wasting my breath explaining what I need moved so that I can get to the area where I need to get to, to do what I need to do.

Finished up all the little projects I had started the other days and have everything put away where ever it goes again.
Did not give in to the lure of napping with a cat today.

Think somebody possibly said something to Steven about his hoard...
Today he has been busy sorting out, straightening, decluttering and actually going through the huge heap piled/stacked up between the back door and the garage door.
I have seen him take a few things out and put into the truck and a few things taken out to the trash can.
There is a noticeable difference out there in that small area.
Nothing I have ever said has ever gotten him to do anything like this, so must be someone else he is doing this for.

Today I did not remove anything from the basement. Instead I moved things from the studio barn into the basement because dh needs space to work and park equipment out of the weather. He is mad at me about the mess again. And about cancelling the garbage service.

I still have not started the applesauce, and I am afraid that is going to be another epic fail.

I did a little pottery today, so not nothing, but it has not been going well.

I'm trying to be positive, but it's hard when dh is angry. He is so very patient. We've been married 28 years - how long should a person have to wait for a functional home? I really am trying. But I also know I could do better if i focused more.

Good Morning

Hi Subclinical
YEA! for not gaining back the 2 pounds.
WTG! continuing to find something daily to remove from the basement!
So true, at first it is easy to find something but then choosing gets harder when we've gotten the stuff reduced down.
Too many things seems to still have potential and possibilities.

Have made a big mess of things here.
Started too many different projects, tasks and then run out of steam and motivation before completing them.
Then I curl up on the couch with a cat and sleep until it's time to go to bed.
Maybe today I will finish something and eliminate at least one little pile of assorted
miscellaneous.

Hi Tillie,

You sound like you are recovering.
It's good that you are able to do things around the house.

Tatoulia, your post is so funny! I don't think I could have a good time with a friend who"talked constantly so I could not concentrate.".but I am very glad you are having fun!

Today was a hard day for me because it was cold and wet and dark. My dd2 is home and she helped me with a few things, but they are computer things for work, not real world things.

I am still getting something out of the basement every day. It gets harder and harder.

I did some laundry.

I have not lost any weight in October, but I have not gained my 2 lbs back.

I lost my credit card. I was not worried because I know I lost it in the house, but I was frustrated because I can't think of anywhere else to look. If we report it lost, they will send us new ones, but dh's will stop working while we wait. And it expires in nov of 19.

I told dh "I don't know what to do. They won't send me a new card for a year." And he said "actually, they are sending new ones next week. Our provider is changing and the number is going to be different, and it will be a complete pain because I have to change it everywhere it is linked.

But I don't link the credit card to anything, so for me, it is just lucky. I can stop looking. I can wait a week!

Hello everyone

Enjoy your company Tatoulia :D

Today I washed up some assorted cats things and window curtains.
Got out heavier window curtains and hung them up in my little room.
Sorted through the bin where I keep cat blankets/quilts etc. found some things to let go.
Steven has the car because he is supposed to be having it serviced, hope he does that.
Last thing I want is to have any car trouble out on the road in Winter weather.
My apricot tree is so pretty this week.
Yellow, orange and apricot colored leaves.
When even a slight breeze blows, some leaves dance to the ground.

Quick drive by. I am having a wonderful time with friend but no down time whatsoever. Haven't read the posts, the friend talks constantly so I cannot concentrate. We are having a terrific time.

Washed the shower curtain and got it hung back up.

Did a lot in my little room.
My baby girl loved being in there.
Vacuumed up a ton of her beautiful white fur.
Used Murphy's oil soap and washed down everything.
Brought the little stuff to the kitchen sink and washed it all too.
Washed the kitty boogers off the window and dresser mirrors.
I always do this cleaning right before swapping out the light Summer curtains for the heavy Winter drapes and covering the window with plastic to keep the wind and ice out since it is on the North side of the house.

Going to go shower now and go to bed, even though it's only 6:20pm.

Good Morning

Got some sleep last night.
Thinking today I will do something.
Plan is to take down and wash the shower curtain and to use the vacuum attachment in my room and vacuum up all the edges & corners.

Hello

Hope your plumbing gets finished up CriticalMass.

I know that soon that table cloth will be on your table Subclinical.

So tired, so very, very tired.
Been doing very little other than cat tasks.
And cat tasks are sad to do.
The three remaining boys are clingy, needy and keep looking for her.
She made all the rules and dictated how things were to be.

Hi Tillie,

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sorry your parents didn't do a better job. As a teacher, I started out intimidated by parents and feeling like they were judging me and hoping I didn't fall short. Now I judge them. I feel like the good ones are just hoping I will be good for their kids and want to work together. But sometimes I hate them. There are so many horrible but not reportable parents out there who think they are doing a good job. It's amazing anybody grows up healthy.

CM, I hope your plumber arrives! The dark is a very hard thing. Are you seasonal? I am entering the struggling part of the year.

My tablecloth arrived yesterday, but I have not started cleaning off the table. I still have a lot to do for the next two days of classes, I took on a new class to teach (dh is not happy about it, but I want to do it, I get paid and we are working to pay off debt and let him retire.), we are going out with friends tomorrow night, and this weekend is earmarked for applesauce.

Dd2 is coming home this weekend too.

Well, it's the second day since our guy said he would for sure be here (yesterday) and get the plumbing job done. We know he has the same kind of life we do, with crises frequently arising. But it sure would be nice if he would finally get here and we could have this limbo behind us!

I'm wanting to sleep in these darker mornings but that gets the day started so late and it goes by ridiculously fast. I'm not as depressed but I still wish the time would allow me to go at my own pace (right now, that would be "turtle") and still accomplish many things. Haha. I did get a few things to the storage unit but haven't really had a real "work session" there. It's supposed to start raining today and rain tomorrow.

The night routines have changed so much over this past year, ever since my roommate had to spend an extra hour doing that medication routine and somehow even though we each stay up later, we seem to be accomplishing less of an evening.

Just getting the bunnies exercised seems to take a long time, and the cats are still segregated so that makes getting through the house harder. The boy escaped into the front part of the house a night or two ago. No fur flew, but he was NOT happy to be put back into the back room and he meowed so much - I felt for him but it also kind of drove me nuts. He's calmer now though.

I didn't get the baseball playoffs watched this year but I'm listening to the World Series on radio (TV in back room broken). Rooting for the Dodgers but if the Red Sox win it I'll be chill. Don't have the energy to throw a fit!

Tillie, hope you're gradually recovering. Thanks for encouraging us. Tatoulia, thanks for the understanding about how difficult it is to do much when pulled in many directions! SubC I had to laugh at my reaction to your post - I would be keeping the cake, donuts, bread and almonds and giving the artichokes and parsnips to the chickens, LOL! Not that I need those things, but I'm not much of a veggie eater and I like my carbs. Too much, I admit.

Well, I guess I'll go see what I can piddle with and maybe get a little done of. One of these days, one of these days, right?

Hello

Putting household chores on the back burner for a while so that you can take the time to do other things is perfectly alright.
If we didn't we would never find the time to do projects or activities because with housework there is always something we could be doing there.
We just need to make sure the important things get done like animal care and cleaning up their areas.

That is a beautiful moon out there. :)

It is a misconception, a false belief that our homes are always to be perfectly clean and tidy every hour of every day.
That is unrealistic thinking because we live here and dust, dishes, laundry just happens.
Better to accept this truth and schedule in some time for doing projects, crafts, hobbies or just relaxing with a good book now and then.

All work and no play is from the puritan work ethics way of thinking.
My parents never allowed me to read or play because I could be doing some household chore as a more productive way to spend my time.
Trying to do school homework there was a nightmare.

Good morning.

A beautiful full moon is shining on me, and on Tillie who never gets rain, so I am sending my love in the moonlight.

Tatoulia, have fun with your friend.

I have lost my credit card. I used it to order the table cloth, and I did not put it back in my wallet, and I cannot find it. I want it to buy gas this morning. (I must buy the gas to get to work, but I have a little cash.)

I think I am going to change my projects list to projects and goals. I want to add swimming 50 nautical miles. It is 49 n. miles by water from my hometown to the mouth of the Potomac river.

Time to go do the milking...

Hello, hello everyone!

Glad to hear from you all. SubC I love that idea of doing something permanent vs temporary. I too sometimes think that when I count laundry or changing sheets, I'm not really making progress because those two things I always do. Even when I was really stuck.

Cm there is so much for you to think about and try to prioritize. I too would struggle trying to figure out the what's and where's. I hope some good bunny time will help.

Dear Tillie. Take good care of yourself. I am so sorry about losing the little one.

Friend comes tomorrow.

Keep moving Tillie. It will help. Grief is heavy.

I swam a nautical mile today. Making some progress on pottery. I am trying something new - I am deprioritizing regular housework. If I only have a few minutes, I will throw in a load of laundry or take care of some dishes, but if I have half an hour - I will do something more important. The house is messier, but I am doing better on other, "permanent" stuff. The dishes come back in less than a day, but the bucket of clay that is now four bowls and a clean bucket to take to school won't.

Hello friends

trying to get out of this deep depression best I can.
Sleep is broken, sporadic but I'm always just so tired, sleepy.
Keep up the wonderful progress you all are making every day even though you may not feel you've done anything, you have.
Take care of yourselves and each other (((HUG)))

Tillie, i'm Glad you are taking care of yourself. Take your time.

CM, hurray for a nice long post that posted!

I'm sorry plumbing is still such a deal, but glad you are getting rid of lead pipes!

I'm also sorry about your toad. So many things to take care of! I didn't realize you had amphibians.

Bunny time always makes me happier.

I totally understand that whole getting stuck with decision making thing. I have actually made myself a bunch of lists. "Things you can do early in the morning when dh is sleeping, things you can do while something is in the oven/on the stove, things you can do stuck on hold, things you can do in five minutes, things you can do in the basement when the wether is bad, things you can do othe porch if it is sunny but cold...." sometimes I lose the lists.

I went to the food bank today. I brought home one big box, containing: 4 cakes for the chickens, one box of donuts for me, one loaf of bread for me, one jar of artichokes for me, one bag of almonds for me, and a big bag of parsnips for me. The cakes and (2/3 of) the donuts are on the counter. The rest is put away. I put a lot of donuts away in me.

I also went to the Apple orchard. I want to make 4 dozen quarts, but I don't think I bought enough apples. It is just for us. To eat and bake with. However much I end up with, that will be enough for this year. I always buy too many apples. So this year I tried not to. I did buy a gallon of cider. Yum! (Goes well with donuts)

**Note - if this posts, I'll be glad - the Captcha is being hinky**

Hey friends,

Days went by faster than I realized.

Tillie - glad you are back, huge hugs and much empathy. Take it easy still. Grief is so draining.

I'm kind of blah at the moment. Our plumbing is in limbo. The kitchen sink did get completed, can't remember if I posted about that. But then he had to order more pipes - he's getting rid of old lead pipes. The new ones arrived, but what has probably happened is that our job dragged out and ran into the time for this other job he was telling us about.

I left him a voicemail today but haven't heard anything.

Washer is disconnected so we had to go to the laundromat Saturday. Almost forgot how, haven't had to in so long.

Off and on feeling semi-motivated then sliding into kind of a depressed state. Wondering if I'll ever have a better income stream and be able to afford a simple but nice place in a safe non-creepy neighborhood near my church (which is also near the neighborhood where I grew up, in case I never mentioned that).

It's the neighborhood where the house my dad built for us and that was foreclosed on is. My dream is to live in that area again, and if I am at peace in my soul and not so stressed and adrift, eventually I will be able to drive down my old street and look at the house and grieve and have closure. Maybe. A lot of prayer and discernment will be involved.

In the meantime, patience with this roommate situation - and I really feel for her at this time as well, because of all these recent expenses and stress. She is so vulnerable to stress related illness and winter is coming on. So I realize God's got us here to help one another out until both our situations improve. And she is a good friend. But I miss living on my own.

The animals are also needing some TLC at times - cat reintroduction has been slowed down due to construction and other delays. We have tried letting them see each other through a screen door. Girl hissed at boy. So we're not out of the woods yet.

Bunnies need to be supervised because I'm afraid one of them might chew on the vinyl floor in their play area. Which is fine, I want to spend time with them. Yet I feel tugged at by the stuff that needs doing in other places, both at home and away.

Going to make a sturdy denim quilt, nothing fancy, just a sandwich with batting between and tie-quilted with heavy thread. It will be for going into the bunny pen and lying on the floor with them. That's what I used to do back at my parents' house, and have been disconnected from in these other living quarters since. It's a happy thing to pet them, to have them nudge me and tickle me with their whiskers. I need it and so do they.

My little toad died, and blame myself because I procrastinated on getting her crickets. :( It's hard to admit that. I ran right out and got crickets for the frog; he's bigger so he is okay. All I can do is do better.

All that great motivation about getting to the storage in my last post - it just kind of faded away in the uncertainty as to whether we were going to be dealing with plumbing work or what each day, and my brain is just mush and indecision right now. I'm taking some vitamins that I had been neglecting to take - hopefully things that will help the ADD, anxiety, and depression. Sleep deprivation and such also is a thing these days.

Well, maybe I'll get back at least to a middle ground soon . . . maybe that excited mood I had was too good to last. There is still a predicted supply of nice fall days; I just pray they don't get wasted waiting and wondering.

Once again INDECISION is my enemy. Too many things, and I stink at that time management thing about what are the big priorities versus the smaller ones. That system just doesn't click for me. Then I tell myself, well, just start anywhere then. Yet I still don't. Ack!

I will do my best to post more often and tell of something I did against the clutter or other issues, and see how you all are doing. That may help. Hope all goes well for you.

Hi Tillie, thanks for stopping in. I'm glad you'll shower today. I'm so sorry about losing the kitty.

Hello

Thank you both so very much (((HUG)))

Nice to read your goings ons.

Subclinical
A pretty new table cloth will be wonderfully cheerful and a good motivation to clear off that table.

Tatoulia
you did a fantastic job helping your Mom!
So happy it went so well.

Still hurting, still lost, still so sad.
Trying to pull myself together.
Today I will shower and wash my hair.
Will also do some laundry and put clean sheets & pillow cases on my bed tonight.

Keep taking care of each other (((HUGS)))

Tillie I am sending you much love. Because of you and everyone else on here, my house is being cleaned top to bottom today and I am thrilled.

I have to agree, SubC, I would rather be peaceful than go into a room with improvement in mind! My friend is high energy, very neat and tidy. She's also very kind and non-judgmental. I did my first big cleanout so she could come here. Probably five years ago. And while I slept, she cleaned. And she kept making excuses for me so I didn't need to be embarrassed. She'd say stuff like, you work so hard, and I like doing it. Very sweet and kind.

My cleaners are coming at 9:30. Originally they said 8 so I got up to do a bit of scrambling like feed the kitty, do a little check for cat throw up and the like. Now I'm enjoying a cup of coffee on this brisk fall morning.

Very good idea regarding the tablecloth! I bet it will be pretty and such a great thing to strive for! You are working toward something concrete, which can be easier than the abstract!

Be strong at the food bank. Your house isn't a garbage can! I am paraphrasing from my nutritionist, who tells me, your body is not a garbage can, meaning, I'm not to eat food just because it's there or it will ?go to waste'.

Applesauce!!!!! How much do you make, do you can it and sell it?

Tillie, when you are ready to come back, we want you to know right away that you are loved and missed and we have been thinking of you and sharing your sadness, so I will keep posting to you. I hope you are finding some peace.

Today I go back to the food bank. I am going to tell them that I won't be there next week because I need the day if I am going to get applesauce made this year (I am not going to tell them the Because part.)

One box. At most.

I am still very sore this morning. My kitty usually curls up in my lap in the morning while I have my coffee, but he has pressed his warm little self against my sore hip today!

I am almost out of hay again.

Tatoulia, I understand your friend's approach, but I would find that exhausting. I still haven't gotten to the point where if I do notice a thing that needs to be done, I can just do it. There are too many. Things everywhere!

I have made a new challenge for myself. There was a beautiful fall tablecloth on sale from a store I really like. It is big enough for my big dining room table on the porch. Dh said I could order it. So, my tablecloth is coming. I picked slowest cheapest shipping, but it should still be here next week, so I now have to clear all the things off of the table so that I can cover it and make it look beautiful when the tablecloth comes.

SubC I like the idea of removing a thing a day! It is habit-building! The family friend who is visiting said that everytime she walks into a room, she thinks: what can I do to improve it? I am not even striving for that but it does help me every so often.

Thank you for the very good advice of not buying mom more clothes. I didn't realize I was overdoing it til you made the suggestion! Now I see the connection between some of her clutter and my role in it. I am the only one bringing things into her place.

Oh!! Big news, as I was folding one of her dresses to take upstairs, I felt something funny. I found a pocket with 55 dollars! A fifty and a five. Nice and crisp! Mom was thrilled!!!!!

Good work trying to treat your home as you treat the other studio. Hard to do. It's so hard to see the clutter. So hard.

I hope you've soaked in the tub. Take good care of that hip! I am all cozy with the fireplace and in my clean jammies.

Sending love to Tillie. I am just so sorry.

Tatoulia, i'm Glad things went so well with your mom and that you were able to help her clear out a bit.

Does she have anyone bringing things in besides you? I know you want to spoil her, but try not to bring her new clothes until after you "shop" her closet.

Tillie you are still on my mind.

I worked in the studio a lot today. I am trying to treat my studio with the same care and respect that I show the studio where I am a student. So I spent a lot of time cleaning up. I don't think it looks much better, but it is cleaner, and a bit more functional.

I have managed to remove at least one item - trash, recycling, or thing to put away somewhere else - from the basement every day since my mom left. Some of them were very small, but it is a habit I am working on.

This evening I am going to clean up, do my chores, and take a hot bath because my hip hurts from brush clearing yesterday and pottery today.

Ok I'm back from mom's. I kept my word and there were no harsh words. It went really well. I just came in and broke down some boxes from some supplies she had delivered and I took the boxes out. I quickly removed some gross stuff from her fridge and I went into her cabinet and got rid of some severely expired things. (I honestly thought I had taken care of all the things but I guess I was mistaken). We had a good laugh. Then I asked her if she'd like help putting her summer clothes away so I did. She lamented the lack of closet space and I said, I bet there's more than you realize and I pulled out things one at a time and everything I pulled out she no longer wanted. I only did one side of the closet. Some of the nicer dresses I took to a woman upstairs who consistently asks me for clothes. She was thrilled with what I brought and I hung up her new things for her.

I also found a beautiful skirt and blouse I'd bought her mom from Lord and Taylor that she's never worn. I couldn't believe it since they are just so pretty. But not her style, I guess. So I took those home with me to give to one of my cleaners. . Then some stuff went in a goodwill bag and other things were put into the trash. It went really well. I did no actual cleaning other than kitty's box. I also removed all of her wire hangers since they are only taking up space and she has very good sturdy hangers.

I took out most of her garbage and I'll have to swing by to get the stuff for goodwill.

So it went really well. She sat in her chair the whole time and we talked and I worked and she was so cute, saying that she was exhausted from all of MY hard work. She's lovely in every way.

So I am just out of the shower and will need to dry my hair so I don't get sick. It's a cool beautiful sunny windy fall day.

Good morning, everyone, and hello my dear Tillie.

It is just after noon here and I'm drying my sheets and doing a quick load of darks. My mother just called filled with self-loathing and frustration. She's upset that her apartment is such s mess. It's cluttered and dangerous but she won't get rid of a thing. Last week while hunting for something she lost, I found this ridiculous thing she bought YEARS AGO to send to someone and is now broken and missing pieces and she still wouldn't let me throw it out.

Today I took a breath when speaking with her and I told her I know how she feels, and yes, her place is just too small, and that i will come over and see her. I'm not going to nag about getting rid of stuff, I'm going to be helpful and empathetic and genuine. I may even ask an open ended question and say, is there anything here that bugs you that you wish were gone? I think that may be a place to go. I will not use words and phrases like, you have too much stuff, why are you keeping this, why is this useful, why do you still have this. I may decide to hold up an object and say, where do you want me to put this, but only if it is stupid and could make her decide to donate.

I will be a good person to an elderly person at the end of her life. I will let go of the mother-daughter dynamic and I will just treat her kindly, like she's the elderly person she is.

I'll get back to you with an accurate, candid report. If I need to check in, I will. Any and all suggestions, criticisms, comments, etc are welcome. This is about my mother's experience, not mine.

Hey everyone. Sending love to Tillie!!

My class today was part one of a two part cake decorating class! It's hard and I'm not very precise. But I had a good time. I did some laundry in the afternoon then BF took me for errands.

I now have two new pillows, new sheets, new towels and a new comforter for my friend's visit. I've washed it all but the comforter, obviously. I don't know where to put this stuff. I want it out of my way.

The wrapping came down today, SubC but the scaffolding is still up. They washed our windows today. I don't think they will be able to leave scaffolding up for long. We are all complaining too much. We are not impeding on the sidewal, luckily. That is interesting about industry practice.

I do not like this stuff all around my house. It's making me a bit cranky, which is ridiculous. I should see if I can possible clear off any space in my linen closet. I did put the clean sheets back in there and I'm wondering if the pillows could go there too.

The thing is, it was my job to get the speaker and I didn't. I don't even know why I didn't. I wasn't thinking about it. And I'm so ashamed of myself.

I emptied the dishwasher and did all of kitty's laundry. I'm now doing a load of PJs. I'm not sure if I have what it takes to change my sheets tonight.

It is nice and cool here, and I am happy.

I would love to see your work some day, SubC. Do you find your energy is back to normal now?

SHOUT OUT TO CM, LR, JOAN, ANONY, TESS, MAR and DIANE. did I miss anyone? Undoubtedly so.

They will probably leave the scaffolding in place until they need it for another job. It's cheaper and easier to move it directly than to store it and move it twice. The only exception is if they are likely to be ticketed by the municipality (blocking's sidewalk) or the work was done to be ready for an event - in which case clean up is part of the "before you get paid"

Dd works construction.

I'm glad you got your grates back up!

You are a volunteer. If they have someone else waiting for the job, maybe you should consider letting them have a turn. Otherwise, they get what they get.

Enjoy your class. What is it?

I have removed something from the basement every day this week. Some trash or recycling, some "goes elsewhere."

I brought home two large cooking vessels I made in my class.

I am falling back into "stop and drop" habits and "work until I am out of time and then walk away" which is leaving a lot of mess and disorganization in the house again. The weather has been changing and there are three coats of various weights on various floors, plus sweaters on chairs and couches. There are also several piles of classroom papers from this week. I gave a test and I have to check it.

Today is dh birthday. He wants me to work on clearing brush from the back field with him, and then we are going to dinner and a concert.

Hello everyone! Let's make Tillie proud and continue to share our accomplishments and plans while she takes care of herself.

CM, I do my best puttering with the music on! I stream pandora from my phone or iPad and I have a good quality Bluetooth speaker! It helps me get things done!

I am mentally preparing for friend's visit. Cleaners come on Monday and then I pick up friend on Wednesday.

I have been embarrassed and mad at myself. I let something go on one of my volunteer positions. So now we don't have a speaker for our meeting and I'm embarrassed and stressed about it. I don't have an excuse and I didn't offer one. I could feel the flop sweat drip down my forehead as I had to admit it at the executive committee meeting. I just wanted to fake my own death. Honestly, it brought back a lot of feelings that I hadn't felt for a while. In my last job I used to feel a day late and a dollar short all too frequently. Anyway I'm trying to stop the self-loathing. What a terrible feeling.

I am taking a fun class at the adult education center tomorrow.

Ok so what are you doing today? I hope that SubC continues to bask in her accomplishments and I hope CMs plumbing troubles are far behind her. Great work on the receipts!!!I got my window grates back up! I had our managemt company intervene. It's a longer story but the end result is I'm happy. I just wish they'd take the scaffolding down. The work is complete.

Sending extra love to Tillie.

Sending you love and strength Tillie. I am so very, very sorry. We will be here when you come back. I'm heartbroken too.