Good morning everybody! :)

Hope you all are having a good day today,
this very last day of January 2014.
This is the Chinese New Year according to my calendar. Year of the horse.
What are your plans for February?
Mine are to continue trying to get the vehicle titles all in order so I can try to sell them so I can get myself a car.
Do some more pruning and maintenance stuff in the garden.
Empty kitchen drawers, wash them and put everything back in them all neat & tidy.
Sharpen the knives.
Work on the doll house. The tiny bed is completely bare and needs some linens.
Sew on my sewing projects. This is hard & frustrating to do because Scooter always helps.
Then there is some self improvement I want to work on. Eating on a real schedule rather than just when I get hungry.
Keeping better track of time. Seems the hours and days are just going past in a blur. Need to be more conscious in the present. lol :D

So, what are your plans for February 2014?

Good morning! :D

It's snowing! YEA!!! :D
Slept in. It was so dark and quiet and the bed was very comfy. :)
Yesterday I got a lot accomplished. Even did the deep freezer.
Have to do the daily tasks, like cat stuff then since today is a SNOW DAY I will mess around with my sewing projects. :D
So very very HAPPY to see snow.
My county has been declared a disaster area due to this being a third year of drought.
All our wells are at risk.
Keep your fingers crossed that we get enough snow fall to make it right again. :D

Good Morning to All!

I hope that neither rain nor sleet nor snow will keep you from a rewarding day!

Karl, hope you are able to make progress on a place to stay.

Barb, hope things are going well with the SteraClean project.

Roxie, hope you can get a good resolution on your plumbing problems today. Makes me sick to think of all the money you are having to spend on that.

Have been doing some shopping, perhaps I got my comeuppance yesterday. I bought a pair of very light hand weights in the morning. I wanted to use them to modify some exercises in a book I'm reading. They have disappeared; they were so light I think I got them mixed into a large batch of outbound in the afternoon! :). I was putting everything in plastic grocery sacks and I think I just grabbed that sack without looking carefully in it and added more stuff on top. I guess the bright side is that 10-12 grocery sacks of stuff and 2 lunch boxes went out the door. (and I didn't keep back too much.)

Now the outbound spot, the trash dumpster and the recycle dumpster are all clamoring to be fed again. I appear to be faced with challenge of following some of my own advice. :). I believe I am going to have to review the bucket collection for getting something into the recycle dumpster besides weekly waste this week.

I just don't like the cold, but it's supposed to be up in the high 40's later today, so I will go in the garage or outside with the buckets later.

I have remembered, sometimes, to keep a straight wrist. Have been following Tillie's advice (re meditation) and been reaquainting myself with John Bright-Fey's Morning Cup of Meditation. I have also been working a little bit with his Morning Cup of Qigong.

Tillie thanks for the message, good info.

Good evening, I brought 3 carts full of wood to deck today. So nice to have a smooth gravel/rock path to bring wood on, so much easier. Over an hour in craft room. Organized all good fabric by color. Sorted some junk bins, kept the good stuff and put in labeled containers. Noticed a little more floor to walk on. Nothing fell on me today, that is a sign of progress, used to be piled to ceiling. Very windy so made sure tarps on wood etc were secure.
Yesterday/last night it rained and rained, I was so worried, but no flooding in garage or walkway. It was warmer and the rain softened soil so I finished the steps in back yard. Used a sledge hammer to knock cement blocks further into soil so they are sturdier now. I was busy all day, didn't get much done it feels like. Did get an appt. with my doctor finally. Days are getting a few minutes longer, thank goodness. I am so happy it is raining, means it is above freezing finally.

Good morning! :D

Hi Diane :)
A main part of my weekly cleaning is to always clean those things that get touched daily.
Door knobs, light switches, remotes, phone, computer, etc.
Can't help it, having been a surgical assistant my job was to make and maintain a sterile field. lol :D
I have taught a lot of families to do this to help reduce the spread of viruses in the household and it really does work.

There is a concept called "good enough".
Perfectionism keeps us from doing anything since we don't have the motivation to do it all perfectly.
But running the vacuum around and doing the job "good enough" is perfectly acceptable.
Same with other maintenance tasks.
Running a wet cloth over a countertop rather than scouring and shining up the whole kitchen or bathroom is "good enough" at times.
(((hugs))) :)

Hi Karl :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Enjoy your BD freebies. :D

Hi Dave :)

I have a few plans for today.
Since it's cloudy & windy outside I think I will cook up some more food to freeze and have ready to eat when I get hungry.
Need to make more lemonade.
I brew a pot of herbal or green tea and add fresh lemon juice and honey then enough water to make one gallon.
A couple of glasses of that a day helps keep the sore throats & sniffles away. ;)
Then I will have to clean the kitchen.
Debating with myself about defrosting the deep freezer today.
It's not hard to do so I really should just do that then I don't have to think about it any more.
It's trash pick up day and the big green wheelie bin is already out at the road. :D YEA!

So, what are you all up to today? :D

Hey Karl,

Famous Daves, that's a lot of food if they'll let you have both orders and then a doggy bag. I can't remember, do Fazolis or Panera Bread do birthday something or anothers if you've registered online?

You had some ice cream coupons awhile back-was it cherry cordial? - how was that?

Did you have any rooming leads from the last time that had any potential for this time?

wow, my post turned out with a huge space at the top, sorry for that

Nice to read your posts this morning, helps so much to feel connected to you. They canceled all schools in county, including college and university in Bend today. Streets are all solid sheets of ice. Warm upper air rain, fell through the frozen fog and covered streets with ice. So glad I enjoy being a home body. Yes SAD has affected me since childhood.
Dave if you keep your wrist/arm straight when getting up, should not injure wrist, if you bend your wrist too much pressure, so keep it straight knuckle man.
Today I need to bring more wood up to deck, and keep plenty ready for week, supposed to snow on and off this week. I finished the pot of soup, so time to make more. On news said the dirtiest places, so plan to disinfect all handles, remote, phone, handles, knobs, computer today. I have glue gun out and craft table set up by stove, so plan to do something creative today to boost my spirits.
I see myself as lethargic most of the time, have to fight it most days. Yesterday had to trick myself into going into craft room, saying I was looking for something, then thought I could sort one little bin, stayed in an hour working. Much of my lethargy is caused by indecisivness (sp) I think. I noticed yesterday did not want to vacuum at all. Perfectionism popped into my mind, realized I think I have to do every inch or why bother, so I told myself I could quit as soon as I was tired, that is why only vacuumed 1/2 yesterday. It was a new awareness, if can't do it all, why start. After I use glue gun and mess up stuff in here more, will vacuum in here. I plan to let my mind just dream up a new project, freedom to create whatever I dream up, not to sell, or give away, just for my satisfaction and fun.

Good morning :)
Big dark storm clouds moving in this morning.
Predicted to have rain & snow this week.
YEA! :D we really need the water to get out of this drought. Hope we get LOTS & LOTS.

WOW! Everybody, take care of your thumbs and toes.
Stay whole & healthy. No wounds or diseases.
Makes life miserable being sick or hurt.

Spring will be here soon and watching the daffodils and iris leaves emerge from the ground will lift everybodys spirits.
Hang in there.
Januweary is almost over and we only have to get through Februweary.

I too have been struggling with the "why bothers".
Want to just vegitate and let the world go by without me.
But I know that if I don't maintain my "NO CLUTTER ZONES" the hoarder will immediately re-crap these areas.
So every day I do the maintenance and every week the general cleaning and schedule in at least one bigger cleaning task like vacuuming the fridge coils or defrosting the freezer, etc.
"Idon'twanna" but I do it any way.

Sleep is very important.
I try to get the right amount but most often my plans are ruined by inconsiderate housemate, fighting cats or brat kids making prank phone calls.
We all need around 7/8 hours of undisturbed sleep a night.
Too little or too much and our brains don't fully function. Decision making becomes impossible and we whine a lot.
But still, we need to make the effort to get the sleep. Setting firm bedtime routines and schedules even though the little kid in us begs for more play time. :)

WAY TO GO!!!
for all your accomplishments!
The important phone calls, the decluttering, the maintenance, the eating healthy, the keeping at it even when you really just want to quit! (((hugs))) :D

YIKES sorry about the way too big font... can't edit it.

Re quote I just posted.

I am awestruck by the battles I see being fought around me. I pray that each of you will experience a special kindness tomorrow.

diane,
Difficult to think of you as lethargic. I'm glad you were able to both find things to do and do them in spite of the bad weather.

Happy Dances are always good.

farting rainbows allowed me to smile, first one today I think!! got up to 28 today, everything still frozen fog. I did go up on the roof and did two little things, then back in the house. It is so cold with the wind.
I did make appt with old eye doctor and tax person. tried to make appt with doctor but clinic appt system was not working, computer problem.
did dishes, vacuumed 1/2 of place. 1 load laundry, 1 hour in craft room organizing. Took shower, washed and curled hair, did not want to do one thing but did it anyway, really dislike this no visibility weather.
thank goodness for this website, since last night, I said I would do stuff today, I knew I had to, or report failure. did nothing with clothes, too cold in bedroom to try clothes on. Maybe tomorrow. A myt least I did do a few things in spite of lethargy. I want to do one fun thing now, maybe some felting. Forgot to have fun today until I read about farting rainbows, maybe I will force myself to get off butt and do a 10 second happy dance.

Good morning Everybody :D

Must clean the house today!
No procrastination, no excuses, no whining.
Right now I have been downloading updates, defraging, deleting stuff to see if something malfunctioned with my computer & fix it.
Really enjoyed reading the message board here today! :D
Even when you feel your posts are not worth posting, please post! It is important to put it all out there, let us know how you are really feeling, so we can understand and be better able to help you with suggestions or just a (((hug))).
Wishing you all glitter covered unicorns farting rainbows today. ;)

diane,
sorry about your weather. I thought sure from the accuweather map you were in for a nice day or two.

Dianne,

The gist of something I read somewhere. When we get busy being guilty about the past we miss the opportunity to engage with right now and start the creation of a new past.

My thoughts: Understanding that we have messed up in the past gives us the opportunity each day to knowingly make our buying choices in the store rather than our basements. It also gives us the opportunity to talk back to our brains and our emotions and clear out stuff that is holding us back from doing things other than cleaning that might be more beneficial to both us and those around us.

These are thoughts that am dealing with as I work to get my head and my hands around the things I need to do to get my garage opened up some more.

Very busy keeping busy :)
Not tackled hoard projects yet today but been cleaning and keeping energy levels up. I clean both our bathrooms every day, vacuum and mop everyday.. keeping the good areas polished help me look forward to the potential end results. Also, I am SOOOOOOO paranoid about creepy crawlers and critters that I feel that cleaning the areas I can get to will alert me if they are running loose. (We live on water and rats E-GAAAADS are an issue in the winter time). Off to run errands so will report back later.

When you get so befuddled you don't know what you want or don't even care about doing anything
because it all seems so futile/hopeless
It is a GREAT time for you to meditate.
Sit quietly, breathe properly, relax, let go,
forget about the world and all the busy-ness there.
In the calm and quiet you will be able to hear a different sound.
This will lead you to your inner thoughts and needs and desires.
It will release you from all the distress of the modern world and allow you to become centered.
When centered, you will be able to calmly and serenely do that which you now can see is the way you should proceed.
(((hugs)))
Tune out, Tune in

Sorry we lost you last night Tillie, wondered why you didn't come back.
Dianne, I can relate with you so much and so happy you keep posting, it helps to know I am not the only one with ups and downs with this project of change. I hear you on volunteering, taking care of pets and yourself is enough for now.
Woke up to frozen fog, no visibility this morning, not so happy about weather, was supposed to have one more nice day to finish stuff I started outside. Will do this afternoon, supposed to rain/snow starting Tuesday. I made a long list of calls I need to make with phone numbers, then thought I would write on here first. stressed to make appt. and not know how much snow will fall by the time they can see me. some of the calls are not associated with travel so will do those first. Barb, I keep an old slimline plug in phone to use when power goes out. Do you have one, can use that until get new phone.
Roxie, nice to hear from you.
I have to do maintenance this morning, papers around me, file, toss, pay one bill. few dishes. Vacuum. put away a few items.

Thank you.
I slept well.

diane,
From accuweather, it looks like while some of us are experiencing Polar activities for a day or two, you get mild weather. You are being blessed with some more roof repair time!

Roxie,

I bought a thumb brace yesterday too. (Mueller thumb stabilizer.) It seems like it will do a good job immobilizing the big joint next to the hand. I will probably get another one. Care when lifting is in order so as not to over stress the small joint which is still exposed.

Something else I have been trying to do. I notice when sitting or getting up i spread all my fingers and thumb out. I have been trying to remember to tuck my thumb into my fingers adn use my knuckles when I'm getting up and down on the couch (although that probably creates more stress on the wrist).

I totally lost connection to the chatroom and can't get back in.
Sorry everybody. :(
Was a GREAT chat any way. Appreciate all of you. (((hugs)))
Good night John Boy. :)

Hi all!
I am feeling much better today even though we are still under a travel advisory.It is still bitterly cold and the wind is unrelenting.
My little friend came over to dig me out again. This is getting expensive to pay him every time, but I want to encourage his work ethic and I don't have to worry about the city fining me for not keeping my walks clean.
Traveling north yesterday would have been very foolish. Friends sent me pictures of the various jackknifed trucks, slide offs and pile ups. You cannot even tell where the road is supposed to be even after the state highway trucks have just been through.
I did get out yesterday to the grocery store, feed depot and drug store. I have all wheel drive and although I have to drive carefully, I can manage the city streets if I plan my route. It does me good to be with people.
This morning I made cinnamon coffee cake for breakfast. Baking heated up my little kitchen and smelled wonderful.
I have been corresponding by email with the cleanup crew recommended for my area on this website. I am making slow steady progress, but I need a backup plan. Sometimes we need to be the tortoise and sometimes we need to be the hare. Months of slow cleaning and decluttering is not accomplishing the progress I need to make. I am going to have to bite the bullet and ask for help.
Scott has been very nice in answering my questions and concerns. He is located 3 hours away. With the road conditions the way they are presently, having him come here to do an estimate is not very practical. I will need to take photographs this week and email them. This is a big project. One that I am not looking forward to and would like to avoid.
My cell phone died yesterday. I don't have a landline. I knew it was dying and purchased a new one. I have been avoiding transferring the files myself. Now I don't know what I did with the new phone. It is somewhere in the living room. It was on the coffee table, but the dogs had a little wrestling match through the living room and over the coffee and end tables sending everything scattering. Aussies are a very physical and active breed. Since it has been too
cold for them to run for an extended time outside, they have been expending their energy inside my tiny, cluttered house adding to the disorder.
Tasks today: one bag of trash out, tidy the kitchen, find and reprogram the new phone.
Sorry this long. Being housebound makes me wordy. :)

Good morning :)

Hi Diane :D
I am looking forward to chatting with you tonight. (((hugs)))

OK, so I got my new eye glasses! :D
Been getting used to them, everything is so different now.
You get used to not seeing stuff and all of a sudden everything is in sharp focus.
Need to take breaks and just rest my eyes every now & then.
Nothing much planned for today.
"ONLINE SUPPORT GROUP" at 5:00pm PST.
Sun is shining so I will get outside when it warms up a little.
Yesterday while in town I ran into a lot of friends and spent a lot of time chatting and catching up with them.
That was especially nice and I am still smiling. :D

CHAT tonight people, BE THERE! ;)

goodmorning everyoone. The weather is really beating us up this year!! Roxie, so sorry about more frozen pipes. Can you insulate pipes and put heat tape on them? It is memorable communing with spiders while doing insulation.
I woke up to 15 degrees out, and fire went out so was 40 degrees in here, started fire and is now almost warm enough. I have several layers of clothes on. Yesterday did 2 loads of laundry, put away this morning. Peeled off more of old roof patch on trailer yesterday, while sitting up there looking at view, so will have to repair that with new roof patch today. Took some pictures of white frozen fog on trees. Brought more wood on. Moved some bricks and blocks to make border on path to wood, looks sort of good. Sorted all thread by colors, and type, like all silk thread is in one place. I still have not made eye appt. Have to make doctor appt too, cut my little toe across the bottom on a huge nail last week and it is not healing, cut is too deep and right where toe meets foot, so keeps opening. also need to make a mammogram appt, been way too long and sister had breast cancer, so will make a list with all phone numbers today, and call all on Monday. It will only take a few minutes to make appts, and it has stressed me for over a week, and months about mammogram. Tillie, happy you get glasses today, will be fun to hear how much better you see. The sun came out today, so as soon as it warms up, I will do roof on trailer and visualize my new garage roof with window and hopefully deck if city will allow. I would really like roof higher with loft, doors to deck, so I could enjoy the view rain or shine. I deserve it dog gone it. If I change roof line, have to get city permit, if keep it as it with new roof, no permit needed, that is the dilimna. City might make me tear the whole thing down if they see how old it is. The deck out from my deck would be under 30 inches off the ground so would not require a permit. Dilemna is it would be where only grass is, actually grass is difficult to maintain, I wouldn't miss it, but dogs like it. I could make a grass area in lower yard by faucet which would actually be better. Now that house is liveable in most areas, starting to think of improvements. Put cute curtains up in kitchen yesterday with a few big embroidered coffee cups, now want to change color of walls around curtain. Will be much more enjoyable. Kitchen is so tiny, not much fun so have to make it really cute. Sunshine is so great, but I am so cold, noticed I am not as excited about it as usual. Once I get up and start moving and warm up I will be almost as happy as tillie!!

Good morning :)

Hi Diane :)
YEA! for finding that refund check! :D
WOW! your dreams for that new construction sound really nice.
Hoping the sun burns through all that fog for you today. :)

Hi Roxie :)
So sorry to read you had broken pipes. :(
But happy you have water back on again inside.
Those raccoons need to move out so you can get that shed properly closed up and warm. Serve them with an eviction notice. :D

Hi Karl :)
Just think about how fit and muscular you will be having to bike 60 miles twice every day.
Unfortunately, you won't have any time to do other things like sleep.
But having a place to live, should the need arise, is better than not having any potential places to live. ;)

Hi Darci :)
So life got the better of you and you need to get sorted out again?
Happy you came back here to us. :D
We have a new chat room for the Sunday online support group. Hope to see you there. :D

Oh Barb :( So sorry the weather is keeping you home bound. (((hugs)))

Today I am off to town to pick up my new eye glasses.
Will get some more kitty kibble and kitty litter while I'm out.
When I get back I will be going over to the big house to water their house plants.
Keep dreaming, if you don't have any dreams how do you ever expect to have your dreams come true? ;D

Feeling sad today. I was supposed to drive 2 1/2 hours north to see friends, but the 30 mile an hour winds make driving the back roads too hazardous. It causes whiteouts and severe drifting. I have all wheel drive, but there are places along the way that if I did go off the road, they might not find me until spring. I am so tired of being cooped up in the house.

Just found the acquisition accountability section and I love it. By listing the items I got (all but one were on my list of what I actually need or "want but wait"), I can see how I need to make sure I get back into my better habits of putting them in their useful destinations right away. I fell apart lately and all my momentum and good habits fell by the wayside. Without these good practices and habits I will be back to where I started in no time!

Tillie!! Glad to see you are still on board.

@Barb... I read your posts and see so much of myself in you. Good to know I am not alone...

Karl...wow, biking in this cold. Whew!

Hello everyone. Another day of frozen fog. Did get up to 27 degrees yesterday. I went to Bend yesterday, hoping it would be sunny, it was snowing, so came home, don't have stud tires on this year, so was sliding.
This morning I went through current pile of papers, paid all bills, filled out health questionnaire, and read stuff I need to know from mail. I opened an envelope from Costco, thinking it was my renewal notice from a month ago, which I already paid. It was actually a $80 refund check, and I almost tossed it. Hooray for the extra $$$$. I am tired of the rotten weather. Everyday they say it will burn off, but no, continues to be foggy, have to cancel flights into the area, no visability.
Today I am supposed to go to a class at 4pm, that I have skipped for months, if I want to be in it, I have to go today. When it is this cold, really don't want to go out.
Thanks Tillie for the support, so happy I can help you in any way.
Today I made a list of my "dreams" of things I would like to have done here by construction people, like new roof on garage, roof would have skylight and a roof deck, add more deck on to current deck, garden area on new lower deck in raised boxes.

Good morning :)

Had a GREAT day yesterday. Slept in today.
Have laundry hanging out on the line and plan to cook food today & freeze it so I have easy ready to microwave real food meals to eat for a couple of weeks.
Waiting for the bread dough to rise now.

YEA! Karl :D
WAY TO GO!

Diane,
just by posting here you are really helping me and many others. (((hugs))) :D

Hi Barb :)
To help your hands there is a lotion type product that you apply to your hands to make a barrier against harshness without the restrictiveness of gloves. :)

Hi Dianne :)
Hope you still have sun shiney days. :D

Hello everybody and SusanL and Roxie :D

After I finish cooking I will clean the kitchen and remove all evidence in there that I cooked today. :D
Hope you are all doing well and have sunshine today. :)

It was 9 degrees at noon. The gusty wind is making the windchill much colder than that. My furnace is valiantly chugging away to keep up. The temperature is supposed to drop again. How much colder can it get? I don't hate winter so much as I hate this bitter cold and howling wind. It is relentless.
The sun glinting off the recent snow is beautiful, but I am not venturing out yet. I do need to go to the feed store for dog food. I would like to buy the huge bag, but it is a struggle for me to get it out of the car, into the house and emptied into the bin. I am a small person with limited lifting power.
I am plugging away slowly at the clutter. The coldness slows me down.
I did work for two and a half hours yesterday, but one of the dogs undid part of it by getting into the trash bag while I was in another room. At 5:30, I realized that I was hungry and had forgotten to eat all day.
When I had other mouths to feed I did a very good job of planning and cooking nutritious meals and serving them on time. I enjoyed feeding others. I need to learn to care for myself as much as I did them.
Today I will keep plugging away, even though hibernating seems a more tempting choice.

Thanks for all the nice comments Roxie, sounds fun Barb and Tillie.
Socked in with frozen fog again today, sure would like to report feeling internally happy in the sunshine, like Tillie. So this morning got dishes caught up, bleached sanitized sink and area around it, cleaned stove, did feel better.
Lately I have heard over and over, people are happiest when doing things for others. So of course I jumped to criticizing my self for just decluttering day after day, with little thought of others except on this web site. I know I have always been selfish but hearing of all the good works others are doing makes me feel bad. Looking back I worked at difficult jobs helping others in many ways beyond job description, and volunteered and humane society. So need to give myself a break. I took a shower and washed and curled hair, so that was my self care today, plus boiled some eggs. Off to the store, brrrrr.