So CM, you may see this as a bit passive aggressive, but first off, I would move roommates stuff only to get it closer to the door.

I would find one of her books and leave it in the common area. Just one. Then if you are cleaning up and she can't find any place in the whole rest of the house she wants that book to be, she can get rid of it. (That is the little bit passive aggressive part, but it is my understanding that you pay rent - you should have one room that is all yours! - if you don't pay rent, that is sadly a different situation.)

Can you put Harry Potter and Twilight on that bottom shelf? You know you want to keep them, but you don't need to access them all the time. In fact, should they get blocked, they would be your reward for unblocking later.

Lila, you are moving forward. Forward is good. I hope the sweater doesn't disappoint you, but I don't have a lot of faith. Cheap, fast, and good - pick two.

I am just trying to work on the few portable tasks I was able to bring with me and take care of my daughter. She is doing ok. The only progress on dehoarding that is likely to come from this is that stack of local magazines. I guess that is something.

hi CM! I think you have some good solutions/ideas. I struggle with finding "the right" solution to things, but sometimes anything is better than nothing.

I put the clean candle jar in the donation bin this morning. I updated my Daily Tally and am at 191 items. My goal is to hit 200 today, which is in fact a lofty goal since I can't think of one item I want to donate.

I have today off, and have to work tomorrow. I hope I can get more done today than yesterday. I hope some of you come and post what you are doing today. I like it when we can encourage each other.

Well, my idea for tackling that one small area in the bedroom proved more difficult than I anticipated, due to lack of room even to work such a seemingly small place. Nevertheless, it allowed me to scope out what was behind the stuff in front. Turns out there's an entire EMPTY bottom shelf back there!

I could try and persuade roommate to let me transfer her books from an upper shelf to that one. She has been busy with her own projects though, and sometimes when I bring up my room she is not ready to add another thing to her own list. Which I understand.

Another thing I could do is put some of my art supplies down there - provided I don't block the access to be able to get to them and use them. This might be doable. The big items under the table in front of bookshelf (remember me telling a long time ago how we literally have furniture double parked some places in this house? I hate it but it's going to take time to rectify) - the items there are my Harry Potter and Twilight books, and for now I don't want to convert to digital on those. They are comfort reading, and holding the book is part of the enjoyment of it.

But I can figure out how to stack them less jumbled, and leave a gap to access the art supplies or whatever. Trying to analyze the whole business - I'd also thought of putting seldom used things back there but that made me question would it not be better to just jettison the seldom used, rather than consigning it to the out of sight out of mind place and leaving it to die?

One other possibility is a tub of roommate's stuff that is way up on the top of the shelves, put that there and my books up on top. But they would be hard to reach especially because in this room there's no place to use a step stool. At least not until the floor is less cluttered!

Yuck. It's just one of those scenarios where it all needs to be fixed at once (so that it doesn't "fluff" and thus magnify the problem, and so I have a spot to sit or stand whilst working), but that's not feasible under the current conditions. Yet I will brainstorm. At least I've been able to assess the situation, see what is under there. I will come up with ideas.

Today I was going to donate a big, nice candle.
But it is one of those candles that has a ring (jewelry) in the wax partway down. And I was not sure if we had gotten it out.
So I burned that candle all day long, pouring out the wax as it melted.
I got down to the bare bottom, no ring.
Then I saw what a very nice jar it is, so peeled off the labels and it is in the dishwasher.
If I can find a nice use for it, on my bedroom dresser full of smaller things, I will keep it. Otherwise it will go to the donate box.
But at least I don't have a candle sitting here forever anymore.

I also played fetch with my dog, and cleaned up a small amount of dog poop in the yard.

I feel discouraged that I do not have the energy to get more done. However, I made a habit tracker chart and put it in my planner today. I took my supplements today. I sat outside in the sun today. I was hoping Son would help me with a few things but he slept all day. I think he is not feeling well. I hope he is better soon.

Thankfully, I have the day off tomorrow as well. I plan to go to bed early tonight and get up early tomorrow to get things accomplished.

Admission: I have ordered a thing or two online, including clothing, in the last couple weeks. I had committed to not doing this. EVER item I order from the 'big online store' has been disappointingly poor quality and bad fit so I end up sending them back. I had said I would stop ordering clothing and if I NEED something I will go into a real store and try it on. Well, I did order a sweater, but it was so super thin and baggy so I returned it. Today I ordered a light cardigan because it was so cheap and I have not found anything I like in stores. I feel kinda bad about it but also hopeful it will look nice. I have speaking engagements and need to find a few items to look nicer. I don't want to be disappointed in this one.

Last week I kept hearing a little noise in my bedroom after I was in bed at night. It was freaking me out, maybe a mouse?? So I let Teen's cat sleep in my room for 2 nights. The noise stopped. Then started again. I was terrified that a mouse was making a home in my dresser, where the noise seemed to be coming from. One night I opened every drawer and looked around. Nothing. But, I hate wondering if there is a mouse. And I don't want to kill a mouse if it is in there. Sigh. I just need to clean that side of the room.

I have maintained the cleared floor space on the other side of the room, and have gotten used to the empty space.

There is much work to do in there, though.

Good morning!

I slept in too late but have had a nice morning. Talked to my son who is usually too busy, had some coffee and eggs and toast (my special, day-off breakfast).

So far I also:
- loaded the dishwasher and hand washed some pans
- got all my dirty laundry into a basket to wash later
- took a few boxes and trash out for trash day and put the cans to the road
- scrubbed the inside of the baster bathroom toilet (it really needed it!!!) and also let sanitizer sit in the bowl and scrubbed again, so it's very clean
- answered some emails, picked up a bit

I need to find a bathroom cleaner spray that sanitizes surfaces and do the rest of the outside of the toilet. I don't want to buy any unless I am sure I really don't have any here - I have sooo many cleaning supplies it's ridiculous. Some are so old they are covered in dust @@

About to go pick up Dd and take her to the surgery center.

She wants me to braid her hair because she can't shower for a week. That's one of my few shining mom moments - I was braiding her hair for a 4h show and another girl her age pointed out to her mom "(her) mom braids her hair!" To which my ever appreciative 14 y.o. Pointed out that it was the only thing I did right and all the other things this other girl's mom was good at. At which point I replied "it takes a village." And braided the other girls hair too.

Hello friends,

another week of work, and now I get two days off! I was asked todo meetings this weekend but said I could not. I really, desperately need 2 days off in a row. And now I have them.

My house is a complete wreck. I have very low motivation to do anything. Last day off I had, I went and got energy drinks to try and get motivated, but they did not help. I watched tv all day. So this time I will not lean on caffeine but will try to start exercising, getting out in the sun, and start taking my vitamins again, and eating healthier.

As you can imagine, my dining room table is covered in stuff. And the kitchen/bar is piled up as well. There is still a box of donations in my car. There is stuff everywhere. I am hoping I can have enough energy and motivation to get some of this done over the next 2 days.

Nice to read your posts and catch up!

CM, I am open to possibilities.

It's not that Dd and I have a difficult relationship, it's more like we react to each other like we walked into a restaurant, sat down, ordered spaghetti and got a handmade quilt. The quilt is beautiful, and warm, and lovingly made, and another time we would be delighted with it, but we are hungry and it is definitely not spaghetti and doesn't belong in a restaurant. Especially not one where there is tomato sauce. It's obvious this won't end well..

And how do you confuse a quilt with spaghetti in the first place?

I think your path plan is good. If you can get to the books, maybe you can bring THEM out into the common area. Then maybe they can go somewhere that isn't your room.

I'm in Denver at a hotel. Going over to DD's soon. Wonder if I flew over your head today.

Aw, SubC, I'm sorry - I know mother daughter relationships can be so fractious. Mine was with my mom; we were strong willed, I had my idiosyncratic brand of neurodiversity and perhaps she did as well, or the stress of her diabetes and some tragedies in her life... who knows all of what makes people have difficulty with emotions and control issues, then you put two together and the sparks can fly.

I'll pray for you both. I know you aren't of my faith but there's a beautiful thing we have of asking your own Guardian Angel to go talk to the other person's Guardian Angel to sort of pave the way when a challenging interaction is foreseen. I can pray for that on your behalf. Hang in there, and remember Poco a Poco, too. Anybody can do that one!

Came to post about my room as I had a little more luck this morning. Well, kinda crazy what started it: I think I may have heard my little unwelcome mouseguest. So I got one of the new traps. I'd observed that there was one place where the floor clutter wasn't so bad that I couldn't get to the corner where the trap needed to go. It had looked worse than it actually was. I mean yeah, it's bad, but I only had to shift a couple of items and I could easily access the corner and get the trap in there.

That had got me thinking. You see, a lot of the entropy had occurred during Covid, and when my roommate was working from home, when upsetting things were happening, when I was bummed out. So I'd basically taken a bad attitude, like "%@*?# it, I don't have the energy to deal with this, it's too hard, it never really improves, blah blah blah." But now, thank God, I'm out of that headspace. Might have an occasional bad day but then I reboot and get on with it.

So, it's different now. I saw that space, and I think I can accomplish something with it. Need to make a rough plan of attack. Like, I think one strategy is to go in only about a foot wide area, and drill straight back (meaning metaphorically, not using a literal drill, lol). Try not to spread stuff out too widely. I believe that has been a tactical error in the past, and it just fluffs the mess, usually creates avalanches, and definitely brings frustration and discouragement.

The staging area might be just to hold a few items from either side of my targeted area, which will also ensure I don't bring too much to the staging area. I think this has a good chance of working. I even did a little when I was setting the mouse trap, with items on a shelving unit by the corner. Neatened it up, refamiliarized myself with what was there, whether keepers or stuff that should be gone through with a mind to eliminating part or all of.

Haven't forgotten the shorts sewing either. Didn't mean to mix up my order of things to do. But I see a good opportunity especially with having the house to myself. You know I mentioned about roommate's stuff being in that area; well, doing this may mean I can help her and myself both, since it's books and she's been on a kick to switch over to ebooks. These may well be ones she will be getting rid of. But I gotta get my stuff out of the way so we can get to them!

I'll post updates of progress!

I'm just sorry the idea doesn't help.

Good luck making progress this weekend. I am jealous.

I am also afraid of flying.
I am also bad at taking care of sick people.
(For some reason a line from one of my child development books on attachment keeps running through my brain: when a child has a broken arm, it wants its mother. Even if it was the mother who broke the arm.)

This child has always wanted things from me that I don't have. So, I will give up dinner with my friend and art shows and my cousin's opening and sleeping late and working on my barn and garden and making progress on my house, and working in my pottery studio, and Bean on Monday and instead I will fly and try to care for my daughter who I love and be told I am doing it wrong (I know she just wants sympathy and food, but I am a bad cook and will push her to follow post-op instructions even if they make her cry) and I will come home feeling like I was no help at all and just as behind as when break started.

Dh wonders why I am depressed.

I am going to take part of that stack of magazines with me. At least I can make progress on those.

I hate wind. That is all. It's 30-40 mph today and about to drive me mad.

Hope this is not going to be typical of the entire rest of the month/spring. You had asked, SubC, if I could shelter the entrance of my storage unit by parking my van in front of it. Wind like this, or even half of this, would not be stopped in the least by that. And unfortunately I have stuff right up to the door anyhow, so it'd be harder to get in and out if I parked super super close. Sorry if this sounds like I'm shooting down your idea; I don't mean to be negative. This wind is just awful to deal with, always has been.

If I was the type to move to a different place, I would probably do so, live somewhere with way more placid weather.

Today I need to do other stuff anyway, and yesterday one of my roommate's rabbits was sick again but he's better today. We've tried to track down why they get frequent tummy trouble - possibly molting and grooming ingesting hair. Need to stay on it with the brushing. I forget sometimes.

Roommate will be going out of town this weekend. I hope I might be able to do some project that I can't do while she's here - like maybe something that involves setting things in the common space as a staging area, in order to achieve something amazing in my bedroom - but of course I have to be able to gauge whether I'm taking out more than can be put back in a reasonable time because obviously I can't leave it in the common space. And I'm notoriously lousy at estimating time, space, and work pace. Wish me luck!

It's nice except her broke up with her two days before she broke the bone, a week after he was able to take care of himself.

Her surgery is Friday. I have to fly to Denver.

I bought the goat.

Good for the ex bringing dinner! That's a nice thing.

I have more clothes ready to leave. Stuff that I bought when I was heavy and just trying to get through the day. At least one dress and two tops will be nice for mom.

I've been hungry and not in stomach pain for two days. I forgot what it feels like.

We are having a nor'easter today but so far just a lot of rain and wind here. I'm sure other parts o d the state are having snow. I'm glad I got my garbage and recycling out last night.

I need to sort some papers to take to work for shredding.

Good job Tatoulia!

I'm laughing about the recliner - there is no way a recliner is going in her apartment! She would have to get rid of either the table or her bed. She has plenty of pillows to prop up with though. And good friends taking care of her. Her stupid ex (definitely ex) bf even brought her dinner. Because - irony - he broke his collarbone in February and she took care of him. He also recommended his surgeon.

CM, I knew you would understand about the check! Any paperwork that leaves your life is progress!

I love that hyper focus state. One of the hardest things for me the way my life is right now is that I don't have long stretches of time to fall into it. I would get so much more done!

I am making progress on the counter. I am caught up on the laundry. I had a good day with Bean. He was tired from his trip. We just played cars and trucks and kitchen and train and read books, and every now and then he would come over and say "I want to be holded a little bit." And we would have a cuddle.

Tomorrow I am taking a long drive to have a look at a goat who is probably overpriced, but I might buy anyway if I like her. I have a lot of reservations. The last time I drove this far for a goat, I came home with two different goats.

I have things to put in the tally.

Oops, P.S. SubC, meant to say Woohoo on finding that check! Such a relief!

Now is the hard slog of getting through the jet lag that comes with the time change. I do understand what you mean, SubC, about the darker mornings. I woke up a half hour late, but managed to make it to Mass anyway - and even to stay awake therein, lol. I'm really tired today. Weather remains chilly enough that I don't want to go anywhere.

But I was productive here, got on a roll with some old bunny club paperwork, and started a trash bag (small one), typed some information on a list, deleted old emails. Stuff that doesn't add up to that many cubic feet, but is satisfying. Perhaps I shall consider it "virtual cubic feet." I like that.

There may be enough physical paper tossed after I go through more of it, too, to add up to at least a partial cubic foot. And anything that I do keep will be neatly organized in one place, the size of a reusable shopping bag. I have one with a rabbit print. Right now the papers are in another one and I think there are more in a plastic tub. Should see an improvement. As always, my trusty computer kicks butt helping me get things done so much faster.

The only thing that was not so good was that I got in hyperfocus and couldn't make myself stop; I worked way past lunchtime and almost made my eyes buggy. The idea of longer days seems a happy thing but also I feel more driven. I seem to have just two settings, hyperfocus and cocoon. Honestly, with this weather, cocoon mode can be very tempting. The pull to just go get into my minky robe and turn off my phone and hibernate. Only hyperfocus can give the energy to resist.

Hi everyone!

Lila, that is a lot of work and I totally get the billable hours reference! SubC I am so sorry about your daughters break up and fractured collarbone. If she doesn't have a recliner, now it the time to buy one. Cm I think adding pockets to your shorts sounds terrific!

I have one bag of clothes to donate and half a bag of household items. Not the two clothes one household I'd hoped to do but still feeling very solid. It is garbage night tonight so that is good. Already cleaned the new old kitty's box.

Oh my gosh you guys,

Bean and Dh are still sleeping (neither has adjusted to the time change) so I have been really good and taken advantage of the time to work on my counter drift.

I FOUND A CHECK THAT HAS BEEN MISSING FOR MONTHS!

This check has been stressing me out! If I do nothing else today, that is enough for my daily tally!

Bean is here today!

He was so sweet last night. He just kept running over and giving me big hugs.

It's supposed to be cold again today, but he wants to "dig outside" so we will see..

I made the bed.

We went to the play.

Laundry is almost caught up.

Dishes aren't too bad.

The kids are on their way home from vacation and will be dropping Bean off in about an hour.

Dd2 is trying to get an orthopedic appointment for tomorrow.

CM, I'm glad you enjoy the new time. I am on the western edge of my time zone and I always feel like just when I am starting to get some light in the mornings they take it away.

Oh SubC, I understand very well that extreme frustration of just beginning to feel like you're getting caught up and getting a handle on things, and then suddenly there's another crisis and upheaval and you're back to feeling like all you do is rush around putting out fires. And that even if you do get the blaze extinguished, you will have forgotten what you were doing, lost the flow and rhythm, or circumstances around you will have shifted and that will also mess you up.

I loathe that pattern of existence.

Just came here quickly to say I am very happy, though, for daylight savings and the prospect of lighter evenings, plus days lengthening overall in the months to come. Roommate and I had spring fever so badly that we drove to two favorite plant nurseries on the south side of town. I got an apple mint and a mojito mint, to grow for the rabbits to snack on. And an irisene, aka bloodleaf. I'd had a bunch of them from cuttings, but last fall when I was very upset and unhappy I didn't have the mental energy to care about bringing at least one plant indoors, so they died.

Hope to start sewing on the shorts this week.

Good morning.

Woke up early on my own today. Probably could have gone back to sleep, but I immediately started worrying about my Dd.

I never remade the beds after Dh sister and child visited, and the cat has been sleeping on the mattress pad, so I have popped that in the wash and one of my goals is to remake that bed as soon as it is dry. I am slowly catching upon laundry.

It snowed last night. The forecast is cloudy all day with a high of 40, so basically "wet and unpleasant" I plan to stay in and work on things until we leave for the play. I've got the fire going already.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time on the phone with my dd2 because her boyfriend broke up with her. I find this emotionally exhausting. I'm not even sure I can help her. We are very different people. I suggested that she stop dating for a while. She got mad.

Today she fell on a ski slope and broke her collar bone. It will need surgery. I may have to fly to Denver. I may need to take time off work. Of course I am worried about my baby and want to take care of her, but also, I felt like I could finally see land. Not actually reach it, but at least see it. Now my break plans are all up in the air and I am worried about lesson plans, and I feel like I am never going to catch up and the land was a mirage and I will probably just drown.

Dh looked at me today and said "what? You were looking relaxed earlier." I said "now I have situational depression."

I put away some laundry and I washed the sheets, and I rinsed a bunch of stuff for recycling from the counter. I also cut brush.

I brought a bag of stuffing home from school. I had intended to leave it there but changed my mind. Things are going the wrong direction.

Tomorrow I think Dh and I are going to see a friend in a play.

Hi Lila!

I also have all the things of the house piled up.

Today is the first day of my spring break. I slept until 10:30 and still have not dressed and done chores. When I was a kid I played in the ocean all the time. Sometimes a big wave would come and knock you off your feet and roll you. The key was to hold your breath, relax, and put your arms in front of your face. The wave would dump you on the sand, and then you could stand up. That's how I feel. Like I just stood up after getting rolled.

Tatoulia, it is really nice that you are giving the picture to your friend.

I think cleaning in the clay studio is easier and more satisfying because someone else says "do this" (making the decision and setting priorities) and the "this" is so clearly defined. Also, I don't feel like all of the other things that need to be done are hanging over my head the way I do at home. It is easier to find the energy because I'm not worn down before I start, and there is an outside prompt to start.

CM, I think sewing your pockets is decluttering. It gets a thing out of your project basket, and maybe replaces one in your drawer with something better.

You're doing a good job accomplishing things.

Road, I'm still thinking of you and hoping you will check in with good news.

What I attempted to post 3-9-23 but kept getting an error message so I gave up, copy pasted it into a Word doc, and now here it is.

No pearls of great wisdom to pass along tonight, I'm afraid. I'm just cat tired. I just made that up. It's the state of tiredness beyond dog tired. Because cats are way more expert at sleeping, haha. So they should know.

It's a combination of too many blah cloudy, damp, and cold days in a row this week, longing for the sun - and then sometimes I've had stiffness in my calves in the night. Either too much salty food or dehydrated or maybe just sleeping in an awkward position. It woke me up too early and I've been tired all day. Had to go to the bunny house in the afternoon for a little while, got to see the new rabbits. They are cute, and hopefully will appeal to potential adopters once they are nourished better, fixed, and socialized. Came back home and have done nothing useful, just vegged on the Internet.

Good night all, hopefully I will be more lively in a few days. Looking forward to the time change despite the jet lag it will bring - worth it for the longer evenings and the more springlike feel. Daffodils have buds here.



____________________________________

Today 3-10-23 continuation:

So, more caught up on sleep now, feel better, legs not hurting anymore. Weather still meh. I'm just ridiculously impatient for real, lasting spring.

Motivation should return somewhat though. Got a little graphic project done for the bunny club event and uploaded to Facebook. It had photoshopped bunnies wearing fancy hats and holding teacups, and turned out cute if I do say so myself. That was my obligatory thing to do today, and about all I had the energy for but it was satisfying. I did doze a bit more in the afternoon today (went to bed super early last night). A few other things I need to get posted about the event, but those can be done quickly just with color and text, or if a photo is needed just a quick upload.

Then I hope to get back to some of my own stuff. Writing, sewing, and yes, decluttering too but I may want to do the sewing first - it's those shorts that need pockets, I've mentioned them before. Getting them done would tie in with my going through my clothes. To make room for the new ones I will be letting go of old ones.

I confess to being once again in procrastination mode re embarking on exercise. Wanting nice weather conditions for the first time back out. It's hard enough to regain momentum, says my brain, without fighting the cold and the wind. But I promise the Badger I will hop on it when I see my chance. I'll even do the organizing of getting my bag packed well ahead, so that can't become another delaying factor. Scout's honor.

Hello, friends, and happy birthday Tatoulia! And congrats on the weight loss! Hi to everyone, I have been working nonstop. I worked almost 80 hours last week without a day off, but not all is 'billable' hours. Most is volunteer because I am only allotted a certain number of hours per week/month/year. But I love love love my work and have no complaints. I did finally take a day off Monday but had to work at home on laundry, cleaning, being with kids etc. Today is my real day off and I have to work tomorrow. This is the busy season, so is fall. Summer will be a lot more chill. And, I am taking my first week of paid vacation in April to go see my grands out of state!

Anyway my house is a wreck, the kitchen table and counter/bar are testifying against me that I am too busy. My floor desperately needs to be mopped but more than that I need a rest day to catch up on things. I am cooking, cleaned out the fridge (mostly), babysat Acorn last night, and am doing little things like ordering dog food online, prepping some returns, playing with my dog and cleaning his ears.

I put one thing in the trash today and will update my Daily Tally because I have not gotten rid of anything in a week or more.

I hope that after next week, I'll be able to get back to having 2 days off a week, because I am tired and my home is in terrible shape.

Hi SubC. I think sometimes I have to look at my place with someone else's eyes. I pretend it's not my place and what would I do to make it look nicer. It is FAR more satisfying to clean someone else's mess unless that mess is in your home.

I have started the bagging process for more to leave. My friend who was over last weekend with her daughter said that she wanted an art piece that I love and had considered putting into my bathroom. (It is currently leaning against the wall in my bedroom as my BF found it in his house a few weeks ago). I will try to drive it to her this weekend. I could tell that she really loved it and I'm ready for someone else to love it. It's absolutely beautiful and when I bought it at a thrift shop, I contacted the artist since I know her work. Her husband got back to me to discuss it. I've had it about 20 years now. It used to hang in my office but I haven't had an office for over 14 years and I would just be hanging it to hang it. She will love having it so I'm very happy. It was that or sell it. So that will be a big impact even though it's only been in my house for a couple of weeks.

Had trouble posting last night, got a 502 error - so this is a test.

Trying not to get to bed too late, but had to come in and confess to two clay boxes of cookie cutters brought home from the studio tonight. They had too many and were paring down as part of the clean up and prep. I was told to take what I wanted - half was suggested. I took about 2/5. I was also given a plastic container.

Dropped trash today.

Good morning!

Tatoulia, that is an ambitious goal!

I can't believe I forgot to comment on your weight loss - it's impressive! I'm glad you are getting back into your clothes!

I am holding steady at a place I don't want to be. I helped out cleaning and organizing the clay studio last night and the owner bought us dinner. It was not exactly healthy, but it was good and I was hungry.

I am "volunteering" ten hours in return for a large discount coupon and a t-shirt. - honestly, I'd do it for the t-shirt and the sense of community. I go back tonight and then next week I finish my hours as a half day gallery sitter.

I can accomplish things for others that I cannot accomplish for myself. Every evening I have the same three hours I gave the studio. My aisle of shelves looked great - the owner hugged me. But can I clear off even one square foot of my counter in an evening? No. Can I put away the baskets of laundry? No. I mean, I cleaned the baseboards! I put all the cleaning stuff away when I was done with it. I can't even clean off my desk at school. It's a mystery.

Goal to be completed by Sunday.

Two bags of clothes out
One bag of household things.

I need to move forward with things!

That's great that you can put some pots up for sale, SubC! Sometimes not having prep time makes things easier. You can bring what you have and see how much you can reduce!

Forgot to add - bought two bags for pottery I've been wanting because they were on sale.

Happy birthday Tatoulia!

Good job on the decluttering.

I started the kiln at school.

I also dropped the trash and recycling.

I found out tonight that I can put things for sale on my shelf at the pottery studio next week during the conference! Pretty cool! Wish I had more warning/prep time though.

I did buy frozen food for dinner that has hard to recycle packaging. Packaging is my albatross.

Ok, chores, set up coffee, basic prep for tomorrow, bed.

Hello everyone! I am still here but not caught up to date.

I took yesterday and today off in honor of my birthday. On Sunday I got rid of five plus bags of clothing and household things. I felt so much lighter. I've been going through my house and weeding out things for relocation. I had a big Rubbermaid thing of Christmas stuff that I put by the garbage last night knowing that someone would come along and take it. All good stuff but I didn't want to take Christmas to good will in March. So that plus the five or more bags to goodwill. A lot of recently purchased clothes because of the weight gain and subsequent weight loss. I'm saving a few dresses for my mother. I should mention that I do not have much in Rubbermaid containers here. Mainly just all of my cards and postcards etc. most things are on shelves. The organization products dont work for me.

I am determined to pare down my place. And it's going pretty well. My friend Emiko will help. I have the momentum going. Some of the houses hold things leaving are things that don't make any sense to me anymore. Others are decorative items I bought at goodwill and it's time for them to go back be donated back. I've added a few things recently but nothing too bad. I am very excited to be cleaning and clearing and making decisions

I am at 29 lbs off. Amazing. I tried on a dress in my closet today and it doesn't just fit, it looks fantastic. So I washed it and a few other dresses to see if those fit yet. They may not. But they are washed and hanging in the bathroom.

I spent some money this weekend but ultimately not too bad. Just stuff from thrift shops that I will be fine if I end up donating those at a later date.

I had a girlfriend and her daughter over on Sunday for cake and ice cream. They wanted to take me out but BF and I had an art gallery to go to so we had them here. They loved the new kitty. And it was fun having them over. I did a little sweeping up. I realized that I do own way too much stuff which was helpful to see. It's okay not to keep the stuff forever. So I will be working hard he next three weeks to get stuff out of my house. I've decided which blankets new kitty will enjoy and I have washed some of the older ones to donate to the shelter. I'm also reaching 5e point where I have to look at my towels realistically and pair those down. I like to have four towels and I think I'm at seven. So three have to go.

Oh! When my friend and her daughter were here, I served their cake in fancy glass bowls and BF and I had ours on my every day plates. I mentioned that I have two or four of everything and not more and my girlfriend said exactly, why would you need more? And that was reaffirming. She, despite living in a very big house with her husband and two kids, tends to own only what she needs and she is a good roll model for me. They go through the kids toys every year to donate what the kids don't play with. Very healthy habits.

So that's me, I'll have to read up to see how all of you are! I'm feeling strong and capable of getting rid of things to make more space here. Space to stay as space and not space to fill up. BIG difference and I hope I can live up to it.

I'll wash the dresses for mom some other time. BF is heading over now.

Going to pick up a cake and go over to mom's soon. I've been on the phone since 7 with well wishers and friends calling me from all over. Pretty nice!

Good morning!

My Bean arrived safely at my parent's house last night and I was sent pictures of him joyfully eating cookies with my dad and having story time with my mom.

Meanwhile I have started my day by accidentally luring scalding hot coffee down my front and giving myself a first degree burn that is going to make some of my clothing very uncomfortable today. Sigh.

I do have my car loaded for school - including a good sized box of recycling and a feed bag full of trash! But I do not have my lesson plans ready. Must really get on that.

This week will be very full with commitments in the studio after school today through Thursday and kiln loads to fire at school. It's a dash to Friday night.

Tatoulia, how are you?
Road, I am still;worrying about your son.

* I got and orchid from school, not an orchard!

Oh dear CM!

I didn't realize your roommate had things in your room! So you really have not one space in the house that is all yours. That's rough.

I hope the mouse is gone.

I wonder if the church has space that you could just bring your leftovers straight after the sale? It might not hurt to ask. I feel like usually they collect for those things for several weeks anyway.

Can you park your van to cut the wind?

Dh and I finally got back to yoga this morning! Then I worked outside today and cleared more of my lost garden space. Cutting brush - mostly blackberry canes, and mowing. I also pruned a bit more and finally got my seeds started. The seed starting resulted in the tiny improvement of three seed packets recycled and one lid cut up and used for plant markers.

I've been bad about keeping track of my in lately, but aside from a few pottery pieces I've made, I think it's just the plastic animals, magazines that are actually slowly decreasing, and an orchard that was a gift at school. I'm basically not buying anything but food. The animals were an exception.

I do have to confess though - one of the animals was for me. I bought a badger. I'm not sure how I'm going to use him yet, but he seemed like a good reminder. I used to have a camel by my phone to remind me not to agree to things when people called - because of the story about if you let a camel get its nose under the edge of your tent, it won't back up, the only way out is through.. I don't know if that's true about camels, but it's definitely true about volunteer positions!

My dishwasher is running and I put away a load of laundry. Off to do chores!

Yep, SubC, you have a point - here we can brain dump or get accountability (and badgers), or vent, or whatever else we need. It probably does help us think and work better!

No mouse update. I got aggravated trying to replace the sticky trap after checking it so I put it in a different location. Then I tried this newer type of trap that I'd thought was going to be really great, and it probably is good except that it wasn't going to fit down in this crevice where I needed it to go. It's the type that is round and flat. So my roommate can put it elsewhere. I'll look for something with a more narrow vertical design.

Roommate and I are discussing plans for my bedroom where some of her stuff still is - logistically challenging but perhaps will lead to her being able to get stuff out of there, I'd have more space, etc. for the worthwhile things, instead of having double parked shelving and stuff inaccessible, which has been a nightmare.

There are other areas in the room meanwhile I can continue to declutter - e.g., there's crap right out there in the open and all I need to do is grab some of it and get rid of it! Like those diocesan newspapers I mentioned the other day and sort of forgot about with the mouse drama and remembered again today.

Also, we know now of two excellent opportunities coming up. The senior center is going to have that sale event on April 21st, where we can rent a booth cheap. I would like to sell some items because I could really use the money - hoping I will be able to find some items that will sell. I know that's not always possible, and perhaps I'll discover that I should've just donated them, but I'd like to try just this once.

Then, for whatever doesn't sell, my church has announced that their garage sale will be the first weekend in June. That's a bit earlier than they usually have it, but not a problem for me, and not super long to keep my leftovers from the April sale.

In all of this, I do intend to be going over to the storage unit and pulling stuff out whenever the weather cooperates, which right now is probably about a third of the time. Hope it will increase. Rain is likely this week. Wind is pretty much always something to dodge in Kansas. I wish that unit had an inner door down a hallway besides the big pull-up garage door. Because on windy days if there was an inside door I could manage small armfuls of stuff to carry out. As it is, once I open that big door, the wind wreaks havoc. But I will try to seize opportunities.

Hoping this week finally to initiate my long delayed return to exercising in some way, shape, or fashion. It's sad; in 2016-17 I'd lost that weight and felt so renewed, and now most of it's back plus I'm just lacking in muscle tone and energy. Yesterday, after the quilt bingo, I was ridiculously fatigued, sleepy, and achy, and I figured out that a lot of it was sitting on the hard chair. Had I weighed less, the soreness would surely have been less. And my mood would have been better. I mean, I still had a nice time at the event, but I had to decompress for quite awhile and was still just toast physically and mentally in the evening afterward. That shouldn't be. Getting my muscles revitalized, more oxygen through the circulation and brain, etc. will make a big difference.

I'll be more decisive and energetic for the decluttering work, too, if I get more in shape.

CM,

My posts lately haven't had much to do with decluttering either.

But this "place" is a significant part of my social landscape, and working on myself and managing my time and other aspects of my environment are foundational to working on the stuff, if that makes sense - basically I just need to feel a connection to you guys even during periods when I'm not making progress so I feel like someone cares and I don't give up.

I'm glad you are making real life social connections.

DD's family was at a cabin for the weekend and are going to reattempt their visit to my parents tomorrow. I thought I wouldn't see Bean, but they stopped on their way home to fix a bolt on DD's car, and I got to spend most of the afternoon with him.

Threw a bit of a monkey wrench into my plans for the day, but that little monkey is always welcome!

I do have a day without him tomorrow, we'll see what I get into.

Frivolous post that has little to do with decluttering

I did make spaghetti last night with the can of sauce, and it was tasty. Actually only needed half the can to make one serving, so I have enough in the fridge to make it again, or pizza or tortellini. I get those pouches of tortellini and ravioli from Aldi. For pizza, I frequently find Naan flatbread on the bakery markdown rack at Dillon's. These are easy meals that I enjoy.

Well, today is the quilt bingo at church. Looking forward to it. I connected with a friend who will go to Mass with me and then we'll head over to the school for bingo. I am glad to be getting together with her, and hopefully will be with other friends and family I've missed soon. That's a goal, because between burnout and Covid I had gotten into a pattern of social isolation. Just need to pace myself and it can be positive and life enhancing.

The mouse I have not heard. I will check the trap again. It would be nice if it just vamoosed. My roommate is more scared it went elsewhere in the house. Hard to say. Right now it is Schrödinger's Mouse, status unknown.

I hope this coming week is calm and productive and not confusing, chaotic, or frantic and emotionally draining like things were with the mouse drama there for awhile. It's already March; I want to get things done and feel a sense of accomplishment.

Maybe I can make spaghetti using one of my cans of Contadina tomato sauce. ;)

Oh dear. Sorry that wasn't helpful.

I'll give you an easy one - eat something from a can today - lol!

The sun is out, chores are done, and I have taken a short walk - nothing fell on my fences or any of our buildings, and the driveway is clear, although a path is blocked by a cedar with a ten inch trunk. The neighbors I can see from the road all have intact roofs.

I think my next task is seed starting.

Another cross post!

Actually the bulk of the pans are already at the storage unit. *blushes* I will have to reckon with them at some point. Part of my personal Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Here I have just been using an ordinary 9x13 for cakes.

There is little to no extra space anywhere in this house. I need to get my misc. baking things off the dining table just because they shouldn't be parked there indefinitely. I have designated wire shelving in the pantry. Been using down the canned food that I bought a little extra of various items when there were intermittent shortages in the stores, and during winter and holiday season so I wouldn't have to go to the grocery store much. So soon there will be room to put the cake decorating stuff away.

Roommate and I are both finding that her retirement has not yet led to the rapid and dramatic reduction in clutter that we had envisioned. Hoping it will pick up soon. We need fewer fires to put out, and more focus. Longer days will surely help, and they are on the way.

Lol, SubC, we just cross posted! How scary about the storm and the tree. On May 3, 1999, there was a bad tornado in Haysville, which is just south and a little west of Wichita. I had been at an evening class in far northeast Wichita, and because I was worried about my bunnies, decided to try and hurry home to my apartment in the mid/southeast part of town. Big tactical error, as I failed to factor in that if I drove 40 mph but in the direction of the tornado's track and it was meanwhile heading in my direction at about the same speed, you add those together and the result is 80 mph - you're gonna meet, very soon!

By the time I was within a mile or two from my home, it was terrifying, and I considered parking my car and just running up to a house and banging on the door, but the lightning was so constant and intense, I was scared of it too. So I kept going, praying aloud. Trees, the big old ones like elms, swayed wildly and looked like they could come down on top of me at any moment.

I made it, and the next day I saw my apartment courtyard littered with debris from the Haysville mobile homes. I walked over to the park about three blocks east of my house. Huge pines and cottonwoods lay uprooted on the ground. The tornado I thought they said was an F5 (although the NWS page says F4). In any case, there had been fatalities where it was strongest, and the track was fairly long - when I was driving through it I think it must have still been F2 or F3 judging by the damage like those uprooted trees.

Needless to say, I will never knowingly drive into a tornado again. Nowadays we do have better prediction technology, which helps. I probably would've just stayed home from the class that evening had I known. But sometimes like you last night, we get caught out in it. I'm glad you are safe!

https://www.weather.gov/ict/haysville

Badger is still broken.

CM, I have a thought.

Decorative cake pans take up a lot of space.

You currently have a horrible oven that probably won't get replaced this year.

Box up all the decorative cake pans (if you see any you can part with while you are doing this - donate them - maybe you can make it a goal to choose one?) and take them to your storage unit.

Use the space this makes to sort something that you feel like you can make progress on. Even if it means you have to do something weird like take things off a table and stick them in a kitchen cabinet until you are done using the table for sorting.

You need to break the gridlock so you can make progress.

Here, I send this with love:?

Post written 3-3-23 that I couldn't get to post yesterday, due to site glitch:

Mouse update, and other stuff

Yesterday was awful. It got progressively worse after my previous post. Lots of cognitive befuddlement, anxiety because of overload, franticness, bitchiness, tears, general sturm und drang. Roommate insisted, I resisted, regarding interrupting the flow of my tasks to divert priority to the mouse. Yet I understood, and the rational part of my brain said yes, this is important, it's not going to get better on its own so we need to do something.

So we did something. I took two traps down into the creepy crawlspace. The mouse may be in my actual bedroom, though, between roommate's tall bookcases and the wall; listening to the sound it seems likely. So I put another trap as close as I could get it to that location. Had to use a dowel rod to poke it into place, since there's too much crap in the way. Tied a string to it for easy retrieval to check it; let's hope I discover deceased Mickey and can just dispose of the trap. Then we can block the place under the eaves until someone can come fix it properly.

After these things were done, I tried to bake a simple pan of brownies, having lowered my expectations yet again for being able to have something decorated cute and appealing for the church this weekend. The brownie batter sloped to one side of the pan. I don't know if I got the oven rack in crooked or what. So, back to square one or else skip it like so many other disappointing years. Tearful sigh...

Today I may be able to bake a cake, or I may not, because it's payday and there are errands. And extra mouse traps to get. Regarding the mouse, though, it has been quiet, so there's a possibility he has been caught. I'll be checking as soon as I feel like it's gone long enough without hearing anything. Years ago when I first knew my roommate, there was an elderly lady with Alzheimer's in the house next door who had a terrible mouse problem. My roommate had had to battle them back then, in the opposite end of the house by the kitchen. But she had gotten rid of them and had no issues for a long time.

The rabbit rescue, as it turns out, I found out this later via Facebook, yesterday right at the time I was feeling frustrated with them about my overwhelm and the pressure to get a flyer done, had just been in the middle of taking in a bunch rabbits from a breeder who threatened to set them loose. Just when they had gotten the numbers down. So I felt all sorts of feelings, from dismay at what they have taken on, to guilt for being impatient and irritated just because she called me at a bad time and I was too upset yet to be able to say if or when I could get the flyer done.

In all this, my Lenten practice that had begun to get established with daily Mass and prayer and working on being more kind and peaceful within and when interacting with others, got pretty badly battered. I know that it would be giving into the devil to let the discouragement cause me to give up. Still, I will need to regroup.

So I guess I better go and figure out how to do that, along with the mundane things that are also on the docket for today and into the weekend.

Decluttering is always pushed further back by stupid glitches like this.

_____________________________________


Current status:

It has been quiet since I deployed the bedroom trap, although it does not have a mouse in it. Dare I hope that Mickey got spooked and exited whence he came, via the eaves? Or did he flee elsewhere in the house? That wall only goes to the hallway though of course there are probably places a mouse can find to squeeze through and access the attic or something. I bought extra traps yesterday to put in other strategic locations.

My second attempt at baking, a cake this time, was yet another flop. It refused to get done in the middle without risking overbrowning the top. After it had been out of the oven a few minutes, the middle sunk. My roommate's oven is awful; it bakes too hot and possibly uneven; I have tried compensation strategies with little success.

Perhaps next time I want to bake for church or some other event I will just forget trying to do cakes and go with something like lemon bars or pie or whatever. Cupcakes would work for some things but for this event I needed a sheet cake that they could cut up. I know there exist pans nowadays that make single serving individual mini-cakes and those might get done better than one big cake. However, I hesitate because I already have so many specialized cake pans that I bought back when I was taking the Wilton classes, and had big ambitions of a cake decorating career. If anything, I should be downsizing my cake pan stash.

The kitchen here is so small and cluttered that it's not conducive to things like rolled out cookies where you need counter space. Even with drop cookies, there needs to be more space for the pans that come out of the oven and taking the done cookies off and putting them somewhere, and putting new cookies to be baked onto the pans. So I do think bars or pies may be more the way to go in future.

Again, I have to try and get past the frustration that I cannot do what I see other ladies at church and elsewhere do easily - ladies who have had good jobs, husbands, roomy uncluttered kitchens, sewing rooms, ample retirement income, and on and on. Ladies who are probably neurotypical and efficient, for whom the steps involved in doing projects are straightforward, and task initiation and follow through are a breeze. Who don't clutter up their spaces and derail their lives in their befuddlement and angst. Lord help me not to have an unholy envy towards them...

It's okay, though. I'm going to use this latest baking fiasco as a learning experience. I'm done with deluding myself about that hateful oven, thinking I can beat it in the Battle of the Cakes. I'm sure it is gloating. But no matter. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. In future, I will find something it can't ruin. I'm sad that it won't be cake, but if I can find a go-to dessert that will consistently turn out well, that will be good enough.

Good morning!

CM, I was waiting for your cut/paste to show up, but apparently you've gone to do something else. (Taking a chance on that apostrophe - you said the site was down, maybe it was getting fixed?)

We had a nasty storm last night. My drive home from work was nerve wracking - sirens going off and radio emergency warnings, had to reroute 4 times because of trees or accidents. Watched a tree fall next to my driveway right before I drove down it.

The bread lessons went well, although my legs are tired from going up and down the stairs all day and I brought home a lot of dirty dishes.

I actually got up around 8 today, but I am taking it slow. Think I will just focus on starting seeds and going out with Dh tonight - it's a concert night. Maybe some dishes and laundry.