hello all,

I can't remember when I last posted, but I thought of you when I finally gave away a shelf today. It was a hard give. My husband and I bought it when I was pregnant with our daughter, and he hung it in her nursery. It looked so beautiful in there, white against the lilac colored walls, with teddy bears and things on it. She is a teen now and we took it down to paint her room, and she said she didn't want it anymore. I wanted to hang it in the guest room, but then offered it to my daughter in law for my granddaughter's room. It's not a cheap shelf. It has 4 cubbies and 4 silver hooks. She said yes, took it, and kept it in a spare room for 6 months and then told me they decided not to hang it and did I want it back? Well I said yes, because it reminds me of my baby girl and I wanted it in my granddaughter's room, plus it was expensive so at least I could sell it. I put it in a bedroom and then my daughter apparently spilled water which it sat in when she didn't wipe it up. I went in today and the paint is peeling off and I needed to declutter that room (getting really hoarded up). I posted it online for free and someone came to get it within an hour. That is progress.

I am trying so hard to declutter but almost every item I look at, I can't bear to get rid of. I see some use for it. It has a memory. Ugh, I am so tired of the clutter.

Happy March!

I just noticed that this thread has more than a year on it. I remember that some people had trouble with the thread when it got too long. Do we need to start a new one?

I had a fantastic day with Bean yesterday! He can play catch! He had a long splash in the farm sink (I needed a dry shirt after - lol!) he is learning to be more gentle with the cat.

One of the things dsil did with his "free" time yesterday was get a vaccine appointment for his mom. She goes today! I'm so glad. Getting her vaccinated will be a huge weight off them.

Dd caught up on her baby food making she used up all her 4 oz jars, so I gave her mine (a whole flat out of my canning cupboard...) and a pumpkin when she picked him up. The pumpkins are almost gone by. I think most of them will go to the chickens.

Things to do around the house today, but the weather will be nice again, so I will be mostly outside. Overnight it is going to freeze.

Coffee clinks!

CM, your attitude sounds really good. I hope your weekend went better than your week. It would be lovely if the shift in society because of covid alliwed you to work from home at a level tgat works for you!

Tatoulia, goid luck on your hallway. I'm sorry your dreams are stressful. My dreams no longer gave masks in them and I don't suddenly panic because if that anymore. But I did dream this weekend that someone abandoned a baby die in my garden. Dd wanted me to keep it because she doesn't like goat milk.

Yesterday I worked in my garden and now I have poison Ivy. Sigh. It's not bad yet - it gets worse for seven days and then takes another seven to heal (more or less) so it should be better the weekend after my shot - in time for me to get new poison Ivy on my spring break.

It's going to rain all day today, but Bean is coming! He hasn't visited in almost a month, and he crawls now!

I got exhausted by the end of last week, so my goal for this week is to do better about getting to bed.

I had a dream last night where I lived in a large place with tons and tons of stuff and we were moving the next day and there wasn't even a tenth of the amount of time it would take to pack it or donate it.

Well it was a nice change from the mask dreams I have.

All this stress.

I contacted my painter today about the hallway. He's free anytime. Hoping he can do Wednesday or Thursday for me.

What a week it's been... my poor roommate had a lot of work stress, and being the emotional sponge sort that I am, I absorbed a lot of it. And of course it harks back to a lot of my own - mostly crummy - work memories.

I'm probably going to need to do something part time at least eventually in the years to come, in order to solve my financial problems and create a sustainable, if humble, retirement. The prospect of being back in the workforce fills me with apprehension even now. I get angry on my roommate's behalf when her job and boss give her BS because it resembles BS I've dealt with.

I sure hope the Covid working from home experience will make society more open to such alternative options so that people like me who struggle with social and "soft skills," sensory issues, executive functioning difficulties, and such can have something more suited to our needs, and if it is necessary, accommodations. Working from home would also benefit the elderly. I may want to teach myself some new skills, and have a few ideas. Computer stuff of some sort.

That's all I care to say about all that for the time being. I can get to overthinking and stewing about it.

For now, must first deal with my clutter once and for all. I'm going to concentrate on it quite a bit, more than I have for several years. It's simply got to take priority. Other things can scale back. Everything from doing less gardening this spring (I can always enjoy what my roommate plants) to rethinking what books and things I'd thought would still be keepers but that maybe I could actually do without.

Once I can do what I used to do last fall when I was pulling stuff for the bunny club garage sale, namely setting up card tables to sort on in front of the storage unit, I can really go to town. Yesterday I asked another club member if she remembered whether there had been plans to have a spring garage sale or not. She wasn't sure. I thought I'd heard the idea mentioned.

Well, I have to do the newsletter today, so I guess I could ask the ones in charge in my email. And maybe we could ask the rest if they want to. I just don't want to keep things I would pull for a sale around taking up space, unless it was going to happen fairly soon.

Tatoulua,

Yay for a good visit with your mom!

Anxiety is everywhere.

I am so tired of governors "rewarding" us for doing what we need to be doing by telling us we can stop doing it. The county where I teach had just actually reached the national guidelines for reopening schools. (My county is full of people who make bad choices. We might get there before September) The governor lifted restrictions and announced that all teachers who want to be vaccinated will have had their first shot by March 5, and schools must be fully open for in person by March 1. The bounce has started. It's like us rewarding ourselves for clearing out with a shopping trip.....

Yesterday I had one class where 40% of my kids were absent due to quarantines.

We teachers are halfway to our second shot today.

I have a really full day today. I have a zoom seminar at lunch that is actually going to run over into my class for 15 minutes. My director is giving me an aide to get the kids started back up on their projects after lunch so I can attend the whole thing because the seminar relates to two of my classes. Then I have a long list of things I have to do after classes before I leave for the day, and Dh and I have an online concert tonight.

Okay I retrieved my laundry and folded it and out it away. Running dishwasher. 11 so will try to go to bed soon.

Excellent visit with mom and I am all showered from it. Will go put my clothes in the laundry. It was super. We met for 40 minutes in the music room then I went into her apartment, paired the new remote to the tv, played with the cat, then BF met me and we walked to Whole Foods. I have a belly ache. Not sure why. Probably just anxiety.

I want to take a look at my papers and take care of them. I have a few here that need to be organized into shred, recycle, put away.

I had made a careful list of something the other night then accidentally shredded it. It can't be recreated, so I've let it go in my mind.

Trash night. I also get to see mom tonight at 6. I'm nervous but I'm going to do it. The aide says afterward I can sneak into mom's apartment. I am terrified as to what it must look like, but my goal is to see the cat and to get her new remote paired with her tv.

Going to go change the litter box so I can take garbage out when I head up to mom's.

Good morning!

CM, I am proud of you for standing up for yourself and communicating! Also, goid job on reducing the number of cookie cutters in your life! Little by little....

You have come a long way on the decorations.

Tatoulia - I laughed about the cat. My Dd thinks that my cat is currently smarter than the Bean. There is just so much happening with his little brain right now! He has learned to crawl.

I bet your mother likes having something new and interesting to share. So many people feel like there is nothing happening in their lives. It must make her feel like her life is more interesting because she has this access to information you don't have.

I'm glad your work is going well. - soon you will get to have your cleaners more. You have bern doing so well on your debt.

1:45! That is almost morning! I stayed up soooo late last night - 10:30! It was ridiculous! I was reading something and just got caught up in it.....

Yesterday I took some plastic cups from home to use at school and left them there forever. That is my progress for this week.

Great work, CM! I am so proud of you for pointing out the hazard in front of your storage unit! Great work! And it is so nice to hear about the changes you've made in your holiday decorations! WTG!

SubC I'm so happy you saw your little snuggle bean! I understand your fear that he'll forget you. But he won't. How do I know this? In 2005 my friend gave my cat a bag of cat treats for Christmas. She loved them. The following year, My friend sent Miss Kitty another bag. The moment I handled it, kitty heard and remembered the sound the bag made and went crazy with joy. So your smart and lovely and bright grand bean will forever remember your smell and sound and presence. He will not forget the soothing love you bring him. ANd forgive the cat comparison. I was trying to articulate if a very limited animal remembers, your intelligent and intuitive grandbean absolutely remembers. That said, I'd fear that too. It's only natural.

Meetings meetings meetings today. My big seminar went very well. Cleaners were here but I was so wrapped up in work that I didn't notice them. So imagine my joy to have a very clean house. I am desperate to have them every week.

My mother has been really cute lately. She seems to latch into a news story snd then likes to tell me about it. And I find if I pretend it's all new information, then she seems so happy. I heard in detail about Tiger Woods' accident, how it occurred, how the road was designed, what part of the car must've caused his injuries, all about the surgeries, her worry for his career, how cute his son is, that his girlfriend is by his side, etc. it was delightful. I don't know why I enjoyed it so much but I did.

Okay I went to bed at 8 and now it's 1:45 AM, which is my usual bedtime. Going back to sleep now.

Shout out to Will and Tillie and others. Write when you can!

Just a few tidbits

Didn't make it to storage Monday but got there yesterday. I did a thing that's been needing to be done but I had been shy about doing. Ever since I moved my stuff to this facility in 2017, I've noticed that the guttering above my unit was messed up. Whenever it rains I get too much water in front of my unit.

Well, with the bad weather we've had, the snow on the roof had melted and made a huge patch of very slick ice. I had to get a hammer and bash it to make way to the door. It was over an inch thick in places. So I debated briefly, then convinced myself that I am paying rent for this place, and it wouldn't be asking too much for them to keep it in good repair. Which they mostly do, and probably didn't know about the guttering problem - because I never told them!

So I called the office, the gal came by in her little golf cart, and she is going to bring it to management's attention. Really it's in everyone's best interest. That ice could've been a lawsuit in the making for them from somebody. I'm not the litigating type generally but someone else might be.

I was proud of myself for just going ahead and doing something. And I think I did okay being pleasant and tactful. Not a "Karen," LOL.

Once I got inside, I just did a few things, as the afternoon was getting on. Put away Valentine's decorations and found St. Pat's. My minimalist decorations for smaller holidays (i.e., other than Christmas, Easter, and Halloween) mostly consist of a little string of LED lights.

I used to have wreaths, silk flower arrangements, garlands, figurines, stuffed animals like beanie babies, the Gurley candles, themed serving dishes and vinyl tablecloths, and more for every holiday. But I've downsized two or three times over the years, and again this last fall. Now my holiday decorations are truly compact and minimal. But they still will be just as enjoyable, and appealing in their simplicity.

Also found one more little bunch of cookie cutters! 😄 Which I integrated with the ones in the new set of storage drawers, removing duplicates to donate.

Plus did my usual look around and getting ideas for how to deal with the stuff as soon as the weather permits nice long work sessions.

Good morning!

Ran the dishwasher last night.

Dh promises that he is going to the grocery store today.

It has warmed up some and Dd and dsil brought Bean by to see me in the parking lot after work yesterday. He was sleepy and I only got 20 minutes, but I got to cuddle him. I worry that he will forget me if I don't see him for too long.

No current progress on the stuff, but catching up on the day to day.

In 30 days I am going to put on my mask and go into the grocery store to get bananas. I am going to take a bunch of the plastic bags that have been piling up to be recycled with me.

I think it's going to be hard for me to get back into the idea of going places that are not school. I haven't even done the curbside drop for the thrift store because people around here are such bad maskers. I will probably do that again also. Maybe I will spend part of my spring break sorting out and organizing things for drops.

In a way I feel like I am in the lull before the storm.

Hello everyone. Had a few bumps in my day today. Then after work had a two hour meeting. Then errands with BF. Cleaners are coming tmr instead of Thursday. I also have a big day at work. So I'm overwhelmed.

Running the dishwasher and going to go to bed. Goodnight dear friends.

It's good to see everyone checking in!

I hope Will returns.

Tatoulia, stay dry and good luck with work and your groceries.

I have done all my "have tos" today. It would be nice to make more progress with the dishes, but they are better than last night, so let's leave it there.

I signed up for a video course series from the pottery studio. They will send me a new tool every month and one of the four videos each month will be a project that uses the new tool. I will probably get some tools that I already have, but I don't mind. I can also watch all the video classes from the last year as long as I am registered.

I forgot to tell you about my rose btw. The nursery doesn't know how many will be available, so I am on a wait list to order.

I checked the potential due dates on the goats. Meadow should be due before Maggie, but I can't feel any babies. otoh, she has a deep barrel and has been getting fat. She would be due around March 25 (right when my vaccine should be fully activated) so I am going to give her the vitamins they are supposed to get a month before kidding tomorrow. They won't hurt her if she is not bred.

Hello ladies! And Hello Will in Seattle!

Great getting the dolls put away, SubC! And CM I'm glad you have uncluttered some tiny bits of paper! SubC is right-their annoyance factor far exceeds their size.

Towels are done. Have a second load to go get out of dryer, then I will fold and put away

I had to run out this afternoon to buy my mother a few things. One of BF's employees isn't coming in so that precludes our errands.

It's raining. I'll have to run out for myself in a bit but first I'm on a roll at work so don't want to let that feeling pass!

You made me laugh, SubC. I want everyone to know that should I get hurt, I absolutely want candy and flowers.

CM, I'm glad you got some sleep.

Those little paper bits are annoying all out of proportion to their size. Writing them all in a notebook and recycling is a good step. Especially if you already have the notebook.

Tatoulia, I'm sorry your friend has so few needs. - lol!

I'm sure she knows you care about her.

Did you get your towels washed?

All the dolls are back in the cabinet except two - one to donate and one to repair - her elastic gave way when I moved her and her arms fell off. Now the bed is ready if anyone wants to stay. In April that might be my parents!

We got feed and I made a pot of coffee to try to rev myself up. Next I am going to take out the compost and maybe pick at the dishwasher some more.

Thanks everyone

I had a twitchy muscle last night so took half a Xanax, and it gave me good sleep without crummy dreams. So that's a small win right there.

I'm doing little scraps of paper like receipts that have needed to go away. Consolidating notes even though sometimes it means rewriting them "momentarily" in a notebook until I can get to all the computer related work they entail. But if it means getting rid of 59,184 little individual scraps of paper and all that visual clutter, so be it.

Good afternoon! I managed to wake up and put on makeup and attend my meeting today. All in all a success. We will get groceries tonight. I may run out lunch time to buy juice or I may wait til tonight.

Cm you did great with the cookie cutters! Yay for the donation pile! I will have lots of trash to go out tonight, seeing that I didn't take it out (yet bundled) on Friday.

I was glad to do a few loads I'd laundry last night. Now I just need to do my towels. Hopefully this afternoon.

My friend is home from the hospital and is doing okay. I'd like to send her flowers but her cat will eat them. So I'll think of something else. She's a very careful eater so candy is out of the question. I offered to get her groceries but she's set for now.

Okay back to work. I'm getting things done and that makes me happy.

Oh no Tatoulia! I am sorry about your friend!

I hope you get to the store. We need to get groceries soon because we are making "cupboard is bare" soup. There is too much snow to even dig carrots.

CM, I wish that life would bring you some peace and happy things.

I am proud of you for going to your storage unit. Just keeping up the habit is a good thing.

Excellent job on the cookie cutters! You will make some teacher happy at the thrift store.

All of the clean laundry is put away.
The dishwasher is running again.
The washing machine is running.
Dh says we will go together to get the feed at 2:00. (He is going to drive for me because the driveway and bridge are still iffy. He was impressed that I brought my car down on Friday. It was scarey)

So, I have three hours to do something that looks like progress.

It would be easier if the sun was out.

I'm alive. Heartsick about a couple additional things I learned about over the weekend. They are things I can do nothing about except pray. So there is no point detailing them and I don't want to anyway.

I took a long nap. Got up and accompanied roommate on her walk. Figured at least that's healthy and will burn off some of the pent up angst. And some calories.

Came back, and tackled the cookie cutters. I had many. Bought this big barrel of them last year and had a place to put them sorted by season or theme. But it was bugging me. There were duplicates and near duplicates with some I already had, yet I didn't know whether to break up the big set. I have a silly OCD hangup regarding breaking up sets of things.

Yet it was also bothering me terribly that keeping all the cookie cutters went directly against my minimalist goals.

Well, anyway, I did manage to pick out the best of the ones I had and the best of the new ones, and put the keepers neatly in the little plastic drawer set. Then I chucked the extras and the ones I would likely never use into that ginormous bulky barrel. And put the barrel into the donation box.

This shouldn't have been an agonizing process of indecision, but at least it's done now.

The weather is back to normal for this time of year, and I may stop by the storage unit early this week, just to start forming the habit again. The consistent work there probably won't take off for a few more weeks. But then it will. It must.

Great work, SubC.

I met a friend for a walk today but I became very overwhelmed ahead of time. Panicking etc. we ended up meeting in the city and going for a walk. Unfortunately on her way home she fell and it appears she broke her dominant hand. She's at the ER now. I wasn't with her when she fell but I did offer to meet her at the hospital.

I showered and dried my hair and felt a bit better about myself. I was pretty overwhelmed this AM. .

I am all out of juice and other essentials. I think I'll go grocery shopping tomorrow night. I did stop at the store when I was with my friend but it's nit an easy thing to shop with someone else. I move pretty quickly through the store and it's hard to do with someone. So I'll shoo tomorrow.

I have an early meeting tomorrow and I need to be dressed and hair looking good, etc. I think the blow out from today will last. Lately I've been taking the time to blow out my hair and it's lasted a surprisingly long time.

I'm tired but am doing a load of laundry so I can't get undressed yet. That's the only thing I miss about having my own washer. I would also like to do my towels tonight but I do need to get to bed.

I have done all the things I promised to do that need to be done now.

If I unload the dishwasher in the morning (it is running) and reload it, and run it, and unload it, I might not have a full load again until bedtime.

It would be good if I did all my lesson plans for next week tomorrow.

And showered.

And I need goat feed.

I think that I felt a baby goat move in Maggie tonight. I am excited because I thought she was not bred. But I am worried, because she is skinny and old. I may need to pen her up alone so I can give her extra food.

Tatoulia, I'm not sure it's bad. It might even be good, (I am hoping it will be good) it's just very big. It's making me examine some things that I had pushed aside for decades and my perspective is very different now. So, sucking up a lot of energy.

I'm sorry you can't sleep.

I slept really well last night and I feel like I might be able to make some progress today.

Mt. Kitty is so over the snow.

SubC I am sorry you are going through a relationship thing. I'm sorry. It can be very confusing and distracting.

I will be so glad when all of our teachers are vaccinated.

Yes it's 1:30 AM. I am having trouble sleeping.

Hello Will!

What would you like us to call you?

Boxes can be difficult. I am lucky on those as I use them as underlayment in the garden. Little ones go to school for kids to take pottery work home.

Guys, I had to take my classes today notes only because I didn't clear my counter off.

I'm working on kind of a big personal relationship thing right now. (Not about Dh or the kids) I don't know if it is something I will ever share, but it is shaking my foundations a little.

My parents are fully vaccinated and asked if they can visit April 10th, after I am fully vaccinated.

My inlaws announced that they are coming at the end of March. I asked Dh when and if they were bringing their camper. he wasn't sure. I reminded him that my "safe" vaccination window starts March 26 and my parents are coming 14 days later. Which doesn't give him a 14 day quarantine between if his parents visit. He said "ok, I'll tell them they can't come." That was new.

House is still a mess. Dh plowed the driveway. Extra son is coming to work on his truck in the shop tomorrow. I'll have to get a bunny update.

And clean up my house by April.

Hello everyone! Afternoon here.

I finally returned that toaster I bought. No issues. Stopped and got lunch for BF and me. No snow today.

Seattle! Welcome to our daily chat! Great idea to start working on boxes downstairs. Trust me, you don't need that many boxes. You don't. So let us know how it goes!

I've run the dishwasher and I just ate a very late lunch. I've been reading today and did a little work from home.

I've identified some coffee mugs to get rid of so that's a relief. And the drawer I cleared out in the bedroom closet now has my clean sheets nicely folded.

Would like to do a few more things where I am getting rid of stuff.

So, what is everyone doing today? Even a quick drive by would be great.

Hi again, Tatoulia!

OK, here I am, in the "What are you doing" thread.

Today I'm going to take a break from chores and try to get out for a ride on my bike. I used to ride every day, rain or shine, but in the last few months I've been in such poor health that I have trouble just getting myself out for a short walk.

As for what's next on my downsizing agenda, I think I'll tackle my basement storage locker and try to toss out some of the old, empty, cardboard boxes piled up down there. (Yes! Even more boxes to deal with!).

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

Hang in there, SubC. Thinking of you and your husband.

Hi.

Thinking of everyone, but not posting - lost my grip on everything. Basically focused on school and keeping animals alive in snow and single digit temps.

School is good. I started my pepper and eggplant seeds.

Dh is depressed. I don't know how to help him. I wish he could get shots.