Bitsy, why do you feel uncomfortable answering gratitude thread? Dianne, what does WTG mean? Karl, why does it change color..sorry confused?? Tat, good job with shopping and good luck with the bathroom...how did it go? I will be working on mine tomorrow. LR, nice to see you again, good job on "just the basics"! I always tell myself at least I got a little bit accomplished(that has come from at lot of support from others in my life!) and better than not doing anything!! Did Tillie go on vacation? I only met her once in chat last Sunday night, I think it was. Today I did errands:1) The Container Store spent $.85; 2)IKEA spent $2.29 for a water and ice cream cone; 3)Costco spent $17.50; 4)gas $20.00; 5)Food store spent $21.20; 6)restaurant(Toooo hot to cook in San Diego-100degrees) $15.61includes tip. I walked the dog for 30 minutes and a much needed 1 1/2 nap!! Tomorrow I will start on my deep/fall cleaning again of kitchen and finish the middle aisle of Costco!! Everyone keep up the dehoarding, decluttering and organizing in baby steps!! Thanks for listening to my book!!!

um...
I don't feel competent responding to the post on the gratitude thread... maybe one of you can?

Glad you enjoyed your long lunch Sheryl! So nice to have a good visit with a friend.

WTG Tat, putting that item back! That's building *no thank you* muscles. Your bathroom is no match for you. 🙂

Happy to hear from you, LR. Good work on those papers!

I stopped myself from buying something today just because it was on sale. I had it, I walked around with it, I thought about buying two, and ultimately reminded myself that I have plenty of this type of item already in my house.

Good to read everyone's posts. Good to see Diane's post too. You are all important to me and I need you all. That said, I miss Tillie. If anyone should be in touch with her, please send her my regards.

Let's keep up the good work! I will go work on my bathroom for a while! Wish me luck!

Earlier this week, I got a decent amount of "stuff" tossed out, mostly papers that had been stored for a long time. It felt really good. I also made progress on some outside work yesterday. And then there is today.

Although today is a new day, my body is acting like it's not a new day . . . I'm really tired! So I'll probably just get some basic things done: dishes, laundry, etc. I'll also do a little cooking, perhaps, but I don't plan to be overly "ambitious" otherwise.

Hugs to all.

The color is just a popularity marker -- it turns from blue to red after ten messages have been posted to the same topic.

What does a red envelope and a blue envelope mean??

I got a few errands done today!! I had a 3 1/2 hour lunch with a friend, instead!! I know I should of been doing my errands, but it was so nice just to relax, converse, and vent!! I guess I needed it! Tomorrow I will try and finish my errands and get back to the deep/fall cleaning(that I should of done a few years ago!! Thanks for listening!!

Jar Lady!

HAHAHAHAHA!! LOVED it!!

Jar Lady!

HAHAHAHA LOVED it!!

Jar Lady, I agree that you made the right decision in getting rid of it. But, if you don't mind my asking, what caused you to acquire it in the first place?

Nice work, Jar. Let's face it, if we don't laugh, we are going to cry.

thanks Jar Lady. I needed that.

I have to laugh with Jar Lady, it seems so typical of us hoarders!! But, it made perfect sense to me that you would still have those items for a small pet(s)!! I was so glad to see you had placed them out of your house and maybe down the road out of your mind and heart!! Good job!!

Thanks Dianne for reading my other post. I think I'm getting my MOJO back for deep/fall cleaning again!! Today will be for errands, to get them out of the way. I feel a whole lot better in the last few days!! I will try and be on the chat room, on Sunday! Since I have a little anxiety, Diane is right, it is a little hectic trying to answer questions, write what's happening in your life in a few short sentences and the responses come back sooo slow; making my anxiety even higher!! But, I'll give it a shot, this will be my 3rd chat, with you guys!! Everyone keep up the dehoarding, decluttering, and (the big one) organizing!!!Thanks for listening!!!

I gave away a brand new (in package) Hartz water bottle for pet rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, ferrets, and large birds.

Did I make the right decision to give it away? 😉

Sheryl, you sounded like a whirlwind of energy with your deep fall cleaning! It's great that you got your hormone meds. Amazing how we can get thrown so out of whack in different seasons of life. So happy to see you here!

Thanks Tat. I still have a lot to learn about being a recovering hoarder. I had some new stress relievers in place but the call of the old is so strong. And I'm surprised at the feelings coming up a month or so after the big clean-up. Clearing our inner hoard of feelings is a daily process also. Thanks for being here to shore me up. 🙂

Thanks Tat(can I call you that?) for the tv thing of roku. I'm going to look into that. I got rid of my cable last Nov when I quit my job. Eveyone keep up the good and productive work!!

Sorry I realized that wasn't clear. I can stream, on my TV, the show Hoarders. I don't have cable TV (I got rid if it a few years back) so now I have regular network tv via an antenna and I have a little box, Roku ( other companies also make a box such as Apple but I have Roku) which allows me to stream different TV shows and movies right to my TV. I can stream Netflix and huluplus (both have a monthly fee of $8 a month--a mere pittance compared to cable). I like to watch the various hoarder tv shows to help me along the way.

I generally don't go on the chat room because I feel uncomfortable. I'm not sure u want to talk to a group. When I've gone on during the day, I've seen LR and Karl there and they helped me immeasurably with a stinky terrible project.

Ps to Dianne. Keep up the good work. I know you are feeling vulnerable. We will shore you up.

Tat, thank you for reading my post. And what does stream a few hoarders mean; from 9-10 at 7:23 post?! Keep up the good work!!

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. I'm so pleased that I finally made it to storage. I need to keep plugging away on it.

Vi, please don't give up. Keep calling. When I needed a therapist for something a number of years back, I got really frustrated because I couldn't reach the person my health plan required me to go through. She was the only person who could coordinate for me, yet she also was a therapist so she'd be in with patients all day long. I complained to my primary care dr and he helped the situation for me. It's tough navigating these waters. Please don't give up.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. Diane, Tillie, Roxie, LR, Bitsy, I'm thinking of you all.

Thank you everyone for your help. It is a struggle and I am pleased to have a good day today! Back to work tomorrow but I feel like I got my 'money's worth' out of my vacation day today.

Jar Lady, my live-in adult daughter has physical and developmental disabilities. Just reading your list of donations put a big smile on my face because I can just see the sweet smiles and joy they will have when they open their Christmas gifts! Congrats for letting those lovely items go!

Tat, what an AMAZING job! All of that sounds like it will make new owners very happy. I like your mind game ~ a great tip to pass along. 🙂

Awesome Tatoulia!! That was impressive progress!! Someone will really be blessed with those blankets and comforters with the cooler weather coming. And YAY for ceramic cats! I've down-sized my cat collection also....just keeping a few favorites, and of course the REAL LIVE ONE...he's my most favorite of all!

I did it! I hope Tillie reads this--I did it! I went to my storage space. I cleared out multiple blankets and comforters, which were clean and in plastic containers, big box of hardcover books (painful), dolls from my childhood (easy) and some of my childhood ceramic cats (hello Jar Lady). Some of this was hard, some was easy. Took it all to goodwill. Kept three ceramic cats (already gave one to my neighbor who said she loved it and wanted it). I will have tougher decisions next time I'm there but I am feeling satisfied and happy right now. Also got rid if quite a bit of artwork that I will never, ever hang again--got enough love from me, safe to let it go! G this little mind game I play helps me along--maybe it could help you and others. It's my answer to "but I loved this". "Yes, and I've loved it enough. Time for a new home".

Congrats and warm wishes to everyone. Missing Tillie.

I've been an emotional wreck for days now and I'm finally tired of it. still trying to find a therapist, it seems getting one to call you back is some sort of miracle. Mister and I had a long talk after i blew up over some nonsense yesterday and I've come away with a better sense that I need to fix my self now. Still chipping away at the house, it's not terrible but I need to get things done. COncert tomorrow, super excited. getting out and away is a big deal for me so I'm really anxious but at the same time totally thrilled. I've made a really good friend too that suffers alot of the same issues i do minus the hoarding tendencies. I'm glad I have her. it seems we needed each other worse than we thought.
Thanks for being here and listening. I'll be around, love, Vi0l33t

Morning everyone!

Sheryl, I too am new and just starting to get my feet wet here looking for guidance and support. Together we can do this, I do believe 🙂

Jar Lady, Sounds like a realy nice set of gifts you have put together for that group. You should be very proud of yourself!

Tat, Thanks for sharing your analogy about if something has been loved for 10 or more years, it will continue to be loved by someone else(if I got that right?). This summer I was donating items and felt good about it, although did also feel some remorse after which had me question if I was not being rash trying ot clear some space in my home 🙁

Got what I absolutely needed done yesterday and have a few necessaities to work on today. So here I go!

Hoping everyomne gets done enough to feel good about themselves and make even a tiny bit of progress, although not so much they become overwhelemd and burned out.

Strength in numbers.....we CAN do this!!!

Peace...

Thanks so much Tat! I love reclaiming my space too! Luckily, my rooms are kept quite clear, but it's the stuff stored in closets, cupboards, and drawers that I am trying to focus on now. Working through the anxiety deciding what to keep/what to discard is very hard, but I am determined to do more.

Congratulations Jar! Nice work. I honestly felt your anxiety as i read your list so I know the feeling! Sometimes when donating items I ask myself, have I loved this enough? And if I find that I've loved something for ten or twenty years, I can assure myself that it was well loved and now can move to someone else's house. Great work! Sheryl, I read your post--a lot going on there. As for motivation, it can be elusive but for me, seeing other people's progress reminds me that I too can enjoy the satisfaction of progress. Try even 15 minutes today and see if that provides you some strength and focus.

I love reclaiming my space. I am happier with more space.

Yesterday I donated some items to an organization for young adults with disabilities. The volunteers were collecting things to be given as xmas gifts for their xmas party. I had a list of the types of items they were looking for, and I donated the following:

Despite the anxiety I experienced in getting these things together, I am happy I donated them. I was assured by the volunteers that these items would be greatly appreciated by the group.

Hello! I'll head over there and take a look at it! I'm a relative newbie here too but will the help and support, have cleaned and cleared out most of my place. Will do my best to help and support you! We all will! Hopefly Tillie will be back, she is practical, positive, a cheerleader, etc. but I will do my best for you.