Hello everyone! I am sorry to hear about shoulder pain and the soreness from overdoing! I have cleaned one entire cabinet down to the barebones and am 2/3ds of the way on a second kitchen cabinet. Really gross stuff --all about ten years out of date. Yikes. Have solved my shelf paper "problem"--after washing and drying the cabinet, am using some of the scads of cloth napkins I have! Took two trips to the recycle bin and now have three bags for goodwill (when the AM started out I had a bag and a half). Progress breeds positivity. Hugs to you all. Thank you for all of your support.

Good morning everybody 🙂

Moving slow today, sorta stiff & sore from the marathon garden clean up.
Did an ant check and so far all my No Clutter Zones are safe.
Nice and cool here this morning.
After I get done with the usual daily stuff I plan to play.
Wishing you all a GREAT Wednesday. 🙂

Good morning.

Roxie: So great to hear from you! Continuing to think about you!

Hi to everyone. I have read your posts, but I'll keep comments short for the moment.

Yesterday, I worked on the goals I didn't get done on Monday. Worked once again with others during the chat time and got a lot done on some of my paperwork tasks. Right before the nighttime chat, I started having issues with a shoulder, and I'm taking it easy today (and putting ice on it when I can). Sounds like a day to follow Tillie's advice to have fun. Maybe I'll pop a movie in the DVD player or something. FYI, too bad I didn't read your post before I went to sleep last night, Tillie. (I had weird, bad dreams.) Maybe I'll have better ones tonight.

One-armed hugs to everyone: Everyone)))

It's okay if I don't have every little thing that someone could possibly need, thank you LR and others for knowing how I feel. It's okay if I don't have every little thing that someone could need, I'll say that today.

Good morning! Thank you everyone for your ce posts! Diane, congratulations on your continued work re freezer! Excellent work! And congratulations to everyone else-- we are getting through this.

For me, I just can't get over the fact that I'm a hoarder, I can't believe that there isn't one surface of my home that is free of junk. Not one, it's terrible. It's everywhere. I feel overwhelmed today and don't know where to start. I'd like to continue working on one of my kitchen cabinets but then the hoarder in me says, you can't do that, you don't have any shelf paper once you've cleaned it out. And then part of me says, but if you clean out your cabinets, you'll have plenty of room to put things away.

Going to be very hot here today. Going to ask my brother to drive me to true value so I can get some shelf paper. Normally i would walk but too hot and humid,

Have great days everyone! Thank you for being here for me, I feel terrible today but will turn it around, I' just hate knowing that I'm a hoarder, i will look past the seeming futility of my life and I will go do something positive today'. I will tackle something,

Good to hear from you Tillie. Yes, now I remember about your pump house and light bulb, thanks.pder
Well lots of lightning, rain on and off, then a big down pour so I went out and checked for leaks.
tonight I put the little tv in kitchen and did dishes, made a big pot of soup, washed all things that I used while making soup. Knocked over my glass of water, went all over floor, good reason to clean kitchen floor.
Productive evening and now am heading to bed, tired.

HELLO EVERYBODY!!! 😀

You all have a great evening and happy dreams.
(((hugs)))

Hallelujah,
Hallelujah!!!
Roxie is home!

Roxie, HELLO, thanks for letting us know where you have been. Happy to hear you are home and friend is so wise and helpful.
Tat, great you are posting.
I have been watching storm, over 4000 lightning strikes already, only 8 new fires today, hopefully they have already got them out.
I finished fixing up area for freezer. I plan to plug it in tomorrow and go to store to fill it. So happy Tillie suggested it months ago. Will no longer feel I am rationing frozen fruit and vegetables. Will be so great to have cooked protein things in there, don't cook in the heat.
I read online that there is a new insulation made from wool, so I stapled a wool blanket that I had felted, but was donating because too thick, on wall behind freezer, over insulation I put up today, looks a little funky but I think it was a great idea. Stretched it tight so looks ok. Now am putting up white shelving above freezer over blanket at the top,so looks better. Took longer than I thought, but it is done now.
Hope all are doing well and you heal quickly Roxie.
Tillie are you buried in beads?

Oh Roxie I feel like I know you from reading your past posts and all the nice and helpful things you have said. I could tell everyone was worried and I'm so glad to hear from you. Take good care of yourself. I am glad you went to the hospital. I am sure this is a difficult time for you. Just take care of yourself and know that you have served as inspiration to me, as I struggle with my hoarding issues. It is difficult to even realize that I'm a hoarder but I don't feel alone thanks to you and all of your friends here. Take care.

I feel glad to have all the lovely posts to read, including newcomers' posts. Yes, I went to the hospital. I had emailed my friend on Sunday around 2:00 and she called me later. She insisted on taking me to the ER, which was good. I had yet another stent put in. Then I had breathing problems, so I just got back out of the hospital this evening.

I much appreciate your hellos while I was gone.

Hello everyone! Thank you for your support! I am glad to hear that you are making progress. Today I was at work (I usually work from home two days a week, go to office the other three). Tried to make a list of something I could get done tonight. Part of me says kitchen (oh to see even one counter bare and clean) while the other part of me reminds me that living room still isn't livable. Still can't walk in there without walking around or over something. For now, I am tired from walk home from work (hot and sticky, had to take a shower immediately). Will rest, watch the news, and then try to do something productive on the house tonight.

Great to read everyone's posts. Keep up the good work!

I wrote a long brilliant post, sent it off, then it did not post. Ok, maybe not so brilliant, just what I have been up to today and how much it helped me reading LR and Tat posts. I was trying to figure out how to make something for a friend that she wants over her tub, reading your hero posts made me see how high I get figuring out things for others, when in reality, need to work on my own life!.
This morning worked in yard, some big cleanup done. Then started redoing rock path in front of shed, then Tillie said in my head, sometimes good enough is good enough. So I just finished it without changing anything, now it is done good enough. Worked in insulated room, put insulation on wall facing north where wind in winter comes from. Then finished taking all packing off freezer, including under it, put it in place, perfect for that space, and so cute. Then found some white coated white wire baskets to use to put food in, see that is why hoarders keep containers---never know when you will need one. will wash containers today
grateful dog sitting money bought freezer and this weekend dog sitting will buy food to fill it with. I am so grateful for the extra money. Supposed to rain this afternoon and thunderstorm, yes to rain, no to lightning! Still have some work to do in that room. Then plan to vacuum in here, do the few dishes in sink, and then reward-----sewing. Ok, here is hoping to post this. Much more to say---later

Finally got the car sort of cleaned out yesterday took it to the shop; sold some stock from dwindling savings to cover that. My granddaughter and I will be sharing the 98 ford explorer in the meantime. I have to go take her to work soon. I am not comfortable driving the explorer. Paid most of this month's bills. Oh, took granddaughter and great grand kids to lunch. Seeing them means so much to me. The boy will be 5 already in September and the girl will be 4 in December. They are so much fun to be around. Then last evening one of the wrens flew inside the shed when the door was open and kept trying to get out through the windows in the back instead of the big open door. It was getting dark and time to lock the shed. I didn't know how to get it out. I started whistling back at it. We chirped and whistled back and forth for a good 30 minutes. I was just about to give up when it sounded like it was closer to the door, so I kept up my effort and suddenly the little wren burst up out of that door chirping nonstop and flew way up high and away. It was free and I was so relieved and pleased that I actually may have helped it find the way out.

Good morning, everybody.

Tillie: I'm glad you were able to get those extra two hours of sleep yesterday. And yea for no ants so far! Hope you had fun during the day!

Tatoulia: I so relate to the "have whatever someone else might need" issue. In many ways, that's been a moot point for me the past few years. Even if I did have what someone might need, I wouldn't have been able to find it! But what you have described was a big motivating factor for me for many prior years when it came to saving and acquiring. I noticed those "hero" feelings this past weekend when I was with a group of people and someone asked, "Does anyone happen to have a tape measurer?" I immediately said, "I do!" and hurried out to my vehicle to get it. In that case, no harm was done. The person used it, gave it back, I put it away, and it took very little time out of my schedule. I would have been keeping that tape measurer with me in my vehicle, anyway, for my own use. That being said, I was well aware of that "rush" I got from using my "stuff" to "come to the rescue." If I'm not careful, I can derive feelings of self-worth from such an event. Today I realize (in my head, at least) that if my self-worth is tied up in "having what someone else might need," then both my living space and my sense of self-worth are in trouble! In short . . . I hear ya on that issue!

diane: Wow! What a day of successes! It's great you were able to "sit through the discomfort" yesterday with that situation! I think that it's also nice that you were able to be open with the friend about the discomfort. Glad you two had a good visit!

Me: Yesterday I posted four "definite" goals for the day, and I only did two out of the four "definite goals." (Hmmm . . .) In the morning, an unexpected thing happened that threw off my morning plans. By evening, I was tired and achy and ended up hitting the sack early. But in the in-between time, I got on chat and ended up getting a number of things done that I hadn't originally planned, such as continuing to work on my cluttered dining room area. (It looks better now.) Opened up one big bin that was sitting in that area, only to find that the big bin was practically empty! (That was a nice surprise! Less work involved than I thought.) Overall, I ended up feeling good about the day.

Plans for today include doing the two "definite plans" (ha) that I didn't do yesterday. I had at one point planned to work in that rural area today, but the expected heat and the air quality warnings my area today made me rethink that plan (especially considering I was a little under the weather last night . . . no pun intended). I will likely get on chat at some point today and get some more general indoor work done.

I still have lots and lots of clutter around here. I've made just enough headway in each room, though (especially in my master bedroom) to feel much more hopeful about my clutter than I have in many years. As always, thank you all for your help, encouragement, and suggestions.

Have a super day!

Congratulations! I'm pleased you were able to pick up your freezer! And giant hugs to you AND your friend for visiting for such a nice long time. I really couldn't visit with anyone here just yet. I worked on my place today; was able to make one bag to be donated and took two bags to the recycle bin. Only one bag of trash but trash isn't much of an issue for me. It's more about stuff. Glasses, dishes, this thing, that thing. I keep telling myself that I don't need to have something for each and every situation that I or anyone I know may run into. I don't need to 'be a hero' by having stuff "just in case." Realizing that one of my problems is I want to have as much as possible so I can rescue someone when they need something...I'm trying to get rid of my "just in case" stuff. It gives me a headache to get rid if things. It hurts but I'm doing it. Trying to be everyone else's hero is making my life a living hell. I need to be my own hero of my own life.

Easier said than done. But I'm trying. We all are.

hello everyone. It is cooler today, hooray. I worked all morning cleaning and vacuuming my little insulated room off garage. My friend came at noon and we went to pickup freezer. with a dolly, I wheeled it into the room, took box off, it is so nice to have it. I read the book, said not to put in a room that gets below 55 degrees, at first I was really disappointed then thought,, I have several months before it gets cold, and no hurry to figure it out. Can call manufacturer and see how impt. it is, since it gets under 55 in here lots of nights, but much colder out there.
Big news---I sat with my discomfort and we visited until 3:15, that is the longest anyone has been here in YEARS. I did tell her how uncomfortable I was, then got back to conversation and really enjoyed our chat. We talked about all kinds of things we think about, and feelings associated with thoughts, very nice. Had some good chuckles. I have been worn out and done nothing since she left, and happy I was able to hang in there for so long, it will only become more comfortable if I sit through discomfort. Pat on the back. Have to wait 24-48 hours before plug in freezer, since it had to be on its side on the way home, have to wait until refrigerant settles. Have plans to cook some food soon, need more protein. Watered lots of plants this morning. Supposed to have lightning tomorrow, not good for firefighters.
Enjoyed chat last night, it was so helpful, see storage bins in a new light. Bins and drawers will never organize too much stuff.

Nice that you have a day to yourself, Tillie. Glad to hear the ants are gone. I hope everyone else had a good day too and that LR got things donated as planned. I did multiple loads of laundry and started on the dishes. Picked out some more books to donate (so hard, really hurts my feelings --thank goodness for kindle--no new books coming in house) and some glassware/china pieces. It is difficult and gives me a headache. I am following the good advice to stay hydrated and will try to eat a good meal tonight. PS I call it my house but in truth it's a 630 square foot apt/condo. Very tight living.

Good Morning 🙂

Wishing you all a GREAT day. 😀

Thank you for including me, LR. I feeling much better today. I did join the chat for a while last night. Today I am working from home and can easily work on laundry and dishes while working. I have been able to put three more books into a bag to donate. I have a lot of papers to deal with but think that I need to concentrate on getting things out of my house. The papers need to be gone through and it's time-consuming and I feel like managing papers is futile. So to stay positive, I will work on garbage and kitchen for a while today.

I'm glad I found everyone here and hoping you all have a wonderful, productive day.

Good morning.

Roxie: Ditto to what the others have said. I'm thinking about you!

Tillie: Yea for the rain! Like the suggestion about rolling dice. That visual of the ants is pretty powerful. Yikes! Definitely an inspiration to clean up! FYI, yesterday I was going around looking for items to donate. Keeping in mind some of your recommendations about how you decide what to keep and what not to keep, I paid special attention when I ran across items that brought back sad/bad memories and feelings. That helped me make a decision on some items I'd been waffling about. Some such items are now in my to-donate bin. (Yea!) Looking forward to getting them out the door. Thanks for all your wonderful help and suggestions.

diane: Keep up all the great progress! (And have fun, too, as Tillie reminds us!) FYI, I realized this morning where some of the question marks might have come from that you had last night about how much help (in terms of number of people) I do or don't have available to me. I'll try to remember to explain that better next time we're on chat together. Also, I think your baby deer story is very cool. Tillie takes care of robins; you took care to help a baby deer!

Tatoulia: I hope you're feeling better today! Yea for all that you've gotten done!

Barb: Have a great time on your trip!

Me: I need to get back out to that rural area shortly to check on things and get some work done out there. I need to do that either today or else within the next few days; I'll take my donation items with me, since one of my favorite donation places is along that same route. Here are a few definite plans/goals for today: spend at least fifteen minutes on bills and paperwork, add to my gratitude list, meet with some friends later in the day, and dry my laundry at the Laundromat.

Hugs!

Finally, finally, finally, finally....
It is RAINING here!!!! 😀 YIPPPEEEEE

Been busy here all day today.
Went into his bedroom to serve Marty & Twinkles their morning saucer of canned food breakfast and discovered the pissants had taken over the entire room.
Millions & millions of them crawling all over everything.
You may recall that his bedroom is filled with garbage, food scraps & wrappers piled up everywhere in there.
He was out socializing with his buddies, having coffee.
When he returned home I forced him to put on his glasses and using my mini-mag flashlight I showed him all the ants.
He spent many hours in there "doin stuff".
There is still garbage and food based crap in there but he decided he had done "good enough".

Anyways, while he was doing that I worked in my "No Clutter Zones".
Swept, vacuumed, washed some things/areas and did a real good cleaning in the kitchen.
Can't be too careful since even one tiny crumb is a feast to the pissants.
Nice reward for doing all this was the lovely cool refreshing rain.
It is still gently falling. 😀

Diane, Diane, Diane...
You got to pet and help out a baby deer!
How wonderful!!!
Think about that experience and be happy,
don't focus on what you hadn't completed around your home.
And WAY TO GO!!!!
For having a big bunch of things all ready for donation!!!
Yes, this summer heat does make the kitchen smell real funky if we don't keep up with the dishes. 🙂

Hi LR2014 🙂
Yep, the same Robin.
She has been living here all summer eating earth worms & berries. Drinking & bathing in the bird bath.
She's pretty used to me being around. 🙂
WAY TO GO!!!
Accomplishing tasks and getting motivation from the others in chat. 🙂
Another way to help decide on what task to tackle next is to make your To-Do list, number the tasks 1 through 12 or 1 through 6 and then roll dice to see what number comes up. 🙂
Sort of like picking a number from a hat.

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
WAY TO GO!!!!
For making all those hard decisions and letting go of so much stuff!!! 😀
Always try to stop and rest before you become too exhausted and it is very important that you eat properly & drink enough water.
Hope you feel better soon.
A really GREAT book you should read is "Buried In Treasures".
It will help you with decision making.

Roxie (((hugs)))
You are in my thoughts & heart every day.

See you all in chat in a short while! 😀

Hi Roxie, hope you are ok.

hello fellow posters, looking forward to chat tonight
So I started working outside, then took some stuff, like sander and saw out to garage, organized some stuff, looked for ways to use "vertical space" better. Got some stuff out to donate, left on steps. Thought, Tillie would say, you will do anything to avoid dishes, so in I went, did almost all of them, all that would fit in drainer. Sink had to be disinfected before I could even start dishes, really smelled funky. Went out to water deck plants and neighbor yelled, there is a baby deer in your back yard. By the time I got out there, deer had jumped on roof and into yard in front. Neighbor came in and we finally got the fawn and wrapped in carpet and carried it down several blocks and let go. I felt sick that the one time a neighbor had to come in entry way, there was donations all over the steps. Could not see how nice I had made the area. In yard I was aware of some stuff that I had not finished, she saw it all. I felt bad for over an hour. Then thought it is just a great wake up call to finish what I start.

Welcome, Tatoulia! We'll be happy to give you suggestions as you go along. You may not physically feel like it tonight, but if you do, please join us for the Sunday night chat (or else join us Tuesday night). Just click the "online support group" button at the right of the screen, and you can see the times we "meet" in the chat room.

In the end I kept the pillows but I did go into the kitchen and I took many Tupperware, Corning ware and ramekin dishes and put them into a donation bag. Am back from goodwill. I have a headache and will lay down for a while. I don't feel as good as I should about my accomplishments today. Instead I feel sick and dehydrated.

Thank you for the warm welcome. I am trying to force myself to get one more bag together. Brother arrives in 15 minutes. Started to get rid of old, useless pillows but hesitated and put them back. It's the hesitation that I need to ignore. Many thanks for the support. Let me know if you have any hints to getting things done. I want to be able to invite people into my living room.

Welcome Tatoulia 🙂

BIG "WAY TO GO!!!!"
Fantastic job you are doing! 😀

I just found this website today. I just got together four large bags to take to goodwill. So hard to get rid of books. Had to really think about some of th china/glass items. I try to tell myself that they are not really infused with meaning. I out a lot of meaning into things. My brother is coming in a little while to get me to goodwill. I know I'll feel better. My goal is to be able to walk into my living room without tripping on something or having to walk around something,

Good morning.

Tillie: As always, thanks for all of your encouragement. Still the same robin that has been helping you? (Assuming it is the same one . . . that's so cool!)

Barb: I like your idea for a brainstorming session. Hope you got to go to your Dancing in the Streets event and that you had fun!

diane: I'm not particularly experienced with putting in fence posts, but I am considering doing that in a certain area in the not-too-distant future. The reminder to call 811 is good and timely. Thanks. Hope you are still enjoying Tanner.

Me: I did get home much later than planned yesterday. Got on the chat awhile in the afternoon and got some things done with buddies there. Thanks to all of you who were on the chat yesterday, and also thanks to those of you who read and/or post here regularly. It's so great to have your help and encouragement and to have the chance to "work together."

I have a lot of tasks on my "potential" to-do list for today. It's been a little hard to decide which ones to pick. Sometimes I make a list of all the things I need to get done and try working on each one for just a little bit. At other times when I have had various areas/projects I need to "attack" (especially when those things may require more than just a few minutes of attention at a time), I have sometimes written each one out on an index card. Then I draw something from the stack of cards to work on. Sometimes doing that helps give me direction for a day. I might try the latter idea for at least part of today.

Happy Sunday.