Hello everyone! I've managed to keep the kitchen counter clean and not much else. Haven't done the bathroom and I don't know why.

Tillie! It's great that you are cooking for the future! I need yo start doing done cooking. It was 70 here today, which is beautiful and all but I'm ready for cooler weather.

We had a large number of trick or treaters this year! My street was crowded and I sat outside with my neighbors. Very fun.

I'm thrilled with your quilt progress, CM! Yes, Tess, bathroom should be the easiest do why haven't I cleaned it?

I'm home with windows open and ceiling fans on, drinking lots of water. Lunch today was salty so I'm skipping dinner.

Good Morning Everyone 🙂

Dark overcast day today, temps in the 40s to 50s range.
Great day to do some cooking.
Have a bunch of things/dishes to cook then portion out and freeze for easy ready made meals.
Will be washing up the dishes as I use them, while stuff is in the oven so that when I am all done, the kitchen will be clean.
Except for the lingering scents in the air, nobody would ever know that I was cooking today. 😀

That is great progress, Joan. I admire your courage and I believe you will conquer this. Youbare never far from my thoughts and I'm glad you are here.

Thanks Tillie. I'd like that as well.

No point in my posting too often. Nothing to report most days. Just sitting and biting.

I go WAY outside the box to find help. My strategies and patience have resulted so far in my continued life. Seeing progress is important to me. I cannot evaluate progress like other people do. With the brain damage, the biting, even an afternoon of no biting counts as progress.

I have seen my chiropractor every week since September 2016, over a year ago. The biting twists my head and causes my Atlas and other neck vertebrae to be displaced, often resulting in vertigo. The vertigo cleared rather suddenly a couple of weeks back. The biting is not as severe. Yesterday was the second time I cancelled my weekly chiropractor appt.

It looksnow like I am going to a biweekly chiropractic visit, after over a year of weekly visits. Progress.

Happy November!

It's been a crazy last few days here. On Sunday I did get the rows all sewn so my quilt is officially a quilt, just one that still needs a border. I'm debating whether to try to do that here, or ask the church if it's okay if I go downstairs on my own and spread it out on the big tables. Or perhaps go to one of the quilt shops. I need to look up how to cut the pieces. Hoping I can cut them before I pre-wash them, then they'd be smaller and easier to iron and deal with. I bought extra fabric with that in mind, so hopefully it'll work.

On Monday evening, I sort of lost it. I had gotten a paper calendar, maybe I mentioned this - my Android tablet works for most of my scheduling needs but I started missing what I used to do with paper calendars and colorful highlighters to show a month at a glance. Well, so I'd printed out some calendar pages from online and bought a calendar for 2018. It was working.

And then Monday night my roommate said something about my calendar and I realized that I hadn't looked at it over the weekend. I went to get it. Couldn't find it. Looked and looked and looked and LOOKED. Everywhere - the house, vehicles, you name it. Called restaurants I'd been to, called my friend from quilting, prayed to St. Anthony (patron of lost things - he knows me pretty well by now, LOL). I would have a hissy fit and then calm down a little and try to trust that I'd find the calendar, then I'd get worked up again. I finally just went to bed with a couple of ideas as to where to start searching in the morning.

Imagine, then, my joy when my friend from quilting had gotten to the church first and called me on my cell to say she found it in the quilting room! 🙂 🙂 🙂

So now I just need to update it for the days of November and I'll be good to go again. And I had to apologize to the cats for blaming them - although they WERE knocking over my piles in the bedroom and compounding the mess there. But who can stay mad at kitties for very long, right?

My room is SO cluttery. Finishing the quilt has helped a little bit because I could move the quilt stuff back to my sewing area in the back room. I'm just going to have to go through the bedroom one category of items, project bag, or area at a time. With cool weather and being indoors, there will be time.

The last few days got really busy though with Halloween and today for me All Saints Day Mass, quilting sessions, sitting with my elderly lady friend again - some of these things expected, some unexpected. That's why I was so thrown by the misplacement of the calendar. I wonder if someone at quilting MOVED MY STUFF. I can't deal with that. Not because I'm a meanie, but because I deliberately put my things near each other so I won't forget anything! It's just something I have to do. Perhaps I'll need to make a way to attach a ribbon to the folder my calendar goes in and then tie that to my purse!

Today's also the first day of NaNoWriMo, though I don't formally try to write 50,000 words in 30 days in November (really bad month to try that as far as I'm concerned). I do, however, still enjoy the NaNoWriMo Forums and maybe I'll get a little motivation to pick up some of my writing - it all depends on TIME. How I envy the Doctor - I wanna be a Time Lord! (Lady) LOL!

Aaaand today we were supposed to get the part put in the furnace and the guy is tied up and we don't know why, when he'll have a chance to try again, etc. Just hope it's soon. I don't fancy a Kansas winter with only space heaters.

Well, anyone watching game 7 of the World Series tonight? I'm rooting for the Dodgers because my mom was a fan of the old Brooklyn Dodgers way back before I came into existence. But if the Astros win, my Houston cousins will be happy, so I can be okay with that. 🙂

Subclinical, that sounds like an awesome idea to me! Have the box all ready to go next year. Keep it stored out of sight if you can.

Tatoulia, good luck with the bathroom challenge. I hate hate hate cleaning the bathroom. Which is nuts because it's the easiest room to clean. I've moved my laundry hamper into my bathroom. I'm going to have to rethink that. For one, my bathroom is on the small side. Number two, my hamper is always full. Always!!!!

Today I didn't do too much today besides take out the garbage and wash out the bathtub. I don't plan to do much more than that tonight. It's such a rainy dreary day. I'll try to be productive again tomorrow.

Have a good night, friends.

Good Afternoon Everybody 🙂

Hi Joan 🙂
Wish there was more we could do to help you besides giving you all our sympathy, understanding and online support here. (((hugs)))

Hi Subclinical 🙂
Unfortunately, many thrift shops toss out any holiday themed items rather than store them for a whole year/10 months.
Best time to donate these things is about a month before the holiday.
GREAT idea you have for the sorting and distributing your decorations!
I know you struggle with wasting any resources and I believe this is the best plan for you. (((HUGS)))
Why I only observe Halloween...
because it is akin to "Día de Muertos".
The time of year when the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest.
I am not a Christian, I am Native American.
I do observe all the seasonal changes, equinox/solstices, phases of the moon, eclipses, comets, etc.

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
Wishing you soooo much luck with your clean bathroom plan! 😀
WTG! for continuing to evaluate and sort your wardrobe!
Great that you can offer her some of your no longer needed items.
I really like when I can hand something directly to the person who wants it.

I have had to accept the fact that I can no longer do everything I used to do and trying to push myself beyond my new limits only makes things so much worse.
I can continue to defend my clear & clean spaces in the house.
Maybe not get everything perfect but I can get it "good enough".
I can no longer do all the things he should have been doing all along concerning the yard and house maintenance.
Got 2 loads of laundry out on the line this morning. 😀
Did all cat related chores.
Beautiful day here today. 70 degrees, slight breeze, absolutely no clouds in the sky.

SubC I support your decision re the Halloween items. If they are going to be thrown out otherwise, then make the box and write donate on it so you'll know what to do. You could even set a reminder in your phone for next year.

I have made a bag of dresses and tops for a woman at my mother's assisted living. She keeps asking me for clothes. I picked out some stuff I thought she'd wear and washed it up. I don't have a lot of clothes but these items are now too big and/or stuff I really shouldn't be wearing due to being unflattering. I've also made a bag of just plain donation items.

Tillie! It sounds like you are feeling better and I'm grateful for that. Anony keep working on a solution. I'm not handy at all and thus can only send you strength.

CM, Tess, Sarah, Oodles--it's a new month!

So for this month I am going to keep bathroom clean. I'll start by cleaning it today. Wish me luck!

Hi Joan, i'm Sorry you had a bad day.

Anony, I hope you can get your trailer fixed up for winter! If you were near me I would know who you could call for help, I wish that was national.

Tillie, why is Halloween the only holiday you celebrate? I am curious. I'm glad you had a good one.

I've decided to leave the decorations I put up up until the weekend and maybe put out a few more while sorting. Then on Saturday I will box everything up.

Someone on another site told me goodwill throws out Halloween decorations that come in at the end of the year because they don't sell and they don't want to store them. I don't know if that's true, but I think what I will do to reduce my anxiety about that and the second guessing is put all the things I think I can part with in the same box. I'll have the kids look through the box when I am not around, and the third kid can tape it shut. Then next year I will get the "keep" decorations out in September and look through them. If i'm not missing anything, I will donate the closed box. It means storing it for ten more months, but it is the best I can do right now. Meanwhile, I will get fall/thanksgiving out so I CAN donate anything I don't want. (That is one box)

Thanks Tat.

Joan I am praying and sending you much strength. I am really really trying to will you some peace. Much love.

Biting was bad today.

When I got hungry I just ate cheese. Too much biting to put anything in microwave. Too difficult.

I get discouraged on days like today.

Hoping for a better night tonight.

Hi Anonymoniker 🙂
The hardest part about making any plans is doing all the research & thinking things through to see if they are logical & do-able.
Happy you had a fun Halloween time! 😀
Go to the hardware store and check out all the rolls they have of heavy plastic sheeting.
I have had good success with that covering up some areas here that tended to get completely iced over during Winter.

Have been having a lovely time today.
Washed my hair then gave myself a mani-pedi.
For breakfast I decided on a bagel, one of those with all the assorted kinds of seeds on it and Neufchatel cheese.
For lunch I had 3 tiny candy bars. Snickers, Baby Ruth and Reese's PB cup.
For dinner I sautéed mushrooms then I sautéed some little zucchinis and sprinkled them with parmesan cheese.
Been watching movies all day too.
The sun is just now setting here.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 😀

~Happy Halloween!!!~
Hello, wonderful people! I read a lot of the posts & it sounds like everyone is making progress! I am for now just putting down trying to make progress here. I spent the past 5 months banging my head against the wall, with none of my efforts getting anywhere. Ive been just playing & going out & having fun instead for the past few weeks. It is very weird how every plan ive had ends up not being practical. Its to the point of wondering what is going on with that?! Between the giant crack across my property near the site id wanted to put my new home & the electrical transformer also being too close, im now going to only concentrate on improving this hideous trailer...maybe thats what i should have done all along instead of just trying to create a new building...the winter rains will be here soon, so i have to figure out a tarp situation again...(sigh)....i had soooo much fun dressing up for Halloween last weekend! I went as the Coolest Living Vampire: Keith Richards! ...cuz he has regular blood transfusions to stay healthy as a drug addict, so i had an IV on my arm & everything! ha ha ~♡~I LOVE YOU ALL!!!~♡~

Good Morning Everybody 🙂

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hi CriticalMass 🙂
YEA! that quilt is really coming along! 😀

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
WTG! for reclaiming some dresses and also for letting some other clothing go! 😀
It's been a long time waiting for that chandelier to be hung. My fingers are crossed that there will be no more delays.

Hi Tess 🙂
FANTASTIC! WTG! for all you got done! 😀

Hi Subclinical 🙂
When decluttering all by ourselves please remember that it is like peeling away the layers of an onion.
We remove one layer now and then circle back some other time and remove another layer.
With every pass through, if we remove even just one item, it's a GREAT success. (((HUGS)))

Since he was off work yesterday I had him accompany me to the store because I really needed some food and kitty kibble and kitty litter.
The food I can handle ok by myself but I just knew I am not up to lifting the 22 pound bag of kibble or the 35 pounds of kitty litter.
He agreed but was extremely nasty the whole time.
I have ONE cat. All the rest are here because he insisted we keep all of them. There have been many others he brought home but I was able to adopt them out.
I love them all but I think he really should do some of the cat chores, but he doesn't.
Anyways...
Since today is the only holiday I ever observe, I won't be doing anything except having a fun relaxing day.
First I plan to shampoo my hair then think about what I want to eat, besides the candy.
I plan to watch movies too.
The weather is unusually warm and dry for this time of year but there is rain predicted by the weekend.
Yesterday I carved my pumpkin. The key to keeping them fresh and unwilted is to submerge them in cold water for a soaking daily. Kind of like you would water a bouquet of fresh cut flowers.
Tomorrow I will pack up my 5 Halloween decorations and put them away for another year. 😉
My favorite decoration is a set of 3 small old embossed & painted tin wall plaques that belonged to my Granma. ;D

Once, when all my kids lived at home, we threw a huge Halloween party in the barn. It was so much fun!

As I am cleaning out the bins, I am thinking "I could use this if we throw another Halloween party."

We will probably never throw another Halloween party.

If we do, I can buy new stuff.

I put out a few decorations. The pile on the table is growing.

It is ok to put away things to think about next year. It is more important to get rid of some things than to decide about everything.

I threw out a broken thing from my kitchen drawer.

Good work making dinner!

Do not second guess your decisions--you are doing great! Great work, SubC!

Tillie thinking of you and hoping you are doing better. I had butternut squash soup today and it was delicious. Hope something tasted good to you today--

Shredding papers and getting garbage ready. Need to sweep too.

I have spread the Halloween decorations all over the den.

The weather is bad. The SAD is bad. I am second guessing all my decisions and have semi-categorized decoration piles everywhere.

But I made dinner.

Great work, Tess! I am so proud and pleased for you! Let's make our homes nice for the holidays!

I heard from my handyman today. He will come here in two weeks to hang my chandelier. YAY!

Happy Monday!

CriticalMass - I agree with your theory about smaller stressors pushing us over the top. That's another very good reason why we shouldn't compare ourselves to others.

Tatoulia - You are an amazing sister! You should praise yourself more often. Take a second to celebrate that car being gone!

I had a super lazy weekend, but I was a cleaning machine this morning. I cleaned out my bathroom cabinets, cleaned off my counter, worked on washing walls again. Then I straighten up my living room cleaned off my filthy mantel and scrubbed it down. I'm very much looking forward to decorating it for the holidays. Then I moved my desk from the wall, removed the stuff I had stored under it and swept behind it. Then I gathered 5 boxes (some small) and 4 garbage bags of stuff that can be pitched on garbage night and a box to donate to Goodwill. My work day has been productive too!

Hey everybody I'm having a great day! Reclaimed two dresses from my closet and washing them now. havd made a bag of dresses that don't fit (too big). Working on laundry and getting ready to do some paper shredding.

Sunny & blustery! Love this type of day!

Congrats on the quilting progress, CM! Good to have a little space to spread out!

Thanks for the support. It is so miserable taking care of brother but I must. I have drastically cut down from once a day to once a week and I need to remind myself of that. When he was paralyzed due to stroke I used to see him every single day and every single night. He'd be so mean and terrible but I did it. And if say a massive snowstorm would prevent me from seeing him, he'd be especially hateful. It took a lot of doing on my part to not feel guilty and not let his terrible behaviors influence how I felt about myself. Now I can just endure and move on, for the most part. It still catches up with me some days.

Laundry is in the washer. It's a bright sunny day. Probably not as cool as I'd like it. In the mood to get some trash together and do some clearing out.

Fantastic posts everyone. Tillie, keep getting well. Tatoulia, I'd love that lottery ticket - I don't seem to have the knack for picking a good one. LOL! So glad car is a done deal. You're a good sister to go through all that and sometimes get cussed out for your efforts. It is no doubt quite draining.

Hi, Oodles, good to see you here again. Going through papers is a drag but freeing.

Paring down the holiday decorations is also freeing, wtg SubC!

With my roommate out of town, I was able to spread out my sewing and get the main part of my quilt top pieced! Next step is prewashing and cutting, then sewing on the border. And making the binding strips which will go on after the guild has finished the quilting.

I'm tired!

Hello Everybody 🙂

Hi Oodles 🙂
Remember that mouse is more afraid of you than you are of it.
Honest! 😉
Focusing on minimalism, watching Youtube videos by minimalists and practicing living with less
are all good ways to help us to see what we really need as opposed to just want.
Not saying that anybody should become minimalist.
Just saying knowing how to make those keep or not to keep decisions helps us to whittle down our possessions to only those we truly want, truly need or truly cherish.
WTG! with your shredding!
Once it's gone you should start to feel like a heavy weight has been lifted from your spirit.

Hi Subclinical 🙂
Suggestion...
Put out all those Halloween decorations and live with them all for a few days.
This should help you decide if something fits your Halloween needs now/today or if it has outlived it's purpose.
Nobody comes to my house either so my decorations and ALL the candy are only here to please me. 😀

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
Well? Any progress on getting the microwave moved yet?
You are a wonderful daughter to your Mom. (((HUGS)))
You are unfortunately so very right that financial worries can and do impact our outlook on daily life.

Not so tired today. YEA! 😀
Litter boxes HAD to be completely washed out today.
Since the high today will be 75 degrees I figured today was a good day to do that.
Done.
Since I was outside with all the cats I went ahead and lit the burn barrel.
Done.
That was enough work for today.
Hung around outside for a while but now all the cats and I are back inside.
The cats are napping but I am not sleepy, just resting and thinking about what I want to eat.

Great work shredding, Oodles! And thank you so much for the encouragement--much needed!

Please try to find a way not to be upset. I know I earn a lot less than I used to and when I see what I used to spend and waste it makes me sick. But then my mom said, wasnt it fun to have some years where you traveled when you wanted, bought what you wanted, etc and I find solace. Still, financial struggles are so awful and really can color how you feel each day. My advice is to just keep shredding--you are doing the tough stuff and I admire you!

Mom has a terrible sinus so I stopped by with water, gingerale and vanilla ice cream. I changed her sheets for her. Now I'm home and about to make lunch.

I'll do some shredding f too. Mail piles up so fast.

Good Morning:

Working on shredding again today. It is emotional because it is 12 years of pay stubs when I am making now what I made back in 1995. It is really Bittersweet..I keep telling myself this is good it has to go as tough as it is. I find myself looking but then I tell myself don't look.I am trying to train my brain if it feels so bad to throw it out then it has to go. I don't want my kids left with this junk. I like the Halloween decoration thinning out. One counter top at a time or even a half at a time. Little by little it will get there.

Cheers everyone...praying for success to all!

Coffee clinks!

Well it was nice to wake up to a clean kitchen sink, and one clean kitchen counter. I need to motivate to get rid of my microwave. I will feel better once it is give. Tomorrow night is trash night so I really need to get going already.

Going to enjoy some time with kitty then take mom out.

Will do the usual of changing sheets but truly want to move forward.

Hello Tillie--so glad you felt well enough to stop by. That's weird about your foot. Please continue to rest as much as you can.

Oodles thank you for stopping by! The grabber sounds like a good thing to help get the paper up and off the floor! Yes it is the time of year where creatures seek a warmer spot. Hope you can get rid of the mouse without too much trouble.

SubC good plan to thin out the Hallloween decorations! Five bins is a lot. Remember, it's ok to get rid of things that you used to love. I have to tell myself, time got someone else to love this.

I started another goodwill bag today. I finally found the slippers I like, bought two pair, one in closet on shelf for the future and one that I'm wearing now. So I put a pair of slippers in the bag. I also tried on some of my smaller jeans today (only two pair--I rarely wear jeans) and although they do not yet fit comfortably, I can tell by the cut of one of the pairs that I will not be wearing them again so they are in the bag too. Got my recycling out and I'm about to run dishwasher. So just maintenance stuff so far. Might put on a little "music to putter by"

Oh brother was great today and very happy that car was sold. He told my BF to hang onto the $ because he doesn't want to spend it in tiny bits. He wants to wait and buy something for his house.

Hi OODLES,

I don't think we've met.

You can go here: https://dmachoice.thedma.org/
To get rid of junk mail. Or do your own search, there are other online options, you don't have to trust mine. I get very little junk mail now, a couple of catalogs I bought from, grocery coupons, and political ads - mostly local, many days I get no mail at all.

I'm sorry that shredding your paper is causing you stress.

Tillie, I hope you feel better soon! I hate it when I give the cat a job and he refuses to do it. The goats are just as bad.

Tatoulia, I hope things went well with your brother.

I have a new hot water heater now. I even managed to clean up all the water on the floor including moving things out of the way in 35 minutes!

I brought the Halloween bins upstairs (there are 5) and i'm going to decorate and also thin them out - I will put what I don't want on the dining room table, take pictures, and tell the kids to speak up or wave goodby.

Nobody comes to our house for Halloween, and dh doesn't get into that part of holidays, so the decorating is just for me.

Hello All:

It has been awhile. I was sick almost all of October & am better now. Today I am doing dishes,shredding paperwork,and doing some laundry. Paper shredding causing anxiety. I woke up this morning went to make coffee & a mouse jumped across my arm YIKES.It went from 80s to 34 & snow so they come in. I wish I could just magically get caught up on everything. Sickness puts me behind. I am focusing on minimalism,it is helping a little. I have been pretty good at not buying anything unless the house absolutely needs it. It is getting rid of things that is the problem. I wish I could stop junk mail. Someone gave me a heavy duty grabber it is a life saver. I can sit and grab things and put it in the trash. It is hard to focus on one job at a time. What happened to the days where I could clean the entire frig in one go. Wishing everyone wellness!