Ok, here ends my whirlwind post parade... Got some clean sheets and blankets on the bed, fixed up the window so it was sealed better and hung a better makeshift curtain... H got most of the laundry to the basement, garbage is mostly consolidated on the landing... the nightstand, bed and floor are cluttery again but Had to be done. Joints are on fire and my legs are sort of numb... but I know I'll be in a better place moving forward cause I got this done today. Like last summer when I did the other section, I am seeing things I didn't see before... most notably, the condition of the walls. Scuffed, cracked, dinged, dented, dingy... defn. In need of repair and freshening up. But not gonna happen this time. Funny this summer the H was probably thinking this could be done over a weekend or week at most and here it is 6 months later... Bedroom phase 4 of 9 complete... (of part 1 of 3.)

Thanks for the encouragement. Hope everyone has a nice evening.

Okay I started pulling out Christmas stuff. Now to put it away. Have more than I'll be using this year but really not too much. I got rid of a lot last year. I'm good with what I have left. But still not using it all this year.

I did three loads of laundry today, two of which I still need to fold.

All garbage and recycling is out. Warm windy and rainy tonight. BF needed to run errands and so I ran them with him. I live even our few moments in the car together. I brought my kindle and read in the parking lot while he did his errands.

Ran the dishwasher a bit early tonight.

Road, you are doing BIG STUFF and I am so proud of you.

Goodnight, dear friends. Very windy now and I just want to hop in shower. I can hear the garbage in the alley rolling around.

Wow! Wow! Wow! I'm inspired. Was going to lay down. Now putting on music and going to wrap those presents! You are amazing, Road. Also, listen to our teacher. SubC knows how to grade

About the hand soap: I use bar soaps. I do not like soft soap. I buy my soap different places. Sometimes I get Carress. In shower in summer I like Dial. I also treat myself to Caswell Massey and there are a number of Etsy sellers I like. I use one bar in bath, one by bathroom sink and one in kitchen. If I have guests over, I either put out a fresh bar or soap (saving my regular one in a container). If I have contractors over, I have one bottle of soft soap I put out.

Okay queue the music. I've got to Look Alive!

Back again. well I did it! Or started it. got the bed cleared off and rotated and put on risers. Took two attempts so I will be in some bonus pain later. got all the crap pushed out from under. Did a very superficial wipe down of floor and baseboards, moved nightstand into new position and lamp set up. now the bed in the master is covered with stuff that was on my bed and the hallway floor is covered with stuff that was under the bed. Looks worse but it's definitely progress. Big accomplishment so I will force myself to acknowledge that. I'm headed back up now to hang something for a curtain and start cleaning up. I did find many pairs of reading glasses, hair clips, about 1 load of laundry, some toiletries and a ton of garbage. This wasn't as gross as the walk way area had been but it was a little more volume than I thought it would be. Need to get an air filter running in there.

Oh ladies, major developments are afoot. I launched a major offensive on my room. cleared off the bed, stripped the mattress, managed to move the mattress and box spring to hallway and now I am **CLEANING OUT THE CRAP UNDER THE BED***

Can you believe it? Omg. I also thought about and wrote a thank you note in the same 5 minutes! I also did something very practical. fixed the storm windows in the master. Of course now I'm regressing and making Mac and cheese for breakfast which will probably make me sleepy and I won't get anything else done all day haha.

Will check back in later and let you know how it went! Oh, and I decided to put a cut off time at noon so I don't my usual thing of "oh my god I'm out of time and everything is still exploded all over the 2nd floor."

SubC, thanks for the analysis on the tree topic. You are the best! Not sure what I will do yet but now I know. I bought some laundry sheets awhile back. Hey, what's your take on hand soap? I feel like since the pandemic I have added 22 tons to landfills Just in hand soap plastic bottles and am always running out. would love recommendations.

The H decided not to decorate the white pine in front this year - getting to tall, scared of heights, etc. He came up with a cute idea on his own as an alternative so I'm going with that and may add to that. can't seem to think that clearly right now so anything I do will be inefficient so. hopefully the synapses will start firing. had another discussion with him about perfectionism and its implications. It was mostly productive. lots of stuff to contemplate. Well, my goal this am is to reclaim my space in my room. getting cluttered again and I haven't gained any new ground in awhile. oh and I cut my hair the other day. My hair betrayed me a few years ago when my hormones went haywire. So now our relationship is "complicated" lol. It took a little restraint to not chop it down.. . But I ended up trimming the ends and cutting bangs. I wanted to make a new stitching video and needed to do something with my hair. It gave me a lift. Actually need to redo the video so I may put on makeup again today :::: ooohh wow. 🤓😅

Good morning all!

Road - you are not allowed to compare yourself to anybody but you. Are you learning, working hard, and making progress? I give you an "A". (A "B" if you are missing assignments.) not kidding - that's how I grade.

I hope things go well with your son's medical stuff this week.

If you are going to have lights, LED are the best choice (we just got them last year)

The tree farm near us charges $10/ft. The tree has been growing, providing habitat, and cleaning the air near us for years. Trees are a low chemical input crop that provides the farmer with income and motivation to keep the soil healthy. They reduce wind and erosion year round and lower the local temperature in summer.

We get a fun family outing and (most years) a few cups of hot chocolate with our tree. Our purchase price goes directly to a person in our community - helping the local economy and being taxed for things like schools and emergency services and roads we actually use. The cut tree will be replaced with a new little tree - starting the cycle all over again.

After Christmas the goats eat most of the tree and the trunk with the branch stubs is thrown in the ravine to rot and reduce erosion. Some communities have recycling programs. No storage required.

Today is Bean day. I might stop at the children's resale shop after I drop him off to check for a couple of Christmas ideas. I think I am going to get him one new wooden toy if I can't find it used.

SubC, so interesting about the environmental thing. Fake trees are bad news, eh? I honestly hadn't considered it. How about LED lights? I'm more open to those now since they improved the color but how are those environmentally? How much does it cost to cut your own by you? Around here tree lots and box stores are selling trees for $60-$100 and if it's a fundraiser, more.

Wow. Just nodded off again! Gotta wait to take that melatonin til I finish posting!

Tatoulia, my dad (music teacher) always played a Boston pops Christmas album. "Sleigh ride" Is one of our faves. We've been having some fun driving around Looking at Christmas Lights, listening to Christmas music.

One of my girlfriends is pulling out all the stops for her grandkids' Christmas memories. She has had a pretty tough couple years... mom died pre-COVID (but maybe COVID... ), dad then got cancer and went through tx, but is now terminal. Son took job contracting in Afghanistan and she had to endure all of that and the dangerous extractions... and she finally found out who her birth father was but he had died... Her daughter died when she was 5 and she somehow survived that. Now that her son has a family she is just knocking it out of the park being grandma... planning all these fun activities ... they even put up an ice rink in her back yard! I really admire her.

Hi guys,

Whelp, tree thing didn't turn out so well. The new to us one from my parents/brother is a very nice tree, right size, right style, etc. but 3/4 of the lights are toast and H spent much of the day trying to cut them off the tree. My deal was either I buy a new prelit tree or you do all the labor of relighting the "free" one. He did not agree and we are also not buying a new one so ... I just know this is an 8 hour project and I am so over it. Also I feel bad that I foolishly told my son we'd be decorating the tree today so he was probably disappointed.

Tatoulia, yes 100%, something or many things need to go. But I want to have two trees because I use one for the handmade vintage ornaments, and the other one is for antique glass (when I put that one up, which isn't often). I was hoping this one from my brother would replace one of the existing but now this is a project too... This is where being cheap doesn't pay off! As for the parents, my mom is 100% get rid of it, I don't care, unburden yourself, I'm so sorry, etc. My dad is the collector and shoved a bunch of stuff at us he didn't intend to when the emotional stuff got to be too much for him. But we really do feel free to get rid of anything we want to - we just won't tell him. The stuff we got from them is probably 30 boxes. I mean, I guess that's a lot but not compared to what I was already dealing with. There's stuff I have no intention of keeping, stuff I defn. Want to keep, and tons in the middle that will prob be hard to let go of even though I should. There are a couple things he intended for us to sell like a few boxes of mason jars, some tobacco tins, and a centennial hooked rug. I have no attachment to those so it's just a matter of tackling the project. I'll bet Lila could dispatch of all of that in a matter of days. My nieces and nephews are all in other states so there's no other family members to give things to... my cousins' kids may want some (family) things eventually but we aren't going to store things in case they may one day want something. They're all out of state too.

Update on my son - we see neurosurgeon weds, MRI on sat, EEG tbd. Will see how MRI goes - not thinking he's going to be able to tolerate it just with medication, but hopefully he can and we don't have to do general and delay things once again.
So I've upgraded my grade from an F to a C- in the health department. In the social department, we got out a bit more this weekend, had a play date with a friend of his, saw family members, went to some stores, etc, so I brought my mom grade up a bit in that department also. Registration is tomorrow for recreation programs. I missed the deadline for one of the forms, but not the other so I'm running about a C right now... I jest but I really have been wracked with guilt lately and although I know guilt is not that helpful, I do really need to do better for him and I'm making a little progress at least. I do feel like I was under water and now I'm trying to climb aboard the ship in the middle of a storm. I have both hands on the ladder but I'm still getting dunked and whipped around, sucking down a lot of seawater... Yikes that doesn't sound like I'm doing so well, actually!

Hugs to everyone,

SubC you make a very good point. I went back and reread the post. It's only bern a year that she's had the decorations. Looking forward to seeing how it's handled! Good for you, Lila, to realize it's too much!

I love that you can have your family stay over, at a moment's notice! Staying at my Nana L's house was a treat where at Nana S's house was more of an ordeal. Nana S was very, very clean and neat as a pin, so having us stay with her would cause a lot of upheaval for her. Always kind and welcoming but little things, like she didn't want me to use her towels so she would cut up paper towels for me. Including for my baths. Kind of funny then and now. It was a joke to us and I knew she couldn't help the fact that she didn't want me to use her towels

House went well at mom's. I would love to swap with you! Would very much enjoy your wreaths! I brought over my jam box portable speaker and streamed the Boston Pops holiday concert. It is so much nicer at her house right now, and her cleaners will be here this week!

I have not eaten a proper meal so at 9 PM I must do so.

I didn't wrap gifts or anything today. Still time. I work from home tomorrow.

Tatoulia, I think either approach works. Lila knows her people best so she will make a good choice of what to do.

Tatoulia, the gingerbread house sounds like fun, as always (wish you were local - I would make you wreaths and you could make me a gingerbread house). That was always the activity mil wanted to do with my kids because she was very good at it. By "good at it" I mean she made beautiful houses, but it was kind of stressful because she cared mostly about what the house looked like and worked very hard to make sure my kids did it "right".

But what is wrong with week old gumdrops? My mother had a gumdrop tree that we would decorate with gumdrops and them pour the rest in the dish around the base. We would eat the gumdrops from the base all of December, and the others when we "undecorated" the tree after Christmas. If the gumdrops got hard, you just sucked on them.

road, we cross posted last time. I would say, pick your favorite of the trees you have (including post brother options), and use that this year. Get rid of the others. You can even put a tree up without lights. One year we couldn't find the Christmas ornaments (wince) and the kids and I decorated the whole tree with home crafted decorations. You can look for a new to you thrifted tree all year for next year.

I'm a big fan of cutting our own locally. But from a consumer/environmental standpoint, the absolute worst thing you can do is buy a new artificial tree.

I had a nice weekend with my kids. I always miss my son and ddil when we are together though. Bean decided his family was very tired and should stay over last night, so they did. After they left today I went down to the studio and actually got some pots ready for Thursday while dh and Dd2 spent some time together. (I broke one too. I don't know why I keep breaking things.) they made dinner and we ate and now she is on her way home as well.

Good morning everyone!

A few ideas (blunt). Road, could you consider getting rid of the tree your parents gave you? You don't like it. That's all you need to know. Your parents, whether alive or not, do not want you burdened by a Christmas tree. They do not want you to carry that weight. Even now my mother tries to get me to promise my keeping some stuff and I can't. I won't carry it with me. She doesn't understand the stress she puts on me by making me promise to keep certain magazines. (!). Her need to keep things is very upsetting to me but I am trying harder not to show it.

Lila (blunt). You own these things now. I wouldn't want to risk hurting their feelings. Pull out what you want, and invite neighbors and friends to select what they want. OR see if an old folks home wants them. Then off to Goodwill with the remainders. The elderly friends were allowed to decide where they gave them, not where you give them. Call it a day. SubC I'm not trying to undermine you, I just think that for the elderly couple, they have done their part. I would be hesitant to put the hard decisions back in their lap. A big part of my hoarding is guilt. We are allowed not to like something. It's allowed. (This is so hard for me). The items are no more being "honored" by sitting in your garage and aggravating you. If they ever ask, you can say, it was an embarrassment of riches and you decided to share the joy with friends and neighbors. True e n o u g h.

SubC, you are amazing. You do so much and are such a good person. Let us all look at what is enough.

Cm I am glad that you are content and finding a way to deal with the house issues. I loved your saying! I generally try to characterize things as "free" instead of "less". So this fits: you're not hopeless, you're hope-free. I don't have any more shopping to do. I just have to pull out a few more decorations and wrap gifts. I'll have a few more festive napkins to mail to the elderly and then I'm done. I am having an oil painting framed for BF for Christmas this year. We are trying to find time where he can join me at the frame shop. It's the painting I had done of his cat.

I'm going to mom's today to decorate a gingerbread house. I can only use wrapped candies because she will eat even a week old gumdrop. And I use real egg whites when making my frosting. I'll make the frosting here, but it in piping bags, and head over soon. I dropped the house over to her house yesterday. I'll put the candies in ziplocks.

I'm wishing for one more day off but I don't see it in the cards for me. I have plenty of vacation time (and in fact will lose about four days this year as we can carryover/cash-in 10 and I have over 14) but it's been a big year and such is life. The company is good to me.

My cleaners will clean mom's on Wednesday and I have to tell you, her place is still pretty nice from the last time. I'm happy with its condition. This will be a big $ commitment from me but I'll try to do it. I also pay for all of her groceries and yes you'd think being in assisted living with food available that she wouldn't need food but she always has some crazy project she's about to do that she doesn't do. There always something rotting in her fridge.

So I'll be heading over there soon. My window candles were off this AM so they do appear to be the type that will run for eight hours and close down for 16, then switch back on. I hope so. I'll have to change the time to something earlier like five but I'll wait another 24 hours to test my theory.

Hi CM,

Good to hear from you! Being content with "enough" is probably the secret to a happy life.

Tatoulia - we make wreaths every year. It's a tradition. I didn't ever finish mine last year, so I guess this year is better in some ways. Partly it was that the weather was nice yesterday and last year I started late, ran out if time the day we made them, and then it just stayed bitterly cold until it was so close to Christmas I didn't bother.

Lila, I would pull out all of the gifted Christmas items and either put them out or box them up. Then I would contact the nice people and tell them that decorating has just become too big a task for you and you are downsizing your decorations. That you have really enjoyed the ones they gave you and appreciated the gift, but that you were ready to pass some of them on and you know that they didn't want them donated to goodwill, so should you bring them back or is there somewhere else they would like you to take them?

If they ask you to keep storing them, tell them you really can't because you don't have room, but you will be happy to bring them back to them until they decide what to do with them. If they refuse to take them or designate a recipient, donate with a clear conscience.

Starting at the top today...

CM, thanks for establishing my theme for today: e n o u g h .

With the sensation of Christmas decorations looming, I need that reminder. It was relatively minimal last year and still too much. This year, even though I've made progress mentally and materially, I still found myself slipping back into old habits of dreaming of ways to complicate things (cause, creativity...) *including some projects which led specifically to hoarding.

E n o u g h . What is enough when it comes to christmas Decorations? On some level, any is too much. I'm not a religious person, but Christmas is meaningful to me and is always a reminder of what a poor, pure hearted person can accomplish...so many people everywhere with not enough - but we get into a cycle of overconsumption and of course we are all here because of extremes in that department... well, I blather, but I think you all know what I'm getting at. So I will do my best to just do enough and not overdo it. Thanks for the reminder, CM.

I am off to decide which tree to use this year. Yes, that's what I said... 1) my favorite $10 thrift store tree that looks so good with my vintage hand made ornies but is oh so broken down and always seems to take 8 hours to set up... or 2) the one from my parents that looks better but I don't really like it... or 3) pick up another hand me down tree from my brothers... 4) the New one we bought yesterday is going back to target. Naturally, none but the new one have working lights most likely. Spent most of yesterday shopping for live (I'm just too cheap)::: and artificial (I'm just too cheap)::: and Facebook marketplace. Did NOT thrift. (Small victory)...

Will check back in with the verdict...

Hi,

Just thought I should check in if nothing else. Don't anybody worry about me if I'm here only infrequently for awhile and keep it brief. What I've hit upon for survival of this strange situation of the house lacking full functionality of an essential utility and all the craziness in daily routines attached thereunto, is to simply downshift and coast. I once saw a sardonic T-shirt that said something like "Once I gave up hope, I felt better."

It sounds morbid if you take it 100% seriously, but tongue firmly in cheek it somehow works. And also there's actually a spiritual precedent, namely surrendering and trusting in God. Jesus take the wheel, as the song says! So I've just simplified as much as possible in the areas where I can, so that I preserve just enough mental energy to get through each day.

So far the weather has continued mild which helps. And for several reasons I got my small bit of Christmas and winter prep shopping done by the end of November. I didn't get out my decorations, roommate has lights on the house, and I bought cat safe LED candles for my Advent wreath. It is just enough.

My parish hosted a county vaccination event so I got my Pfizer booster. That makes me confident enough to go to the laundromat. That'll be a necessary evil insofar as traffic and people but I can go early in the day, and clean clothes will be wonderful and eliminate some clutter. It is enough.

hi Tatoulia! Sounds like Christmas! Everyone having wreaths makes me remember when I had a wreath on my door. I don't think I have one now but am not buying one, at least not until I purge more things. I don't have a hanger on my door anymore since it got taken off to paint the door a few years ago.

I am moving right along but am annoyed that my Christmas tree has not arrived. It was supposed to be delivered almost 7 hours ago. Then he said he would be late but was then supposed to be here 3 hours ago. No contact. I don't know the guy but he has a tree farm. I am sad because it's not here, I feel deflated, don't even know if it is coming so can't go get in the shower.

Anyway, dilemma: a year ago, some very very dear friends gave me a TON of Christmas decorations. They are retired and their son passed away so they have no family. They invited me over and showed me some really nice decorations and said they wanted to gift them to me but only if I would use them... they didn't want them going to Goodwill. I said yes. When I came back to pick them up it had turned into enough decor to fill my whole suv. Some for fall, some summery things, but mostly Christmas. All of it has sat in my garage since. It is overwhelming. I know they don't want it back, I don't want to hurt their feelings, but I can't donate it to Goodwill.

What to do? Maybe sort through and keep some...they ARE some nice items... maybe get rid of some of mine and keep theirs. But no way would I want more than half of what's there. What to do??

Wow! Homemade wreaths, SubC. I'm glad your daughter took some things with her!

Lila, I'm so happy with your progress. Very good to sell the medical device (I won't tease you for information but honestly I cannot picture what it is). And yay for donating the other thing. My goodness you are plowing through it!

I got my wreaths today. I went a little later in the day. They didn't have a lot but I got two and figured out the bows. Always so hard to decide! I'm sure they'll have more tomorrow. I have them up and they look very nice. I also used the last of my florist wire. So next year I'll have to get some more. This packet lasted a lifetime. I'd bought it used and it was in precut lengths and about double the gauge of the traditional wire.

I started pulling out my Christmas stuff today. Bought new batteries for the candles for my windows. I'm trying to remember if the set in the bedroom turns off after eight hours. I have a second set that I'm also wondering about. We'll see in the AM if they are still burning brightly.

Sounds like a nice time with family, SubC. A good day.

I took the box of donations to the car and drove to donate it along with another box and bag of donations that were in my car. I put 3 books in my car to return to someone tomorrow. I put my ex's yearbooks and the one wooden item from the shelf in my car to give to my son.

The vacuuming is done, last living room window and sill cleaned. I am so tired! All I need to do it put a few items away from one end table and re-dust that table and the coffee table.

Next up on my list is the dining room table and bar counter - re-de-cluttering!

Lila, you are on a roll!

Fantastic on the medical device and the large bedroom item! I am enjoying imagining you with a clean living room as well.

I think we tend to stir up more dust than we realize as we start cleaning and clearing, and then it spreads and settles. I think things will probably get better as you go. Do you have central air? Sometimes changing the filter on that can make a big difference.

I am so happy you have room for your tree!

Tatoulia, I hope you found wreaths that you like.

My Dd2 is here this weekend. We spent the afternoon cutting greenery from the yard and making wreaths. She has a small one to take home to her apartment, and I made the big one for the end of the garage - I use two giant hula hoops tied together for the wreath frame. It's hung and looks pretty good.

She also agreed that we could donate a giant stuffed bear from her childhood that I've been storing for her - it is literally twice the size of Bean and even unfluffed took up half a bin. She is taking home her high school yearbooks, a bag of embroidery floss, and a crochet book that is hers. Also her sewing machine, which she left here a month ago because my mil was still using it.

Bean is due here soon with his parents and some pizza.

Besides the wreaths, I put big red bows on the outdoor garage lamps and a snowman in Bean's rocking chair. I also finally switched out the little butterfly bucket I keep pens in - skipping summer and fall and going straight to the winter snowman bucket.

I did bring five finished pots home from class thursday, so those are an in this week.

Progress report -

Couch #1 moved, I vacuumed behind it and inside it

Took all ceramics etc off the 2 wall shelves, dusted them, blew the dust off out the window, chose 2 non-homemade items to donate and one wooden piece to give to my son who made it. Dusted shelves and put items back.

Put the couch back.

Emptied the box and bucket of stuff and put all the stuff where it goes.

Resting now, and when son comes back in we will move and clean behind couch #2 and move the end tables around and put things away.

Still to do: clean ceiling fan, have son vacuum drapes and floor. Take bucket of coins outside and dust it with compressed air. Move recliner and vacuum behind it, clean the window. Then my living room will be DONE!!

oops - I sold the medical thing for 60%, not 30%. Much better lol.

post 2 -

This morning I cleaned the two big living room windows. I did the glass and then used polish and did the wooden ledges. I also wiped out the window tracks which were pretty bad. I feel good about getting this done and now the room just feels brighter. I started vacuuming the drapes but burned out and will ask my son to finish it.

I noticed more dust on bookshelf 1 ALREADY so I wiped the edges beyond the books. I need to find some kind of book shelf duster. I might have one somewhere - funny thing, I tend to keep buying cleaning supplies and not using them,

I also finished wiping off the last end table and vacuumed inside it. I need my son to wipe out the inside. I started vacuuming the edges around the walls and he will finish that. He is having breakfast and then I will get him in here to vacuum. I think we will even move the couches and vacuum under/behind them. Goal: when couch is moved, dust the 2 wall shelves.

Also: remember my big medical unit I paid thousands for? I sold it to a friend for about 30% of what I paid (I am happy with that) and she picked it up the other day. I also took down the ads for the other big item in my bedroom and offered it for free to a friend who I thought could use it for her kids. She was SO thankful for it! I gave it to her yesterday and that freed up even more space in my bedroom. That felt really good.

My kitchen table is now re-cluttered completely. The bar is about half cluttered. But, my living room/dining room is the cleanest and most decluttered it has been in years.

I have one bucket of toys and a couple small boxes of stuff that were in the end table that I will sort. I plan to look for a duster with a long handle to do the entry chandelier and the liing room ceiling fan.

My Christmas tree should be getting put up today so I am motivated to finish this living room!

Good morning friends!

haha, I love the 'donate' sign on the bar! I may try that! And I also love the comment on seeing our house as a storage facility... ugh. My home IS a storage facility. Again I cannot fathom how I have taken out loads and loads (literally, dozens of trips) in my SUV to donate, many many full trash cans, and an actual yard sale... and STILL it resembles a storage unit! If I reverse the thinking and imagine bringing all that stuff back IN, I don't know how it ever fit!!

Yesterday I managed to finish bookshelf #2 completely! It is all dusted and nice. I donated one book from there too. I also dusted a map and end table (which now has stuff on it from the shelf, stuff that is keep but has no home yet). I have one more end table with a very very dusty printer on it to clean and then the two wall shelves, and that is ALL the living room being done.

I have a very dusty home though. Maybe I don't vacuum enough (1-2x/week). Remember I dusted the other side of the living room the day before thanksgiving. Well one week later those surfaces have so much dust you can write your name in it, clearly. So I need to go back and re-dust that side of the room which won't be as hard since the surfaces are clear.

But it is frustrating to me to have to dust every week. I have never kept up with that and once a surface gets cluttered the dusting gets put off for months. I am going to dust it all today though and get son to vacuum. We are getting our Christmas tree today so I have to clean and get a space ready. Two weeks ago a tree would not have fit 🙂

Good morning!

I did two loads of laundry last night and that made me happy. Folded and put away.

Today I going to a church sale to get my wreaths. I also want to start wrapping presents.

SubC I am sorry that your school didn't hold up to their end of the bargain. I am sure you feel betrayed and it's hard to rebuild trust after that. And you must feel that they do not value you. I'm sorry.

Road, that makes me snicker about my Remote Storage Facility. I used to actually have a very large storage space, packed front to back and top to bottom. I was attending some workshop at the office and one of the sessions required us to (privately) make a commitment to do something. And I committed to get rid of my storage space by Dec 1 of that year. And I did it a month early. Not only was it costing me 400 a month, it turned out that I got rid of everything. Donated all of it. All. My childhood bookcase, the desk my grandfather made, etc. ALL. and then I looked at my house and how basically I'd been operating as a storage facility for some future event that would never occur. I saw myself as needing to be the person who swoops in and says, ?oh I have that!' Whenever somebody needs something. I had to come to grips that I was trying to operate as a free store for other people. It was an important mind shift and I haven't slipped back. Occasionally I'll see a bargain and want to buy multiple items but now I stop myself and remember that it's not up to me to buy things at a discount to give to other people for free.

Lila! Amazing bookshelf work! Wowie!

Hello everyone! I had the day off. I slept in then spent time with BF. Right now I'm trying to figure out if I should have dinner start laundry or go to sleep. I guess I should start laundry while I figure this out.

I'll go do that now. Otherwise, an hour will pass and I'll still be sitting here with no progress being made b

Good morning
Coffee clinks.

Lila, good work on your bookshelf! I am proud of you for jumping in and doing instead of procrastiplanning!

Maybe you should put a little sign on the bar "please leave items to be donated here".

I will start another thread for weight loss.

Yesterday was good, so I am back to my original plan of denial as far as work goes. I am a coward.

Bean learned how to say "hug" and he gave me three of them! He is a busy little fellow and not super cuddly, so that was pretty great. He went to the zoo with his daddy yesterday, and he got out his animal book to show me all the things he saw. At the moment he loves giraffes and elephants and anything he can call "doat" (goat) - deer, antelopes, bongos..

My pots came out pretty well at my class, although I left one set in reduction too long.

I did one task from my "advent calendar" list yesterday, so I am only 1-2 days behind.

I am back and am so proud of myself! I got three whole shelves of the 2nd bookshelf done. It is hard work to me! I took off every book, blew off the top with compressed air (out the open window), then wiped with a dust cloth. Then used pledge to clean the shelf, then put books back. Also there was a statue and a few frames I took off and cleaned. I even found one book to donate! I also found three large high school yearbooks that belonged to my first husband. I guess I kept them for our kids, but I am over it. So I messaged my local son and asked if his dad is coming to visit anytime soon (he lives across the US) and if he is, I will just give those to my son and he can pass them on when he sees him. If not, I will mail them when I send the Christmas boxes (with all the photos and mementos) to my other son who lives near his dad. Feels VERY good to let those go!! I also found a box of math flashcards on the shelf and am donating those.

So now all I have left is the 2 bottom shelves of books and the top of the bookshelf with all the ceramics. I am almost out of canned air so will grab some more when I go to run errands later. I used up a whole can of pledge this week so I found another can (instead of buying more).

In my bedroom I just got out 2 small boxes of dog food samples and sorted them by protein type, and put the ones with lamb into my dog's bin. When the lamb is gone I'll do a different protein until they are all used up. More free space!!

I put away a few things on the bar but now I am tired and needed to sit. The groomer is coming to cut my old dog's nails soon. Then I will try to get the bookshelf finished along with the 2 end tables. They just need to be dusted.

Tell me about your decluttering/cleaning efforts!

Holy cow! Look at all the posts! I am opening a new window so I can read them and respond here.

SubC - babies are so awesome, everything is magical! I took grandd, almost 3, to a Christmas party yesterday and her face was just lit up the whole time. So fun for you to enjoy Bean! Thank you for the thoughts on wrapping paper - I had no idea! I already have a lot from last year but will be thinking of using other things as well or if I run out, like that brown paper they use as packing paper. That would be fine with a ribbon. I admire you being a teacher. That can be so rewarding but also thankless, according to my teacher friends. I am a volunteer as my work, and it got to the point everyone asked me to do everything because I was always willing. I recently started saying no to things I don't value, so I get that. May as well enjoy my work. I am so sorry that you are 'not ok' SubC, that is hard and I'll pray for you. Hugs.

Road, I'm glad you like my details! It really helps me to post it because otherwise I feel like I got nothing done. Seeing it in print makes me feel accomplished! I like reading others' details too. oh, I have soo many dollar store plastic bins! I need to use them or lose them! And omg I relate on the parenting/son thing! One of my boys is also disabled and I sometimes feel I have failed him. He is older than yours but never got his GED or a job or anything. He is very helpful at home but I feel like I was so focused on my other child's medical issues that he took the back burner, since medically he is okay. There is nothing that will fix his disability, but I would have done better when he hit 18 on getting him more help. I will.

Tatoulia, so nice to hear about your kitty! 16 is great. Our last kitty was almost 19 and had a full wonderful life. Ours is a year old and is my autistic child's emotional support cat, which he does beautifully.

I gained a few pounds for Thanksgiving but then lost them again so am back to square one. I am eating Cheez-its instead of my smoothie so obviously I need to put on the brakes here. I am also drinking coffee to try and get myself moving this morning. What do you guys think? A separate weight loss/get healthy thread might be nice! Then it won't get too mixed up with the hoarding stuff. I will post on it if SubC makes one.

Okay, the coffee is in my blood so now I am going to get off this couch and do some actual work. I need to feed the dogs and let them out, then (I was going to write 'look over my lists and rate them in order of importance' but then I won't actually do anything so) I will work on bookshelf #2 and a bit of my bedroom. I also need to re-clear that darned dining room bar, the bane of my existence, which clutters up all by itself while I am sleeping! Actually people just keep putting things there instead of away. They are not used to it being empty. I will put it all away and then encourage people to not put things there. I'll come back and update when I get tired and need to sit!

Ok Road, schedule the thing. You can do it! Don't worry about the laundry unless it's wet.

I have my own thing I am avoiding that I know I have to deal with. It is meeting with my boss about the things that have happened with my employment this fall. I cannot just leave it alone even though I desperately want to. I cried all the way to school yesterday. But she was out for the day, and once I got to my classroom, everything was fine. Mostly. I got two kids names wrong and then dropped a piece of pottery I was using for an example (my three purchases are now balanced out) and one of my students asked "are you ok?"

So clearly I am not ok and I cannot keep faking it.

Besides the broken pottery, I donated the stuffed monkey Bean used to play with to the new and like new toy drive. He has lost interest in it and it is fairly large and still in mint condition.

I did not do my new advent calendar idea yesterday even though I had it written out. Not enough band width. Maybe today.

Hi all,

Ok, I took a 1/3 of a 1 mg. Melatonin so I'm not long for this world... the evening is coming to a close.

Sub c, no laundry today although it stared me down about 6x. And I did not schedule the thing! Tomorrow I will have to put on my big girl pants and unplug from he old feelings. What you wrote or wanted to write was beautifully. Stated..

Tatoulia, that's cool about the bed. I am pretty sure I have 76 rolls of wrapping paper... I had an annual tradition of hitting hallmarks the day after Christmas. I would buy up paper and certain ornaments. Thankfully, that bleeding has been stemmed (?) good idea on the alternatives, also. In my family we got into habit of not exchanging gifts except for the kids.

Ok I really have nodded off 10+ times so I'm going to stop before someone gets hurt!