Good Morning Everybody 🙂

Hi Anonymoniker 🙂
Thank you 🙂
But the garden is by no means cleaned up.
Just four tiny areas have been started getting done.
But just that little bit makes a difference and encourages me to keep picking away at it. ;D
How is your kitchen corner coming along?
I find Bob Marley is great company when I'm working.

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
I was just talking to the cat this morning about bringing out his winter blanket.
Supposed to be warmer here too soon this week.
Good luck getting in a few five minute miracles today. (((hugs)))

This morning I am heading out to the hardware store.
I figure that if he can go there and buy hundreds of gallons of paint we do not need and have no use for, I can go there and buy some things that I do need to try to get this place ready for Winter.
He will complain about the money I will spend, always does anyway.
When I spend money on necessary things he then has less money to spend buying unnecessary things and that makes him mean & nasty.
He claims to have everything on my list somewhere in his hoard, so I am not to buy it.
But he also says it's all my fault he can't find it because I refuse to let him clutter up the inside of the whole teeny tiny little house with all his stuff, just the huge garage, carport and yard so he doesn't have the room to organize all his stuff.
When he does locate something necessary to maintain this place he refuses to let me use it.
He wants to save it for "Justin Case" someday.
Then the stuff gets ruined or all dried up & useless just sitting there.
His logic is illogical.
I will spend about 30 dollars for Winterizing supplies and that will save us at least that amount keeping the house warmer all winter.
He will just have to deal with it. 🙂

TTYS 🙂

Hello everyone!

Cooler weather sounds so nice, Tillie. It's been a little cooler here with some rain but it's getting warm again near end of week.

Working from home and washing cat's sheets. Looking forward to Fall when I can put out her blankets.

Hoping to do some stuff around the house today. Need a few quick miracles.

Hey Tillie? Congratulations on the cleaned up garden! That must feel great to improve it so quickly?! Im glad youve got the place to yourself for a bit...well, except for your furmily members...ha ha...and i struggle with my sunset glass of wine being knocked over by my kitties, too...i put my shoes around it to barricade it! I cant imagine it being that cold yet? It was 100 degrees here yesterday!
I had a nightmare about my ex again last night...(sigh)...i wasnt even upset about him yesterday, so it makes no sense...yet, anyway...often the meanings come out later...
Im going to continue on my kitchen corner today! Playing happy, energizing reggae music helps a lot!
~Happy home improving to all!!!~ 😀

Good Morning 🙂

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
WAY TO GO! with your five minute miracles 😀
GREAT isn't it that you did not get arrested for keeping up with the sink and counter. 😀

Hi Anonymoniker 🙂

Yesterday I did five minutes of garden cleaning and then kept going back a few more times doing some more.
I kept looking at the flower bed thinking
"well, I could pull that all out over there and it will only take five minutes at the most".
Twenty minutes total and it is starting to look so much better now. 😀
He's back at work today which makes cleaning house so much easier.
Fifty degrees outside this morning.
Low 60s inside.
I brought out a small space heater to warm the kitchen area for me & the cats.
I stand at the kitchen counter to read and post on my laptop and drink my tea.
I used to sit comfortably before Scooter came to live here but when I do that he spills my tea and pushes all the buttons on my laptop. ;P

TTYS 🙂

...ha ha...Tatoulia, your kitty sounds pretty normal!
It seems like the posting problems worsened? I entered a post once & it went to a blank screen, then showed up later after id started over with a new post?! Tillie, i cracked up when you double posted on that particular post...ha ha Im so glad youre already winterized!
Today i plan to clear my kitchen cabnet shelf, clean & rearrange a few things to look nice! I kind of went over what id keep & toss last night. The decisions are usually my biggest...um...stuckness causers...well, that & my procrastinationitis!

Fun fact: I just learned that I can clean my kitchen sink and one of my counters two weeks in a row without getting arrested. So there, I did it and with your help, I'll remember this each week!

Kitty moved to the white bedspread, so laundry folded and put away.

Hello everyone!

Here are my Five Minute Miracles so far
Vacuumed living room/den areas
Shredded last week's mail & put away shredder
Emptied vacuum and put away
Got a lot of recyclables together
Popped in two loads of laundry. First load has dried
Second load drying

WELL, after drying first load I put second load in dryer, dumped my warm things on bec and hopped In the shower. When I got out there was the World's Cutest Cst asleep on the warm laundry. It's just pjs so I let her be. Well I would've let her be anyway but being pjs I won't rewash.

I never do that--I know wash, dry, fold because I've learned that folding is a Five Minute Miracle and yet makes a significant change in my life.

Labor Day-I'll give my buddy a day off and let her sleep.

Anony glad you've figured out how to break the curse of the double posts. Looks like you've passed it on to Tillie.

I feel so much better getting these things done around the house. BF is working today so I'll go see him in a bit, then visit mom and the Kittycat.

Now I need to figure out what little miracles await me while the laundry dries.

LOL 😀
Mine double posted and I only hit the post button once! 😀

Good Morning Everybody 🙂

YEA! Anonymoniker! 😀

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
Thank you for explaining the phone buttons (((hugs)))
GREAT! you feed Ghost cat and I will keep feeding the five in here and the three strays on my porch. 😉
Thank you. So far so good on the window but the cure time on the putty says 7 to 14 days to cure, so we will see.

It's cold inside here this morning. 61 degrees.
Should warm up a bit later on today, I hope.
This is not the end of warm days yet, just a little reminder for us that Winter is on it's way.

Hoping you all are having a wonderful and safe Holiday Monday 😀

YEA!!! It worked that time!!! 😀
Remember to relax & enjoy this weekend everyone, cuz its Labor Day!!! 😀

Thanks yall! I found the refresh button, but it went to a blank posting page? Ill keep trying different things. 😀

.....testing again for refresh button..1 2 3...

Hello All!

Keeping my fingers crossed on the window, Tillie!

Anony, after you submit your post, go to the line at the top--not sure what it's called--up where you type the website where you want to go. It'll say hoardingcleanup.com. If you look to the right, you'll see a little arrow making a circle. Press that--that is the refresh button. After it is refreshed, scroll down. Did your post appear? If not, use your back button til you get to your post, check that you entered the code correctly, and submit your post again.

Ghost cat, c'mon over. I'll add you to my roster of people and cats who I feed and support.

Well I slept once I got home from being with mom. It is 10:45 PM now but not too late for a Five Minute Miracle!

Anonymoniker
Oh Yeah, phones.
I have no idea how they work or even what kind of buttons they have.
I don't have a phone, hate phones, always have. 😛

SHOO!!! cat! >:0
Not going to feed you, you are not my cat 😛
And leave my lizards alone too.

😸meow!

Hey Tillie, i dont have a refresh button, maybe cuz im on a phone? I back up & if the post doesnt take, i enter post again, but it almost always double posts anyway?!
Sorry, i misunderstood that you wanted more garden space. Gardens are a lot of work. I dont blame you for keeping it simple!
As far as buying more stuff, that stopped when i quit drugs, and then even more a few years later when i went broke. Ive had a real aversion to shopping for many years now...except for food!
I can not imagine what 35 degrees below zero would be like! Winter nights here are more like 35 degrees above zero!
How nice of you to caretake you neighbor's place! And congrats on winterizing already! 😀
Ive felt queasy today. Maybe cuz i havent eaten much cuz of my teeth. Ive felt strangely depressed, too...every Saturday driving home i seem to get an overwhelming sadness about my ex...at least this time i didnt have more nightmares...

Hi Anonymoniker 🙂

Pretty fabric would not do what I need done to insulate that back door.
It's about 100 years old. The kind with panels and a small window set up high.
The panels are split/warped/cracked/loose and they are not really very thick to begin with.
You can see through the cracks.
Here in northern Nevada it can and does get down to 35 degrees below freezing.
We get strong winds, snow, heavy frost and ice storms.
A piece of very heavy tarp plastic doubled over, stapled in place works best.

Has been a very lovely day here today.
Sunny and low 70s with a pretty breeze.
Got that window glass all puttied back into its falling apart aluminum frame.
Should hold this Winter. "Fingers crossed".
Neighbor friends returned home today after a month long vacation in their big RV.
They are happy to see I kept their house and yard just as they left it.
Really only needed to bring in the mail, refill hummingbird feeders and water the inside plants.
Outside is on a timered watering system. ;P

Im sorry about all the double posts.
Tillie, have you heard of vertical gardening? Its a new trend for people with small spaces? Also, i wonder if itd brighten up things to use some pretty heavy fabric from thrift store clothes, etc., instead of plastic over the door or a window?
Tatoulia, i hope your stressful time is calming down & im glad you are resting some!
CriticalMass, maybe you already do this, but having a list to take grocery shopping is the only way i can function in a grocery store! I love shopping for food, but i get very frustrated without a list!
~I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!~

CriticalMass, its funny what you said about my mechanic, cuz just the other day he told me he had something that might interest me. It was a service manual for the electric system my car. I told him id have to be stranded in an emergency with no hope of survival before id try to fix my car's electrical system myself. ha ha Also, in regards to your mean Home Ec teacher, zippers were almost the defining achievement in my home ec classes. For some reason they were the big deal to overcome with each teacher i had! I also use to do zippers for fellow classmates in exchange for them doing my gathering seams, or just to help them cuz they wouldnt pass otherwise....gotta read more posts...its great having all yall come give your updates & thoughts!

CriticalMass, its funny what you said about my mechanic, cuz just the other day he told me he had something that might interest me. It was a service manual for the electric system my car. I told him id have to be stranded in an emergency with no hope of survival before id try to fix my car's electrical system myself. ha ha Also, in regards to your mean Home Ec teacher, zippers were almost the defining achievement in my home ec classes. For some reason they were the big deal to overcome with each teacher i had! I also use to do zippers for fellow classmates in exchange for them doing my gathering seams, or just to help them cuz they wouldnt pass otherwise....gotta read more posts...its great having all yall come give your updates & thoughts!

Hi all! 😀
YES! I have often timed how long things take, like vacuuming, or preparing a healthy food, or something that seems like a big project, only to find out its like 10 minutes?!! That is an excellent suggestion!
Tille, i love your term 'Angora phobia' ha ha 😀
I was reading that definition of hoarding & im not sure that i truly am in that category any more. After hauling off around 15 tons of junk, my place is just more dirty and dilapidated, than anything. I read a thing on procrastination earler and that seems more my problem now. Yesterday i took a friend to the hardware store & realized how much i avoid buying things now.
.....i cant remember what else i was gonna say...gotta post this, then re-read y'all's posts again...

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
Happy you have lovely weather to enjoy. 😀

I think a five or ten minute miracle challenge would be great.
I am always amazed by how little time so many things actually take to do.
When in my mind it was some HUGE tedious thing that would take hours or days to do.
😀

Hi Tillie. I too will have to do some winter maintenance.

Right now it's very breezy here due to hurricane but no rain. We could use the rain. I'm out with mom now, saw brother this AM, and am hoping to get some non-sleep time later today. Really need to get caught up at home.

Mom is in the grocery store and I'm sitting in car with all my windows open. So breezy and pleasant.

So I didn't succeed in our August Indoor Challenge Plus but that doesn't dampen my spirits.

I was thinking of a challenge for September along the lines of Five Minute Miracle or Ten Minute Miracle--you know, like when you find out it takes exactly five minutes to empty the dishwasher but in your mind you don't do it because it seems like such a chore. Does that sound good or any other suggestions for a challenge?

Thinking of you all!

Good Morning 🙂

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
Hope you did just go to bed (((hugs)))
Good luck getting all caught up on your usual daily tasks. 🙂

Thinking that today I will try fixing the old single pane dining room area window again.
The aluminum frame is falling apart and the glass needs to be reset in with some new window glazing.
Been trying to fix this window for over twenty years, but it just keeps falling more & more apart.
Also need to start fixing the insulation around the doors to keep out the winter cold.
The doors don't fit the frames right and there are big gaps.
The back door is so old that it's got long open splits in the wood. In the Autumn I always staple a plastic tarp over the whole door so the wind doesn't blow through but still leaves the door openable to use.
Next month I will have to put plastic over all the windows to winterize them.
Summertime is so much easier even when it gets real hot.

Glad to hear from everyone, including CM and Scooter!

I haven't done much today. Was drained after spending time with someone/always something, then ran some errands for BF. Since getting home I've only changed sheets. Little bit of laundry. It's 9:00 and I truly just want to go to bed.

Maybe I'll hop in shower and call it a day.

I must do things around here tomorrow if I'm going to be able to learn new habits. I need to shred mail, vacuum and wash bathroom sink and vanity.

I will post more starting today. Last couple of weeks have been enormously stressful.

Goodnight everyone! Thanks so much for posting and keep up the good work! You help me so much!

Good Morning Everybody 🙂

Scooter!
You are such an uncouth little jerk 😛

Hi Anonymoniker 🙂
WTG! for enjoying the new paint job you did. 😀
Mobile home, prefab home, modular home,
any of those might sound better to you than trailer?
(((hugs)))
When I lived in my converted bus, I called it the bus but some people called it an RV.

HI Tatoulia 😀
"I wave as you quickly speed out of sight"
Hope your day goes smoothly and you find time to do for yourself (((HUGS)))

Hi CriticalMass 🙂
GREAT! to catch up with you. 😀
Yes, according to the DSM he truly is classified as a hoarder.
I prefer to call my agoraphobia "Angora Phobia"
Fear of leaving the cat. 😉
Sorry your home ec teacher was such a B**** (((hugs)))
Mine was the mother of a girl in my age class, they lived near by, knew her for decades, she was always willing to help with anything I needed help with at school or after school. A real sweetheart.
One problem with buying/paying for anything with the car is that I have very limited funds available to me.
That's why I always buy most everything at the thrift shop, otherwise I could not have it at retail pricing.
All I need is for him to clear the carport/driveway just enough for me to squeeze the car in there. 🙁
WAY TO GO!!! for VICTORY at the storage unit! 😀
My stereo system is connected to the TV through the Blu-ray player.
Just need to turn the Blu-ray player on and put it on the "play CD" function to get it to play TV audio.

Have a list of things I would like to do today.
Not much really, taking it easy.
Been thinking a lot about how to make yardwork easier on myself next year.
He refuses to ever help so everything has to be done by me or not at all and I am tired.
My garden/yard area is small but I think I can make it easier if I move some plants to different areas. Consolidate.
Anyways I have until next Spring to think this through and act on it. 😀
Cloudy and cool today with colder temps predicted through Monday.
Great day to make some cookies! 😀

Ya'll stay safe and don't forget to schedule in some FUN. 🙂

And now for my 2nd installment - what I did yesterday:

Backstory first. It's been a crazy, busy, and at times emotionally draining summer. With the calendar rolling over to September, I feel that things should be winding down soon. Which means I can try to reconnect with where I was before I lost track. I feel apprehensive, though, because my mind is a-buzzing with so many things I need to attend to, and it's hard to know where to start.

With the cooler weather, too, comes another window of opportunity to deal with the storage unit in some fashion or other. If I'm blessed with the resources of money, time, and helpers, I could finally do the Big Push I've dreamed of doing. If not, it will be continuing to Chip Away At It. We'll see. The chipping away has brought some degree of optimism - seeing a few bare shelf spaces that the floor piles could be neatly apportioned to (after being identified, sorted, interrogated, etc. to see what part of them even gets kept).

Yesterday, I went to get my stereo components out of there. The stereo's a semi-compact model, early aughts vintage, a Sony. It consists of a receiver/CD/cassette unit, about a cubic foot but a little taller, a subwoofer about the same size, and two regular speakers slightly smaller. Takes up about a yard of shelf space. My roommate and I were talking about sound quality of the 2nd TV which is in the family room, and a lightbulb went on in my mind. She was enthusiastic. So I'm going to try to hook the stereo system and my TV together. If I'm successful, it means my stereo will be in a climate-controlled environment for as long as I'm staying here! And it will not be taking up space in the storage unit. Plus we'll have good sound for TV. A win all around.

Also found my blender, which I've been wanting, and some cake decorating colors which really need to come over here in the kitchen. In the process of getting these things extricated from the jumble, I was able to dispose of several cardboard boxes from the moving time, and just put stuff on shelves. There's no rhyme or reason to it yet, still much more stuff to go through, but getting rid of the boxes helps reduce the overall bulk.

Basically, I'd just thought I'd locate and get the stereo (and was kind of afraid maybe it'd be hard to find and get - it was tricky but not bad), and that'd be it. But the little extra things I ended up doing were minor, yet helpful overall, and satisfying.

Good morning!

Have to take care of someone today/hoping I can keep it to undrr four hours. See lots to do around the house. Need to do maintenance. It is much cooler and I hope to be productive. BF is working today so no excursions.

Have a few things to do before I face the music and help someone.

This was supposed to be my yesterday post but I didn't get to it in time. I've been reading back through what everyone posted since I was here last. So this is gonna be LONG! In fact, I think I'll make two posts. This one will be responses to things people have posted.

I had never heard of Justin Case, and yet here I've been saving all this stuff for him all these years! LOL! My mysterious secret admirer, but I think it is a dead-end relationship and I'm gonna have to break it off. I doubt he'll have trouble finding someone else.

@Tillie - I think your guy must have the "poor insight" described below . . .

The American Psychiatric Association recently published the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). For the first time, the DSM defines Hoarding Disorder. Hoarding Disorder is diagnosed when patients fit the following criteria:

Change of subject - the bird poop on car conundrum - what came to my mind was could you get it clean and then have a car wash or someplace coat it with something like an industrial strength version of Rain-X - some sort of coating that would make stuff less likely to stick? I'm not exactly sure if such a product exists, but maybe it does. Then if they poop it would just come off easily with water . . . ?

@Anonymoniker - I empathize with the car mechanical stuff! I hope you get resolution soon. And that your mechanic guy doesn't require you to write up a dissertation on the flammability of oxygen if something's on fire, or the equivalent, before the fire can be put out! (Hopefully I'm only speaking metaphorically here.)

@Tatoulia re your post on Aug 15 - quoting:
One more point I wanted to make, just as doing the dishes but leaving them to sit in the dishwasher, or washing clothes and leaving them in a pile, I find that putting the shredder away and putting the vacuum away are crucial steps. If these things are left out then they are just contributing to the overall clutter and upset.

So true, so true! And I am frequently guilty of this. I seem to reach a point of exhaustion when I'm like 80-90 percent done with a task. Follow through is not my strong point. Must keep working on it.

Re: Home Economics - I took it in 8th grade and learned some things but had a bad experience with the teacher, who could be pretty hard-nosed and snarky. I was behind in sewing the zipper in my dress and there were make up sessions after school, which I did take, but one time my mom picked me up to go with her to the doctor so I couldn't, and on the basis of that unfinished zipper, the teacher gave me an "F" for that entire quarter, instead of "pro-rating" and giving me at least some credit for the stuff I did get done. She seemed pleased and smirky about it, too, and when she averaged my "A" for the other quarter with the "F," gave me a "D" which made no sense either, should've been a "C."

But I learned a lot from my mom who took lots of home ec in the early 1940s. And just from what I picked up from magazines, etc., or figured out through common sense.

I also think all kids need to get taught about personal finance and the dangers of debt. I got into trouble with credit cards - part of the acquisition side of my hoarding. I don't know if it would've prevented that, but it couldn't have hurt to have that information. Things like compound interest, liquid cash flow, interest rates - things I got a big reality check on but only after they bit me in the butt!

Quick drive by to wish you a happy and safe long weekend. Will write more later.