Good morning SubC, and all,

Another day off. Two in a row feels like absolute luxury! Fall is my busiest season, so I hope to do more of this 2-day rest over the summer. SubC, a time of rest and ease is what makes us able to work later. I had many weeks of no progress on the house, but now I am ready. You will be too.

I had my coffee while reading on the back deck with my dog, who was watching squirrels. Then I went through the fruit drawer in the fridge and picked out an orange and 4-5 Clementines that looked past their prime, and I juiced them all. It made a nice small glass of fresh juice, which I greatly enjoyed!

Now I have pulled up some recipes online so I can make something new for dinner from all the produce I have, before it goes bad. I invited Tot and Acorn and parents over for dinner, but did not hear back yet. I will make it anyway if they don't come, so Son and I can have it and leftovers for the week.

I would like to make garlic bread, but don't want to go to the store. Is there a quick and easy substitute that is homemade? I have flour and basics. I am imagining something easy like a flat loaf or a pan bread or foccacia type thing I can mix up, bake, and slice. If anyone has a recipe I'd love to have it!

I will be working on the hoard today and looking forward to having a full box to put in the car for donation. How about everyone else?

Lila, here is my pizza crust, you just smoosh it flat on the pan, no stretching/tossing:

3c flour
1 packet or 2T yeast
Pinch of salt
1.5* c warm water

Mix dry stuff together, *add water slowly until you have a dough that sticks together well but isn't sticky.

Knead for 2 minutes on a floured surface
Let rise 2 hours
Flatten and cook at 500F for about ten minutes or until done (if you leave it thicker, it takes a little longer.

You can brush it with butter and garlic before baking.

Thank you SubC!! Sounds good! In fact it sounds like pizza is in our future as well!

I am hot and tired. I waited too long to go in the garage and search for things and it got hot in there. But I managed to find a box of toddler toys and dress-up clothes/jewelry from when my kids were little, and brought it in the house for the grandkids to play with tonight. Some need a washing as they were a bit dusty, but I think the kids will like them. I also found a box of cute clothing and pulled out a dress, a few shorts and shirts, and some pjs for Tot and Acorn to wear. (Believe it or not, I sorted these boxes several times, had 2 yard sales and donated a bunch, but still have stuff left. At this point is is getting used by grandkids and then donated).

I also put an old stroller out on the driveway with a "free" sign. It is heavy. If no one takes it, it is getting put in the car tonight to be donated.

I could have put a whole box or two together to donate, but it was just too hot.

Now I feel worn out and wish I had some ice cream to cool down! Drinking ice water... thinking about cleaning and cooking and decluttering more.

Lila, you had time to do something. Something is better than nothing. And honestly it sounds like you did quite a lot.

And you found the toys in time to make use of them before the kids outgrow them!

I decluttered two aggressive roosters. Enough said and enough for one day!

Hi everyone! Good to read your posts! We went to the hazardous waste day today and took electronics including old cords as well as shredding. Then we went to goodwill and I got rid of a
Lot, including my mother's giant suitcase that she used for years and years and years. I also got rid of clothes and a framed print from the 80s that was in various offices of mine over the years. I cannot remember where I first got it. I'd forgotten all about it it is lovely and I hope someone is excited to find it at goodwill. We were going to take the things for the cat shelter (blankets, towels, cat bed) but I started to feel very sick in the car and we skipped it. The cat donations are in the trunk of BF's car. I just fell terrible all of a sudden.

I came home and slept in the AC. Then I got up and visited mom, then a quick trip to the grocery store. Came home, showered, did two loads of laundry.

I am ready for bed. Taking my brother for lunch tmr.

Wow. I got the jumpers sewn - and right toward the end the machine started messing up again. I've had this Singer machine since the early 90s - bought it as a trade in of my $15 garage sale Singer (which probably had metal gears instead of plastic, and maybe I should've pursued repairing it, but that ship has sailed). Anyway, the current one has been a good little workhorse for many years.

At the same time, I'm not sure if I want to pursue repairs because maybe I wouldn't mind getting a newer machine - some of them have decorative stitches and features I'd like - but anything would probably need to be secondhand or at least not too expensive to buy new. I've gone to the specialty sewing machine shops and basically you can spend as much money as you feel like in them on sewing, quilting, and/or embroidery machines and furniture, accessories, etc. That would be for when I win that lottery or marry that millionaire.

I think what I'll do right now is do what I can with this one to clean it, which I'm sure it needs - can probably find a website or video showing how to DIY that. And get some scrap fabric and just play around with adjustments over and over, and see if I can get any consistency. If that doesn't yield success, then I will start looking around. I will do this poco a poco, sensibly.

It's disappointing, though, to get this machine out after all these months expecting it to work because it was working fine before as far as I knew, and have it have so many problems. So much of my life is like that, things get neglected and entropy sets in. But we'll see, it did work for awhile so maybe it just needs more TLC.

My condolences , SubC. We are here if you wish to talk. Also here if you need to just sit quietly.

Cm I'm glad you are staying firm on the bunny stuff! And yes, get the sewing machine up and running so you can do little satisfying tasks!

Congratulations on working on the house odors, Lila! My place is a little stinky because this kitty is a little smellier. I also learned, when changing over her microchip to my name, that she is actually 16. They had the records under her chip number. A far cry from the 12 they first told me at then shelter, and the 14 or 15 I estimated based in her medical records. Bf mentioned that I still would have adopted her; which is absolutely true. I have more respect for her now.

I have a big bag of clothes to go to goodwill. I'm thinking of leaving here at 5 and just driving over before they close at six. Traffic will be a bear but I really want these things out. Plus I am having the car inspected soon. I think the sticker is up next week. I cannot remember if it is a June or July sticker. BF will take for me since this is a task I absolutely despise.

That's the news from here!

For you, SubC...

There are no words
But you are in my heart
Thinking of you
And your family
In this difficult time

Thanks for the love.

Dd and dsil came here for the night. I'm glad to have her under my roof so I can worry a little less. She is sleeping.

Bean and I picked blueberries at my friend's house this afternoon.

Also (on the stuff front) the large planter I ordered came in the mail.

I know exactly where it will go, so that's ok, right?

Glad your daughter is there with you.

I took a very large bag to my car and drove to goodwill. Unfortunately, the trailer at goodwill was not open. I will go this weekend. I will also need to take towels, blankets to the cat shelter. And I learned that my car inspection sticker is July not June. So BF can take after the 1st for me.

Washed sheets, towels, jeans.

It felt really good to get rid of clothes. Feels good to be losing weight.

Okay I need to water the flower boxes and call it a night. All dried laundry is folded and put away. The jeans are hanging to dry.

Thoughts and prayers, SubC. I'm sorry to hear it.

I had a very long long work day yesterday and was thrilled to get a text last night cancelling the one meeting I was pushed into having tonight, on my day off. I am thankful that was moved and I wasn't the one to back out. Now I have today and tomorrow to rest and get things done around the house.

I feel great this morning - had coffee on the deck while reading. Tasks done so far:

- gathered trash from the 4 corners of my house, plus bagged the downstairs bathroom trash, plus grabbed 3 small empty boxes and put it all in the bin.
- pulled some weeds from my driveway
- sorted clothes for laundry, put away, return, and donate
- called to refill prescriptions
- gathered 6 items to put in the trash bin. I picked out 4 old, icky looking, partly shredded dog toys and threw those out. I don't know why it is so hard for me to throw out toys my pup still likes even if they are icky.

I was so happy that while I was out last night, Son loaded and ran the dishwasher and hand washed the rest of the pans etc. What a great kid he is. Teen surprisingly went to an event with their cousin last night a few hours away and will probably be gone through the weekend! So I have some real quiet, peaceful time here.

I have been on hold with a government agency for 39 minutes, but will try to just carry the phone around with me on speaker so I can talk to who I need to before the weekend. But I do wish they would pick up!

I had to take my sewing machine to the place near here where I'd gone last year to evening sewing sessions. The top thread kept breaking. The nice lady helped run through some troubleshooting. Hopefully I can finish the school jumpers for my cousin. I want to be able to do favors for people but I have such an instant recoil about deadlines. And part of that is because so often something unexpected goes wrong. The other part is that I know what a track record for procrastination I have. Anyway, I'm going to sit down now and get started.

Found a few donation items the other day while semi organizing my area of the pantry. A few plastic snack plates and a humorous coffee mug. I'll start a box. And quickly make a point to take it to the thrift shop - carrying things too long in my van has been a problem. That was one of the drawbacks of saving things for upcoming garage sales. I've learned some things this year about what strategies are perhaps not as well suited for my situation.

Good afternoon. Stealing a few minutes while Bean naps. His parents went home this morning. I'll take him back to them later.

CM, I'm glad you are getting reacclimated to driving places. And I hope all the sewing gets straightened out.

Tatoulia, I'm sorry the donation trailer was closed. Good for you getting rid of the clothes though!

Lila, I hate being on hold! I'm really impressed with the progress you ar3 making. Just keep moving forward.

Bean and I went to the library this morning and turned in our decorated puzzle pieces and checked out some books. We are now 1/3 of the way to our t-shirts.

We also played with the ducks and some blocks and plastic bear counters and a fire truck and ate a lot of fruit.

It's very rainy, and I am tempted to take a nap too, but somebody needs to clean up our toys. And I have dried oregano to strip and put away.

Lila, we have 28 acres. It's roughly square and a creek flows through the front of it - there is a serious bridge in our driveway because the creek gets up 11 feet of flood stage (then it goes over the top of the downstream neighbor's bridge and stops rising - so far.)

Anyway, we plant things that are flood tolerant along the banks to try to control the erosion.

I want you to think about the fact that you got great new jeans for $2. You can afford to donate some jeans that don't fit/you don't really like much to make some space in your room/house/life.

Today Dh took me shopping and then we picked up lunch and visited Bean and family until nap time. Actually we mostly visited Bean, because as soon as lunch was done, we took him out to play in the sandbox so his parents could get some things done.

I acquired a new hose spray nozzle and a new wheelbarrow. The hose nozzle was cheap, but the wheelbarrow was expensive! The old wheelbarrow bed with holes in it is going to become a burn basin. The frame and wheel I am contemplating. The old spray nozzle is going in the recycling - it's metal.

I worked in my pottery studio today. Making things, but also rearranging. I got that large piece of useful furniture I picked up off the curb for a future project a while back moved to the back of my studio and stored some of my equipment in it. It works pretty well. I replaced lightweight modular plastic shelves that were there and plan to donate the shelves. I also found one piece of trash, one donate item (besides the shelves) and one thing for recycling. Actually, it wasn't for recycling until I broke it moving stuff, but things happen. I am going to take it as motivation to get the studio in better order so that such things stop happening.

It's supposed to rain again tomorrow, so more studio time for me.

Happy solstice!

We've made it halfway through another year.

I am still working on my vision for my life. I have four more pussy Willow plants to plant before they die in the bucket, and then the most important thing will be making a larger duck pen. This appears to be the "summer of the living things".

I'm realizing that I'm going to need to let my studio membership go in 2024. There will be too much else in my life. Maybe a few classes and more pottery at home, and then revisit in 2025. (Do the years seem strange to anyone else? Maybe it's because I read so much old science fiction growing up, or because all the dates we studied in school were some teen whatever, but they don't feel like real years.)

I did make some small progress in my home studio yesterday, and hope to make more today. Today is a "leaving the house" day, so hopefully some things will leave with me, even if they are only recycling and trash.

I am keeping up with dishes and laundry.

hi SubC! Ohhh, I love pussy willows! I remember them growing up but have not seen any since I moved West, which has been a very long time. I don't think they would grow here, but I would love to just see one and touch it, for old time's sake. Agree, I can make space, and donate a few more things. I actually bought a few items at yard sales that day thinking Teen might like them, as they are hard to shop for. They were cheap - 25 cents etc - so the ones they didn't like can go right back to donate and the ones they did like saved me some money.

Today I usually work, in fact during the not-summer I work 10 hours or so this day. But today is an anomoly where my boss is away, there is nothing I have to attend, and my one meeting got moved to a Zoom meeting that I can do from home. So home I am, and enjoying it! I do have to work (mostly calls and paperwork) but don't have to see people. lol.

My house smells much better now. Not only did I wash the dogs beds, which are now back where they belong, I also washed the blankets and the recliner cover in the living room and Son helped me put things back. And I did that mopping with lysol which helped.Now all I really need to make smell better is the carpets. I hate the process of moving furniture and not being able to walk on the carpets for a whole day, but then it is SO nice and fresh when it is done! So I will hire it out next month. It is only about a hundred dollars to hire it out to do all my carpet including stairs, so I no longer try to do it myself which is just too much for me.

I'll be back to share what I get done today. How are you all doing?

Hi all,

It's just been a week with a lot happening.

The air conditioner man came last week but didn't need to come inside the house. The sofa and coffee table clutter got neatened up a bit, there's more work to do but anytime I shift things helps me see with fresh eyes.

The bunny club pressure thing seems to be on track to a favorable resolution. I think standing firm has gotten results. I'm going to help this Saturday with removing carpet but I feel that is a worthwhile thing to do as it will make the place nicer for them and easier to clean so they will perhaps have more energy to devote to some of the bigger more pressing issues.

I went to the water park Tuesday. It is located several miles west, and the big street I've always taken to get there, well, in the stress/burnout of late 2022 my agoraphobia had me not wanting to drive that street (especially during holiday traffic). I'd intended to get reacclimated to it much sooner this year but time got away from me. So I had my support friend along virtually by phone. I took one detour to avoid the biggest scariest intersection, but that's okay; one of these days during a light traffic time I'll practice on that one too.

Otherwise, I stopped at some stores along the way, just wanted to check about phones because I may need to upgrade soon, and got necessities at Walmart. Felt calm, confident, and enjoyed the shopping, even Walmart wasn't bad that time of day. Then got to the water park. The water was cold! But I went in by inches and got used to it and had a nice swim.

My cousin who recently moved here gave me a little project, nothing difficult, just stitching some places on school uniforms of her granddaughter's where seams came out a bit. Of course as you all know, such a thing is easy for someone who has an organized sewing area and a less crazy life and no adhd. I haven't even sewn for months, I realized! Last night I had to look in the manual for how to thread the machine, then apparently there were tension issues because the thread kept breaking. A piece broke off, I needed to fix it with super glue, the glue was hardened so off to the dollar store for more, and on and on in a comedy of errors culminating in a migraine. While I was outside on the lounge waiting for that to pass, my cousin texts me to inquire about the uniforms.

Well, hopefully it will get back on track today; I'll take the machine over to the sewing shop near here and have them walk me through troubleshooting and adjustments. I also need to be away from the house for a few hours because roommate wants to cook her strong smelling foods like onions and peppers that put me into sensory overload. I'd planned to go to the library with my laptop. Had hoped to get the sewing done quickly last night and not have to worry about it. My complicated life...

I'll try and return with an update later or tomorrow. Hoping things are settled and going smoothly by then. I even forgot yesterday was solstice until evening. Had hoped to do some little fun special midsummer thing like maybe go to a park and watch fireflies. Ah well. I can still do that, and the long evenings will be around for awhile. TV

I don't know why it says TV at the end of my post, must have hit something.

Popping in - off to get Bean.

Unfortunately dd1 is miscarrying again. She sounds ok. I am very sad but don't really want to discuss it, just letting you know. Better update later.

Hi Tatoulia,

I'm thinking about having nothing pressing to do but laundry. We'll get there, right?

Lila, I hope you found something that worked for you to wear.

Yay for a healthy dinner!

And three things is a lot!

I put in a very small flowerbed, sheared my goat (finally) and planted a dozen little trees with Dh (he did the digging, I carried water up from the creek) and I feel like I've been rid hard and put up wet!

I think the key is to just keep fighting not to add things so that every day we can do more than we add.

Dh added a yard task to my list today, but he was a huge help with the trees, and it is not urgent, it is just a thing that will make maintaining that part of the yard easier.

Hi SubC, we will all get there. And remember, I outsource a lot. As long as I can afford it, I'll be having house cleaners. I also live in a very small place, which cuts both ways. It means I cannot have as much stuff and I need to make decisions every day. On the other hand it's small so easy to maintain.

I have a bag ready for goodwill and even though they are closed today, their drop off stations are open. I have a fairly decent sized bag of clothes ready to go. I also have a sweater for a woman at my mother's place, which I can drop off later today.

I did two loads of laundry today. Yes I do a lot of laundry. Today was the pjs that I dry (some I hang) together with socks. The other load was a dark delicates load, which I hung to dry, yesterday, I did my sheets and then a load of pjs that I hang to dry. And other delicates. I really split up my laundry. Oh and I did cat blanket yesterday. I prefer smaller loads.

I have to make some returns today. One dress that I returned last week and ordered in a medium, came marked medium but clearly it's a 2 or 3X. I had originally bought it in an XL forgetting that I am no longer an XL. But this so-called medium is much, much larger than the XL I originally bought. I will not buy the dress again. They don't have it in the store and I am just not willing to do this a third time.

So I'll get going soon. What are you doing today?

Tatoulia, I have some Mrs. Meyers clean day stuff in my stash! I will pull it out and start using it. I bought a lot of cleaners a looong time ago (because it is easier than actually cleaning) so they are dusty! I have apple cider scent and some others in there.

SubC, the dozen trees makes me happy. I love trees and have planted several on my small quarter acre lot. You must have a nice area to plant a dozen! A dream of mine... although unlikely to be fulfilled. We had 3 acres before moving to the suburbs. I miss that.

Yesterday I found a new pair of pants in a drawer, with tags on, that worked for what I needed to do. And, the other pants I wore were a pair or cute jeans I bought at a yard sale for $2 last week, not knowing if they would fit. They fit perfectly and look new. Very pleased.

Everything went well yesterday with the events from morning to night. I was exhausted and went right to bed at 9:30, and slept til 8:30 this morning! I guess I needed it! I have one work meeting today at noon, but the rest of my work is calls I can do from home. I also have calls and such for personal/family things to make today.

It is peaceful and quiet this morning. I have to leave in an hour, but can throw in a load of wash before I go.

Also I am down another pound even with the party food. I will post about that on the decluttering pounds thread!

I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts! Great work! Wow!

SubC do not beat yourself up over the plastic bags. You too on the tapes, Lila. We do what we can. Cm that is exciting research on your genealogy work!

Very rainy day here but no thunder or lightening. I did nothing until about 630 when I walked to the grocery store and then visited mom

Oh i laundered my sheets this AM and washed some delicates. Now I'm drying cat blankets. I need to do them once a week.

Lila I am sure that it hurt your feelings about having your house smell. I'm sorry. But I'm glad he said something. It's hurtful but we cannot smell it. I ask people when they come over if it smells like cat and I've never gotten a yes. And these are people who would definitely tell me. But sometimes I smell cat in here, so I have to do things to freshen it up. I am not a fan of air fresheners or candles, although I. Have been known to use both. Generally I wipe down the kitchen counters and open the windows. The stuff I use on my counters smells really good. The cleaners mop, vacuum and dust once a week, so I don't do any cleaning during the week other than dishes and the sink, cat box and trash. The rest can usually wait til they get here. It's a never-ending battle, to be sure, and I do not miss the days when I did this (or more likely, didn't do this) myself.

Don't stress on the clothes, Lila. They may not even fit you. Don't make me another pressure in your life!

So I'll fool around for the next half hour and then take the cat blankets out of the dryer, fold them, and put them away.

Wrapping up the day...

While I did not donate or trash anything of significance today, I did get a lot done and am very happy the floor is mopped. Also, Teen asked me to cook dinner together so we did. It meant I needed to run to the store, but we enjoyed cooking together and the dinner was very good and healthy.

I also made some work calls and emails that had to happen.

I am very tired and sore. I only got 3 things totally done on my priority list, but that's okay.

There are a few things I literally cannot put off. I need to color my hair tonight. I am "up front" tomorrow and my hair is awful, so I will do this shortly - it is almost 7:30pm. I also need to find 2 things to wear tomorrow. One for being up front and one for something else. I don't know what I can possibly find but it has to be two different things so wish me luck. I have to make one more phone call tonight that also must be done today.

The rest of the list can wait. I don't know when I will get a break from working. I worked at least on hour on both my days off, and had random calls etc, so I feel like I need a day off, still.

okay, off to be in my nightmare of digging through clothes trying to find something to wear.

Tatoulia, we posted at the same time! Thank you.

I would love to know what you use on your counters that smells nice, but I promise not to buy anymore cleaners until I use up what I have! LOL.

I buy Mrs Meyers Clean Day spray. My favorite scents are the special holiday editions (pine or peppermint). I couldn't find the special scents last year so I'm using the last of my pine (received some as Christmas gifts the year before) or the easily found lemon verbena. It freshens up the place pretty easily. I also wash cat blanket or towel every week. I only use bar soaps at the sinks and in the tub; I buy nice scented soaps. I like soaps that are lemon scented or lemon verbena or honey scented. Anything to bring a fresh scent into the house.

I open my windows frequently despite the fact that the city air isn't the greatest but it's what I have to choose from.

I'm so glad you cooked with teen!

Thank you SubC, I appreciate your thoughts. I do have a lot of cleaners. I will try to use them up. And will try the baking soda/vacuuming thing as well.

It was good to sit and read everyone's posts and catch up. I have so many thoughts about bunnies, over-volunteering, cleaning out desks, parties and fun, etc but will just say thank you all for sharing your lives. It helps me to read your stories! Tatoulia I really wish I could have my act together enough to fix my IG account and/or talk with you about clothes. You are so kind, and I am so self conscious and weird that I don't know if I even know how to wear anything different. I think after I get my mental state in a better place, I can think about clothes again. I do need to... I hate how I dress.

One of my older kids invited me out for lunch with him and his girlfriend, so we went and that cheered me up a lot. We had a nice time. They are talking about marriage and having kids. That makes me happy for him!

I managed to force myself to do some things:

- took out boxes and bags of trash
- sorted the fridge, bagged up the old/bad stuff and took it out to the trash
- cut the stems off the herbs and put them in a cup of water to revive
- picked up dirty towels and put them in the laundry
- found a source of bad smell: dog beds, and put them and a cover in the wash with disinfectant
- took the inner part of one dog bed outside and put laundry soap on it and hosed it off several times. Now it is drying outside.
- took the 6 VHS tapes out of my car and put them in the trash. The donation places would not take them and they sat in my car getting hot for days.
- made a few calls and emails that were important
- folded towels that were in the dryer and put them away
- watered the plants in the front yard

I have one work task I HAVE to do before 5, even though it is my day off. It involves several calls. So I will start that now so it is out of the way.

The event we are going to is in about 3.5 hours so I have a little more time and the Episode of the Smelly House has made me want to throw EVERYTHING away, so I may as well take advantage of that feeling. Will update in the Daily Tally.

Wow, Lila, you did a LOT. Applause!

I confess I didn't do so great with the sofa clearing, between letting yesterday get away from me and then not having much time this morning and not much motivation either. I did stash and dash, but I will work on unstashing and try to dispatch mixed papers and to-do notes and anything else there asap.

The air conditioner man didn't end up coming inside anyway, lol. This is going to sound contradictory, but even though I found the sofa clearing task onerous and felt like rebelling, it is also something I have begun to feel eager to do. Perhaps now that the pressure of a deadline is past (ever notice that the word deadline contains the word dead? Coincidence?) I might surprise myself. The cat is happy about having the space on the sofa again. So I will try and do it for him as well as for me, and for roommate to also enjoy.

I went to noon Mass at the cathedral downtown because roommate wanted to cook bell peppers and the smell of them bothers me. Had lunch, and took my laptop to the genealogy room at the library. But by the time I got there I wasn't sure if I wanted to set it up, and I got to looking at books about the Revolutionary War era, found a portrait of my 5x great grandfather in one so I took a picture of that, and then decided to get on a library computer and use Ancestry.com, and the Mormons' site. I located more info about a 2x great grandfather who had been a mystery, and the grandmother his wife. And some great grands on the other side of the family. Really found quite a bit in a short time, because I had a bunch of hints waiting to be gone through on Ancestry. The Mormons were helpful as well.

So I was all excited and happy about that. Also got a writing idea which may be cool to work up - I know I have so many already but this one is cool and I am surprised I didn't think of it before because it connects to a topic near to my heart.

It was nice to have an upbeat day, it helped take my mind off the bunny club problems. And it reenergized me.

hi CM! That sounds like a very good day. I used to do genealogy myself, and it is exciting to find information that is personal about ancestors. Wow, and so rare to find such an old portrait of one as well! Very good you are reenergized.

I too feel like the tasks in front of me are daunting and impossible at times, yet I am excited (in the right mindset) to do them. I think my excitement comes from the thought of my space without that huge obstacle. Mine is the kitchen bar/counter, which is piled up again. I may work on it today.

It is very hard for me to focus on WHAT area or task to do. Do I prioritize my bedroom, because it will help me sleep and not feel depressed? Do I do the kitchen first, so we don't feel ashamed and gross? Do I work on the main living areas first so people can come over, even family, and not think it is dirty? My pastor stopped by a few weeks ago unannounced and I was in such a state. I actually stepped out on the front porch and talked to him and did not invite him in. I think he was confused about that but I just said my dog was barking inside so let's talk out here. I would be mortified if any of my friends, let alone my pastor, were to walk into my house the way it is now. It really has gotten dirty, which to me is worse than cluttered. But instead, I always prioritize Teen, who rewards me with holes in the walls and more broken things to clean up.

I will make myself a priority list, or grid, this morning. Highlight the ones I choose to focus on today. I will spend no more than ten minutes on this (because listmaking is for me a distraction from actual cleaning/decluttering).

So far !:
- loaded the dishwasher
- fed dogs and let them out
- put 3 of the kitchen chairs out on the deck, anticipating that I will mop today
- made a cup of coffee

See you in a bit.

Oh, golly, yeah, Lila - prioritizing? What are that? Derp! Something I am lousy at, that's what.

All the things I need to do, want to do, must track on a calendar, roommate's schedule, the weather, you name it - it's all like a big expanded Chinese restaurant menu - only instead of pick one from Column A, one from Column B, etc. - it's like there are a minimum of 14 columns, and they're ALL entrees, there is no natural hierarchy that I can discern.

Another "if I won the lottery" - well, I'd have a place of my own and so on and I'd hire a housekeeper and secretary/assistant - but I think I might still hire an ADHD coach because I'd still like to acquire that skill set for prioritizing. It did not come preloaded from the factory in my brain.

Good luck with yours!