Good morning! Tea clinks!!

Lila, I can feel the pain and exhaustion in your voice. Good that you are seeing today's time with son through a positive lens.

My house is a mess. I'm a bit of a mess, too. I can only do what I can do. I have to get ready for a meeting soon. I need to look good or at least not terrible.

I dreamt that I missed this meeting and that I missed another important one coming up later today and I was mortified. Those missing school and missing test dreams never go away for me.

Have a good day, everyone. I'll let you know what I can accomplish today! Bf is overwhelmed with all he has to do. Not sure if he'll let me help him or not.

Good, well it is still morning.

Tatoulia I'm sorry you are stressed and having those dreams. I bet your definition of mess is my definition of orderly - lol!

Hello intermittent Lila, I hope you are getting some rest. What would your complete change look like? Maybe brainstorm some really crazy outside the box scenarios - don't worry about practicalities, and see where your thoughts lead you. There may be practical steps you can take that come out of the exercise. I still can't believe dd2 just dropped her entire life and moved to Denver.

I watched "everything, everywhere, all at once" on one of the plane rides. It was a very silly movie, but it had strong underlying themes. The idea that every small choice you make changes the path of your life. The protagonist in the movie was supposedly living the worst possible version of her life, but she "saved the universe" by choosing to stay there with her daughter. I am cynical about that narrative choice, but the idea of finding the best of the situation and focusing on that is good, and also - for crying out loud- make better choices! Even if they are only small ones - she had alternate paths that started with small choices and built on each other.

I took Shamrock and his mom along yesterday and we had lessons on her - The kids all loved it, but she wanted to lay down all day and I hurt my back lifting her to her feet over and over. I am stiff and hobbling today.

Dh had a long week as well, and suggested we get dinner out. The restaurant has changed hands since we last went (we can't remember how long ago) some of the food is better and some worse, but good enough, and the portions are huge, so we also have tonight's dinner.

We tried to get to bed early but Dh got a work call at ten pm that kept him working until midnight. I however went right back to sleep and slept nearly 12 hours. My brain feels much more clear now.

The sun is trying to come out, but the wind is roaring. CM, did you send this? Maybe it will dry things out a bit. We've had so much rain this week that the yard is saturated and has a coat of water most places - footsteps become footprint shaped puddles. There are flood warnings downstream from us. Our creek is already well into flood stage, but not up to our bridge.

I'll have to stay out of the woods today as I expect with the sodden ground and the wind we will lose more trees.

I intended to go down to the pottery studio today and glaze some things because tomorrow is the last day to put them up and we have other plans, but when my alarm went off this morning I decided I needed rest more.

Sorry you're having the nasty weather now, SubC. Hope it improves soon.

Bunny tea party fundraiser we'll be leaving for at 2:00. Hope we make lots of money and have fun and that it isn't more work than it's worth. You never know about these things when you're a very small nonprofit. The bigger ones have the rich donors and the people who really know how to put on an event. Ours is more fly by the seat of the pants.

Weather gradually improving here. Next week will be somewhat taken up with the annual push to get ready for bug man (termite inspection). Garage sort-of decluttering, it's been a work in progress for years. That's roommate's decision making area, I'm just the helper.

Need to remember, too, to make the reservation for the senior center garage sale. And really start gathering stuff in earnest.

Was at the storage unit the other day to get my steampunk hat. My, my. Everytime I go to that place I'm either "It's not too bad; I think it won't take too much longer to get the extraneous stuff gone, neaten the rest, etc." or "Yikes... I have so much stuff." This visit was more the latter. However, I will not lose heart. Besides, I was just popping in, so there wasn't a focus of a lot of accomplishment that particular day. When I go back to pull stuff for the sale, that should be a more positive thing.

hello, friends. I WANT TO GO TO A BUNNY TEA PARTY!!!! It would probably not look like your tea party, but bunnies with little fancy hats sitting at the table with me...

Today is my day off. I planned to work hard all day and get boxes and boxes loaded up to donate, trashes full and out, and yard worked on. Instead, yesterday I fell on my wrist and spent 3 hours at urgent care for xrays. Thankfully not broken but badly sprained, so in a brace. Do you know how impossible it is to do work with a splinted right arm? Can't bend, turn a key, carry. So, day of rest. I hope it heals fast. I am typing with one finger and my left hand.

What would my complete change look like? without considering "how", what I envision is:

- reducing my belongings by 50%
- just getting rid of everything I am not using
- trusting that if I need something in the future, God will provide
- getting a smaller house
- stop sitting around. stop wasting time
- instead of watching tv, sleeping, eating, shopping, I work on my environment, my health, and my relationships
- I stop rotating my life around Teen's needs and begin to focus on my own needs more

I went to a friend's house yesterday and there was NO clutter. It was cute and neat. I kept wondering where all her 'stuff' is. I can't get my head around it, but I want it.

Sitting here unable to work but thinking about what complete change would look like, a bit more.

adding:
- not living in fear anymore
- making room, literally and figuratively
- not emotional eating, but building habits of working out, walking, lifting weights, working in the yard as coping mechanisms along with meditation
- being able to find what I need rather than digging through piles. No more piles.

I FEEL like getting rid of things today.

Lila, I used to wonder where everyone's stuff is, too. Now I know they just have less stuff. Not more storage, but actually less stuff. BF is getting ready to go overseas and he's getting rid of stuff and he's just reached the lightbulb moment. He is now taken a second look at stuff that just a few months ago he was saving, and he's found that more than 3/4 of the Must Save stuff can be shredded or donated. Pretty nice! I am setting up an Etsy shop for him and will sell some of his vintage stuff. Let's see how that goes.

I am sorry about your poor wrist, Lila. Try to nurse it as much as possible so that it will heal faster!

Hello CM! Let's hear about the bunny tea party! SubC, I'm sorry you made yourself sore from picking up the mamma goat. I am sure the students really love you for bringing them in.

I have nothing to show for today. I have one load of laundry in the dryer and I've emptied the dishwasher. I took mom a blouse that is too big for me and I also brought her dinner. She eats early, so I was there by 4:30 and I sat with her while she ate.

I need to see if BF will drive me to my car tomorrow. I'd like to take the painting my friend wants to the car as well as a bag or two of things to let go of. I have one full bag still here and I expect to fill one more tonight.

My BF and I are trying to get him ready for his trip as well as getting me ready. I have to get some things in place so that I keep my chin up when he's gone. For now, it's about getting him ready and making sure that I have what I need in place. The biggest fear in terms of me is not seeming vulnerable to certain people. So we are carefully telling people about his trip. There are a lot of predators and I'll likely be feeling vulnerable in the beginning after two decades of nearly daily togetherness. So far so good. I heard from a friend this week who when I mentioned his trip, she said, great, we will get together once a week. That's the sort of person I need to be around, not the ones that will see it as an opportunity to take advantage of me. I know it may seem weird that this is a concern but it can be tough out there. I'm personally very strong but then again I look at how I've let certain family members exploit me for time and money and so I have to tread carefully. He's coming back, we just don't have his game plan nailed down.

Okay enough about that. I'll need to get cracking on some stuff here. I want my house to look nicer. I know I can do it!

Spending time with your mom is something, Tatoulia, so give yourself credit for doing that. And I hope you are working on the house and feeling good about it!

SubC where are you? I can't remember if you are still with your daughter or came home. My memory is so concerning that I am probably going to see my doctor. It happened after the 3rd round of covid.

So let me tell you a story. When I was dx with cancer last year it was very hard. I hope my testing next month shows it is gone, but I don't know yet. Well, a friend came over and gave me a little plaque last month. It is a poem painted on a plaque and placed in a little stand (she did not paint it or write it - she found it at a yard sale). It is a poem about cancer. It is meant to be encouraging, but seeing a plaque that says "Cancer" at the top in pretty script every day when I wake up is bothering me and making it ever-present. I wanted to get rid of it immediately, but she gave it so lovingly and the though was so kind that I kept it. I think that would be a suitable 200th item to put in my donate bin. What do you think?

Bouncing between threads - is the baby goat's name Shamrock, or the mama? I had a bunny named Shamrock who lived to be nearly 12. He was an absolute sweetie.

The sun is out but the wind is still around through tomorrow. Further apologies for my weather obsession, but I had to look it up... Wichita is in the Top 10, Dodge City is No. 1. It depends on which website you consult, and whether Alaska and Hawaii are included. Boston was actually higher than Wichita on one list.

So I'm really not exaggerating re how annoying this wind can be! (Note to self: Under no circumstances ever move to Dodge City.)

I hope to get over to the storage unit later in the week though. Need to grab my Steampunk hat for a weekend bunny club fundraiser, March Hare Tea Party. We hope to make money and perhaps find adopters for white rabbits (or any others, but we have an abundance of white ones).

The hat is in a box with some other Steampunk stuff. I am probably going to get rid of most of that, it's too bulky. Might keep a few small clock gears for jewelry but that would be all. There's a gentleman in the neighborhood who has a Steampunk themed house that he's made all sorts of pieces for in the yard. Might give it to him if he wants it.

I wish I was like him in terms of actually doing the crafts that I get stuff for, Steampunk or otherwise. But with the former, anymore I'd rather admire Steampunk crafts than make them because they aren't my main craft - I might incorporate the aesthetic into my artwork or doll clothes sewing, or make jewelry to wear. These days that's plenty.

Feeling warm fuzzies toward sewing again, which tells me I absolutely made the right decision in handing off that one quilt to the other lady to finish. It was a logjam for me. Now I can work with smaller pieces like doll clothes and individual quilt blocks.

First I'll need to get the recycling stuff out of the way. It has been parked blocking access to the craft and sewing table. It has felt good to still be saving some plastics from the landfill. But they are in the way. I approached roommate and she was very happy to buy a big outdoor trash can we can dedicate to recycling.

I also asked her about the stuff on the bookshelves in my bedroom, and she said one of them had doors on the bottom shelf and in there were papers she wants to go through. I couldn't remember that, but I went in there and got down on the floor and lo and behold, discovered that what I had taken as the inside of an empty bookcase actually was what she described! I need a better flashlight.

So I guess I just am going to have to keep working on clearing out in front of the shelving unit which also entails under that small table placed in front of it. I cringe even typing that, but it's reality and it doesn't have to stay that way forever. Harry Potter in the books lived scrunched up in a small space, but my books about him are going to need to be relocated at least temporarily, and if at some point roommate can get in and get her stuff, then I can figure out the next step.

I might take the Twilight books to storage for awhile, because the Internet Archive has those if I get the need to reread. Maybe even let them go. Don't have to decide today.

Various things are getting inspected, rediscovered, a few things tossed, again, breaking up the logjams. I do also need to resume my computer organizing. Sometimes I've chipped away at bits of it. I can surely get it to where I want it to be with a few more good productive sessions. And then I can go to town on the real work for which I bought the computer.

And not forget to get ready for the senior center garage sale in April. Time is just moving so fast. I guess that's why I get frustrated when the weather is not good, because if it had been I know I would be further along on all I have wanted to do. Right now it seems like hurry up and wait. Not that I don't do a few things. But the energy is not there the way it would be if spring would hurry up and start being springlike.

Good morning!

The baby is Shamrock. The momma arrived with the name Daisy, but may be renamed. We had a Daisy once. I'm actually currently calling her "haystack" when I talk to her - she needs to be sheared. After she goes to school on Friday.

I am not making progress on anything. I am struggling to keep up with the minimum. The haystack lays down when the baby tries to eat unless I put her in the stand - he is going to school with me again today. But yesterday he wouldn't drink from his bottle. I need to go to the class I am taking, so we will be gone over 13 hours, so he better take the bottle today! That is three missed meals.

After school I am taking him to Bean's house so Bean can meet him and I can get a Bean fix. I haven't seen Bean for 9 days. Dsil said he will babysit shamrock while I am at class.

Ok, I've had my one cup of coffee with you guys. Will check in later!

Oh!
Wanted to say that I am glad you are excited about sewing again and maybe you can bring the papers out to the common area for your roommate? That seems helpful, not passive aggressive.

I would love to live near a steampunk yard. Most of the yards around here are decorated in "politics" or a "trailer trash" theme. ("Let's fill the lawn with cars that don't run, plastic kids toys and old furniture that was not meant to be kept outside") some are both.

Wow, the Lila show today.

- finished cleaning off the stove top
- cleaned the outside/rest of the toilet and the area around it with disinfectant. I need to run a mop over it as well. There was a lot of dust around it that balls up in grey wet dust clumps. Why is the outside of a toilet base so hard to clean? If I ever buy one again I will get one that is not shaped like an S with all the grooves and bumps.
- cut up a pineapple and put the chunks in the freeze
- let Teen try on some clothes someone gave us
- sat on the deck in the sun for 5 minutes or so

Hi Lila show!

Not much to report here, just switching out ice, doling out meds, pushing water and offering snacks.

My little goat is now my farm sitter's temporary house pet and doing well. I got a cute video of her girls building him an obstacle course.

I did finish reading the last of the magazines and put them in DD's recycling.

Dd has had the tv on a lot and I get the draw.

We did replace toilets with smooth sided models. I also laughed a while ago at the idea of dusty cleaning products. You definitely shouldn't have to clean the cleaning products.

lol, right? The irony of a dusty bottle of bathroom cleaner...

well I am using those products up and they will be trash soon! I guess I was sort of hoarding cleaning products and then never cleaning.

Tonight Tot and family are coming for dinner. I love having them over. It makes me tired, though. My fatigue is pretty disabling and I don't know where it is from.

Teen was begging to use my master bathroom tub which was pretty dirty (I have only showered in there for years). So I ended up scrubbing it, disinfecting it, and letting them take a bath. They are still in there and I hope they don't leave a mess. But hey, I got that done and also mopped around the toilet.

Son is about to vacuum and I am very glad. The dog hair is bad and I don't want the baby crawling in it. I really need to get the carpet cleaner people in here. I do it twice a year and pay for it to be done, about $140 for the whole carpet/stairs/halls. So worth it.

I put 2 more things in the tally box. I need one more to hit 200.

No, SubC, I do pay rent, though it's much less than what I would have to try and come up with for an apartment, even a crappy dump in the ghetto. Though I have just the one room but I have access to the common areas, and the yard to enjoy. The reason her stuff remained in the bedroom was that in 2015, this was to have been for a couple of months, and somehow 8 years later here I still am.

So I don't want to be pushy because she is trying to deal with her own clutter, with retirement that hasn't always been the break from stress, nor the plentiful abundance of free time she had anticipated. I want to be patient. Poco a poco. I might move the stuff from the higher more accessible shelf to the bottom one, as it would make little difference if she isn't interested in it at present. I can also photograph the stuff so in case she wants to know what books are there she wouldn't need to come into the room.

There's just always too much to do and difficulty coordinating the time to do it. And I'm not good at that sort of coordinating even with just my own schedule and energy and motivation. Trying to choreograph it with someone else is mind boggling.

Well, interpersonal relationships are not my strong point, and you seem to have something that works.

Lila, yay for clean bathtubs! Have you hit 200?

Dd is managing pretty well today. I am going back to the hotel with Dh tonight and then we are going to fly home in the morning.

I'll reclaim my goat, take over whatever feeding schedule the farm sitter has him on, and teach on Tuesday. There's a good chance I'll be teaching with a baby goat in my classroom so I can keep up with his feedings. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I can get him back on his momma though.

Checking in. Going to office tmr for my annual review. I received the written review and was pleased with it. Was surprised how good it was. This is my third manager in three years so it's tough to know how things are going, even though we have a solid corporate culture of continuous feedback. So it's really about my raise.

A former neighbor of mine (he lived downstairs from me 20+ years ago) texted me this AM and suggested we get together. I was still in bed so said, give me half an hour and come over for tea. We had a nice time and he lived meeting the new kitty. I only had to do five minutes of cleaning up so I guess I'm keeping up better than I thought.

Saw BF for a few minutes today and he went to mom's with me. We managed to talk her into going downstairs for dinner.

That's the news. There's some personal stuff going on so I'm crying a lot.

Ps one more bag of things to donate! And I took a dress and one top over to mom. So I'm working on getting rid of things!

Still waiting for the weather to not be nasty - it started out sunny but then got cloudy and terribly windy again. Not as cold, but still not nice. I had hoped to do a deep clean of bunny cages but I don't fancy being buffeted about when I take the stuff outdoors. Forecast shows windy tomorrow also. Hopefully Wednesday will be better.

Roommate and I went and bought a barrel for recycling so that it can be stored outdoors again, since we no longer have the container from the service that used to pick it up. When this new one gets full, I'll know it's time to take the bags to the place where the stuff goes.

Tatoulia, I am very sorry you have personal stuff that is making you cry!

CM, I made it home and the weather is nice so I should fit in a little barn work, but I am so tired!

My baby goat is still at the sitter's house. She is bringing him home tonight. I will have to get up to feed him on the same schedule I was getting up to medicate Dd.

Need to get ready for classes tomorrow too.

Admission: I have ordered a thing or two online, including clothing, in the last couple weeks. I had committed to not doing this. EVER item I order from the 'big online store' has been disappointingly poor quality and bad fit so I end up sending them back. I had said I would stop ordering clothing and if I NEED something I will go into a real store and try it on. Well, I did order a sweater, but it was so super thin and baggy so I returned it. Today I ordered a light cardigan because it was so cheap and I have not found anything I like in stores. I feel kinda bad about it but also hopeful it will look nice. I have speaking engagements and need to find a few items to look nicer. I don't want to be disappointed in this one.

Last week I kept hearing a little noise in my bedroom after I was in bed at night. It was freaking me out, maybe a mouse?? So I let Teen's cat sleep in my room for 2 nights. The noise stopped. Then started again. I was terrified that a mouse was making a home in my dresser, where the noise seemed to be coming from. One night I opened every drawer and looked around. Nothing. But, I hate wondering if there is a mouse. And I don't want to kill a mouse if it is in there. Sigh. I just need to clean that side of the room.

I have maintained the cleared floor space on the other side of the room, and have gotten used to the empty space.

There is much work to do in there, though.

Today I was going to donate a big, nice candle.
But it is one of those candles that has a ring (jewelry) in the wax partway down. And I was not sure if we had gotten it out.
So I burned that candle all day long, pouring out the wax as it melted.
I got down to the bare bottom, no ring.
Then I saw what a very nice jar it is, so peeled off the labels and it is in the dishwasher.
If I can find a nice use for it, on my bedroom dresser full of smaller things, I will keep it. Otherwise it will go to the donate box.
But at least I don't have a candle sitting here forever anymore.

I also played fetch with my dog, and cleaned up a small amount of dog poop in the yard.

I feel discouraged that I do not have the energy to get more done. However, I made a habit tracker chart and put it in my planner today. I took my supplements today. I sat outside in the sun today. I was hoping Son would help me with a few things but he slept all day. I think he is not feeling well. I hope he is better soon.

Thankfully, I have the day off tomorrow as well. I plan to go to bed early tonight and get up early tomorrow to get things accomplished.

Well, my idea for tackling that one small area in the bedroom proved more difficult than I anticipated, due to lack of room even to work such a seemingly small place. Nevertheless, it allowed me to scope out what was behind the stuff in front. Turns out there's an entire EMPTY bottom shelf back there!

I could try and persuade roommate to let me transfer her books from an upper shelf to that one. She has been busy with her own projects though, and sometimes when I bring up my room she is not ready to add another thing to her own list. Which I understand.

Another thing I could do is put some of my art supplies down there - provided I don't block the access to be able to get to them and use them. This might be doable. The big items under the table in front of bookshelf (remember me telling a long time ago how we literally have furniture double parked some places in this house? I hate it but it's going to take time to rectify) - the items there are my Harry Potter and Twilight books, and for now I don't want to convert to digital on those. They are comfort reading, and holding the book is part of the enjoyment of it.

But I can figure out how to stack them less jumbled, and leave a gap to access the art supplies or whatever. Trying to analyze the whole business - I'd also thought of putting seldom used things back there but that made me question would it not be better to just jettison the seldom used, rather than consigning it to the out of sight out of mind place and leaving it to die?

One other possibility is a tub of roommate's stuff that is way up on the top of the shelves, put that there and my books up on top. But they would be hard to reach especially because in this room there's no place to use a step stool. At least not until the floor is less cluttered!

Yuck. It's just one of those scenarios where it all needs to be fixed at once (so that it doesn't "fluff" and thus magnify the problem, and so I have a spot to sit or stand whilst working), but that's not feasible under the current conditions. Yet I will brainstorm. At least I've been able to assess the situation, see what is under there. I will come up with ideas.

hi CM! I think you have some good solutions/ideas. I struggle with finding "the right" solution to things, but sometimes anything is better than nothing.

I put the clean candle jar in the donation bin this morning. I updated my Daily Tally and am at 191 items. My goal is to hit 200 today, which is in fact a lofty goal since I can't think of one item I want to donate.

I have today off, and have to work tomorrow. I hope I can get more done today than yesterday. I hope some of you come and post what you are doing today. I like it when we can encourage each other.

So CM, you may see this as a bit passive aggressive, but first off, I would move roommates stuff only to get it closer to the door.

I would find one of her books and leave it in the common area. Just one. Then if you are cleaning up and she can't find any place in the whole rest of the house she wants that book to be, she can get rid of it. (That is the little bit passive aggressive part, but it is my understanding that you pay rent - you should have one room that is all yours! - if you don't pay rent, that is sadly a different situation.)

Can you put Harry Potter and Twilight on that bottom shelf? You know you want to keep them, but you don't need to access them all the time. In fact, should they get blocked, they would be your reward for unblocking later.

Lila, you are moving forward. Forward is good. I hope the sweater doesn't disappoint you, but I don't have a lot of faith. Cheap, fast, and good - pick two.

I am just trying to work on the few portable tasks I was able to bring with me and take care of my daughter. She is doing ok. The only progress on dehoarding that is likely to come from this is that stack of local magazines. I guess that is something.

Guys, I downloaded a new app called Pomodoro on my phone. It is a task helper/timer to help you stay focused. The timer can be automatic or manual and you can set the task time, short break time, and long break time. So I set it and it will time me working for 20 minutes, then beep as a signal I can stop for a break. It times the break (5 min) and then beeps like "get started again." It does this in a cycle of 3 or 4 and then gives you a longer break, like 30 minutes. All times are adjustable. I am trying it out.

SubC, how long will you be staying with your daughter? I am going to see my relatives next month for a little over a week. I wish I could fly first class. That would make the very long flights more bearable. I might call and ask how many airline miles it would cost to upgrade but it is probably a lot.

I am really dragging but doing a little at a time.

I washed off the stovetop which was pretty dirty. Then I used a scraper to scrape off most of the burned on stuff. Next I need to scrub off the rest of the residue.

I have noooo energy. The tv is sucking me in. I really need to take a whole week off and just be home, but that will have to wait a few months.

I would do so much better with no TV.

I even cancelled the little bit of cable we had but there is enough stuff on that I want to keep watching. Maybe when I finish the series I am on, I will stop. Maybe I can pick one day a week that the tv is not on. That would be a start.

I'm just sorry the idea doesn't help.

Good luck making progress this weekend. I am jealous.

I am also afraid of flying.
I am also bad at taking care of sick people.
(For some reason a line from one of my child development books on attachment keeps running through my brain: when a child has a broken arm, it wants its mother. Even if it was the mother who broke the arm.)

This child has always wanted things from me that I don't have. So, I will give up dinner with my friend and art shows and my cousin's opening and sleeping late and working on my barn and garden and making progress on my house, and working in my pottery studio, and Bean on Monday and instead I will fly and try to care for my daughter who I love and be told I am doing it wrong (I know she just wants sympathy and food, but I am a bad cook and will push her to follow post-op instructions even if they make her cry) and I will come home feeling like I was no help at all and just as behind as when break started.

Dh wonders why I am depressed.

I am going to take part of that stack of magazines with me. At least I can make progress on those.

Aw, SubC, I'm sorry - I know mother daughter relationships can be so fractious. Mine was with my mom; we were strong willed, I had my idiosyncratic brand of neurodiversity and perhaps she did as well, or the stress of her diabetes and some tragedies in her life... who knows all of what makes people have difficulty with emotions and control issues, then you put two together and the sparks can fly.

I'll pray for you both. I know you aren't of my faith but there's a beautiful thing we have of asking your own Guardian Angel to go talk to the other person's Guardian Angel to sort of pave the way when a challenging interaction is foreseen. I can pray for that on your behalf. Hang in there, and remember Poco a Poco, too. Anybody can do that one!

Came to post about my room as I had a little more luck this morning. Well, kinda crazy what started it: I think I may have heard my little unwelcome mouseguest. So I got one of the new traps. I'd observed that there was one place where the floor clutter wasn't so bad that I couldn't get to the corner where the trap needed to go. It had looked worse than it actually was. I mean yeah, it's bad, but I only had to shift a couple of items and I could easily access the corner and get the trap in there.

That had got me thinking. You see, a lot of the entropy had occurred during Covid, and when my roommate was working from home, when upsetting things were happening, when I was bummed out. So I'd basically taken a bad attitude, like "%@*?# it, I don't have the energy to deal with this, it's too hard, it never really improves, blah blah blah." But now, thank God, I'm out of that headspace. Might have an occasional bad day but then I reboot and get on with it.

So, it's different now. I saw that space, and I think I can accomplish something with it. Need to make a rough plan of attack. Like, I think one strategy is to go in only about a foot wide area, and drill straight back (meaning metaphorically, not using a literal drill, lol). Try not to spread stuff out too widely. I believe that has been a tactical error in the past, and it just fluffs the mess, usually creates avalanches, and definitely brings frustration and discouragement.

The staging area might be just to hold a few items from either side of my targeted area, which will also ensure I don't bring too much to the staging area. I think this has a good chance of working. I even did a little when I was setting the mouse trap, with items on a shelving unit by the corner. Neatened it up, refamiliarized myself with what was there, whether keepers or stuff that should be gone through with a mind to eliminating part or all of.

Haven't forgotten the shorts sewing either. Didn't mean to mix up my order of things to do. But I see a good opportunity especially with having the house to myself. You know I mentioned about roommate's stuff being in that area; well, doing this may mean I can help her and myself both, since it's books and she's been on a kick to switch over to ebooks. These may well be ones she will be getting rid of. But I gotta get my stuff out of the way so we can get to them!

I'll post updates of progress!

CM, I am open to possibilities.

It's not that Dd and I have a difficult relationship, it's more like we react to each other like we walked into a restaurant, sat down, ordered spaghetti and got a handmade quilt. The quilt is beautiful, and warm, and lovingly made, and another time we would be delighted with it, but we are hungry and it is definitely not spaghetti and doesn't belong in a restaurant. Especially not one where there is tomato sauce. It's obvious this won't end well..

And how do you confuse a quilt with spaghetti in the first place?

I think your path plan is good. If you can get to the books, maybe you can bring THEM out into the common area. Then maybe they can go somewhere that isn't your room.

I'm in Denver at a hotel. Going over to DD's soon. Wonder if I flew over your head today.

Hello friends,

another week of work, and now I get two days off! I was asked todo meetings this weekend but said I could not. I really, desperately need 2 days off in a row. And now I have them.

My house is a complete wreck. I have very low motivation to do anything. Last day off I had, I went and got energy drinks to try and get motivated, but they did not help. I watched tv all day. So this time I will not lean on caffeine but will try to start exercising, getting out in the sun, and start taking my vitamins again, and eating healthier.

As you can imagine, my dining room table is covered in stuff. And the kitchen/bar is piled up as well. There is still a box of donations in my car. There is stuff everywhere. I am hoping I can have enough energy and motivation to get some of this done over the next 2 days.

Nice to read your posts and catch up!