Lila, not so funny - the cold air clears your head, the decisions are easy - dog poop is garbage - and you are left with an area that is much better than when you started - success!

Messi, I'll be interested to hear what you did to observe the new year. I'm going to have a glass of prosecco (it was a gift) with Dh and go to bed early.

I broke 100 items out net this year. More detail in the tally thread.

Happy new year everyone!

I went into my bedroom to see what I might donate as one last push for 2025. I was aiming for a surface, but there is no where to put things out of sight. So I decided to look in the wardrobe cabinet to see if I could make space.

I have not sorted that space. I mean I have taken a thing or two out, without digging around. But it is mostly a time capsule of the last couple decades.

I started on the top shelf and pulled out a ton of big envelopes and small envelopes. It is a huge stack of CDs, DVDs, and paperwork... all medical records, mostly of Teen, a few of youngest Son, a few of mine. They are discs with MRIs and CTs on them and also discs of medical records. It is A LOT. I flipped through, found one empty padded envelope to throw away (not counted in the tally as it is trash, really). Sorted a small stack of books in there, which were baby books and small photo books of my kids. I found one large baby Book of Remembrance given to me when Son was born. He is 30 and it is blank. I was about to donate it, but noticed his full name embossed on the front in gold. I tried to gently get it off with nail polish remover so I could donate it, but it took the whole finish off. So I threw the book away.

I found a cardboard origami thing I have saved for 9 months, tossed it. Then in the back of the cabinet I found a little ceramic angel in a box that someone got for Teen when she was very little. Then I found a pretty little pill box we got Teen at a special vacation spot. She actually used that pill box to save up meds and hide them so she could take them all at once, you know why... but I found them in time. I put those two things in a bin in the storage room that has her things in it. I thought about throwing away the pill box. It has a special memory on it but also a horrible memory. I did not throw it away. I may change my mind sometime. I don't know.

At this point I was completely overwhelmed and put everything back except the envelope, box, book, and her things.

I need to figure out what to do with all this medical stuff.

I can give Son his medical things. Perhaps I should find a container for Teen's medical things and put them in the downstairs storage room, for her to have if she is ever stable and sane. I am sad.

I cleaned up all the dog poop in the yard, in the freezing cold. I feel better. Funny, huh? 🙂

Lila - I read your earlier post and was going to reply and now just read your post about dog poop. We all have poop in our lives, daily, and yes, I do think we feel better when we deal with it, lol. Old and new. Bless those dogs! I am home from work and trying to decide what to do tonight. I heard a radio blurb about new year's eve customs in other countries - eating twelve grapes, going outside wth a suitcase... I decided I would clean something to start the new year's direction... then i read about the custom of throwing out dirty water at new year's and sweeping things out the door to sweep out the dark energy of the past year. maybe i will try some of these customs.
For sure, I will be wishing you and SubC and Tatoulia and everyone much love and happy spaces for the New Year.

O my gosh, Lila. You have been going to town! Congratulations! Congratulations for sticking with it, especially through those hard emotional parts. (I guess all of it is that, really). Enjoy the results of your work. Feel proud.

I have not gotten to much this holiday period, but hope to follow your example in the coming week, month, year.

SubC, I'm glad you've had time to enjoy family, extra time with the boys. Thanks for the focus of your resolve.

Good evening.

I cleaned up some of the Christmas decorations today, sorted through the two fabric boxes I gathered off the dining table before Christmas, did laundry, and kept the fires going.

Also ate out of the fridge.

I recycled a few things, but it was mostly sorting and organizing today.

Dh has some electrical work to do in the basement tomorrow, so I may be down there some. Ideally a couple of hours of that would give me the 34 things I need to get to 100 for the year, but I don't know. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Nice work, SubC! I hope you get to work toward that hundred.

I am not counting for totals yet, but inspired by you all and Lila's work in the bedroom, after work and walking dogs, I took two boxes to donate today - books, misc. kitchen stuff from someone's move, a vase, a flamingo bubble gun, a few other things. The kitchen stuff needed some cleaning before donating. Some things were beyond salvaging. I took the husky dog for a play date on the donation run. This morning worked on laundry, went to the out-of-town dentist, walked dogs, got ready for work.

Good morning!

Woke up with a migraine so taking it slowly this morning.

Messi, you do not ever have to tally! It is just a tool that Lila and I find helpful. That is why it is in a separate thread. I'm very proud of you for clearing things out! Way to go! You will start your new year that much lighter.

Last night Dh and I were talking about some work/changes to be done on the house. There are a couple of big projects - two structural and one functional that we have been putting off. He suggested that this might be the year for one of them, and I told him no - I would have to clear out an entire room that is lined with bookshelves, and I can't do that yet "it is probably going to take me another year to be ready." And he looked shocked and excited - "a year? Really?! I can work with that." I meant it too. I have come so far, and I really feel like by the end of the year my house will be like the house of a normal person who just has too much stuff.

We'll see. Today I just want to finish 2025 strong.

You GO, SubC!

Wow, what encouraging posts you two! Way to go, we have all come a long way!

Messi, I agree with SubC, no one HAS to tally. But it is probably the single best tool for me that has encouraged me to keep going. I've been doing Daily Tally for three years and gotten over 2200 items out of my home through the tally! Some days I just think, ugh. Well I will see if I can add one thing to the tally! And then I find a few extra. I love looking back and seeing my progress. So, if you want to try it out, join us anytime. You can tally in any way - bags out, items out, minutes spent, boxes or bags out, or an in/out tally like SubC does.

I will make a new tally thread for 2026. Hoping to do a final push for items in 2025 today!

I am resting from my bedroom which, after a huge push for days, suddenly felt very overwhelming. I think the floor is the thing that started giving me anxiety. So if I do anything today it will probably be a surface like my desk.

Catch you later!

Well I put the coins in a container I found that already had some coins in it. I put the container away but then found a box of coins, so I need to pull it back out and consolidate.

I also posted about this on the Tally... but I have had a pile of planners in my bedroom that I keep moving around over and over. Literally planners back to 2016. All filled in so I could look back and see what I was doing on any given day in the past 10 years. It was an emotional attachment.

So I took each one and flipped through it. I tore out any identifying info and ripped that up. I noticed looking through them made me sad. Lots of info about Teen getting sick and unwell, lots of psych info etc. I tore out the pages I thought I might need (car maintenance pages, my medical), bagged up 6 planners and took them out to the trash. Took 2 that were topical journals and donated them.

It actually feels like a weight lifted. I kept the planners from fall 2022 - 24 (2 planners). Now I no longer have a pile of planners and journals to move around in my room.

This feels like some kind of major accomplishment, like an emotional breakthrough or letting go.

Sometimes I like to imagine that there is a group of scientists studying our posts, putting together data about people who hoard and how to help them. I imagine that 200 years from now, our posts will be a book called "Inside the Mind of a Hoarder" and will be a best seller as people are fascinated by our lives, how we got into this mess and how we dug ourselves out, bit by bit.

Today I am working on my bedroom. As I have moved things that have not been moved in years, the dust is becoming almost intolerable. So I had to take a little break to let it settle, and then I will go in with a vacuum and a swiffer.

So far this afternoon:
- asked Son to move 2 bins, one of summer clothes and one of kitchen breakables, into the storage room downstairs, as well as a couple other items.
- moved the rest of the coins into the coin container and put it back in the other small room, and took the box they were in out to the trash
- put a few things where they go and threw out an old bra that is too stretched out to be any good
- moved a small chair and found a forgotten and dusty bottle of red wine, perhaps to celebrate when this is done??
- found a lot of pieces of trash and such and threw them out
- pulled two bins out from under my bed and dusted the tops

That is as far as I got before it because too dusty. I will open and sort those bins after I vacuum and swiffer. Maybe I can then toss some things from the bins and put some of the "things my kids made or gave to me" in there and back under the bed, instead of them gathering dust all over my room.

It is as decluttered as it has been in probably 20 years. Once I get it vacuumed and dusted, there is not much left to sort or remove. There are the closets, but that can wait. The goal was an uncluttered, clean, useful and peaceful space, and I am very near to having that.

Good morning!

Lila, I am really excited about you having a clean, clear, decluttered space to retreat to and to sleep!

Yesterday after everyone left I was sad and tired and I spent most of the rest of the day reading a book.

Today my boys are coming over again. They will be here early because Dd is bringing them instead of dsil.

It is going to get very cold again, so am going to try to get the wood stoves going. I need to set up the screen so buddy stays away from them.

My house is somewhat more of a mess than it was immediately before everyone came to visit, but overall better than Dec 1. One of my big goals for this year is to not need to spend more than one day cleaning for the winter holidays and for that to INCLUDE laundry, dusting, vacuuming, bathrooms, trash, recycling, and dishes, not just frantic scrambling to clear off surfaces. I believe I can get there.

I am going to start back in on sorting and clearing tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in, SubC. I hope you enjoy the littles today.

Last night ddil helped me swiffer under my bed. It was atrocious. I could not believe the hair and dust and random items that who knows how they got there? And this was after I had tried to vacuum under there by just shoving the vacuum as far as I could.

Then I vacuumed under there again, then found the floor cleaner and put it on a cloth into the swiffer and cleaned under the bed on both sides, then used a dry cloth to wipe one more time. I believe under the bed is cleaner than it has been in 20 years.

This morning I took one of the bins, which had space in it now because I donated some things (see daily tally), and I took a bunch of paper artwork off my dresser, dusted them, and put them in that bin nice and flat. I have had those papers on my dresser for 10+ years gathering dust. There were 3 sheets too big to fit in the bin, but yesterday when I moved the dressers to vacuum, I found a huge Mother's Day card behind a dresser. It is big enough to act as a folder for those big art pages. So I put them in it and put it back behind the dresser. (I am not willing to get rid of them, as I have always wanted to frame and hang them, and will do so in my new home, I hope).

There is barely anything on that dresser now. I did a cursory dusting. I also used cleaner on the lid of that bin and slid it back under the bed.

I am very proud of myself for all that I am accomplishing, and after seeing all the dust and hair, I am sure it will improve my general health to be sleeping in a clean space.

Will continue working on my room today. I am working from home because my one meeting was cancelled, and I only have an hour or two of work I need to do. So I plan to cook and clean and relax.

update for Monday:

- pulled the nightstand away from the wall and cleaned up the trash behind it and vacuumed the gobs of dog hair and dust from under/behind it.
- finally took my bedside lamp, which stopped working at least 6 months ago, apart and put it in the trash. I had already gotten a smaller on that works fine.
- moved stuff out of the corner by the rocking chair, threw away trash, vacuumed hair and dust, found a cloth grocery bag that was covered in hair and not good quality and threw that out.
- baked several heads of garlic so I can make soup later

What are you all up to today?

Lila,

I am really proud of you too! It must feel so good to have your room so much cleaner!

I had a good day with my boys today. Buddy helped me vacuum the basement stairs, but we didn't clean up the toys in the basement, so I guess it was a wash? Also they stayed for dinner and I haven't done the dishes yet, but Dd took my garbage.

Bean and I made a plan for what he wants to grow in the garden this spring. I wrote the words and he drew very nice pictures.

Currently I am enjoying a nice mug of tea in my lovely green grinch mug she purchased for me at the thrift store for 64 cents after tax - lol! She included the tea with the gift.

When I am done I will do chores, start the dishwasher, clean up the toys in the basement, and maybe sit by the fire and work on one of the boxes of papers that I scooped off the table before Christmas.

I thought Dh would be home with me all day tomorrow, but he has lunch plans with friends half an hour away, so I will be on my own for a bit midday. That would probably be a good time to work on some clearing out.

Sounds like a good day, SubC!

Missing you Tatoulia, CM, messi, Road, whoever else used to post more often!

I got the boxes out of my room and into the trash (kept one in there as a donation box). I took all the empty bins, stacked them and put them in the small storage bedroom. I sorted, put some things in the under bed bins, and put 3 of them back under the bed after cleaning the lids off. The 4th one was now empty.

I put the dusty artwork that was from my kids, that sat on my dresser for 15+ years, into one of the bins after I dusted them. I sprayed 2 applications of clear coat on a mug Teen decorated for me as a child, wrapped it in brown paper, and put it in one of the under bed bins. I would like to move the underbed bins under the bed in the little storage room once I can get to it.

There is a lot of clear floor space now. I have not finished vacuuming but I am pretty overwhelmed by all I have done, and need to let it settle. I will do one final vacuum of the open spaces, empty the vacuum, and put it away. Probably will finish the bedroom this weekend. It just needs some spaces dusted, clothes put away, some organizing and cleaning the floor with cleaner.

Merry Christmas!

Tatoulia, I'm glad you had a good trip. The children's service is always my favorite. We went to the candleIght service at the church my family has been a part of since my great grandparents were young. - my aunt and uncle, cousin and her husband and 2 adult sons, mom, my daughters, sil, and 2 grandsons. We passed Buddy up and down two pews to keep him happy, but he liked the singing.

One of dad's friends stopped by and dad and Dh stayed home to visit with her by the fire. Dad is having a hard time with his vision and mobility these days.

Lila, you are making good progress. I do keep all those random bits and pieces. I'm seriously rethinking a lot of that. When I was at my mom's house, my Dd2 saw some ornaments on mom's tree that she had made when she was younger. She also made some for my grandmother. She commented that she wished she had made one for herself, and my mother said "take whatever you want! I love them, but I have mine and Gram's." "That goes for all of you! If there's anything you want, take it!"

So I said "do you have a six inch sleigh?" And we actually had a really good time searching through all of her Christmas displays until we found one. I left the poor monkeys sitting in the fake snow and made off with it.

Anyway, I'm going to try to keep the experience of the hunt through my mom's dressers and bookshelves and tabletops in mind as I clean out my spaces - like, why do I even have this giant plastic drawer sorter full of random bits and pieces? What if I just go rid of ALL of the random bits and pieces? What if I didn't own plastic furniture? We'll see.

Messi, I hope you get some peace today before you have to go back to work tomorrow.

Merry Christmas you guys! Tatoulia, welcome home! I am glad you came to share a bit! Prayers for you all to have good times and rest.

I am about to breathe a sigh of relief. I love my friends, job, and family. I also am peopled out. Every day I have been with people. I think tomorrow I will just get to be home and chill without company except the fam, with regular life and me not having to cook or entertain or wrap presents or anything. Just a normal day. Looking forward to it.

Today with festivities was cooking, cleaning, presents, visiting, etc. We will be having a family dinner too with just about everyone here including significant others of my kids.

Removal of gifts from my room made space. I also took out the trash and boxes from presents that I had delivered. All the gifts I got are smallish except one gorgeous framed print that I will hang on my wall, so amazing, I love it! Nothing will take much space and all is fun and cute or edible and I also got a gift card I will spend.

Thinking now about what else I can put into the donation box to fill it up and get it into my car.

I am past my number goal for Daily Tally this year, but my other goal was to have a clean and clear bedroom by the New Year. So I will work on it a little bit a few times a day.

Hope you all enjoy your time from now to Jan 1!

Good morning!
Happy Boxing Day!

The day when traditionally you box up leftovers and things you don't need and give them to people who do need them.

But we got home last night, Birdy's family arrived, and Bean's family is coming over later this morning and we will open presents and spend time playing with all the boys.

I will have my personal Boxing Day after everyone leaves.

Lila, I'm glad you had a good Christmas and are getting to have a hill day.

I'm glad you are enjoying your time with the boys, SubC. When do you start back to work? I go back on Sunday but get a 3 day weekend for New Years.

I have been very chill today. I did a few things, non of which required much energy, and I felt like I did not do enough, but I will do more tomorrow.

- took some trash out
- washed 2 loads of clothes and a load of towels is in the dryer.
- cooked french fries and ate them
- put some clean dishes away, hand washed a dish or two
- cleaned both sides of the sliding glass door and one side of the track. The track still needs work.
- took each dog outside to run around and play in the yard.
- tried on one shirt and put it in the donate box
- hung out with Tot for a bit

So, not a lot, but something.

Tomorrow is my last day off for the week so I hope to finish up my bedroom (not perfectly but at least clean under the bed, sort a few more things, and vacuum).

I am at a point where almost everything left in my bedroom has a use or an emotional attachment. A LOT of things have emotional attachment and I am not sure what to do about it. Maybe just box them up and move them to the other room so I can have one uncluttered space.

Good morning!

Joyful chaos here yesterday. Bean got a little overwhelmed and it was hard for him to go home, but overall smooth sailing. The toddlers played together well and the grown kids all got along. Gifts were enjoyed, Dh cooked, and everyone helped clean up.

We might go see the holiday trains today.

Lila, my school is on winter break, so I don't go back until Jan 7! Plenty of time to make some progress after everyone leaves.

I hope you get your room the way you want it. I think that boxing up the emotional stuff is a very good idea. Unless the emotions are entirely positive, I think it will help you to not have those things in your sanctuary space.

Also, if you leave them boxed up for a time and come back after you have all of the non-emotional stuff under control, they may be easier to process. Not seeing them all the time can allow for some distance and healing. I call those my boxes "of stomach aches".

A box of stomach aches! Oh my! I will try to think about that while I sort. Do I want to save this in a box of stomach aches?? Or can I let it go right now?

Working on my bedroom:

I sorted my box of spices and brought it to the kitchen to put some in a drawer and make space in a cabinet. I put the rest of them in the box into the storage room.

Sorted my box of teas, threw a few out, put the rest neatly into containers and put it all in the kitchen cabinet. Now I have an empty box to use for donations or storage.

Took a lot of very small items from the tops of my dressers and put them into 2 very small plastic bins I had set up, one for toy pieces like legos, and one for tool bits and pieces like drill bits, screws, etc. Put some jewelry into the jewelry box and put some other items in a very small container and into a drawer.

Started putting some things I think I want to save into a box for the storage room. It is really making space on the dressers. Soon I will be able to dust them.

I am getting encouraged seeing my flat spaces get emptied. All my dressers and small table have been covered in small things and it is nice to see them getting cleared off.

Update -

holy cow it is emotionally exhausting looking at and touching so many things in my bedroom! It is a lot to deal with! I updated the Daily Tally with items out.

I also have one box almost full of things I decided to keep. It is not a large box. All kinds of stuff went in there, from a small doll that was very special to my Teen but had a broken arm I was going to fix, to jewelry she got for her birthday, to things I got from a trip, to swag from my work, to gifts people gave me... all small things that were cluttering up my room.

I need to figure out what to do with all the coins. I have a lot of coins and I am not sure why I am so stuck on them. Mostly just random change. All my life I have thought maybe I would find a valuable coin. I have coin books and everything. I am just not quite to the point to spend them. I supposed I should just find a container, put them all in there and shove it in the storage closet for later. Dumb, but... at least I would not have mugs, cups, bags, and piles of coins all over my bedroom.

Also I saved a lot of things my children made for me when they were little. Ugh... hard to know what to do with it all.

Wow, Tuesday and where is everyone?

I noticed that two years ago and older, the What are you doing today? threads had well over 1200 posts a year. Last year it was over 900, and this year only 600+. It makes me sad. Where did everybody go? I worry that this whole forum will disappear someday. If I made a private Facebook group for us, would you guys come? You can now make a second name on facebook with a nickname if you don't want to use your real name, and no one could see what we post if they are outside the group. Thoughts?

Tomorrow I will be home all day until evening. I plan to continue decluttering my bedroom. I thought I would post my goals for tomorrow here.

- sort each box or bin on my floor, putting the items into the 3-drawer storage thing that is now empty, or into the place where the item should live, or donate/trash. That will clear a lot of floor space.
- clean under my bed. There may be a bin under there to sort, but there is definitely a lot of dust and dog hair to be cleaned up.
- Wrap all the Christmas presents that are in my room, and put the on the kitchen table. I cannot put them under the tree yet because I am not sure my new-this-year dog would leave them alone
- put any donation boxes into my car
- if it is not going to freeze at night, have Son put some boxes of jars of jam into my car to give out
- vacuum my room again. It will need it with all that stuff off the floor.

I am not sure what to do with extra jars of spices. I have so many duplicates I will never use them all up I also have a gift certificate for $50 for spices...). Maybe I will give them away. If they are not expired I could give some as Christmas gifts. I will check them.

Hope to see you guys tomorrow.

Good morning!

Lila, I am spending a lot of time with my family.

I did get a short visit with my cousin yesterday, and will hopefully see her again today before we leave tomorrow, but nowhere near as much time as I wish we could have. She is very tired and worried about her parents. They also live in this town and she also lives out of state. She's an only child.

I'm very proud of you for all of the progress on your room. And I love that you are giving jam and spices for Christmas gifts!

My mother did all of her shopping at goodwill, and got us each a great Christmas/seasonal sweater or sweatshirt. Mine is super soft and says "nice until proven naughty". The boys got too many toys, and the adults also got little things like Christmas ornaments, stationary, mugs, or books. She did buy my Dd a new box of tea to go with her mug. We opened gifts early so mom could enjoy seeing the boys play with their gifts while we are here.

I will tally later (I have school gifts to tally still as well.)

I will not come to Facebook. I'm not there now and want to not be. When my kids were young, I belonged to a really great parenting BB. we all thought that we would still be chatting about being grandparents. I also wrote real letters on paper to real friends. Then Facebook came along. My friends gave up writing for posting, the BB members started sending each other messages on Facebook instead of posting, we dwindled, I checked out Facebook using my mother's account and decided it was not something I wanted to be involved in, and eventually the small remaining group of BB posters moved to a private Facebook account. I lost touch with everybody, but I am even less interested in Facebook today. My dd1 deleted her account and my mother just reads hers occasionally to try to find the posts telling about the people she cares about. She finds it frustrating. Ddil uses hers mostly for marketplace. I find marketplace tempting, but not enough to join Facebook. I want to participate in and support the world I want to live in. I am like that irl too. So I may be missing for a stretch sometimes, but I will come here as long as there is a here and another person to talk to and I am alive. If something changes and I do leave, I will say goodbye, so if I disappear without a goodbye, I am incapacitated or dead.

We drive home tomorrow. My kids are all scattering from my house on the 28th, then Bean and Buddy come back on the 29th. (Although we may switch days) from then until Jan 4 my Dh and I are both off work, so we will be spending time together relaxing and I will do my year end push and new year planning. Maybe I will get the tally thread to 100 before the end of the year (remember, people are giving me gifts right now, so I will have to balance those out to even stay in the 90s.

I may not post again until I get home, so merry Christmas to all those of you who celebrate it, and Messi, CM, Tatoulia, and also road, I am wishing you well.

Good Morning! Solstice has happened, Hanukkah is over and it's Christmas Eve, so holiday greetings to you all!

Thank you all for posting. I am catching up. Posting is a challenge for me. I have a couple days off of work and I thought I'd be getting something done on the mess and was hoping to proudly report, but holidays are rascally. So much going on. Trips to the vet, trips to the airport, special events, unexpected special visits, unexpected invitations, the electricity kept going out which meant the heat went out and no internet etc., the microwave died, the RAdIO died, yada yada yada. I haven't gotten to the mess or posting. but i hope to - before it's back to work on Friday.

SubC - enjoy your family. It's so nice to hear about the gatherings and I appreciate the thrifting. The slogan on your new sweater made me smile. Glad you saw your cousin. Wishing you and all your family the best.
I also am not a facebook user, in general. By accident, my friend's account was on my computer so I have looked at marketplace, but I don't have an account I use. I suppose that could change, but not for now...

Lila - you continue to inspire me with your work - organizing, cleaning, setting goals. The bedroom story is so familiar, including dog hair, so it greatly encourages me to hear about it. Thank you! I hope to get to organizing some things in my bedroom today or tomorrow - the time is tight, but I will think of you and persist. Thank you for sharing about Teen. Sorting through things is like sorting through your life and i get emotional and bogged down. Thanks for shedding some light.

I hope to post a little more soon.

happy Holidays!

holy cow Messi, you have had a lot going on! I hope things start going more smoothly for you. Happy holidays!

SubC, I am glad you are enjoying your family! Merry Christmas!

And to all our friends as well.

I worked on my bedroom for 15 minutes so far this morning.

-I picked up a box of stuff and sorted it: tools I often use into the 3-drawer bin, tools I use less often into a small plastic bin (which was full of stuff as well).
- sorted that small bin, trash 1 item, donated 4 items, put tools and picture hangers etc back into that little bin neatly.
- the 3 drawer bin that had Teen's stuff in it now has frequently used tools on top, cords and plugs in the middle, and odds and ends that I do want to keep in the bottom.

So one whole cardboard box got emptied and is now a donation box.

I put one laptop on my desk so I can sort the things that were under it.

I found an old cracked phone which I believe was Teen's a long time ago. It is charging so I can take a look at it, and if it is locked or not working I will take out the sim card or whatever and throw it out. I just wanted to check it first.

Do you guys keep odds and ends, screws, pieces and cords you are not sure what they are for?

I also checked the water level on the Christmas tree, trimmed off a stray looking branch, put the tree skirt in the laundry, and the Santa milk glass in the sink for a wash.

Will continue with the bedroom. I really need to sort the small storage bedroom because it is totally full but with a short walking path through it.

Everyone, happy holidays. I've been fighting extreme exhaustion since returning from overseas. Not jet lag. I went to the children's service tonight because I felt too tired to go to one of the later services.

My house is a mess. I need help. Still have the house cleaners once a week but my place feels messy and full. I donated a suitcase that I filled with clothes this week.

I miss you all. Trip overseas was lovely and beautiful. Was wonderful to see BF. We walked 5 miles each day, rode the trains, and napped. Doesn't get much better than that.

Tatoulia, welcome back! I am so glad to hear that you had a wonderful visit with BF. I have been wondering and hoping you made your trip. I'm sorry you are so exhausted. I hope that gets better. How are your hands? Happy holidays!