Hello. Another later evening message, catching up to you all. I had a full weekend with work and dog walking, a friend's birthday celebration and two music concerts I attended that were absolutely fabulous! But now I am feeling behind.

Lila - it sounds like you had some cook-a-licious things going on at your place. Good job on cleaning things out in the fridge!

SubC - the tribe vibe! for many years my table/desk was a low table (less than a foot?) and I sat on the floor. It was a challenge for the 6'2" BF. With the dogs I have now in the room with me, a low table that they can reach is not a good option.
You had quite a Friday. Hope everyone is doing ok. Hope you have heat in your building. Great that you got boxes off the floor with the cabinet for candle and soap stuff.

Tatoulia - I'm glad you're doing well. How is your hand feeling? I'm so sorry about your shoes. How disappointing. I have trouble finding shoes that fit, as I need flats and wide toe. Found some tennies that fit but not waterproof so I gooped them up and put water repellent on them but it is not super satisfactory. good for wet grass when walking dogs...
If I could ask, you have textile recycling? Do you know what company? I have not found anything where I am...

I am hoping to get SOMETHING done tomorrow (or today). On the list are fixing a broken window and mowing the lawn

Good morning!

Messi, I like waking up to you late night notes. Good luck with your window!

Tatoulia and I both have really good recycling options. She lives in Boston and I live "near" a big city. (Everything in the city is roughly an hour or so from me - including my job, which is technically in a town that became a suburb, but inside the beltway). Being able to recycle definitely helps with the hoarding tendencies.

Recycling is not the answer though. The answer really lies in the not acquiring - where I am still struggling. This morning I am sitting at my "desk" under my Halloween lights. I really like them and wish I had gotten more. Even though I went over budget on Halloween decorations this year.

I also struggled yesterday. I did not make any pots. I also did not get all of my lesson plans ready- I need to prep for one more class (which is before lunch) this morning.

I DID check the mousetraps, keep up with dishes, put away the laundry (except for an additional load I did that was not on the list) and go to bed with a clean counter of doom and an empty sink.

I also did little bits of cleaning up and cleaning off here and there.

I feel like on any given day I can tap into the energy I need to clean and organize, or my creative energy, but not both. Maybe it's a left brain/right brain thing. I struggle with transitions.

I do know that it is easier to switch from the creative side to the cleaning up side, but I've been prioritizing the clean up and organization tasks on the theory that they would make things easier. I don't know, I think beyond a certain level, they make things easier for other people (mostly Dh) but keep me from doing the things I'm cleaning up for at all. Maybe I need to shift to prioritizing my creative tasks and just try to clean up after myself in the evening.

Anyway, today is:
Chores
Lesson plans
Trash and recycling
Teach
Load and start kiln
Dishes
More chores
Set up coffee maker
And go to bed with a clear counter of doom.

Maybe laundry.

I'll try to check back later.

Well, fixing the window and mowing the lawn went by the wayside this evening. I did not get them done because I took my friend's boys driving around to see Halloween lights and displays. Their dad was not able to take them, their mom was working. O my gosh, so many skeletons! One display had over 100 skeletons attending a baseball game. Not quite as many lights and displays as Christmas, but maybe more interesting. My consolation prize was I fixed one of the leaks I created the other day.

Good morning!

Messi, it is good to live your life as well. And driving around to see lights adds no things to your home.

It is raining here. Raining and raining and raining, and I feel like hibernating, but I have too many things on my schedule. I am really not feeling like going to my class today. But I am demonstrating, so..

I really need to work on not spending time on the internet. Last night I read "news" stories (mostly arts and events) for an hour. This is not good for me. (Also not good for me - real news!)

I had plans for this evening I was looking forward to, but they got cancelled.

Just going to try to make one better decision at a time today.

Good morning. Yes, rain, rain, rain. So no lawn mowing, lol, and probably no window. But laundry, dishes...
SubC, sorry your event got cancelled. After work I have another concert to attend this evening, so looking forward to seeing friends.
For now, on to walking dogs...

Wow Subc, I am surprised they didn't cancel school with no heat. They cancel it here. I hope it wasn't TOO cold.

Messi, I too am impressed that you tackled plumbing!! I would probably cry until one of my sons or friends came and fixed it for me! Nice work.

This morning I started on the soup. I got a gallon bag of whole tomatoes from my friend's garden last year out of the freezer and put them in the crock pot on warm to thaw. I was not thrilled when I saw they still had skins on them. I thought I had skinned them before I froze them, but this batch was just cored. Anyway as they thawed I skinned them in the crock pot and squeezed the juices into a sieve over the crock pot so all the good juices went in but 80% of the seeds got taken out. I don't like a ton of seeds in my soup. Then I squished the tomatoes with my hands to break them up and they are cooking. I added a small baggie of frozen tomatoes that WAS seeded and skinned, from the freezer as well.

I will add from the fridge, a half onion, two bell peppers, and a cabbage, and some vegetable broth concentrate. I will add from the freezer some thyme, rosemary and sage. Probably some spice cabinet oregano and basil, salt and pepper. Soup for tonight.

I will be making a jar of pickles from the cukes in the fridge so they don't go to waste. I'll also be making a jar of fermented garlic honey for health.

Baby is doing great, things are peaceful and they are staying downstairs a lot even though I offered to watch kids, so I guess they are getting in their rhythm. Which is why I can do all this produce prep.

Nice job on the soup!

It was 61 in the building - it's an old, stone building, so it holds heat. With all the kids in it and the sun shining on it, it got up to 63 even though the outdoor high was 56. The kids just kept jackets and sweaters on, but it was too cold for wet hands.

I don't know what is going to happen on Tuesday if there is still no heat. Lows are freezing this weekend and highs only briefly touching 60, so it will be colder by then. 55 is the cutoff for having kids in the building.

I have been tired and lazy today and eating too much bread and not enough veggies or fruit. Dh has been working on the vintage electric train (how old does something have to be to be an antique?) and I have been puttering in the basement instead of making pots. He secured a cabinet to the wall for me and I mostly filled it with candle and soap making supplies. They were in boxes stacked on the floor.

The playroom area has nearly come together, and I found two hats I want to part with, so that's something.

Tired and lazy here too, SubC, and wishing for bread! I have a few rolls in the freezer to go with the soup.

I got everything into the crock pot so the soup just needs to cook.

I got a quart of refrigerator pickles made, which used up 3 cucumbers, 4 cloves of garlic, the last bit of dill that did not go bad, and a shallot that looked like it needed to be used. I still have 2 smaller shallots which I will add to my eggs when I make eggs. So the jar of pickles in in the fridge pickling.

I feel good about the progress I made today on the produce, so it did not sit and go bad while I eat junk instead.

I have a half jar of refrigerator pickles from a few weeks ago, so I will probably slice up some cheese and have it with pickles and crackers for a snack later. I ate some cucumber while I was slicing for the new pickles, too.

I want (need) to do laundry but TotsFam is doing a TON of kids laundry. Like 6 big loads so far. So I am waiting until they are done. If it's late afternoon I will ask to sneak in a load in between, so I have something to wear tomorrow.

I still need to make the fermented garlic honey but am sort of dreading all the garlic peeling.

Happy Sunday!

Yesterday I did finish my plans and made the jar of fermented garlic honey. So that's done. The soup turned out ok, needs some kidney beans and more seasoning so will do that tonight and freeze some for later.

This morning I worked from home and then made a coffee cake. It is baking now. The inspiration for t was the small container of cooked-down fresh rhubarb in my fridge that needed to be used. So half the coffee cake is rhubarb swirl and half is cinnamon swirl. It should be yummy!

I had some toast from freezer bread with a plum this morning. I am pretty sure there is not a lot left in the fridge in danger of spoiling this week, but I will check. Oh, I do need to roast the broccoli - or it won't be fresh enough in a week. Might add the beets to that pan and roast those at the same time.

To be honest I feel like not doing all of that today and want to sit around and eat junk, but I don't have much junk, so, that's good.

It's later again, which is when I am free to check in, but often am too tired to write or be coherent - or go to bed, even.
I really need to try wind things down earlier to get to sleep earlier.

Welcome, Anon! ?

SubC, lol, how did you know I have a secret stash of repairable(!?) dog beds? (on one or the the other hand, though, I do have three dogs and they have beds upstairs and downstairs and in the car, so plural dogbeds happen...) I have a rule that for now, no more purchasing of dogbeds, but I struggle to pass them in the store, lol.

I also have stashes of pants that need repair or adjusting, and jackets, and sweaters, and tops, and dresses, all waiting for attention in order for them to make my life so stylish and cool, maybe. Maybe, or maybe mayhem. Maybe I acquire something else in the meantime til I can fix something and now my bedroom is mayhem. TOO MUCH STUFF!!
Lila, your description of your room and closet was so familiar, as was the description of feeling overwhelmed. I was so impressed to follow your progress with the closet. NICE WORK!! ?? I hope to work in that direction. More later on that.

I did work on the plumbing on Monday, my day off. I wanted to have a whole day. I have an old house and the rule with plumbing is - fix one thing and you'll break at least three others, lol. Especially if you're not sure of what you are doing. Which is me. Thank heavens for the internet! One aspect of having such a mess in the house is not having service people come in. This is not too good. Not having money is another reason for not having service people come in. This is not too good.

BUT - SO - with a lot of luck, I successfully replaced the water shut-off valve to the whole house. It took most of the day because I was nervous, went slowly, called my brother for info (came with attitude) and also pulled a muscle in my leg. There were no leaks with the new valve, but turning the water to the house back on, I created a few new leaks, haha! Went to Home Depot, got parts, fixed the most inconvenient leak, the others have to wait. But with my new shut-off valve, I'll be better able to work on plumbing problems. Which was the point. YAY!!

I just posted and had put text emojis in, but went back to try to use a window to put picture emojis in and it turns out they all turned into question marks when the message posted. i apologize.

Anon - Welcome! (-:

Lila - NICE WORK !! (-:

Lila - Congratulations on your new family member!! <3

Good morning!

Lila, enjoy your new little angel!

I empathize with your food situation. I did very badly at utilizing my garden this summer and I am eating far too much store bread.

My weight has crept back up and soon I will go again to see the doctor who told me to lose weight. But the doctor I saw Thursday didn't find anything new wrong (my BP was high, we discussed it. She said to keep monitoring, I told her that if she signed my permission form they would take it at the pool for me, and she said she would, so hopefully I can start swimming in November.) I do have to get bloodwork.

Messi - I knew about the dog beds because we are a tribe. I have two dog beds and no dogs. One of them is my desk chair (I use a Japanese folding table for a desk and sit on the floor) and the other is for sitting in front of the woodstove. I share both of them with my granddogs when they visit.

I am impressed with your plumbing! I would be afraid to try that. I do have a very handy Dh though. I'm sorry your brother gave you attitude.

Yesterday was challenging. We had no heat at school, so I had to come up with last minute lesson plans for all of my classes that didn't require wet hands. I also got a new student. I also still can't access my kiln because of the work on the heat, so lesson plans for next week are postponed. There was a stuck truck and trailer on my drive to work, and the detour almost made me late, so i had very little time to deal with any of that before classes started. Dd1 and Bean flew to visit dd2. There was a medical emergency in the row in front of them on the plane, and shortly after dd2 picked them up, someone rear ended dd2's car and drove off. Everyone was fine but the car is undriveable and Bean needed a new car seat.

Hopefully today will be better all around.

I did get feed on Thursday. My plan for today is to catch up a little around the house, do pottery, and go out with Dh tonight. Tomorrow Buddy is coming over for the day and it will be just the two of us. I'm hoping it will be warm enough to spend a lot of time outside, because Buddy loves outside much more than Bean does.

I hope everybody is having a good Saturday.

Hi Tatoulia. Glad you had your surgery. Hope you are not too uncomfortable. Rest well and heal.

Good morning again!

It's nice to see people checking in more. Tatoulia, I hope you are fully back in action quickly.

Hi Messi, any update on the not-a-swimming-pool project?

Lila, still waiting to hear how you are feeling about the "new" closet.

I got the handprints done with Bean yesterday. I need to cut them out and finish them for drying. He wants to be the one to put the faces on.

Dd and I have agreed that she won't buy me any more jeans. Apparently even if the label is the same, the year and country of manufacture are significant and only one of the three pairs actually fit. Very disappointing.

Yesterday I checked once, better, and cup filling off my list, but I did not finish my actual todo list, so the counter of doom is slightly worse and the mouse (mice?) got another day to cause trouble.

We definitely have a mouse problem and more traps must be set! I may have to go to the store.

I also have significant tasks for tomorrow and Thursday:
School emails to answer
Lesson plans
Find a specific clay in my studio
Throw pots for a demo I agreed to do in class
Preregistration for my Dr. visit.

Bean was very needy yesterday - I think reclaiming his place after his cousin's visit, and full of energy. Then Dd picked them up and stayed late because it was Dh bday and I made her dinner (he had plans with a good friend) and we had sundaes when he got home - with extra clean up. So I am very tired and starting slowly this morning.

Fly-by checkin! It's my busy days (Mon - Thurs) so the closet is on pause, but I am so enjoying it! It is strange and nice to open it up and have choices all hanging there neatly. I am so happy I did this!

On my next days off I will try on those few cardigans in the closet on one end, as well as the ones in my dresser drawers (which will probably get hung). Anything not fitting will be donated or in the bin, which still has room for a few things. I also realized I have one drawer of colorful tank tops to go through. They are the nicer thicker kind and while I will NOT wear tank tops in general, because of my very flabby arms, I will wear them under a cardigan sometimes. I think I will see what cardigan matches those tank tops, and any without a nice looking match will get donated.

I actually have like 3 empty drawers now! I will think about what I want to put in them. Mainly sweaters that I don't want to hang. I guess I need to try on all the sweaters in the drawers and put the ones that fit in the dresser I use the most, and the ones that are a bit snug can stay in the ones I keep sheets and stuff in. I might even donate something, we'll see!

It is so nice to have things sorted and able to wear them!

New grandbaby coming any day as well, and I need to sort the back bedroom. The crib is full of stuff. Yikes. Since I will be watching kids when the baby is born, I need to empty it.

Wish us luck!

An end-of-evening hello. I have an early appointment tomorrow to have the stitches removed from my mouth, so more later.

One thing at a time, one thing at a time, one thing at a time. One by one, things will get done. this message. Cleaning things out of the refrigerator and getting them to compost drop-off. Finding a jacket. repairing a dog bed.

Lila, it's so exciting about your closet!
SubC - it's nice to hear about family time and hope you got to throwing pots
Tatoulia - how are your hands? were you able to go back to work?

Hi all, I'm new here. Overwhelmed and looking for support. I might have found it here. Hoping.

Good morning!

Hello new person! We are happy to have you here and offer whatever support you may need. "Anonymous for now" is very long. You might want to choose a pseudonym that is shorter before we start calling you "Afn" we are like that. You can change it! What can we do to help? Where do you want to start? What is driving you to want to make change?

Lila, welcome to the working closet club! I'm looking forward to the tank top and sweater update. But, yes, you must clear the crib! I am wishing the new baby a smooth arrival.

Messi, ouch indeed! Hope the appointment goes smoothly today. Good job repairing the dog bed! It is all too easy to keep the dog bed thinking you will repair it, and then end up buying a new dog bed and not repairing the old one, but still keeping it as back up because you might repair it... so good for you!

I did get the pots thrown. Sort of. They are not as dry as they need to be, so I will take them out and put them under the fan in my studio shortly. I stayed after at school yesterday to throw them because I knew if I drove home it would take an hour and I would arrive hungry and tired and want to eat first and then have trouble getting out to my studio... I left them on a drying board all night, but I was afraid to put them under the fan because I didn't want them to over-dry while I was sleeping.

I did all five of the things on my list. Unfortunately, the clay needs to be soaked and rewedged, but at least I found it. I have also set mouse traps, but I have not caught any mice yet.

Today I have my class and then in the afternoon I have a doctor's appointment. I have not been to a gp in a long time. Hopefully it won't be like when I take my car in because something is broken and they give me a long list of other things that need attention. I just want clearance so that I can rejoin the $15/month pool and swim this winter. Wish me luck that the new gp in the new office won't make my blood pressure rise. (The old gp dropped me for not showing up and wasn't taking"new patients" when I called. I only saw her twice.)

I also need to get lesson plans together for tomorrow. I might stop for feed if I have time on the way home from the Dr. I am low and it will be an emergency if I wait until Saturday. (The chickens might have to have cracked corn and weeds for dinner tomorrow)

If I find time to accomplish anything else I will update.

hi guys!!

Good job on the dog bed, messi! I know allll about torn dog beds, lol. Hi subC, I wish we could see your pots! Hi new anon person and welcome! and hi Tatoulia too!

I did not do anything more with clothes but I DID get the crib cleared out and things ready, and the new little guy is here! I was watching all the others for the past couple of days. I am pretty tired out! But I got a few things done this morning while the kids were with their parents.

I emptied out the vegetable and fruit drawers in the fridge, sorted it all, and washed out the bins. I made baked squash and onions, and ate some with an apple for lunch.

I had to throw out a lot of good produce. This is one of the things I really dislike about my habits - my wastefulness. I am angry at having to throw away about half of what was in there because instead of eating it, I was eating frozen dinners, pizza, and junk. I am so done with this. I am making a change right now.

My new goal is to eat only what I already have, what I am given, or what I can get for free. Kind of a "no spend on food" thing. I wasted so much money last month buying processed food and let this good stuff go bad. As of right now I will do better. Ask me about it in a week if you think about it!

I plan to make a soup tonight or tomorrow because I have a cabbage, canned and frozen tomatoes, onions, and peppers and lots of herbs.

I have a bunch of lemons not in the freshest condition but still ok, so I will juice the ones that need to be used, and make some tea, and add the lemons and tea to a jar I have with just a little honey left in it. That can go in the fridge to drink later.

I have apples for snacks, some beets to cook, and a bunch of cucumbers I need to make into pickles or salad. I also have broccoli I need to cook. When I run out of fresh produce, I have a couple coupons for free produce that I can use, I have frozen stuff and canned stuff, and I will trust in my God to provide anything I need.

I hope this will turn my wastefulness and my spending to a better direction.

second update -

got through another third of the clothes (trying them on and sorting) and now I have a second shirt in the donate box. Proud of myself.

It is a lot, trying all these clothes on. But I got through the whole big pile on my office chair and desk. I have about 1/3 of the closet left to do and then will hang back up the things that I decided to keep that actually fit.

This is actually making me kind of happy.

third update in the Lila & Closet show...

I got through trying on everything left in my closet except the cardigans. There are only a few in there (the rest are in drawers).

I put the almost, barely, 5 pounds lost and it would fit hanging shirts on the far side of the closet, not very many. Everything else that is not wearable right now went into the bin and it is 80% full. I needed a break so will try on the cardigans and any shirts in the dresser drawers, finish the bin and get it downstairs.

Then I have to hang up everything that fits (which is all draped on the rocking chair as I sorted).

Part of me was like "wow I have some nice things that fit" and the other part was like "omg I thought I had more that fits!! Where did everything go??"

It is what it is and I am not buying anything else unless and until I lose a lot of weight and NEED clothes for work. I have enough to last me losing 20 pounds I'm sure.

It will be nice when this is finished and I can SEE what I have to actually wear.

Yay for the Lila's closet show!
Thoroughly enjoyed! Ten out of ten, binge watched all three episodes.

Ddil and I went to the arts market this morning and I gave three cat items to the rescue shelter that has a display there. And we got to pet kittens.

Birdy is in bed and the kids are getting some of their stuff together to leave in the morning.

It's been a really nice visit.

Tomorrow I go back to trying to get my life sorted out.

Good morning!

Lila, how is your closet?

I had kind of a slow, quiet day yesterday. I felt very sad in the morning. It was hard to see Birdy go. But we will visit him again at thanksgiving.

I worked in the basement a bit and finished the first shelf section in the alcove. This allowed me to move books and clear off a free standing shelf. That shelf and the new shelf are now setup in my studio loft and filled with inventory, which makes the loft somewhat more orderly. Only somewhat, but it felt good to get things sorted out a little more.

Last year ddil, Birdy, and I made hand print ghosts with clay. They turned out so well we made more while she was here. I plan to actually fire and finish these and not lose them for months! I have a row of little nails all around my dining porch that I hang Christmas ornaments on. My plan is to get Bean and Buddy to also make handprint ghosts and have a bunch of them to hang around the porch at Halloween (this year I will only have one, next year 4, the following year 7?.. There are 12 nails. I don't know how long Bean's hands will be small enough to work.) I'm going to ask Bean to make his today - plus one for my mom and one for his Mimi (other grandmother) and do Buddy's next weekend. Bean is taking a trip with Dd and I will have just Buddy for the day.

I am mostly caught up with dishes and starting a load of laundry in a minute.

I won the todo list yesterday, and I am optimistic that I can do it again today.

Congratulations Lila! Doing the hard work!

Had my surgery. Need to figure out doing the dishes then back to bed.

SubC, I read your post and wanted to comment before reading further. I started something a few months back where I make Future Me happy and it's become automatic. Such as, getting garbage and cat boxes ready the night before trash day; putting my work stuff (pens, headset, etc) back into the the bin the night before I'm headed back into the office, so it's not just sitting on the coffee table, etc. and it's pretty much automatic now. So all of these thoughts are dove-tailing nicely together. Thank you!

Making future me happy! I will incorporate this!

Yesterday I did not get the clothes worked on. But I did:

- load and run the dishwasher
- wash 3 loads of laundry and put 2 of them away already
- made a pie for TotsDad's birthday
- made fresh rhubarb syrup
- took everything out of the fridge except the veg/fruit drawers, tossed what was no good, washed out the shelves and put things back. I have not done this in over 6 months (the washing shelves part).

I also went to a concert with a friend which was super fun but now I am exhausted, so staying home today.

I did ask my Son to bring up a bin and lid from the garage last night. This morning I washed it out (it was dusty) and I WILL use it for the clothing sorting project today. Most likely for the hanging things that I don't wear. Hoping to make some progress today.

update -

I need accountability so will be updating about my clothing issue today.

I took the clean bin into my bedroom and put it on the bed.

I opened the closet, folded the concert t-shirts and put them in the bin. Then I felt stuck and took a break.

Went back in and decided I have to try everything on to know what fits.

Started putting "too small" and "next summer" things in the bin.

Put the "snug but would fit if I lost a couple pounds" items in one section of the closet.

Took each item that fits now out and draped it over the rocking chair. As I was doing this, I realized I do not need to have the snug clothes up here. I think I have enough that actually fit. I will probably put the snug clothes on top in the bin.

I have gotten through about 1/3 of my closet! There are a lot of empty hangers! And, I was able to donate one shirt!

Back later, wish me luck!

Good morning!

Messi, I hope you don't get a pool today.

Lila, I don't know about the clothes. I wish I could see your room. I know you don't want to get rid of anything, but at the very least, if things don't fit, they should not be in your room. If things are piled up and you aren't wearing them, that is much like things are gone and you aren't wearing them, except you have to live with the piles.

I made some really hard decisions on the last round of clearing out my closet, and I love my closet now. If I'm honest with myself, I could probably thin it out a little more, but it's very functional and pleasant to look at now.

How much hanging space do you have? (Full height linear bar feet) not empty, just total.

I am tired again this morning. I didn't sleep well last night. I also didn't finish my overly ambitious list yesterday. I need to remember that on school days, "success" is school+1. I had a good school day, I stopped a tj's to buy ravioli for Birdy's return, and I moved the rooster pen. Plus a friend stopped by for about half an hour in the evening. That is school+3.

This morning I start a class at the city studio. It's the first time I've taken a morning class, so we'll see how it goes.

My plan is to come home and reset the house (including things I didn't do last night) because Birdy's family is coming back tonight.

Maybe I will update later if I manage more than the minimum.

Hi Tatoulia! CM, I hope you are still out there. I keep waiting for your super-long post or just "I'm back! My computer wouldn't let me post!" Or whatever is keeping you away.

Well, turns out i don't get the day off from work, so no plumbing today. All is not lost, however. I need to remember that. And, lol, someday I'll find some of those things that are not "lost", (just waiting in a "safe" place I can't remember)