Finished the last little bit of my chocolate icecream.

Did good today with standing up straight and walking around.
My back and legs get tired very quickly but not much discomfort.
Did a bit of bending, just a little so it wouldn't hurt.
Still hurts to actually bend down at the waist though or get in or out of the sitting position.
The general constant pain is down from a 8/9 to a 1/2.
When I first wake up in the morning I am so stiff and there is some screaming as I try to get to my feet.
But with 2 ibuprofen and slow movement it starts to ease up.
I know this all sounds horrible but I can slowly see improvement daily and that's FANTASTIC.

All 4 cats have gotten fed and watered daily.
Twinkles needs brushing but he said he understands I can't sit on the floor, the only place he will allow brushings.
I have kept up with washing all dishes as they are used.
Tonight I actually washed both my feet with a washcloth!
Put a towel on the side of the bath tub, sat there and got my feet up high enough to wash them. 😀
I'm doing good.

Hi Tatoulia
Oh, OK, well...
Dropping the tin made the decision for you as to what to do with them.

YEA! for a nice clear dining table!
Yeah, having to look at an area all cluttered up day after day is disheartening.
Hope getting the coffee table papers sorted out is easier.

Happy you got to visit with little sister Kitty
and see your Mom too. ;D

How are you doing now that the dollhouse furniture is mailed?
Hoping you have a very good feeling about how you have gifted it. (((HUG)))

YEA! for doing the laundry and are putting it away!
My laundry is piling up. I did do one load of my dresses and a nightgown. They dry on hangers in my room.
But worry about trying to hang linens out on the clothes line.
Besides, anyway, it's too smoky here the last few days.

Steven got up about noon today.
I am so happy he took a shower because he was really stinking up the house.
Then he took off in his truck. Probably went to the grocery store.

Did he ask me if I need anything, knowing I have been incapacitated for a long time?
No...................................

Read through everyone's posts.

Loved your blood donation story, Tillie. 😉

SubC, be gentle on yourself. I believe we are all grieving the "old" world whilst trying to navigate the "new" one. It takes energy.

Tatoulia, I am trying to soak up some of the spillover from your decluttering energy rays! Heehee. I'm starting to inch along. To do a thing even when I can't Do All The Things, or even very many things.

Yesterday I'd picked up a red notebook cluttering the floor, and in it were the records of tags/taxes and repairs on my old red money pit van. So I shredded and recycled all that. Good Riddance. Small job but it sure felt good. Told myself, now CM, all you need to do is pick up the next item and deal with it, rinse and repeat.

We had 1-1/4" of rain with big rolling thunder boomers in the early morning. And a sunny warm day. It was trash day with room in one of the bags so I scurried out and pulled the remainder of the nasty sticktight weeds between the garage and fence.

And discovered a clematis vine. Went inside, asked roommate; it wasn't hers. Former neighbor's perhaps, but it somehow is on our side. Don't know if it has already bloomed, or what. But the junk hiding it and robbing it of nutrients is gone, so we will get to find out now. A good metaphor for the decluttering journey, I thought.

My roommate and I occasionally get takeout food and eat in a park here lately. We did that tonight at the county park by the fishing lakes. I told her about times when a different friend and I went there and how I'd sit and paint. She came up with the idea of us both going sometime soon and working on our painting. She was an art major. This idea is exciting! A morale boost. I'll have more to say about it.

Since I'm up ridiculously late, I was really only going to make a short post with the following news:

My cousin is back home! She will see her primary care doctor and set up PT appointments. I am so thankful she is on the mend.

Okay. Will go to sleep. (I had to nap earlier, I was tired, so now my body clock is more off than ever, LOL.)

Tillie it was hot and a bit humid here today. I'll take your cold winds!!!

And I don't hate my apartment. Remember how I used to hate it in the heat? I'm so glad to have found you.

Quick check in. I had today off. I woke up at 7 AM (unlike me) then took the drive to the country to drop off the gifts for the kids. It was great sitting outside with the entire family. They opened the sliding glass door so their kitty and I could communicate with just the screen between us. The kids liked their Independence Day gifts. The "patriotic" Mike and Ike's were the biggest hit. I thought the T-shirt's were really cute. Anyway what a joy to be outside with the whole family and to have a cup of coffee.

I dropped off all the snacks for the aides and staff at mom's. I got yo sit on the patio with mom yesterday! 20 minutes of joy. BF biked over and talked to mom through the fence. He is such a gentleman. He is so good to her and genuinely so-immediately asked if he could join.

I'm not caught up in posts but it looks like we have a new person to welcome! Welcome Lori! Together we can do this!!!

And of course welcome Charlie the Cat.

WAY TO GO! Subclinical 😀
Yea! for filling up your class.

True words. This is why we can't have nice things. 🙁

I thought it was a given that you already had the fabric and thread to make Baby wipes.
So yeah, you are using materials you already have on hand. 😉

Small squares of flannel and terrycloth and thread.
Happy your Dh noticed and is happy.
Sometimes having things stowed away comes in handy.
Like arts & crafting things. Especially now with not being able to just go shopping.

Wishing you and the egglets all the best. (((hug)))

Tillie, We cross-posted! CM it does become easier. You are living it. You are doing great. Still hard decisions in front of you but still easier than it ever has been before !

I love RUTHLESS.

Oh SubC I'm so sorry!!! Definitely take a shower or bath and see if you can change the sheets. It looks like both Tillie and I had clean sheets last night.

Ugh. Steven. I know exactly the type. I'm so sorry he berates you so. I'm grateful to have shed my brother.

I received a lovely note signed by my mothers Dr's office/senior center thanking new for lunch. I had sent a Panera gift card(after figuring out where they like to get their lunch). The nurse kept my name a secret and I was so touched by their note. Esp since they are part of the PACE system abc do God's work every day. I'll do this again in July.

I woke up late for Coffee Time this AM so I put on a bra and a shirt and logged in. And despite having no coffee, I was the hit of the morning. I started out by saying that my meeting with Stearns and Foster ran late and from there I was off and running. So I had a great time. Then I had to get ready for my 10:00 since I was presenting (no video, thankfully, I just shared my screen) and then Happy Hour started at 11. Work ended at 12 so I ran some mom-related errands. Oh! And I ran into my colleague who just had a baby and she had her little baby boy with her!!!! So lovely! And I ran into the lady who runs the convenience store in my work building. Oddly enough, she was our convenience store lady back in our old building (some nights BF and I would give her a ride home) and now she works (worked) in our new building. She's suffering greatly. I may pick up a gift card for her. I'm not sure where she shops. I don't know if she has a car to get to one of the cheaper grocery stores.

I took mom's dry cleaning and dropped it off. I have an interim quilt to take to the laundry.

I'm trying not to buy stuff on line today. I haven't suffered too much with it but it's creeping back into my consciousness. I think I'll make a payment to my small loan instead.

Love you all!

This is why we san't have nice things....

I took the eggs out of the egg turner and set them on the floor if the incubator. They should hatch Sunday, but I have to start checking tomorrow.

Dh is happy that I am using up part of my stash making baby wipes.

And I forgot to tell you my class is full.

CM! I am enjoying your storage purge as much as I enjoyed my own! You are amazing! You are motivating me! I am so excited. For you and for me!

Yay for the class lesson and headache being gone, SubC.

Tillie I'm so sorry about your back.

Ok I never finished clearing off my dining room table and it really bothers me. When I use it for paperwork, I become distracted and start writing postcards. It is the first thing I see when I get home and the piles are discouraging. I'd gotten it down to about 1/3. So I took the remaining 1/3 off and put on coffee table. The dining table looks beautiful. Yesterday I dropped a tin full of little ceramic things that I didn't know what to do with. They broke. They are in the garbage.

I mailed off the dollhouse furniture. I also got to see mom last night. I had done some shopping for her and when I got there I was waved upstairs. Good to see mom and of course that cat. I love that cat. Mom ate her dinner while I was there. So it was good all around.

I slept til nearly one today. Cooler weather with no humidity. I love it. I did three loads of laundry yesterday and I'm folding it and putting it away now.

It's 4 PM.

WOOHOO!
Tomorrow that should feel so good to clear out your vehicle! 😀

Yeah, some decisions are easier to make.
But the more you keep working at making decisions and letting some of the harder things go
the easier it becomes, honest. (((HUG)))
Not saying it all becomes a breeze but decision making gets easier and the letting go becomes a lot less stressful.

Just ask Tatoulia.
She has been letting go of things she never dreamed she would be able to.

Subclinical has also let go of long saved items she thought she would use someday.
But her thinking about them has changed and she let them go. (((HUG)))

The wind came from the North today.
That is very rare.
It was very cold and fierce, blowing cars crooked as they tried to drive a straight line.
Tumble weeds were traveling 60mph.
Then it rained some. 😀

Still cold but the winds have died down to a manageable speed.

Good Morning Everyone
"Clink!"

You sound like a mess Subclinical (((HUG)))
Please find/take some time out just for you.
Do good things, just for you.
Get showered shampooed, do your nails.
Dress in something pretty.
Make it an at home spa treatment type day.

The house will still be a mess and the barn rats will still be partying but you will get to them later. 😉

Welcome Charlie!!! ;D
Now just get into the cat trap please.

Hi Subclinical
Thanks, yes I had some good things this week. 🙂

Should be safe going into the studio just to pick up your finished work.
Best wishes for the outcomes.

That is something I found so interesting about ceramics. Until it came out of the kiln, you never know how it will look.

We knew things would escalate with people not following all the advice.
We could have had it contained and been able to work and have Summertime events.
My county fair could have happened in Autumn because it's outside in a large spacious area.
But not now because people won't mind.
It is like being a kid back in school and just because "that one kid" in class is acting up the whole class is punished.

Steven is still leaving home but not as often now that his friend is dead.
But he still goes somewhere too many times a week.
I stay at home for week after week and only go when I need food and/or water.

I will not be surprised when the positive count here starts rising drastically.

Hello, welcome Lori!

5 bags is good!

Tillie, how lovely that you got a rainbow! And such a nice phone visit with Nate!

CM,
Yay for your new computer!

Hi Tatoulia! I hope you had a good, safe trip.

I finished glazing my big bowl and will go in just to pick up my last four pieces some time between next week and the second week of August.

Cases are still rising here and I do not need to use the slab roller. Our libraries just closed again. All the closings and missed events and lost jobs are wasted because people wouldn't stay home and wear masks. We are right back at our peak, with more active cases than ever.

My next trip away from home will be either for feed or to get DD's dog, depending on how long it takes the baby to come. Or to take the Tom cat to the vet if I catch him. I named him Charlie.

Thanks for the nice feedback!

Yesterday was a great day.

So many spider carcasses, though🕷️🕸️- plus a few live 8-leggers scuttling around. 😱 It's nice to think that I'm making fewer places for them to hide now. I have cleaning supplies over in the storage so there's a broom to get the webs and dust and leaves that blow in, etc.

I truly believe I am experiencing a combination of a mental shift and divine inspiration going on here. I'm rather blown away, actually.

All I have to do is show up and cooperate with it.

There will be harder things - it's one thing to yank out a chair that takes up about 4 cubic feet. It may be way harder to deal with 4 small stuffed animals or 4 greeting cards. And to do it over and over until all the cubic feet of that sort of thing is dealt with and most of it gone.

All such things I will face eventually. And I remember I've gone through and gotten rid of lots of boxes and bags of papers already in this effort since whenever.

No matter what, I will have hope. And I will have you wonderful ladies! So I'm not going to let it scare me.👻 I promise.

Tomorrow I get to take the stuff away! 🚐 Woohoo!🎆🎉🥂

Good Afternoon

Got up & out first thing this morning.
Did stuff in the yard.
Came inside and stuff in here too.

Taking a break and eating something too.

Hi Subclinical

YEA! for a lovely time with Bean!
And photos to remember when he was little. ;D

Good luck with doing odds&ends bits&pieces today.

Good getting ahead on XMas presents.
So much easier when it's spread out.
Hoping you do get a chance to see Ds at some time.

I had a panic attack last night.

I'm not sleeping. I'm not showering regularly. My house is a mess. I'm wearing yesterday's clothes or getting dressed directly out of the dryer. My eating habits and weight are bad. And I'm pretty sure the barn rats are winning.

I really don't want to do school today.

But I will get through it.

One last time. I can't even think about fall.

Wow CM!

That is an amazing purge! I hope you have a sense of increased space to enjoy.

You seem to have been gaining a lot of useful insight lately.

Tillie, we're glad you are too smart to believe Steven. It saves a lot of disappointment.

We had a lovely time with Bean yesterday - and yes, I took pictures. 🤩

I did pretty well on the "recovery" yesterday. I still feel overwhelmed, but not as badly.

There was a lot of cooking and eating, so my kitchen and scullery are buried again.

Today I think I will be doing odds and ends. I ordered a Christmas gift for one of the kids (starting early to spread it out and take advantage of sales.) Also because I expect to be 90% online this year and may have to ship to ds. I don't know if we'll be able to see him.

More dishes, more laundry, more tomatoes, class postings, maybe first day plans...

We'll see where I end up.

Good Evening Everybody
My Honeysuckle started to bloom today.
The sweet little Hummingbirds noticed. 🙂

Hi Tatoulia
So very happy you are finding peace with all you have done in that closet.
For some reason all those cards, letters and other old mail are hard to do.
Maybe because they have been around for such a long time and they all bring back memories.

Sounds like you had a nice day just being out and about.
Tomorrow morning I am driving to the water depot and fill two bottles.
The two bottles are empty, I still have 5 full ones.
Just want to get out for a little while.

WTG! eating better and listening to your CDs!
Yum! Raspberries.
I still have a tiny sugar Monkey on my back but he's easy to distract.
My main trigger for binging on sweets is when Steven starts his screaming rants about the "virus conspiracy" and how everybody is acting like fools believing in it.
Today he was spewing ridiculous "facts & figures" to prove that there is no virus.
He gave me a headache and when I asked him to please quit shouting at me he got all nasty & huffy but he did finally shut up & go away.

I never do state my opinions and beliefs about the matter.

Have a great day at work tomorrow. 😀

Made up the bed with the fresh clean sheets.
Scooter came up and went to his spot investigating it.
I reassured him that it was all clean.
He saw it was all clean and is laying down there sleeping beside me now.

Been watching "Dark Shadows"
On the 1075th episode now.

Ps I'm sorry about the thrift stores. Going in the wrong direction. Stuff out, peace in.

I am thrilled with my peace since working in the closet.

Good Evening

Was out watering the grass this evening when the wind started raging from the South.
I could hear distant thunder and the sky was filling up with thick dark clouds.
Then it rained a little but not enough to get things wet.
Lots of space between the rain drops.
But I kept watering the grass and enjoying the drops that fell on me.

Then I looked up and right over head was a MASSIVE double rainbow!!!
The colors on the inner rainbow were so sharp and vivid.
It was beautiful.

Good Morning Everybody
"Clink!"

WAY TO GO! CriticalMass!!!

That's a FANTASTIC! start on taming the storage!

Great combination with you working with Badger and leaving Ruth at home. ;D

Your thought processes are great in deciphering the "whys" as to what you have.
Life happened and plans got changed too many times.
Yes, when the time comes there will be chairs available for you to find and bring home to use.

I have found that the universe does provide.
There is so much furniture out there to fit everyone's needs and budgets.

Keep the image of a smaller well organized storage unit for all your necessary items. (((HUG)))

The money pit van was deceptive in how high maintenance it really was because it slowly nickeled & dimed you to pay to keep it running.

I must have pushed it too far yesterday cause my back is really achy again.
Yesterday I was trying to do more bending down tasks like picking up kitty dishes off the floor.
Been trying to use the electric blanket and having to really fight with Scooter to "GET OFF!".

Steven finally came in from the garage 10:45pm last night for the first time since returning from the hospital.
There is no bathroom in the garage, only the one bathroom here in the house.
He keeps bottles of pee lined up out there.
Yes, you have all seen that before on episodes of HOARDERS in some of the worst case scenarios.

That, along with the mouse poop everywhere makes it a hazmat zone.

The wildfire smoke is "moderate" this morning and it should warm up into the 90s by afternoon.

Plan today is to baby my back until time to water my garden plants this evening.

Welcome Lori 🙂

WAY TO GO!
You have really been doing a FANTASTIC job!

Happy you found some motivation to help you make all those keep/toss/donate decisions.

Enjoy all that newly emptied space you've made. 😀

I'm so excited with what I got done this week! FIVE bags of stuff to Goodwill yesterday and five last week.
Today I cleared out a couple of shelves. I'm stopping by my daughters' houses to let them go through them... books are about culture and politics of their late dad's side. Tomorrow what's left will go to our local Peace and Justice center!
I've been binge watching Hoarders and it has motivated me!

A pleasant day here, warmer and sunny. 🌞 I'm glad we got the rain but the sudden bout of cloudy and chilly weather had gotten me down.

And now it looks as though we won't have 90s for awhile or until next year. Kansas is fickle though, so I never make absolute statements! But today was pretty ideal.

No news yet on family.

My roommate had given me another small wire shelf unit she was no longer using, so I went to take it over to the storage unit where it can replace one of the several rickety plastic ones.

And while I was there, I sort of lost my mind. 🙃🙂🙃 But in a good way. I went crazy pulling stuff out and now the following is in my van awaiting donation on Monday:

__________

Three school chairs my parish got rid of some years back - sturdy but worn and splintery; I don't want to put in a bunch of work to fix them up.

Two wire milk crates

Two large empty non-transparent plastic tubs

A large whiteboard I don't need

My silk flower pick machine - I don't use it anymore

Various other containers, old Tupperware

Posters and cheap framed prints of Tuscany scenes which I'd put up at my parents' house - not part of my new minimalist plan, let somebody else enjoy them

Misc. like notebooks, household whatzits
__________

So yes, SubC, Badger came.🦡 I left Ruth at home though. So I was... wait for it... RUTHLESS! 🤷‍♀️

In addition to extricating donations, I was moving several shelf units to better positions and starting to clear space. Some items I ran out of time to sort today had to go back in "momentarily," so the front looks cluttered, but those items will soon be dealt with.

I'm finding that apparently I've kept more things that are bulky, blah, and not worth paying to store than I realized. I think I know now why this happened.

I believe moving so many times and having just so much to deal with sort of exhausted my capacity to process and look at things with a clear eye. Maybe sheer fatigue played a part - like, if it fit into storage at some point and I was tired of lifting stuff, I didn't question it.

And of course I had NO IDEA that I would end up staying even one year, let alone five, when I first moved in with the current roommate. I honestly thought I'd be figuring out a way to get back out on my own as soon as possible and would need some of those old chairs, etc. We had originally said a couple of months!

But so much happened, and thanks to the money pit red van, my small reserve of $1.5k was drained upon my arrival here. As was the $3k inheritance I got from my aunt later that year. That stupid old van... I can't believe how much I poured into that pile of junk. But it wasn't all at one time, of course.

Ah well. Water under the bridge. Right now I'm going to get this "stuff" situation dealt with, and that's what's important. Outlast the pandemic, help my roommate get through her health stuff, then see if I can find a way to bring in money. It appears, barring any drastic events, there is a sequence that will unfold so that I'll focus on one big project, segue into the one after it, then the one after that, etc. 🛣️

And when I get my own place, I can buy some not expensive, but nice new chairs or whatever else I need! It's even possible that this effort could result in being able to step down to a smaller storage unit. But one thing at a time.

Tillie we have frequent barf sessions here, too. For the past fifteen years I've been saying, it's ok kitty, sometimes best friends throw up.

I enjoyed my afternoon. I ran to the grocery store for some fruit and cat food, then came back here and ate some raspberries, I changed my sheets, did one load of laundry, met BF to go to the hardware store and post office, then we hopped in the car and drove around the city just to enjoy no traffic, then he needed to run some more errands so I sat in the car, enjoying the breeze, and worked on my crossword puzzle.

Took the trash out, now I'm ready for my shower.

I have coffee hour in the AM, then a meeting at 10, then company office hour starts at 11 instead of 3 so I'm thinking the office will close at noon.

Tillie I am feeling better about myself. I'm eating real food and not feeling the sugar temptations. I'm listening to my CDs and they are doing their magic!

Hi 😀

YEA! Happy your headache has gone Subclinical 😀
Good Dh has been taking it easy on his back.
Sitting on the couch holding Bean will be great.
Hope you take a pic.

WTG! doing laundry!!! ;D

Fantastic getting the class fully written up and posted.
Best wishes with the others, yea! for a few more days.

Hi Tatoulia
Thank you 😉

So happy you are well rested and relaxed. 😀
Get dressed and have a wonderful day.

Well, soon as he got up off the floor yesterday he went out into the garage.
He has not come back inside since.
A while ago I went and peeked to see if he was alive and he is.

When he was in the hospital he said he would come home and help me with things I am struggling with.
I did not believe him.

Well great, just great :/

Steven has discovered a thrift shop has opened.

It's good that are accepting donations but Steven needs to unload not load up.

Straightened out the fridge.
Cleaned the kitchen.
Did a load of bed linens first thing this morning cause Scooter barfed in bed at dark thirty.
Watered the garden and now I am watering the grass.
Plan to take a shower soon and wash my hair.