SubC, great job getting the day turned around. Very good job!

Tillie it's hard to believe that the weather has turned and it's time to start keeping the kitties inside. I'm sure Jack will find a safe place to keep warm.

Well, mom's birthday party was an absolute success! It was terrific! Terrific people came, great conversations and we had just enough cake! I distributed the remaining cookies and ice cream among the residents. We left sodas and a few of the juices. I took the rest of the juices and waters home. So much fun! The table looked very nice. There were a rotating group of ten, I would say. I invited a young law student and she stayed the whole night. It was delightful in every way.

Time with sister was fantastic. No tension. Even after we came back here and I made up her bed, I sat in a chair and we did girl talk while she lay in bed. It was very nice. She slept well. I could hear her snoring.

Guess what? Two things. One: she said she's never been in a house so clean. Not that she's never been in my house when so clean, any house. She has no idea of the filth I used to live in. She's only ever seen the house in the years before and then now. She loved the decorating and said how peaceful my home is. It was really nice. The other big thing: she saw the vitrine in my kitchen (the one I tried to sell) and she said how much her BF would love it and I said great, take it, and give it to him for Christmas. So she took it! I'm good with it. I haven't minded it since I cleared it out significantly but it's gone. It hurt a little but I was ready to sell it a few weeks back. So the right thing happened.

Oh! I did not mention that I have cleaning ladies. Just enjoy my clean house, people.

So: Now I need to work on those things in the kitchen. In the meantime, I'm thrilled I could make her BF so happy. She of course gave to him right away even though I said to say it's from her and to wait til Christmas. And he said how it is priceless and he loves it. So see, it found the right place to go.

Oh and I took four huge HUGE bags to goodwill today.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather and will go to bed now. Sister has a cold and so I may be getting a bit of it.

My desk is cleaned up and the new room is cleaned up except for a bit of the kitchen.

I rewarded myself by finding my Halloween box and putting out the new tablecloth I bought on sale last year and moving the fruit to a pumpkin bowl that I made. I also hung the ghost from the chime on the porch.

Mr. kitty's bowl was behind an open French door. - which can now be closed.

Tomorrow I'm going to make cheese. I might also make more applecake and ice cream, or I might work in the studio. My worst clean up task right now is the laundry.

I'm heading to bed early tonight.

Good Afternoon Everybody

So nice, cozy and relaxing having a fire burning with homemade soup and sour dough bread.
GREAT use of your time grading papers while sitting at the sale.

WAY TO GO! hanging up stuff and starting the dishwasher.
Hopefully tomorrow morning you will be drinking your coffee in a clean cup and Mr. Kitty will have his bowl back from where ever he put it.
Just do the absolute necessities tomorrow, don't push yourself too hard.
Get a good night's sleep and catch up on all the rest you need for the week to come.

Last of the warm days here for a while so I have both cats outside.
I did all the usual stuff like cat things but not much else.
Got out some more warm cat blankies.

Thank you.

Snuggle Bunnies!

I have hung up the seven items of outterwear that were thrown on the couch (weather has varied) and started the dishwasher.

Helped dh bring the fountain back inside.

He washed windows and cleaned off all the wood stove associated items and brought them in. He made a little fire for coziness and wants me to clean up my desk next.

The sale went ok. I checked papers while I was sitting there, so good use of time.

We have home canned (but not by me) veggie soup and sourdough bread for dinner. 🙂

First, this - hope the link works:

Trying again, you may have to click on it

Bunny Hugs

Dear Subclinical ((((Bunny Hugs))))

You need a time out. Time to rest and breathe.
You're just spread too thin, not enough of you to go around.

You are just hemorrhaging all over.
I so wish we were nearby to come comfort you and give you first aid.

(((((more Bunny HUGS)))))

SubC, thank you for the painful and candid post. I am just so sorry. You are handling your situations with grace and care. I too am "on" at work and it is exhausting. I admire you greatly. I'll yell at you some other day about the gash in your arm. Right now, I just want you to know that I heard you, I hear you, and I'm here.

Sending peace and love.

Good morning friends.

Ellie, that means you too! I am glad you are here.

CM, it is good to see you posting more.

I feel like scooter singing to his drowned mousie.

I am down to my last clean coffee cup. I am a potter. I collect other people's work. That is a lot of coffee cups. All the wine glasses are dirty (2 people, 8 glasses, hand wash)

There are drifts on the floor in the bedroom, bathroom, scullery, entryway, main hall, dining porch, all three "guest" rooms and the new living space. One guest bed is buried in clean laundry and I can only find two pairs of dh socks.

Mr. kitty had his breakfast in a dirty coffee cup - I don't know where his bowl is. He pushes it around and it apparently got lost in a drift. But there was a time "before" when I left the kitty cereal bag on the floor and cut a hole in it. It is not that bad.

Dh has been doing all the cooking.

The only new stuff I have brought in deliberately is a pottery piece I bought at a gallery I walked through on my way to buy stuff for my class (my mom sent me a check for my birthday and she always tells me to please treat myself and not spend it on stuff that s just practical)., but there are also boxes I carried things home from school in, partly finished class projects, unchecked assignments (i'm Afraid I will lose some of those) materials I have used to teach, and materials I pulled off of shelves or out of closets looking for things I needed to teach. Plus food packaging. When dh cooks he buys a lot more packaged food and he brings it home in plastic bags.

I have a sale today and it is forcing me to realize that I have not worked in my studio in the month since the last sale.

The eggs in our classroom incubator are due to hatch on Thursday, and then I will have baby chicks to care for.

I have over a month of receipts for class expenses I need to turn in before I lose them.

I have a rat problem in the barn. My dd1 was in a car accident and is fine, but her car is totaled. My friend's son has his hearing a week from Monday. My parents won't be able to visit this fall due to difficulties and I don't know how I am going to go to see them. Those are my top three, not my list.

I am always "on" at work. Yesterday I was being the "glass half full" half of a conversation about some problems with our building, and the director asked me "is it always butterflies and rainbows in your world?" My copies had just finished and I grabbed them, called out "I have R in my class and love in my heart!" (R is a tiny little darling who has "love in her heart.") and made it to the empty hall before I started crying. I got myself pulled together in the bathroom before class.

Later I had a class doing a project outside and managed to slice my forearm (about 4 inches) on a broken plastic lid. I yelped and they asked if I was ok. I looked at my arm and my class, made the split second calculation that it would stop bleeding and I was the only teacher outside, said "yep!", pulled my fleece sleeve down over it and went on. I had to go wash my arm in the bathroom between classes and the inside of my fleece sleeve is covered in blood. It's very sore today.

That is how my life feels right now. Like I am quietly and cheerfully bleeding with no one to ask for help.

When I get home from the sale, I will run the dishwasher and start putting away laundry. Keep the badger. Send the bunnies!

LOL Tatoulia 😀

I understand it's a strange concept for you
but what you are doing is called
organizing.

Getting all your things put away in logical easy to get in & get out of places in your home.

It's a real time saver
not to mention how much easier, simple, less complicated and a lot less frustrating your life can be.

Keep up the GREAT thinking, plotting and rearranging to get your spaces organized! 😀

All finished getting the stuff winterized.
Temps going down into the 20s over night then down even lower next week.

Hold on tight, Tillie, I'm thinking about creating a catch phrase, like everything in its place and a place for everything.

Seriously I am looking at it from the other side and I'm feeling good. I've been getting rid of stuff because I have too much but now I have to think about making my life more useful. Again, I don't have a patent yet

What a novel idea
using storage space for things you need and use all the time. 😉

It is easier to declutter or rearrange items when you know what exactly you want in that space.
Then the items removed can be moved to another location or decluttered/rehomed.

Just read CriticalMass' link.
Good article!

Purses!!! HaHaHaHaHa 😀
Every time I come home I dump my purse out.
Remove the loose change and receipts and litter.
My purse is too small to hold anything except what I need in there.
My wallet
eye glasses
pocket knife
keys
2 moist towelettes
a roll of wintergreen life savers
2 fresh clean Kleenex

Tillie I'm so sorry about your health yesterday. I know you took good care of yourself. You are very smart that way and I try hard to take care of myself too.

CM glad that situation was fixed easily! You need to clean out your purse! It sounds really heavy!!!! I need to clean out my purse, too. Mine is light but there are all sorts of Kleenex and cloth napkins and cloth dishcloths. So it's full and messy but light. Doesn't make it any easier to find what I need!

She did it!! Mom's 90!

Ok I had a fantastic idea for my next round of paring down things. I need to determine which things need homes and then eliminate things til they have homes.

Example, every AM when I make my bed, I fold up a blanket and put it on a closet shelf. I had to clear out a shelf to do that and it's fantastic

So today I was trying to figure out where to put something that I also use frequently but I don't want to have out. So I need to clear a closet shelf. SO EASY to look at it this way. Honestly, I feel like I invented something.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi CriticalMass
Glad the storage lock snafu is all over.
Keep thinking!
All change starts with the thinking.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATOULIA"S MOM! 😀
Hope you are no longer frazzled and have a lovely time with the party.

After today the temps will dip down.
So today I will take advantage of the warmth and wrap the faucet and roll the hoses properly.
Yesterday was not a good day physically for me.

Just a flyby

Got storage unit unlocked easily with spare key. Took the lock to the key guy downtown. He said the lock should be fine. So I got a new spare key made for it, and some lubricant.

I didn't tell the backstory yesterday, which was that the key originally got bent in my purse! I made a boo-boo in trying to use it anyway, only later remembering I had the spare at home. Eeks.

My purse apparently IS a black hole, as I've long suspected, with crushing gravitational and whatever other forces within its depths, capable of swallowing stars, crushing planets, and bending keys. (It's my fault for squashing so high a mass of junk in there - violating the laws of physics.) So I believe I'll get a protective case for the keys! And attempt to dejunk the purse. My shoulders and neck will thank me.

Tatoulia, and everyone, keep encouraging me not to give up regarding the storage unit. Right now it's a necessary evil, but maybe that can change. Since last week or whenever I moved back in my bedroom, and the most recent visits to the storage unit, I just want to have things change somehow, radically.

I need to discern what that entails. I'm starting with some more intense soul searching regarding why I keep some things. Papers and receipts for example. Like I'm really going to - WHAT? Balance every bank statement for years to the penny? And if I even could, WHY?! And that would be more fun than doing artwork, writing and sewing HOW, exactly?

Well, my life has a lot of moving parts - income, clutter, mind quirks, whatever. But I'm feeling that I need to break the logjam so things don't get worse.

Googling too in hopes of finding a hack or two that fits the current situation. Found this article and thought I'd share:

Hoarding article from St. Louis

I'm out running errands with BF. Stopped by mom's to clean litter box and bring some of the party supplies. I am exhausted. I still have to take my garbage out. I'm a bit frazzled but for no real reason.

CM did you see the story about the woman who bought a partially completed quilt/embroidery project? She bought it for $6 at a flea market then put out the call for help. Well worth looking up.

https://time.com/5709690/viral-quilting-project/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29

See if this link works. Extremely dear story.

Good work getting the hoses ready for winter, Tillie! Did you winterize the pipes today?

I'm exhausted. I still have to go to mom's to clean the litter box and there is still lots of stuff to be done here. I have the flowers and they look really pretty. I have them in a sandwich glass pitcher my mother got as a wedding gift. I'll take pictures and post.

I'm tired. I got frazzled today. I have the cookies-oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip and m and m chocolate chip.

Garbage needs to go out tonight. I have the cutest cat right next to me, begging me not to feel frazzled.

Bf met me halfway and we walked home together. I love him so much.

Hello SubC, CM, Tess, Ellie, Joan.

Good Morning Everybody

YEA! CriticalMass
Happy the pop quiz is done!
It will be so wonderful when you and all your stuff can live together in the same home. (((HUG)))

Very happy Tatoulia that you took that photo of the empty storage!
What a heavy load off your shoulders.
YEA! for an excellent enjoyable lecture!

Don't know why but Scooter's cloth mousie was drowned in the water bowl over night.
Found him laying at the bottom, lifeless, with Scooter singing his mousie song to him.

Yesterday after I watered the garden plants I detached the hoses from the faucet and have them drained & where the sunshine can warm them making them easier to roll up to put away.
Tomorrow I plan to insulate the faucet pipes.

November 28, 2014. What a relief, nearly five years later, to no longer have the expense of the storage space and the weight of the possessions. I kept nothing that was in there. Nothing. It was filled to the brim. I found the picture and posted it on Instagram.

I passed the Pop Quiz!

And the bit of key is out. I also remembered that I have a spare set at home. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get in.

Tillie, I saw the hacksaw blade mentioned online. I didn't try that, but thanks for the testimonial which I hope none of us will ever need! 😉

I used dental picks, tiny screwdrivers,and other assorted implements. And many prayers! There was a hole on the back of the lock and I used a hammer to pound one of the small screwdrivers chisel-fashion, which helped the most in getting the key back to the surface enough to wiggle it the rest of the way with the picks.

I'll probably purchase a new lock, since I don't know if I damaged this one. That's okay.

Longing for the day I can have my own place and not need a storage unit, hopefully ever again. I'm going to do some praying about all of that - the best way to rebuild my financial stability, whether a part time job is doable, etc.

Regarding the job thing: A few days ago, my curiosity piqued again as to whether part of the reason I struggled so with employment (and feel dread contemplating it - even nightmares are not uncommon) might be that I have a touch of the Aspergers/autism that runs on the maternal side.

So I took a test I found online. Scored 28 points. 34 is the level for autism, though the test is just one online test. There were a few questions that I almost could've answered opposite which might've increased the points. I realize lits of people wonder if they're on the spectrum these days. And I know it probably wouldn't make a lot of practical difference at my age.

But I was curious. The average score in a control group was 14 point something. Also, women on the spectrum who blog about it say there are female characteristics that are not yet well studied, as with female ADHD. Well, like I say, I was curious. I'll let things ride on that for now. If there's something I need to know, I'll know when the time is right; if not, no harm done.

Hope I didn't digress too much - I'm still absolutely thrilled to get that lock and key situation sorted!!!

You passed the pop quiz! Congratulations on getting the key out of the lock! Great work.

The day I cleaned out my storage space was a great day for me. Now, my situation was different so once I got going, I couldn't stop. My storage was an extra room. Stuff I was saving. Yours, I seem to recall, is due to the fact you moved in with a roommate so much of your stuff you'll use when you have your own place again. I had been at a conference and one of the speakers had us make a pledge, and I pledged to get rid of my storage place by the end of whatever year we were in. I either got rid of it by Nov 1 or maybe it was Dec 1. I'll find the photo of the empty storage and post it. I let it all go. I kept the hard stuff for last and by the end, the hard stuff was easy.

I will be addressing my headaches with my dr. Maybe the new combination of meds.

My lecture tonight was excellent! So enjoyable.

Ellie I hope you are relaxing.

Tillie I have posted a few pictures if you can head over to Instagram!

Goodnight, dear friends. Excellent job in resolving your issue today, CM!!

Hello SubC

Hello Joan, I'm thinking about you!

CriticalMass
I When I was working as a locksmith
I would use a very thin broken piece of 'hack saw" blade to remove broken keys.
The blade was small enough to slip into the keyway and the saw teeth would grab the broken piece.
Good luck and best wishes.
Wish I was there to help you, it's an easy fix.
(((HUG)))

Hi Tatoulia
YUMMMMM! yes, freeze some for quick delicious meals later.

Wish you could shake these constant headaches. 🙁

So wonderful you are here with us.
I know it's a hard program to work and you worked and are working it hard and constant.
I am so very proud of you!!!

YEA! for cleaning fairies!
They help keep you happy and clean. ;D

I like the "pop quiz" remark but I'm sorry you are going through it, CM. I'm just so sorry.

Tillie my cleaners came and ended up doing the whole house. I was going to pay a lesser sum for just the kitchen and the bathroom but it ended up being practically the whole house so I paid full rate. They brought me a lot of chicken pies. I took a picture. Still warm and I ate two. She told me to freeze them.

I have my lunch for tomorrow!

I'd already made my own bed since I thought they were coming tmr. They were cleaning my neighbor's house and had enough time to do the kitchen and bath. Then one of them ran to get my pies and traffic, etc meant the house was fully cleaned. So I'll skip next week.

Tillie I'm so happy you got me here. This was a group effort and it has made a significant difference in my life.

I came up with a pair of mittens and another dress and a skirt for her too. I also had them make the foldout with me. I'll pull it out and dress up with blankets and quilts tmr night.

I have a giant headache and I need to get showered, etc for my lecture.

There's a great course on Ancient Nubia that the MFA will be holding but it's Wednesdays during the day. What a shame. I am going to go to their Sunday lecture on sugar. I think it's the first or second week of November.

Trying hard not to think this week is jinxed...

Went over to my storage unit to grab one quick thing - and the key broke off in one of the two padlocks.

I am praying and asking God for patience and to trust that it's going to be okay. I was just praying this morning asking forgiveness for all the times I blow up and have hissy fits and cuss, etc.

I was not expecting there to be a "pop quiz" today on the subject of patience.

At least I can see the humor in it.

I'm off to buy a set of lock picking tools in hopes that I can get the stump of key out without having to spend money on locksmith services. Stay tuned!

Good Morning Everyone
"Clink!"

We sometimes "toast" each other with our tea, coffee or other beverage.

Hi Tatoulia
You do have a lot on your plate right now with work, the big party and overnight relative preparations.
Remember to take time to breathe. 🙂

Today I plan to water the flower garden, cook something and clean the kitchen.
That's enough.
Many other things I should do but I don't wanna. ;p

Good morning! We had rain last night and this AM and now it is a sunny Fall day. I'm taking mom to get her hair done today. I told her to meet me downstairs in her wheelchair so I can keep things on schedule. I also have a lecture tonight but I'm not joining my friends for dinner. I feel overcrowded with things to do.

I finished a giant project at work yesterday and my other giant project is coming close to completion. These two projects factor into my bonus. I'll be glad when they are done.

I am waiting to see if cleaners are coming today or tomorrow. Honestly if they can just squeeze in time to do bathroom and kitchen, I'll be happy.

Cm! I'm glad you are making progress! I'm glad you found that blog! I do hope all went well at the doctor's office. My next visit is on Veterans Day. I haven't had blood work in a few weeks so I'll try to stop up next week. I generally like to go every week or every other week but after my last one, my doctor said I could take a break.

Ellie i hope you felt a ?good exhaustion ? the next day. No one wants to be exhausted but I hope you kept your progress in mind!!! It can get overwhelming!

I'm busily getting things ready for mom's party. I have all of the plates, napkins, etc. I have the platter washed and ready for the cookies. I finalized the flowers yesterday and will pick up tmr.

Okay back to work for me. Ellie, I work from home two, sometimes three days a week.

Tillie what are you doing today? I'm going to fight the urge to goof off and have a productive day.

Hello my new friends!

Thank you for the tip to copy/paste conversations in order to see what I'm replying to, I like it! I'm going to use it next time, but not tonight as I'm not in a headspace where I can even think of replying to individual topics.

I think it was Tillie last night, seconded by several of you, about being super careful not to have an over-productive day that wears me out. YEP!! You all were very, very correct!! Today has been a wash, I'm very drained and couldn't even approach logging on to make a plan this morning. Oh well, tomorrow is another day...

Who the heck is this Badger person? Very curious...

Just wanted to let you all know that, although I was quiet today, I was thinking of my new friends in this group. 🙂

OK, going back over into the Tuesday night chat. Bye for now, goodnight!

Good Evening Everybody

Hi CriticalMass
Happy you were able to find that blog against all odds!!!

YEA! the grumpy mood was gone!
Hope the changing seasons and allergies don't bring you down.

I'm glad roommate is inspired to try to keep a plant alive over Winter just as I am glad that your Barbies inspire your creativeness.
We must all find that something that inspires and motivates us to do these things for inner fulfilment.

Looking forward to dr. appt and bunny club updates.

Hi Ellie
There is a photo of Badger on CriticalMass' Instagram @BunnyPlanetQueen.
Badger helps us with the hard stuff.

Watered the grass today, maybe the last time this year.
Once I wrap the faucet in insulation I can't water even if it gets warm out and there has been no rain or snow.
But next week it is supposed to start seriously freezing over night and I'll need that outside faucet covered up.
Today was beautiful, sunny and warm, no wind and tomorrow should be the same.

Oh happier day! I found that blog I couldn't remember the name of. I knew it was by a Catholic and that something about it played into my writing of my science fiction novel. So I found this ginormous site that had like 2500+ Catholic bloggers on it. Needle in a haystack, LOL - bit there it was, in the Rs. Rationalcatholic.blogspot.com, blog by a scientist.

Finding it just made me happier and more motivated for the rest of the day. Still, the grumpy mood yesterday over losing the tabs, the accompanying frustration again with my living situation, and the fact that my allergy symptoms have relapsed somewhat (thanks, Kansas wind) - all that plus winter coming on make me realize I must get it together to be proactive, else seasonal depression could easily blindside me.

Tatoulia, I bet you will really get good out of that lamp. That's the kind of thing a lot of us need, and you're further north than me. I'm going to refill my vitamin dispenser pronto. Vitamin D, B complex, Omega 3 for mood, C for immunity, and so on.

SubC - mmmm, apple cake. Yum. Glad school is getting into the groove.

Ellie, I second Tillie's suggestion when posting to open this thread in two browser tabs if you can, using one to read and the other to reply. I also do a "Select All" and Copy right before posting. Sometimes more than once if typing a long post in stages.

I kind of get what you're saying about the lost tabs, Tatoulia. I know I'm an information hoarder; it goes with being a nerd. I really had been working on deleting some of them just recently and planned to do more. And this has happened before and I've survived. Some were just junk like looking up an item on Amazon, or the weather or social media.

Happy 90th to your Mom! Hope all goes very smoothly with the party.

Helped roommate with greenhouse renovation tonight, since my grumpy mood was gone. The greenhouse and I have had "words" in the past. And I fear she isn't going to beat the weather. But maybe she will.

I'm trying to understand that for her, being able to keep a few plants alive over the winter is like cleaning a grimy thrift store Barbie and making her pretty again is for me, or having a great plot point for my writing spring to mind. Etc. And not think about that book I've seen, The $64 Tomato. I must keep my judgment and opinions to myself. Because Badger says so.

I'll make a 2nd post about my dr appt Thurs, the bunny club event on the weekend, etc. That got skipped over. But this post is long enough for now.