Good Evening Everybody 🙂

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
Isn't it wonderful having that mortgage all paid off?
As long as I pay the yearly property taxes I have a home.

Having someone with a fresh outlook help you rethink your home is great.
I know living here for so many decades it is sometimes hard to rethink how it could be.

Been a lovely day here today.
Warm with a breeze.
The roast beef and potatoes & carrots turned out deliciously.
Got the kitchen all cleaned up too.
Sometime this afternoon Netflix put up season 8 of "The Walking Dead" so I get to watch that.
Didn't do any kind of chores, except cat related stuff & dish washing.
Usually by now the air smells like Autumn and the line dried laundry holds the scent but this year it still smells like Summer.
A few leaves have started to change, especially on the Cottonwood trees.

Congratulations, SubC! Great coping mechanism! I'll be right back after I ... brilliant!

I am so sorry MIL is insulting. We've all had people like that and it is hurtful.

I used to have a friend that when he was at my apartment, he'd say, you need to move, you live beneath your means, you should live in x, y, z, etc. well he moved almost every year, buying more and more and more expensive places. I ran into him about 5 years ago, as he no longer lives in the city. He was with his sister and he said how we used to be neighbors. And I said, I still live in the same apartment and he rolled his eyes. So I said, only a year left on my mortgage. That shut him up. It was also a lie, as I paid off my mortgage this year. Those types of lies are perfectly appropriate in my mind.

When my artist friend first saw my apartment (two years ago) she kept saying how beautiful it is and how much she loved it. Now this is a woman who had had two of her homes in an overseas version of Architectural Digest. And she was happy and excited to see my dirty and cluttered home. Once she arrived back home she sent me the most gentle letter saying that she had some ideas to make the rooms flow better and if I were interested, she'd sketch them out for me. I kept hoping she'd offer to re-do my place, so her letter was a gift. Initially she wanted to have kitty and me vacate for four days. Well my pocketbook says let's slow down. I have agreed to almost everything she has suggested because in my mind, I've lived here 20+ years my way, time to let a professional handle it.

There are ways to be insulting and there are ways to be helpful. I'm glad we have each other here.

Hi Subclinical 🙂

So happy things went smoothly this time!
Yes, some people believe that the whole world revolves around them and everything that happens is because it happened to them.
Just be thankful that you are not one of those idiots. (((hug)))

I absolutely hate when someone comes into my home and touches, evaluates and tells me what I should do with my own personal possessions.
The occupational therapist woman that came in here to evaluate Steven after his leg surgery for the blood clot did that to me and I hate her for it and was glad that I proved to her that WE did not need her services.
So rude...

WAY TO GO! for having your home company ready! 😀

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
YEA!!! for having your home clear AND clean!!!
WTG! for continuing to sort out for nobody else in the world but you! (((hug)))

I would gladly suffer asthma attacks if it would help to stop all that fussing, fighting, stress and spraying.
But I believe the spraying can be brought under control eventually once the discomfort of the urinary tract infection is eliminated.

Poor critical mass. Poor kitty. I am sorry everything is so hard. And yes, if there is one place you should expect understanding, it is from god.

Tatoulia, I agree that the spending is justified and reasonable, but I know how overwhelming it can be in big chunks that come all at once!

We just ordered the wood for the berm covers, window trim, and floors in the addition. :0

My inlaws are gone. They were here 23 hours and generated two loads if laundry. But that was ok, because I had the laundry all caught up last night. It rained, so I couldn't clean stalls, but mil just had knee surgery, so she pretty much installed herself in the middle of the addition and stayed there. I spent the whole day doing laundry and dishes and putting away things in theaddition that belonged somewhere else because it meant that I could leave the room over and over for breaks that were long enough to rest my ears and mind, but short enough that she wouldn't get up and follow me around.

I just kept saying "I need to switch the laundry over, i'll be right back" "I need to unload the dishwasher. Don't get up, i'm just going to be walking back and forth." "I need to go fill the rabbit's water bottle, I'll be right back." "I'm going to take this book upstairs. I'll be right back."

So my house looks pretty good, and even with all the extra laundry and dishes (three of the kids came for dinner last night too) I am nearly caught up.

There are always too many things for me to process after they leave, but I think the defining one this time was a comment mil made when I told her that my heartgrandson kicks the island when he sits on the tall stool, so I make him take his shoes off, and it reminds me of when Ds was learning to play the piano.

She said "No. That was (bil)." (In a "correcting an idiot" voice) Oh, right, of course, I have clearly confused events from my son's childhood with events from the childhood of a boy I didn't even meet until he was a teenager. Yes, I remember that she told me years ago when I told her about making ds practice barefoot that bil also kicked the piano. But she didn't say "(bil) did that too, remember?" Or anything like that. She was there when bill kicked the piano, she was not there when ds did it, she can only remember seeing bil do it, and therefor that must also be what I am remembering because, for this woman, there exists no perspective on the world but her own.

My house must be better though, because she didn't give me a long list of how I can get rid of things. they are usually things that I want and care about - like "you know, you can take all these children's books to a library or a school. A lot of teachers need books for their classrooms." (I'm a teacher) or, picking up decorative item made by my great grandmother from my shelf "you know, the nursing home near me takes stuff like this for bingo prizes because the old people like to have little things they can give away to visitors." Or - choose anything in decent condition:"I could probably sell this for you."

Ok, done whining. The visit went pretty well and it is over. I am less exhausted than I could be.

Oh CM how absolutely awful. Awful. I'm glad you are going to church today. When I had mom's cat here I did buy some ?feliway' cat pheromones product that you plug in like an air freshener. Unfortunately it stirred up my allergies so I couldn't use it. I gave it to the woman at work who had suggested it to me; she uses it when before she takes her cat to the vet, so he'll be nice and chill. Honestly I didn't see any difference in the cat's behavior and I couldn't breathe, so I might not have given it enough chance. If I still had it, I would mail it to you. But my need to be clutter-free means that I got rid of it within the week. I got it on amazon.

Tillie, roasting sounds so very autumnal! How wonderful.

I've folded and put away the laundry and I have my little cat next to me. I will get dressed soon and see mom. Means bike I'll finish making my bed and see what wiping up I can do in the meantime.

Thank you for the support on my spending, Tillie. I'm worried for no reason whatsoever. And I can't figure out why I'm worrying so much about friend's visit. It is a month away. And I don't need to clean to get ready. I started my big cleanout here five years ago when she came to visit. I should re-cast this into a victory!!!! I don't need to do any cleaning or clearing out for her visit!! I will continue to clear out, but for me, not for her.

Good Morning Everybody 🙂

Hi CriticalMass 🙂
(((HUGS Kitty)))
Hope the new treatments finally fix this.
Is she on a special "urinary tract health" type food?

Yes, it is so much more difficult trying to work in a very limited space.
But WAY TO GO! for working at it! 😀

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
OK, so the buying/money worries are from your home improvement costs.
They are sound purchases and will serve you well for many years and the masonry work will also increase the appearance and appeal and value of the building.
Plus, you are borrowing trouble by worrying about possible scenarios concerning your friend's visit.
Wish I could just tell you to relax but I know that's not in your nature. (((hug)))
Your dreams are very interesting...
Especially finding yourself practically naked in public. ;D
The dreams will eventually die down and only happen every once in a while.
But one telling thing about them is that deep down you are being very diligent that you will never go back to disorganized clutter ever again.
WAY TO GO!

Awake at 5:30am today and couldn't fall back asleep.
Have the tiny quartz heater on to bring the temps up from the high 50s.
But very soon I will need the Edenpur heaters and the other radiator in from "the garage".
Today I am celebrating the season and planning to just enjoy the day.
Going to roast a beef roast with tiny red potatoes and carrots.
Then clean the kitchen, again. 😉

OH! CriticalMass
I am so very sorry ((((HUGS))))

I have heard people talk about a spray with something like hormones or pheromones that is to help cats with issues like stress and fussing and fighting.
Helps them calm down, relax, chill out.
They say it's available at pet supply shops.
Maybe this would work.
(((HUGS)))

Anxiety dreams - yuck. Just yuck. That was a doozy, Tat.

Y'all may not believe what I'm going to recount now, but you're the only ones who'll understand why it's upsetting in the particular way it is.

So I had done significant work yesterday in my bedroom. There remained more to do, but I felt confident even about that because what I had done revealed what I needed to do next.

There were some scattered papers and a few books still on the floor, again, nothing that I couldn't deal with efficiently now that I had dealt with one of the major logjam areas. Likewise, items I had moved to deal with said logjam were on the bed. I planned to set them on the floor for the night, knowing I'd soon be solving the problem of stuff on the bed and floor.

So I go into the bedroom to go to bed and what do I see? Bloody cat urine all over the stuff on the floor!

I was screaming and cussing, it wasn't pretty. I got hold of myself enough not to go completely thermonuclear, and I assessed the damage and started the cleanup. Some of the stuff that got hit turned out to be unimportant or beneath/in plastic bags. My hard to find vintage books luckily were spared. I closed the room and slept in the living room.

I don't blame or resent kitty; I do wish it wasn't my room where she decides to let loose. There had been a squabble between her and boy cat earlier. My room has a baby gate with a kitty door which I'd been keeping latched when leaving the room unsupervised. It was closed. But the tall scratching post was temporarily in the hallway by my door, and I suspect she might've climbed it to gain access.

It felt like such a defeat after the good I'd accomplished earlier. And my roommate and I are just at wit's end trying to implement behavioral solutions for these two clashing cats so that they can get out of the vicious cycle of stress and conflict and stress-related illness - and make no mistake, we humans are caught up in the loop ourselves.

I did sleep, life goes on, it could've been worse. I'm getting ready for church - I definitely need to be praying about everything. Last winter when I was in a tizzy about the old money pit van and whatever else, I had gone to confession with a visiting priest and I was telling him about my difficulty praying and he could sense my state of mind - they no doubt get many frazzled women in the confessional! Anyway, he said to me "God knows you're stressed out." He wasn't meaning give up or get lazy, it was more of a "hang in there and pray the best you can till it gets better" message. So I guess that's what I'll do now as well.

May you all be healthy and stress free and have healthy kitties. TTYL

Glad for the good kitty news! Or at least better than feared! Great work on the bedroom and hooray for feeling encouraged!

I'm washing my sheets. I did my towels and some delicates yesterday. Beautiful fall day. Going to get mom out.

I finally drove my car yesterday. Oh I mentioned that, since I had gone to consignment shop. Oh well!

I'll need to buy gas today and drive mom out somewhere, anywhere, to give her some fresh air and a fresh perspective.

I haven't heard back from cleaners yet. I've told them I can do Monday or Friday this week. So I'll be in office three days in a row. And do you know what's funny? I had anxiety dreams last night where I was trying to figure out what to wear for work and running late and finding that I was in a see through dress and other terrible stuff. Honestly. The anxiety dreams never end.

Hi all,

This will have to be a quick summary with a promise of more detail later.

Thanks for the prayers and good thoughts for our girl kitty. She had quite the day Thursday when she went for the ultrasound, being shaved on her abdomen, poked and prodded. But the verdict was more in the direction of interstitial cystitis, not nice but not as bad as kidney failure. The hard part will be reducing stress and tension between the two cats.

Today I worked on my bedroom and accomplished quite a bit. But of course there is more to do. In a small space as you know, it's challenging to get the unsorted remainder out of the way so one can, say, sleep in the bed. And to do half to a third of my room, while a satisfying accomplishment, is about as much as I have time and energy for before I need to start on the part where I reclaim enough of the bed to sleep.

But I'm encouraged greatly. More details later.

Tillie thanks for the recipe! I will make sloppy joes when my friend is here.

I spent some money on clothes to round out my wardrobe and I've been spending money on the house. I think some of my money upset is because I'm letting the friend's visit take up a lot of headroom. I'm worried more than I need to be. So I'll gave to let that go. Also, my portion of the brownstone repairs was quite a bit. So I've been worried and I need to stop doing that! Thank you for the reminder. It's all been big things for house, fireplace, floor mats, etc. not spending money on little stuff. It's all little stuff here already!! I've got all the little stuff anyone needs!!

My stuff at consignment didn't sell and I picked it up today. What a shame. Well I will go through it and decide what to donate and what to hang onto. I'm not willing to donate the gold and diamond jewelry and it takes up no room. So I'll keep that and try again. The shop did a terrible business this summer so I picked the wrong time to donate. I may have a Christmas thing or two to consign.

Tillie, your childhood was so harrowing. I'm so sorry. I wish I could grab you and change that story.

I love you lots. Yes it's 7:40 here, I'm in my pjs, and I'll go settle in for some Netflix time.

Good Afternoon Everyone 🙂

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
The reason I was craving sloppy joes was because I was watching "American Horror Story" on Netflix and she kept making Manwich's.

Brown ground beef add diced onion
Add diced bell pepper
Stir in the tiniest little can of tomato paste and add a can or two of diced tomatoes.
Any kind of canned diced tomatoes.
This time I used Rotel diced tomatoes with diced chilis.
Simmer until it is the right consistency and it will also taste better.
It really tastes best the next day, like any kind of tomato based sauce.

OK, what kind of things are you spending money on?
When you feel the urge to shop, take time to look through everything you already have.
Look in every cupboard, cabinet, drawer, closet, shelf, everywhere.
Window shop at home. 😉

YEA! for your new fireplace!

I sure can sympathize with your bad nose bleed experience. (((hugs)))
Two of my Father's brothers had hemophilia so bad they died shortly after birth.
I can control any bleeding as long as I can apply pressure but when it is way back around the corner in my sinuses it's impossible and cauterizing is impossible.
I was always taught to never talk about any of this and my father believed it was best to take care of it at home because it used to be very bad for bleeding children in the hospitals.
My muther always called me and my father "dirty filthy bleeders".
Most of my nose bleeds were caused by her punching me up side the head making my head also slam into the wall.
My brothers used to do that to me too "just to watch her bleed".

I washed 4 loads of cat laundry and it's all out on the line.
I washed the 2 metal doll bunk beds and the doll cradle and doll crib.
I shook out the cardboard box my big boy kitty loves and washed the quilt that goes in it.
Used the lint roller on the glider rocking chair and put a towel over it until the usual quilt is in off the line.

Just finished lunch, resting.
Soon I will wash a load of rags to help get all the cat fuzz out of the washing machine.
Happy to have this done today, the last day of Summer. 😉

Good morning!!

I've read all the posts and the thing that sticks out above them all.....sloppy joes!!! Could you tell me how you make yours? I've always made with a can of Manwich. So delicious.

We aren't quite ready for cat blankets just yet but my little one is snuggled next to me for my body warmth. And I'm dying of cuteness, naturally.

Had a busy end to the week. Now I'm finishing my second load of laundry and dishwasher just finished. I have mail to deal with now. Read & shred, read & shred.

My fireplace has arrived. It's at BF's office. I think my hallway runner arrives this weekend too. Now to get pillow lady to look alive. I've texted the cleaners about Monday.

I haven't yet changed my sheets. I got a lot of good walking in yesterday and need to repeat the process today. I also need to stop spending money. I am out of control. I need to rein in my spending. My work clothes are set with the exception of one pair of heels. I have one pair of heels and one pair of flats that I'll take to be repaired. These are work shoes. I have plenty of dress up shoes and casual shoes here.

Tillie I am glad this hard summer is over. I excited that you'll be able to enjoy and tend to a smaller garden. Please tell the kitties I say hello.

SubC I am glad your iron deficiency is being taken care of! I hope the iron will get you back to feeling like yourself. I had severe anemia once after a series of events including a stubborn nose bleed that required three hospital visits and after two attempts at cauterization, ended up with a really gross procedure to stop it. I was then hospitalized for several days and missed all my college finals. I ended up taking them all in one day, because of when the school semester was ending and I couldn't afford having incompletes. I was living in Boston with no real friends and no family here. Someone's mom took good care of me and finally the school assigned someone to get me back into the hospital. I was working full time so my boss was really good to me too. Back then, there were still long-distance calls and charges so getting in touch with mom was a challenge.

Oh to be young again. Weathering the storms.

I will write more later. Enjoy the day! Sunny and cool here. I am in heaven.

Good Morning Everybody

The very last day of Summer today...

This was a very hard Summer for me.
Record breaking number of days over 100 degrees.
No rain so had to water all the time.
Physically unable to keep the weeds under control.
Wildfire smoke that was dangerously thick day after day.

Very happy about and looking forward to making my garden/yardwork minimal but still having the plants & bushes that are peaceful to look at and easier to care for.

Today I plan to launder some cat things and bring out some of their warmer blankets.
They have been complaining about the cooler nights and cold mornings.

Good Afternoon Everyone 🙂

Hi Subclinical 🙂
Hope you remembered to wear the brace today.
I sure am hoping that the prescription anemia medication fixes this issue! (((HUG)))
Any idea why? Sounds to me like you eat properly, but then, maybe not as much as your system needs during high stress times.

Hi CriticalMass
(((HUGS)))

Been doing some downsizing/minimalizing today.
It feels good.
The more he hoards the more I minimalize of anything that's mine to do with as I please.
Hardest part is actually getting the stuff out and gone.
If I donate it to the thrift shop he will just buy it all back.
He has done that many times before not realizing or caring that I was the one who donated it.
But then it becomes his and is added to the ever growing hoard.
If he sees my donate pile before I deliver it he takes it all and adds it to his stuff.
I have to find somebody who knows somebody who they think they might want/need it so it never goes to the thrift shop except for women's clothes & such, things Steven doesn't even look at much less buy.
It gets so complicated. "heavy sigh".

Hi all,

Busy, tired, not ready for the in laws (but dh told them not to stay extra long.)

Didn't wear the brace yesterday and my elbow hurts. Will put it back on today.

Got my test results back and I do have significant anemia! Started a prescription dose of iron this morning. And am looking forward hopefully to feeling better.

Hello

Had a good day today.
Went to town.
Bought a navy blue long sleeve winter weight cotton top at the thrift shop.
Talked to a few humans.
Went grocery shopping, got everything on my list.
The check out girl was new, just learning and she forgot to ring up the big heavy box of kitty litter in my cart so I reminded her it was there before I paid.
Came home and made up sloppy joes and did a load of laundry.
Driving through town I saw a pedestrian waiting on the curb to cross in the crosswalk so I stopped for him.
People coming the opposite direction also stopped for him.
Then this woman came speeding through in the lane to my right and she did not stop or even slow down.
There was a police car right there and he went after her.
He followed her for a long time with his lights on and using the siren intermittently and she still did not stop for a long time.
She was totally oblivious that there was a cop behind her and she was oblivious of that pedestrian too.
When she did finally notice the flashing lights and blaring siren directly behind her she just stopped dead in the traffic lane.
The cop tried to get her to pull off the road but then she just started driving away again.
He had to maneuver into in front of her, block her in to get her to stop and pull over.
She was at least 65 years old.
I hope they revoke her license.

Good Morning Everyone

Have decided today I will drive into town.
Might even grocery shop too.
I dunno, just need to get away from here and talk to some humans maybe.

Good Evening Everybody

Hi CriticalMass 🙂
Hope you had a good time at the meeting and that the meeting space didn't depress you too much.
Decluttering starts with all the thinking and planning to start to declutter.
Then "motivation follows action".
Even though we don't feel motivated we start with something small, baby steps, one little declutter task.
Then when we see our accomplishment and say "WAY TO GO!" that really helps us feel motivated to do a little more.
Wishing you all the best when you finally make the time to dig in & dig out. (((HUG)))
My thoughts and prayers are with you and Girl Kitty.
Still holding out hope this is not as dire as the Vets think it MAY be.

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
It would be wonderful if they called you to help!
When tragic things like this happen we all wish there was some way we could help and bless you for volunteering your time and talents. (((HUG)))
What a magical evening you got to enjoy.

Was watering trees this morning and since I was outside anyways I attacked the flower bed in front of the house, under the dining area window with a shovel, hoe and rake.
Steven extricated my garden cart from the carport last weekend.
Now that flower bed has been reduced to a bare patch of dirt just like it was when I first moved in here.
It is sad, very depressing to eliminate my flower beds but I just can't do it all any more.
Better to just get it over with, accept the fact that physically I really need to minimalize my yardwork.
Still have some more flower beds to tear out and other plants & bushes to dig up but little by little I can do this.
Already my gardening chores are so much easier and faster for me to do.
Once the main flower/herb garden and a rose bush go to sleep for Winter I will rearrange plants there and put the rose bush in this area.
So then I will only have this one flower bed to weed and tend, YEA! 😉

Cm I am most definitely praying for kitty. Dear little soul. I look forward to hearing your progress on the storage space!!!

I'm back from a delightful evening. Will write about it later. Does anyone remember Dory Previn, the singer/ songwriter? The art talk was by her widower and included paintings from her collection. Marvelous evening.

Love you all. CM I cannot tell you how nice it is for me to have cleaners. I only need to clean up after myself each day. Someone else does the tub, floors, toilet, sink, dusting, etc. it is truly lovely. When I first moved here I had a cleaning lady once a week but then I fired her (she had made an odd request and that, coupled with a few other oddities, made me get rid of her). I kept up okay til my brother became even more seriously ill and almost died and from then on, I put myself and my life absolutely last.

Tillie one of the towns affected by the fires is looking for volunteers to process claims so I left my name and number to do Saturday. I hope they call me back.

Tatoulia, keep on inspiring us!

I'm going to my clutter club in a bit here. This may be the last time for a few months - not that I'm quitting, but the weather should cool off soon and I'd do better to actually be working on my clutter than going to talk about it. I have plenty of good advice under my belt and I have you all. Just need to get boots on the ground in the actual battle.

Girl kitty has her ultrasound tomorrow. We'll know if it's kidneys. We may be sad. Prayers and good wishes requested for kitty and me and roommate. Thanks.

Oh dear, Tillie. What a shame. Having all those obstacles and that sort of stubbornness in your way. It truly is a sickness and I am so sorry for the struggles. You deserve so much better.

CM, great work on getting the quilt binding done! There is truly nothing as wonderful or as loving as a quilt.

I'm glad you are swimming, SubC. I am envious of your drive and dedication.

I am home today and have an art talk tonight at a gallery. I'm looking forward to it.

I need to push myself forward on further organization and reduction. Still too much. I could have so much storage if I just applied myself. I reminded myself today that months ago I would've never believed I would have a drawer for my reusable bags so that means there is s lot more space here that I am not using correctly. I need to fix this. I don't clean anymore now that I have my ladies. So I need to apply myself to moving forward. I have the time.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi CriticalMass 🙂
YEA! for more progress on the quilt!
Good you are reevaluating time and activities. There is only so much time in any given day and sometimes saying "no" to some demands is necessary to prioritize what we need to get done.

I know how traumatizing it is to the whole community to lose an officer that senseless way. 🙁

Holding hope that the veterinarians can and will find a favorable outcome for the girl kitty.
Gentle (((HUGS))) and pettings Kitty.

Hi Subclinical 🙂
YEA! for wearing the brace!
WTG! recycling phones and glasses!
I always give my old useless eye glasses to the drop off box at the optician's to be given free to someone in need through the Lion's program.
I learned that old phones are used for people in bad domestic abuse situations as a way for them to call 911 if they need to.

Yeah, good plan letting DH handle mil's plans as when to leave.
I would have a hard time not saying what I was thinking. LOL 😉

Yesterday I completed the 4 tasks I had written down on my To-Do list.
Watered flowers & grass
Cleaned kitchen
Washed laundry
and took a shower and washed my hair, again.

Decided to take a peek to see if he respected my bright yellow "Keep Clear" tape.
The tape was exactly as I had draped it across the area
But...
he has since stacked a 3 and a half tall pile of assorted boxes in the path directly in front of this area, making accessing it again impossible.
And now it is almost impossible for him to get down that narrow goat path to get to his computer and TVs where he spends almost every minute of every day sitting.
And of course this is all my fault. 😛

Critical Mass, yay for the quilt!

I hope the kitty is ok.

I wore the brace.

I dropped off two bags of recycling, and I dropped old eyeglasses and cell phones in the collection box when I went to swim!

Got email from mil that her plans for Monday fell through, so do we want her to leave Sunday morning as planned, or monday morning? I am socially competent enough to know that it is not ok to respond "we didn't want you to come in the first place." I'm going to let dh handle it.

Hi, it's been eventful last few days, some good, some bad.

The good is that I got the binding machine stitched on my quilt at church. That dragged out so long I was beginning to wonder. Hand finishing will be relaxing and done in time.

Tillie, thanks for the affirmation that we deserve to give ourselves decent places to live. I'll even go a step further and say we have an obligation to do so, as best as we each can within our means and abilities - because we will be less stressed, healthier, able to help others more efficiently, etc.

But baby steps. Weather here is still hot but I know what areas in house and storage I am ready to tackle. Also reevaluating of time and activities - so I can stop spreading myself too thin. Saying a few "Sorry, not nows" and "I don't know, maybe laters." It's helping.

I have those dreams about sorting clutter, about flea markets, all sorts of related topics. Sick of them. Hoping that as I get order in my life they'll stop.

Tillie, yay also for getting your space heaters extricated in advance of need. Be sure and wash your skin thoroughly. Maybe Dawn soap would get off any petrochemical residue - wildlife rehabbers use it to get crude oil off waterfowl. Baking soda might also be good. My dad suffered a severe reaction from his early 50s till he died at 71, triggered by weed killer.

I also hope Steven's fire hazard carelessness does not result in dire consequences. Stay safe!

SubC, wtg on the exercise. I've realized I'm never going to FIND time to exercise; I must MAKE it.

Tatoulia, glad the neti pot helped. Sinus rinse is a good thing.

Sorry to hear about the gas explosions in MA. I don't catch the news always. Natural gas can be scary; I have been even more paranoid since almost losing a bunny to it a few years back. Hope the memories of the Marathon bombing aren't too stirred up for people with PTSD from the terror attack. And the manhunt.

We lost one of my county sheriff's deputies Sunday, he was shot in the line of duty. Flags here at half mast.

Well, I wanted to tell more about our girl kitty - that's another piece of sad. She may have kidney disease. I have to get to church for holy hour in 20 min. Prayers for kitty welcomed & I'll post more details later.

Good Morning Everyone 🙂

Hi Subclinical 🙂
I hope you are simply anemic and can easily fix the tiredness with a little daily pill.
Your veins are a Phlebotomist's nightmare.
WAY TO GO! for getting a brace for the elbow!
Now wear it.
Good luck with your plans for today.

Had a bad night, tossing & turning and finding it hard to sleep.
Scooter cuddling up tight with me all night didn't help.
Don't know what his problem is that he feels the need to constantly be right on me/clingy lately.
Have a short list of To-Dos for today and am planning to do them.

Tatoulia - good job keeping up!

Tillie, please be careful!

I also hope he respects your tape!

I have a new suit packed for swimming today. I bought an elbow brace and will wear it (although this morning the elbow that got stabbed is more sore than the other - I have tiny, hard to find veins that roll, so one stick resulted in four overlapping bruises!)

is it bad that I kind of hope I am anemic? It would just be nice to have someone say "here is why you get so tired, take this little pill and you will be better."

Subbing today and have some plans for minor cleaning out errands, but I will report on them after they happen.

Hello Everyone[/color

I manage to do absolutely nothing today.
Just not feeling like doing anything at all today.
Did scoop litter boxes and sweep the loose litter up, cleaned up the cat vomit.
Gave them food and fresh water.
My skin is still a little itchy but not as bad as it had been.
Most of the bumps are gone but a few that I must have scratched too much are still there and angry looking.
Tomorrow I will force myself to do something.

Garbage and recycling are out. Kitty box clean. Ran dishwasher and wiped the counters.

Hope everyone is well. I'm tired. I didn't sleep well last night.

Tillie we had a beautiful weather day. Tmr we have big rains. SubC I hope you are feeling better. I cannot yet enjoy the cooler nights but I'm hoping the masonry work will be done soon.

I hope everyone is well. I'm missing Anony, CM, Joan, Diane, Dianne, Roxie, Bitsy, LR and others. You know who you are. And Tess and Mar. and everyone else.

subc I am glad you are at the dr's office. I, too, hate going when I am sick! Tillie how is your skin today??

I am running dishwasher and doing mild puttering. No laundry today. I have s small load of delicates to do on Wednesday.

Must go. Will write more later.

Good Morning Everyone

Hi Subclinical 🙂
Happy you went to the Dr. and that they stabbed you.
WTG! for doing a little in the guest room.
As long as they can squeeze into a bed I believe your hostess duties are fulfilled.
I wish people would get over the delusion that a woman who works away from the home and has other obligations should also be the perfect little house keeper all the time too.

YES! wear the new swimsuit!
That's why you bought new ones, the old ones need to go.

I have tried to talk to Steven about the deep freeze and fridge freezer situation many times.
Yes we have brown recluse spiders and also black widows and scorpions and all sorts of other creepy crawlies too.
There are Deer Mice and Cotton Rats/Desert Pack Rats and the snakes that eat them.
There are chemicals mixed into the hoard, many in assorted jars & containers without any proper labeling as to their contents.
The garage has a thick dark gray silt covering everything in there that is a combination of everything horrible in the world.
Just walking in there is extremely repulsive.
I wrap up tight and cover the things I store out there and then they are placed inside a cabinet where they stay clean.
I just hope he respects my yellow and black tape and doesn't use the open space in front of my area to restack anything.

Almost 10:00am
Guess I better get up & dressed and do something.
65 degrees in the house this morning but will warm up nicely in a little while.