Hi Tatoulia
YEA!!! WTG!!! for a CLEAN home!!! ;D
Happy Dance that that cabinet is ALL DONE!

Do a search of your medication and see if this may be a side effect.
Sometimes message boards where people on the same drug have better input about side effects than the very tiny printed paper inserts that usually come with the medication.

YEA! for BF getting her in to tidy up his home too.

Now I want to lay down & take a nap hoping that when I wake up the cleaning fairy will have visited me too. 😉

No throttling, Tillie, unless you want to throttle the seamstress for me!

House clean, CABINET CLEAN. so nice. So nice. I wasn't feeling well so I took a nap while they were here and I was like Wizard of Oz, I woke up and my house was sparkling.

Oh she is itching to clean my bedroom. Sounds good to me. Next time.

My BF is going to hire her. I'm thrilled with that. He works so hard.

I also wonder if my new meds are making me sick. I'm stopping one of them for a week. I am so tired I can't keep my head up. I know the grit in my throat and eyes is masonry dust. But this extreme exhaustion made no sense.

It's nice having people in who really and truly want to clean my house.

Good Morning Everyone

Hi Subclinical 🙂
Wishing you a great school day! 😀

Overcast and breezy out this morning.
Been enjoying looking out through the clean windows & screens.
That storm brewing off the east coast looks like it is going to be a bad one.
Planning today to do a few things around here and tomorrow go to the grocery store, maybe.
Seems lately whenever I go out there is at least one person I encounter who goes out of their way to aggravate me.
Rude inconsiderate and just plain nasty.
They do not know how lucky they are that I have managed to keep my mouth shut or have not throttled them. ;P

Mar, the important thing is that you are not giving up. You are making progress. I know it's hard to see in the middle of everything, but just keep focusing on one spot at a time. The kitchen is a great place to start.

Tatoulia, masonry dust is very bad. If you are walking through it or or is getting into your house, you want to shower and wash your hair and wipe down surfaces with damp cloths - swiffer , don't sweep.

Today is a long day at school. I need to get dishes done and compost out at minimum.

Hi Tatoulia
I am very sure it's the masonry dust.
Whine away!
That dust also has all sorts of old nasty things caught up in it too from the big city environment.
Do whatever it takes to minimize your exposure to it.
Drink plenty to help wash it out of your body.
A Neti-pot would help wash it out of your sinuses.
Cough, sneeze and blow often to help get it out too.
Do not take anything (antihistamine) to stop your nose and eyes from running and dry you up.
That is your body's defense against the irritating dust to flush it out.

Have fun tomorrow at lunch with friend & baby.
I would strangle that seamstress then write up reviews about the way she conducts business.

Hello dear friends

SubC I am grateful someone at work can help you! That is why you have friends! I am also grateful for the love and support your husband provides you.

Tillie you did a good job making dinner and keeping up with things! I am either coming down with something or I have terrible allergies. I feel lousy. I had an extra juice at work today. And I slept when I got home.

Mar, keep the faith. You are doing this, bit by bit. And we are all cheering you on and supporting you.

I am taking a few hours off tomorrow to have breakfast with a friend and her new baby.

My cleaners come tomorrow. Then my house will be fresh and new. I am busily trying to get the pillow lady to do my pillows already. I gave her the fabric, paid half of her fee, and I've done nothing but chase her ever since. I did have a moment of clarity which is clearly this is the way she works. Whenever I email her she writes back, a day or two later, to say she's on a deadline and will get back to me. Then she doesn't. Then I tell her we need to set a firm date and once she called me days later to say she would call me back in five minutes and she did not. . Two weeks ago she said the first week of September and so I said great and still nothing. Over the weekend she said this week for certain and it's been radio silent ever since.
At first I was pretty frustrated but now I realize, this is her work pattern. She needs to be nagged. Well I'll do it now but I will not use her again. I don't know how she can live with the chaos.

I'm praying I'm just suffering from allergies. I do not want to be sick. And all the dust from the masonry. That's probably the issue. There is dust all over the place. Ok now I'm whining

Well Subclinical
I suppose she could show you how to do roll call and emails.
Hopefully that will not be too hard.
Then just shine on all the other BS features.

Hi Mar
Congratulate yourself for what you HAVE done there.
WAY TO GO! for washing dishes, working on the fridge and sorting out a place to put the dishes!!! 😀

I washed dishes and did cat related tasks.
Then I was hungry and made myself tostadas con queso & salsa, dos.
Then I washed up those dishes too.
Very nice day, cold in the morning, now cool in the shade but hot in direct sunlight with a gentle little breeze.

Hi to everyone!

I've wanted to come here for several days, but couldn't until now.

Daily activities surpass me. Usually I love cooking, but with stress and soooo many things to do, I feel cooking & eating like a waste of time. And to have to do it at least 3 times a day is the last straw.

I've been washing and washing dishes, but unable to finish all in one day, they accumulate. And after each meal, surprise! More dishes! X( Disposable ones? Never!

I feel discouraged.

Dad has a cold. He can't help.

Among so many washed dishes, I realized we need a good place to save them. So, I've also rehabilitating the drawers of the cabinet where mom used to put them.

It's time I've NOT finished with the fridge. It's already working, but a tray is still needed to disinfect. I do things desperately slowly 🙁

I hope to write more later. I hope...

I complained to another teacher.

She said "this is why you have friends. I'll show you. It's no big deal."

Hi Subclinical

How upsetting!
Is there anyone you can take your list of legitimate grievances to?
You have your class to teach but you also have a whole other home/volunteer life to live too.
I have always hated when someone who knows squat about a job is put in a position to dictate how the people who actually do the job should operate.

I do not blame you at all for deleting their emails and refusing to participate except on your own terms.
(((HUG)))

Tillie, while a candied orange makes a lovely dessert, it is not enough food for a person for a week!

I have a situation with my job that is causing me a lot of stress.

Basically, a new computer system is being implemented it will be the third computer system in 5 years. I am not a computer person. I learned the last two systems. This one is very complicated. It appears to do two things I need to do at work - send e-mail and take attendance. And a lit of other things I do not need to do.

It is being driven by a person who is not my boss but does serve on our board of directors. This person is asking that we take hours of video training online to learn this new system on our own time. I am paid hourly. Not fir planning time for my classes or for administrative/evaluative duties (except an hour a week), not for time spent obtaining class materials - only for time I am in my room with my students. Supervision has shifted this year such that I am obligated to outing a few extra minutes every sh on supervision - minutes thawill add up to about ten unpaid hours over the course of the year.

My "benefits" consist of two paid sick days per year. I must provide lesson plans and arrange my own sub (they will pay the sub) on those days.

I do not learn from videos (I have tried to teach myselfv things on YouTube). The training classes are free but at specific times - they are distance learning classes. If you have questions, you type them in and a ta answers. I type very slowly. By the time I hav two exchanges with the ta, the class will go half over and I will be too lost to catch up.

I am not going to do this. I have started deleting the person's e-mails so that I don't have to see them, because they stress me out. I love my job. I love my kids. But this is my limit. Someone can hand walk me through e-mail and attendance at a time that works for me. And if they insist on anything else, they are going to have to fire me. I have been fired before.

Or I will come sit in the office at work and take the classes. And they can pay me for my time. It will be a lot of time. Because I will have to take every session at least twice, plus practice, plus adding all the unneeded and relatively useless things to each of my classes.

Good Morning Everyone

Hi Subclinical
Wishing you a peaceful day today.
Happy you have your DH and class this afternoon.
(((HUG)))

Slept poorly last night.
Physical issues and bad dreams/memories about the distant past kept me up.
Today I need to wash some dishes. There's not too many, I can do this.
Been a long time since I went grocery shopping, running low on food again.
Will think about writing up a list, really do not want to go, cats still have enough food, snacks and litter to last more than a week.
But there is only an orange and some ginger root in my veggie bin.

Tatoulia, you are inspirational. I'm glad no one is being mean to your mom. She sounds like a sweet mom.

Tillie, you accomplished something. You took a shower. Some days it can be very hard to take a shower.

I fell apart last night. Dh got home very late and all I could do was cry. He was very good to me. He reminded me that I should call him when I feel like that and not sit hone all alone with the voices in my head.

Today I guess I am better. I still feel a little sad, but I am cried out. It is another day and I have class this afternoon....

Good Evening Everybody

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
A cold rainy night with some hot mulled apple juice and a frozen chocolate glazed donut would be so heavenly.

Very glad brother was not being mean to your Mom, just cuckoo.

The nice thing about not having too much stuff is that you can then truly appreciate those things that you do have so much more than you could ever have appreciated things when you had so much that you couldn't see, use or enjoy them all.
Like those lovely silver forks hidden in that drawer where you now keep the bags.

Today I accomplished nothing.
Did cat related tasks, took a shower, watched "Fear The Walking Dead".
Last night I watched a BBC production on PBS called "The Miniaturist", part one.
Now I have to wait and try to find when they will show part two.
My TV shows me a daily line up of programs and part two is not on tonight but if I am awake at 2am I can watch part one again.

It's based on a book that I have not read but the reviews say that the BBC production took liberties with the story line several times.

Tillie I am glad he did something. Honestly the attachment to items. I suffer too but of course Mr Hoarder's don't make the kind of sense.....of course MINE made sense......well at least I've largely broken my attachment. I feel connected to my mom, my sweet BF, my kittycat and my friends, meaning you all. I am trying to embrace the other things in my life as ephemera.

I am glad that Tillie is keeping an eye on your elbow. I know how much you use it SubC and that is the nature of your life.

I would very much enjoy a frozen chocolate glazed donut, please. No need to defrost, I'll enjoy as is!

We are having steady rain and it's fairly cold. I love it! I took up mom's groceries I'd gotten her last night. She said brother wasn't mean but he was cuckoo.

I love her. She's great.

Alright Subclinical
But please really consider a brace and then wear it as often as possible. 🙂
Happy you do not take pain pills.
Pain is a good way to know when to stop.

Don't worry Tillie, I know what the elbow is. It's chronic tendinitis. I am a potter and I have a farm, and I have had issues with elbows and wrists and shoulders for years. I have been in a sling before. I don't have time for that. So, when it hurts, I try to rest it. I am considering a brace. I would still take it off for some things, but it would keep me from hurting it doing stupid unnecessary things.

It bothers me so much because I don't use any pain meds so that I will know when to quit.

Hi Subclinical

OKAY... Enough already with this sore elbow!
I want you to get it stabilized in a brace that makes it impossible for you to exert it.
Having it properly evaluated would be nice.
If you were here I would have you in a sling.
You may be doing further damage to it, we don't really know do we?
It may just need to rest for a month or two to heal?

Oh YEAH, I would pass too on those apple garlic cinnamon onion bagels.
Good thing the chickens are adventurous.

The garden cart is in the carport not the garage, thank goodness.
He has made the narrow little goat path too narrow to roll it out of there.
I could get it out if I could lift it above my head and carry it out.
The main obstacle is a nasty old falling apart particle board "wardrobe" that's huge and about 7 feet tall.
He claims this is exactly what he needs to get this hoard all sorted out, organized and in a neat tidy little collection.
The wasps have built a nest in there. That's all that's in it, a wasp nest.
The thing is so warped the doors don't open.
I parked my garden cart in the carport because I don't want it to sit out in the elements and get any more rusty than it already is.
Steven did once bring me home a different garden cart but I do not use that one.
It is very small, actually a vintage metal child's toy. I have to stoop low over it to push it along and it only holds a few handfuls.

Tatoulia and Tillie, thank you for the praise. I needed it.

Still no sun and I am tired and a little sore from working on the drainage ditch from the run in. And my elbow hurts again. Stupid elbow. The drainage is much better, but not all fixed. Dh really doesn't understand how much trouble he caused me in just a few minutes with the tractor bucket when he regraded the yard.

I thought I would do the ditch and stalls and pottery today. I am so amusing...

And I need a shower, and a goat chewed up the sleeve of one of my favorite old sweatshirts. I think it will still be ok to work in, but not to wear anywhere.

I went ahead and gave the chickens all the bagels - when I opened the boxes, there were only 6 to a box. We would have picked up the donuts, but I don't know what we would have done about packaging. The health department won't let us take anything that isn't packaged except whole produce. Maybe he could have stapled them into paper bags for us? Sometimes we get bread stapled or taped in bags.

The donuts and bagels we get are store bakery - at the end f the day they pack them into boxed assortments and try to sell them the next day at a discount. Then they give them to us if they don't sell and take a tax write off. Often nobody takes the bagels at the food bank for the same reasons they didn't sell at the store - they are stale, and their stupid assortments have sweet and savory mixed together and nobody likes bagels that taste like apple garlic cinnamon onion.

Tillie, i'm Glad you got something! Can you get your cart out?

Tatoulia, I too am glad you are free.

Hello everybody

Hi Subclinical 🙂
OK, you did good.
I had a friend who owned & operated a donut shop.
He contacted all the food kitchens/pantries and homeless shelters, etc. in the area and told them if they came by at closing time they could have all the fresh daily made donuts that were left over.
Only thing was they would have to bring their own boxes/containers for them because his boxes were costly and for paying customer's orders.
Well, they all refused. They insisted that the donuts be boxed up and delivered to them.
My friend was trying to do a good thing but ended up having to dump all the donuts in the dumpster every evening.
When ever I visited the shop I brought my own containers and froze dozens.

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
Consider it smoked and thoroughly enjoyed.
Isn't it WONDERFUL that since you are no longer caught up in all that unnecessary drama how clearly you can see it now?
So happy you are free!

Well, I did get up and get dressed.
Cleaned up the "scarf & Barf" under my bed.
Went out into the garage...
OK, he did move some stuff.
He moved the tallest fattest and heaviest heap out of my way.
Still a lot of smaller stuff and a whole lot of garbage cluttering up the area.
This is still better than what I had expected to find.

Well we are scarf and barfers here too. I didn't know the cat's hobby had a name!

Tillie you sound happier and for that I am grateful. I'd be even more grateful if you'd smoke a cigarette for me.

SubC before I eat in restaurants I look at the on line menu and decide what to get. It helps me to make reasonable choices before I'm hungry and before I hear what other people are getting. A lot like what you did at the food bank today. I applaud you for not over agonizing on the individually wrapped cakes. You made a good choice.

I've cleaned kitty's litter box area and food area. I wanted to stop by mom's but brother is going by. He'd asked her to pick up his prescriptions (she can barely walk) and we didn't. I was supposed to drive her there, find non-existent parking, get her walker out, have her go in, etc, etc THEN drive mom to his house to drop them off. We did not do that. He insists on using a pharmacy up by us instead of the probably 16 pharmacies he has to pass on the way up here. I always saw it as being so controlling. Used to wear me out. Especially on the days where he had a paper rx and I'd go get him, we'd drop it off, there'd be no parking and he'd be a real #%+^ and would refuse to go in, then after spending a truly hellish and harrowingly my day with him, I'd get to repeat the procedure and still have to drive him home. Just thinking about it makes me mad. What a $&&!?&&?7&. This strengthens my resolve, which, by the way, has not weakened an iota in the last four months. I'm free.

Okay off the subject. So I have my garbage ready, I did two small loads of laundry, my mail is shredded and the recycling is gathered. Pretty good day.

Tatoulia, hooray for too big clothes! And for you for keeping them moving! I hope the dish situation works out.

Tillie, i'm Crossing my fingers for you.

I brought home 4 dozen bagels in 4 cardboard boxes, plus a bag of fresh green beans to cook tonight and a package of garlic naan - which I ate half of with leftover soup for my lunch.

I could have brought home another little cake, but we had donuts this weekend.

A lot of individually wrapped things went into the dumpster, which was very hard at the time, but now, an hour later, I am feeling less stress about the waste and more relief at not needing to unwrap them all.

I did my 5 minute timer tidy. A few more things to leave for school.

Good Monday Morning Everybody 🙂

Hi CriticalMass 🙂
A day without any cat vomit to clean up here is a GOOD day.
The proper terminology for this is "scarf & barf".
This is the only hobby any of my cats are interested in doing.
WTG! for getting the kitty sample. Fingers crossed that this time around she takes her meds easily and gets all better.

Hi Subclinical 🙂
Great that you are making up your mind before being faced with decision making while at the food bank.
Good luck with keeping only one box.

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
The amazing shrinking person!
When Steven was still using my dishes he would hoard them dirty, full of food scraps, then sneak them out to the kitchen sink and dribble water all over them.
It was a nightmare for me to have to clean up that mess and I kept telling him to scrape the dishes and rinse them well then stack them by the sink as he used them, but he refused to do that.
Somethings were so disgustingly gross that I accidently "broke" them rather than try to clean them.
I am so happy that now he doesn't use my dishes any more, just paper plates and he keeps them out in the garage.
I think your Mom's kitchen would stay nice with dish washing twice a week.
That would only be three days worth to clean up.

Still just sitting here in my bed, drinking tea, on the laptop.
At 10:00am I will get up and maybe even venture out into the garage to see if he did do what I had asked.
Maybe I won't, don't want to get myself upset.
Right now I am in a good mood, thinking about cats taking up tatting and pencil puzzles.

Mom called and I asked her if it was nice waking up to a clean kitchen. So I'll try to maintain it for her. I know it's too hard for her to stand. I'll just make it a point to wash it down for her. The cleaning guy does it but if the counters are filled with dishes, then he won't be moving the dishes to keep the area clean. Plus she adds water to all of her dishes, sets them on the counter, puts more dishes on top, adds silverware, etc so it's one putrid mess. The stuff on the stove had cooked foods, then water then more dishes on top. Very disgusting. I talked with her about storing her dirty dishes dry vs adding water and letting them develop s world unto themselves. She won't. I know who too well, but I tried.

Good morning! Good to hear from you all and thanks for the chuckle on cats and their hobbies! Hoping the infections get cleared up soon, CM, for everyone's sake!

SubC, that is a great idea. If mom gets someone in once a week on dishes, I will do once a week. What I'm not willing to do is have mom do them and I do them once a week. I need her to accept help. I won't tell her this as I do not want her to feel bad. Her former cleaning lady loved her and would do the dishes and the cat box, which was beyond her scope. The new guy does what he is supposed to. He was doing the hallways yesterday and was very kind, helping me with the garbage, etc.

I'm home today. I do wish the cleaners were coming but the main lady has a dentist appt so she will come the afternoon of Wednesday. I thought it was really cute that she remembered my schedule and asked if Wednesday would be okay.

The clothes I wore this weekend are too big. I will wash and put in a donation bag. I brought a blouse to someone at mom's yesterday. The weekend stuff will go to goodwill.

We are having cool, fall weather. Wondering if it will last. So lovely.

Tillie I'm glad you enjoyed a nap!

Oh Tatoulia! That was so much!

Anyone would be tired after that!

I am glad your mother has you and amazed at you for getting through it. I hope you will be able to get someone in to do the dishes. Really, once a week is probably not enough. Will you do them once a week also?

CM, I had a cat who was very interested in bobbin lace, but we could never agree on the pattern. Also, she wanted to do lots of crosses and twists, but refused to move the pins.

Food bank today. I am so busy this week. One box. Maybe. No more.

Just a bedtime shoutout - everyone has accomplished great things today, so give yourselves hugs or else I will! That is a threat not a promise - LOL!

Our great accomplishments here were: Isolation of girl kitty and successful obtaining of urine sample, a few errands, and dog walk while the cooler weather is still around. Then naps. It's been a good day.

Boy kitty just upchucked his supper, have no idea why except that cats every now and then puke for recreational purposes. I've had zero luck trying to convince them to take up sudoku or tatting instead.

Hello

Hi Subclinical 🙂
YEA! for him vacuuming the upholstery!

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
GREAT BIG HUG! for all you did today.
Looking forward to that cabinet getting finished Wednesday.

Still have not ventured out into the garage.
Maybe tomorrow?
Did take a short nap today.

Good evening everyone. I'm exhausted. I've read all of your posts and hope you'll forgive one giant Brava in place of addressing you and your solid accomplishments individually.

I went to mom's today and I cleaned her kitchenette. It was terrible. Dishes in all sorts of decay and I can't discuss some of what I found. She begged me not to tell my BF and I will respect that. But I stayed until every dish was washed, dried, and put away. I completely cleaned cat's eating area. There were places and things that were so far gone that I offered to clean the litter box as a "palate cleanser". HAH! We laughed the whole time. Laughed and talked and some serious talks about life and death and I forged ahead. When I found a particularly disgusting area with mold (underneath a heavy wooden chopping board), she suggested I toss the chopping board. So that was good/no argument on that. She kept trying to get me to leave and she got a bit nervous so then I told her I have cleaners now and she was so happy to hear that. I took out between four and five bags of trash and I didn't even approach the fridge. That poor thing. We again talked about getting someone to do her dishes at least once a week. I cleaned out stuff I hope never to see the likes of which again. I worked four hours on a tiny kitchenette. Four. She has all these tiny flies which she called fruit flies but were bigger. I found their home/ecosystem and destroyed it. As I cleaned some of her dishes and pots and pans, I kept wondering if Horton Hears a Who lived in any of them.

She was embarrassed but luckily I kept her laughing. At one point she asked me not to vomit on her floor. I honestly didn't have a choice on that one. I was wretching.

She's great and I feel good. I came home, showered and washed my hair, then I needed to return some dresses I bought on line.

Ladies I am so tired these days. Since Friday.

Love you all.
Ps my cleaner is coming Wednesday this week. She cannot do tmr. That's fine.

When I worked and he went to school, and when the kids were little, he did all the vacuuming. When the kids got bigger and started helping with the housework and he was working and I was at home, the kids and I took over the vacuuming.

Sonehow, when the kids moved out, I got to keep the vacuuming. But I did the floors and he did the upholstery today, and it looks good.

We cooked dinner together and the timer just went off.