The word Fresh particularly resonated with me in your new year's message, Tillie. We can do this! I am putting away my Christmas things now and doing laundry before our room is temporarily unavailable due to structural work.

I am grateful I got the garbage out last night as it was up and away before I got up.

Warm, sunny and windy here. As soon as my laundry is done I will get dressed and run an errand or two. We were out well past my bedtime last night. We got in just before 2 and then another hour or two before ready for bed. I'm exhausted today!

I'm making myself a little list, including I must take bag for goodwill to car. I also need to pick up a prescription. Stuff like that.

But first, Christmas needs to be put away. I mean it. Oh I didn't take off wreaths yet from my windows yet. I will do for Friday's garbage. Cleaners come tomorrow.

What are you doing today! Looking forward to a fresh new year, I hope.

I have the clothes line all filled with linens this morning.

The sun is shining but it's so cold the laundry froze solid soon as I hung it out. LOL

My cold seems to be on the decline, fingers crossed x
Planning to spend another day trying to drown it out with soup, tea and oranges.

Seriously need to come up with a plan to get him on some sort of schedule so he is not constantly underfoot & in my way.

Good Morning Everybody[/color

Wishing us all peace and contentment (((HUG)))

Happy New Year! We are just getting in.

Glad the shower helped, Tillie.

HAPPY NEWYEAR EVERYBODY!!!

Hi Tatoulia

Happy to know that I am not the only one addicted to moisturizers and lip balms. 😉
Yep, I use/have used all those balms too.
It was having a tube of Bert's Bees lip balm that got me to thinking about making up some of my own.
Kitty's lip balm tin sounds so cute!

Have a wonderful time ringing on the new year.
How charming to stroll along those old scenic streets.

When I was in the hot steamy shower I felt lots better, hated to get out.
Still have a wonderful selection of soups & crackers on hand.
Stocked up a few months ago. YEA! me. ;D

I'm home. I was very cold on walk home. Just took my garbage out. Didn't do any housework today.

I'm going to nap til I have to get up to go out.

I am hooked on moisturizers and chap stick. For the most part, I find that traditional chapstick is a good favorite. I also like aquaphor and the occasional Vaseline intensive lip. For Christmas, kitty got me a lip balm made by three sisters soap company and it's lemonade flavored but the bigger news is it's in a little cat tin. All natural. Smells like lemon furniture wax from long ago. I'm good with it.

I took a walk to Charles Street today, on the foot of Beacon Hill. So charming. I bought a blouse and now I'm getting mani/pedi. I hope to make it home before the rain starts. We do not celebrate until 10 PM.

Will nap during pedi.

Good Morning
sniffle, sniffle, sneeze, sneeze, sneeze...

Hi CriticalMass
Staying at someone's house for three whole months is not "cat sitting".
That is "house sitting" along with taking care of a resident cat and everything else concerning that property.
You have your own life to manage and that would be too much to ask of you.
Happy the vehicle incident was only a minor thing.
I try to never drive after sundown because it's hard to see with headlights coming toward me.

Hi Tatoulia
What an exhausting dream!
Nice you caught up on the phone with your former coworker.
YEA! for regularly scheduled trash pickup!

Living here in this high Sierra desert the air is very dry all the time.
I am addicted to lip balm here but when I travel away from the area my lips are alright.
I started making my own lip balm
food grade bees wax
Vaseline
honey
and a touch of anise flavoring
Found the recipe online.
Works well, tastes good and costs less than commercial lip balms.

OK, now off to drown myself under a nice extra warm shower. ;P

CM you made the right choice to stop cat sitting. That is a long period of time. I can understand why they don't want the cats to be alone, but my goodness, you can't put your life on hold for someone else. It must've been a tough decision but you need to take care of your own life. You are working so hard and making gains everyday, even if it doesn't feel like it.

I had a busy dream last night where I had to defend my thesis and things kept getting in my way and my 11 o'clock spot came up and I realized I had copied something wrong and the next thing I knew, I was out of the building, someplace else, and trying to figure out how to explain that I'd missed my appointment. It felt so real and I kept saying, I wish this were a dream and how am I going to get out of this?

I had a nice long call with a former co worker today. It was great.

So time to shower and time for a walk. My walking buddy already has 2.5 miles in for the day, and I've walked as far as my couch, with a stop at the coffee machine.

Luckily our garbage is on its usual schedule so I can take it out tonight. I changed kitty's box last night.

Tess, so good to hear from you - sometimes it is just time to make those big changes, and it's scary and everything feels topsy turvy for awhile but knowing how much better it's becoming is the fuel we need to keep going forward.

Tillie sorry about the cold - but good to know it was a man cold - we women can handle those! 😂 But do rest and use your best remedies. Feel better real soon.

You are so right about 2018 being one huge roller coaster ride. I'm sure hoping 2019 will be a time for consolidating the gains we've all made, and being able to make plans and see them come to fruition.

I'm very gradually feeling the benefits of catching up on some sleep. Still sorting my mind out from Thursday when I got discouraged and demotivated on the doll clothes and some other things. My roommate returns later today, so I will be free of kitty routine tracking. I may take a nap in a bit. Then hopefully wake up motivated to finally finish the doll clothes. I am still wanting to make more, it's just the pressure of doing a commission that freaks me out. I tense up. When I sew on my own schedule and just make things and let customers pick from what's currently available, I do fine.

I have difficulty slipping smoothly into someone else's routines. There is that friend of mine you may recall that I used to cat sit for and this year I'm pretty sure that she will be getting someone else, and I'm fine with that. Even though I love their cat - they're down to one. But she was wanting me to move over to the other side of town with my bunnies and stay for three months.

I'm just not readily adaptable to that. As much as I may bemoan my lack of privacy here, there are many ways this feels like home and with my anxiety I don't travel easily. My church and most of my life is on this side of town, and if I forgot something or needed something and it was late at night, I would be spooked to drive back here. And in my life, three months is plenty of time for hectic things to happen, and I just don't need extra responsibilities and worries that aren't my own.

It's hard to explain the whole thing because it's my mental quirks that make it more difficult than it'd be for the average person. But I believe I have the right and even the duty to protect my health and not spend the first quarter of the new year putting my needs last. The couple made the reservation for the time share out of state without thinking about the cat sitting, so why is that my problem? In January I had difficulty doing it for three weeks! And then I got criticism which is why I questioned the whole thing. I thought, maybe this worked once upon a time but it just doesn't seem to be working as well anymore. Things change.

I had a minor scare with my new van the other night. I backed into a guy's bumper. No damage of significance, no cops, none of that. Prayers thanking God it was so minor. But I can tell how the cataracts are impacting my night vision so I'm going to have to make adjustments accordingly.

Tatoulia, I'm so glad for you having made the difficult changes - you did what you were able and we can pray he gets help. But you tried and gave it so much, so be at peace.

I hope Motown, SubC, Anony, Joan, and anyone else we don't hear from often will pop in at some point. If I don't post again before, have a Happy New Year.

Sorry to hear about your cold. Yes plenty of tea and oranges! And keep chapstick on your lips! My lips get so dry and painful.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
Have a wonderful time out today with your Mom.
WTG! for making the time for un-decorating!
Hope it all gets nicely organized and fits perfectly in it's storage spaces.

Well, Steven has given me his cold. 🙁
It's annoying with a stuffy runny nose but no where near as bad as he makes it out to be.
He acts like he is at death's door.

My plan today is to clean the kitchen again.Not very many dishes to wash so it will be quick.
Want to wash my hair too but might put that off till tomorrow, I dunno?
Have plenty of soups & tea & oranges on hand to help flush this virus out. 🙂

Hello everyone!

Tess I am so happy to hear from you! Great list of accomplishments! Both physical and emotional! I used to put other people first, to my physical, emotional, financial detriment. Slowly but surely I turned that around, with help and support from everyone here. First, I used to hoard for many reasons, but a large reason was that I wanted to be the hero. The one who had just the thingamabob that someone needed. If it was on sale, I'd buy multiples so that anyone who needed it would be able to get it from me. Now it all seems so stupid. (To me, for me, no judgment on what anyone else is doing.). The day, four or so years ago, that I realized there are STORES where people can get their needs met was EYE OPENING. Another thing was, for decades I took care of a mentally and physically disabled person who was a trash hoarder (although maybe just a slob since he had no issues with my cleaning his place) and was a financial drain and was mean and abusive. I finally set myself free this year. I feel some guilt but nothing I can't handle. So I now have energy to do things for myself and others without compromising my health. I never believed people when they told me to let go of family member. I felt no one understood my guilt. Do you know who had a firm grasp on my guilt??? The disabled person. He manipulated and twisted my guilt to the point where I didn't recognize myself. So kudos for looking out for yourself! You can still be loving and kind and caring. But you first.

Tillie we will continue to get through our challenges together.

Today I am getting mom out of the house and I have something I want to do tmr. Then tmr night BF and I will do our usual.

Today I want to stay off the internet and work on putting Christmas away.

Hi Tess

We all support you 100% in putting yourself 1st. in ALL things.

Keep holding your head up high.
Be proud of all you have done and accomplished.

WAY TO GO! for that big long list of what you did today! 😀

Good luck finding a dentist you like and WTG! for your plan to schedule an appointment.

We all have faced so much this past year and I am very proud of everyone for staying the course and coping in the best ways we could manage.
((((HUGS))))

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted very much this year. I've been struggling a bit with depression and changing relationships (romantic and friendships and family). I've been fighting it tooth and nail. It has been a struggle, but it hasn't pulled me completely under! It's actually been a good thing because this year has taught me that I need to put myself first. Nobody else is going to take care of me or save me, so I need to do it myself. This year has taught me to take the energy, love and resources that I poured into others and focus more of it on myself. For the first time in a very long time (maybe ever!), I'm walking into 2019 with my head held high. I know I've done the best I can. Not everyone may think so. Many probably could have done better. That's fine. I'm only comparing myself to who I was in the past. As I said, it was a year full heartbreak, stress, disappointments, and hard lessons, but I'm coming out stronger than ever for it.

Enough of my year end reflection. Today I got a late start, but I accomplished a good bit:
-I did a little bit of work work that needed to get done
-drop off/pick up at the library
-laundry
-cleaned the car
-dropped off two boxes at goodwill
-bought a new Dutch oven to replace my ruined pot. I'm proud of myself because that's all I bought!
-cleared off coffee table, kitchen table, and bathroom counter. Also wiped them down. The toilet too.
-Cooked lunch

Coming up next (likely tomorrow):
-change sheets
-put away laundry
-make an Apple Store appointment
-find a dentist (will make appointment Monday)
-take out a bag of garbage
-get gas for car
-church

Good Morning Everyone

Hi CriticalMass
Wishing you a "New Year" with only tiny bumps in the road.
Happy you have simply accepted that your plans for this week just couldn't materialize.
Lots of pets & hugs to all the animals in your care.
Hope you are able to stuff the recycling bins every week!

Hi Tatoulia
I consider ginger ale to be medicinal rather than recreational.
But then again, I have always been into old time simple home remedies.
My chai masala that I drink every day has lots of fresh ginger root cut up in it and it really does work to fix a lot of my ailments.
YEA! for cute new sheets!
Happy your alcoholic gift has arrived and now you are free to roam.
WAY TO GO! having a bag ready for donation!
Good luck finding a way to recycle the wreaths.

Sunny blue skies today but colder than a well digger's arse out there.
Thinking about writing down a list of goals I would like accomplished in the near future.
#1 is to try to get him to get all five of these derelict vehicles out of here.
So sick and tired of looking at them and trying to maneuver around them and always fighting nasty vicious wasps nests in them.
#2 still undecided...

Morning

My mornings start late... But I love being able to be a night owl all over the house like I could when I lived alone. When roomie is home I can only be a night owl behind my bedroom door and quietly.

Really am also feeling the Mama Bear hibernation instinct since the passing of Christmas Day and the coinciding temperature drop.

I'm glad I recognized that unfortunately this time on my own won't be the opportunity I'd hoped for getting big projects done. I just accepted it rather than getting all bent out of shape. The kitties and bunnies need me, and the whole year has been one chaotic string of fires to put out - the old van with its problems, my roommate's health problems, major home repairs, and much more.

Things got shifted around and piles formed - it's just going to take time to chip away at it all.

The good news is that we have some new things going on that will facilitate the goals of decluttering. We have the recycling service and we're both excited about that. Some of the excess items languishing under bathroom and kitchen sinks got put out of their misery when the plumbing leaks happened (silver lining!). They are gone and it has spurred her to go through more stuff and get rid of the duds.

And I am going to do the same. Spring is not that far off either, despite the dreary days trying to convince me otherwise. The days themselves are getting longer now, and the weather around here usually gives a break even in the coldest times.

In short, it is what it is, but I can still work with it. Iced tea clinks!

I washed my new sheets and put on my bed. They are pretty cute. Martha Stewart Whim sheets with cats on them. They are subtle enough to not look babyish and they look pretty with my white quilt and duvet cover.

My Adult Beverage gift box has been delivered so I can now roam around the world freely. I'm hungry but think a juice/water fast would be nice today.

It's beautiful out. Sunny and cool but not cold. I aired out the living room and will give the bedroom a quick airing.

I'm thinking of taking my wreaths down on Monday so I can put in garbage. There are farms that would take them to feed goats so I'll have to see if there's anyplace near me.

I am ready to put most of my Christmas decorations down. It's not wintry weather so they start to feel pathetic. To me.

I will get dressed now and go visit BF. Then I'll need to walk around. Maybe stop for a seltzer water.

Good morning!

I am up early for me and feeling great. I am healthy, Tillie, thank you-I use the expression "not feeling well and need a ginger ale/juice/seltzer" when I get overheated. I had been walking around and I got overheated.

You know when we were discussing pop I completely forgot my love of ginger ale. I bet I have it twice a month. So soothing. Last night I had a Jamaican ginger beer with extra ginger. I loved the ginger part of it but less crazy about the pineapple and honey. But the ginger was good and strong and delicious. Gave me what I needed to walk the next mile and a half!

Do not know what today will bring. I do need to change my sheets and other chores, esp since we are having internal work done in the house and the laundry won't be available for a week or so. I'll just send to the fluff and fold people if I find it's making me crazy.

I do have a bag for goodwill. I am not leaving house til my package arrives. I missed the delivery yesterday. I think I mentioned that it clearly has alcohol in it since it requires an adult signature.

So, what are you doing today??

Hi CriticalMass

A good nights sleep always makes it easier to handle things.
I hate it when the router refuses to obey.
Without internet I am completely cut off from the world.
That was amazing teeny tiny snow flakes wasn't it?
Nice you had some too. 😀
Just do the best you can with the complicated pet care. From experience I have learned that as long as it's done with a loving heart the animals are happy and also survive.
It would be a lot less stressful if you just made up a variety of doll clothes and let people choose from what's available.
It would be fun to just design and sew a lot of different outfits to your own liking. 🙂

Hi Tatoulia
I understand what you mean (((HUG)))
You want the relationship but not with him as he is now.

You better not be getting sick again.
Hope it's just too much holiday fun.

WAY TO GO!!! finishing ALL this year's work!
YEA!!! for a 4 day weekend!
Hope you have fun and lots of rest planned.

Hi Subclinical
Hope you have had LOTS of sleep & rest and are feeling 100% better (((HUG)))

Today I hot glue gunned the sisal on Scooter's scratch post back on.
Last night I washed a load of some of my dark clothes and this morning they were dry & I put them away.

I need to figure out a plan/schedule/system/routine.
Without one I just wander aimlessly through the day.
The problem is he is erratic, here & there, no rhyme or reason.
The cats have a regular routine and they keep me on a schedule as to when they want food, what kind of food, snacks, fresh water in the bowl and when and where they want to nap.

I hope you get a good, restful sleep tonight, CM. remember, your routine is messed up even though you've been looking forward to some time alone in the house.

I'm sorry you were having internet troubles. It can certainly be disconcerting. I hope that tmr is much better for you, and that you can tackle some of the things you were looking forward to doing.

Today I did finish all my work for the year. I haven't ended a quarter with all my paperwork done in many years. I even had time to walk up to my favorite little diner to get my favorite little salad. I also completed my self-evaluation and got it submitted.

We have Monday off in addition to Tuesday, and I'm pretty happy about that.

I got my four miles in. I've upped the ante for how much I want to walk each day. I only count the walking I do outside, I am not keeping track of each day's steps, just the outdoor walking. I was dead tired. I had finished everything at office by 5, 5:30 then I just sat around the office for some reason. I didn't get home til nine. I stopped on my way home for a ginger ale because I wasn't feeling well. But I pushed myself to walk home, and I'm glad for that.

Grey and rainy here. Doesn't bother me in the least.

Tillie the parmesan zucchini sounds lovely. I'm so sorry that he's home now. That must be so terrible.

I realized tonight that although I was a little bit sad not seeing brother over holidays, I was a lotta bit glad to have him gone from my life. What I miss is the him I want him to be, not the him he actually is. Very sad. Bf sent him an envelope with money in it for Christmas.

Hey all

Grey day here and COLD. Got some of those teeny snow bits like you did, Tillie. One on my car window was indeed a baby flake with six arms and probably the tiniest formed snowflake I've ever seen.

But the cold is dreary. I'm in charge of the house while roommate's out of town and my post-holiday fatigue is catching up with me. The doll clothes I ran into a glitch with on the last two pieces yesterday, and ground to a halt. Thought I'd pick them up today and finish but never did.

About an hour and a half ago I was so fatigued I was going to have a limited time nap. Made the mistake of checking Facebook one time and saw something I wanted to reply to. Wrote a long post and then was having trouble posting the emoji I wanted, and suddenly the entire post disappeared. Grrrr. So then I got up and came to the laptop here, thinking well, it's just my tablet being hinky.

Then the Internet was out on the laptop too! So off to have a talk with Mr. Router. Several talks, in fact. I was getting worried, because I'm kind of alone here and the Internet provides me with a sense of connection to the world and a distraction that keeps me from getting into anxiety territory. The thought of going all night and maybe until my roommate comes home on Sunday was frightening.

Finally was able to get Mr. Router to see things my way, and then Miss Computer needed a hard shutdown reboot by then. Probably her cache was full. Hmmm. She must be a hoarder too. LOL! 😀

Okay, so, as Scarlett O'Hara said, Tomorrow is another day. I'm going to learn one of these days not to say yes to ANY request for a custom order of things I make. This should turn out all right, the gal is easygoing - but I just hate the feeling of being unreliable.

What else can I be though, with this chaotic life? The high maintenance cats, love 'em to death but I don't know how my roommate does all their routines morning and evening and I keep forgetting things, and it feels like the morning routine just gets done and it's almost time to start the evening round. And the bunnies. Glad again for many reasons that the dog went with her.

I know the things that come second nature with pet care, or kid care, husband care, plant care, whatever - are second nature to the person who established the routines, and if tweaks are required they integrate because the base is already there. But I, though knowing what she does to some extent from the outside but not all the fine tuning, and having a forgetful distractible brain, have to jot down notes. And then remember to look at the dang notes.

So I was really tired and that nap would've possibly refreshed me, but I spent that time fighting with internet and computer, and it feels too late (and I'm kind of wound up and aggravated now) to start a nap. Guess I'll just push on till bedtime.

At any rate, I'm sure thankful the internet is back. I think the cats may be why it was going out - they probably bumped the cords to the router! I can't prove it, just a hunch. Hopefully if I can relax my way through the evening, get the routines done without rushing, and sleep reasonably tonight, I'll be ready to hit the ground running tomorrow. Phew!

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
I like to sauté zucchini in butter till it's just done and not mushy then sprinkle parmesan on it.
Good luck getting whatever that worrisome thing is done & gone.

Clear blue skies today with a low of 26 and a high of 32.
No plans to go outside at all.
Need to develop a whole new schedule/system for everything now that he's home ALL the time.
Like figure out when to clean house, take a shower, do activities, etc. for when he is not underfoot and in my way.
The Japanese have a word/saying that is living with a retired man is like trying to sweep wet leaves.
It would help if he developed a system/schedule and work ethic for ALL the time he now has here at home.

Tess! Great to hear from you! We can do this!

Tillie, squash is so delicious. I really enjoy it. I'm not a fan of summer squashes but I do love the winter squashes. And in a pinch, I will eat zucchini. Just not my first choice.

Mom had the white chocolate raspberry truffle! I had vanilla and the brownie fudge ice cream. We had a few that we didn't open. It was funny that when he said he had six flavors, he really did.

I am late for work. I know exactly what needs to be done today. Hoping to get rid of it early so I don't have to worry so much.

It appears to be a rainy grey day here. Not sure if the temp.

I shredded papers last night. Very good feeling to get things up and out.

Thank you Tess 🙂

Nice to "see" you!
If you find the time we all would love to hear what you've been up to.
(((hug)))

Happy Birthday, Tillie!

Good mother feeding her children squash & green beans.
When I had my daycare I discovered that the toddlers had never had squash and they all loved it.

All those ice cream flavors sound delicious.
If I had to choose I would have the white chocolate raspberry.

By Saturday I will probably be fasting too.
Ate too much junk yesterday and had pizza and soda pop today.
It was all good but enough is enough. LOL

Originally coming from Detroit where it was called "pop" and relocating to Tucson where it was called "soda" I always call it soda pop.
But then I used to call saguaro cactus "saguaro trees".

I will have to investigate that "shrub".
Sounds very refreshing.

That Pepsi sounds so refreshing, Tillie! I drink plain seltzer all the time, occasionally adding a blood orange shrub to it or grenadine. I had no idea what a shrub was til I bought the bottle. It's muddled fruit with drinking vinegar. Delicious.

That Pepsi sounds so good. We have new vending machines at work and the root beer caught my eye. But I didn't partake. Root beer used to make me sick as a kid and I've never been one for pop. (My Midwestern roots are showing).

Yes, too many sweets. I baked and decorated a delicious cake for Christmas Eve. You won't believe this but BF has six flavors of ice cream in the freezer. Pistachio, vanilla, white chocolate raspberry truffle, Belgian chocolate (all Haagen Das) and a Ben and Jerry's vanilla and chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. It was madness. Oh, and mango ice cream. Completely insane and so tasty.

I brought a large container of green beans to work and a large container of acorn squash. Everyone kept telling me how delicious it smelled. I kept telling people to help themselves (no one did) and one woman said, I think I'll pick up a roasted chicken for dinner and serve it with these as my sides. I was thrilled, as I still have two more large containers of squash left over. She has four little kids in her house. That made me so happy. I explained that everything had been cooked once with no reheating so still fresh. Great solution.

I think on Saturday I'll do a quick fast/36 hours or so. Walking today certainly helped, although I really need to get in four miles a day. I came in at 2.8 today. Tmr I should be walking to and from work which will bring me pretty close to 4.

Tillie happy birthday. You are wonderful in a million ways and you have changed my life.

Hi Tatoulia
Thank you 😉
WAY TO GO! with those papers!!!
Hope your healthy eating and walking helps with the sluggishness.
Did you have too many sweets for XMas?
At least it's not sugar plumbs dancing in your head like last year. ;D

Getting things all sorted out helps quiet all the noise in our brains and allows us to relax better.

Steven has some kind of ugly disease.
I am hoping it is a variety of influenza that my flu shot covers.

My pizza is delicious and drinking Pepsi is magical since I don't drink soda pop and the fizziness is so wonderful.

Tillie!!!! Great birthday surprise on the bonds! Great work! The pizza sounds so yummy!

Someone at work organized pizza in my department. I had my green beans and squash instead. I'm feeling so sluggish. I was grateful to walk in today and then I walked halfway home, met up with BF. He's car shopping.

Cm and Motown! Great to hear from you! Cm I'm glad you'll get a little time to yourself. I am sure it will make your life easier to have a little breathing room.

Motown we are always here! Next year will bring more peace to your home. Bit by bit, you will get there.

My goals for tonight are to keep reducing my papers. I'm going to see what else I can get rid of. There's some mail that needs to be addressed.

I need to keep sorting in my brain. The more I can get rid of, the happier I will feel. This has proven to be true all the time I've been on here.