Lila, your pace of deacquisition is very inspiring. You are really getting that momentum rolling. Bet it feels great to yeet those unwanted bottles of products and just have only what you know you like and will use. And SubC, I'm glad you had some willing helpers to quickly take stuff off your hands. 🙂 I'm getting a donation bag going - and it will follow my newer intention to not let donations stick around very long at all. It's not that far to a place to drop off stuff, and that place is on my way to church and other places I routinely go, so it's convenient. So I should just be dropping off more frequent smaller bunches of stuff instead of waiting and having my van so full.

Tatoulia (and anyone else who knows please chime in), do you know by any chance if Mrs. Meyers is okay for washing a Minky blanket? Mine is past due because I haven't been sure how to wash it since I got it. I've been Googling instructions about how to wash them because I don't want to mess it up - it is so pretty and snuggly and has bunnies printed on it (what else, lol?).

Some instructions say just to use baking soda and white vinegar. My roommate has an HE (high efficiency) washer now and I did find one article on The Spruce about how to use those in HE washers. And other articles say not to use scented - but do the natural scents in Mrs. Meyers count, or do you think they just mean don't use artificial chemical perfumed stuff? The Mrs. Meyers is pricey, but if I knew it would be good for my blanket I'd splurge one time. A delicate scent I think would be nice for the blanket if it's possible to get one without using the wrong kind of product. Mrs. Meyers has a honeysuckle one that sounds kind of nice, and even a Baby one that has honeysuckle and a few other ingredients. I wish they sold small sample bottles!

I am making progress in the caffeine optimization department. Although I bought the sun tea jar, we were in a hurry so I've gotten a couple of big cups of convenience store tea over the weekend, but then I'll make my oolong like tomorrow. My energy is returning. Also the clouds cleared up and the sun has been out yesterday and today. That also helped. It was almost as gloomy as winter a few days last week. And maybe it hits a person harder when she's been used to bright summer days. Although like I said before, this spring-summer season has had odd weather patterns overall.

Will be semi-busy this coming week - light bunny club writing/graphics work Tuesday afternoon, evening Inkscape class Wednesday, routine doctor appointment Friday afternoon, and birthday party for bunny club lady on Saturday. Nothing too demanding. It is going to shoot up hot, to around a hundred midweek. All this rain we've had could be lurking as humidity and make more storms, or it could just end up being hot sunny July days. We won't know until it gets here, I don't think.

His movers and shipping container arrive this week. He is leaving before the 19th. Also, I went on the museum's website and I don't see the thing I thought was coming. I bet it was Tiny Treasures that just opened and I thought he'd miss. We saw it (and adored it) Friday night. If he's still here next Friday, I'll see if he wants to go back to the museum.

We are strong today. Yesterday, I took my car up to his place so I could help block off parking for the container.

I am going to shower then make breakfast yes it's 130PM. I'm a late bloomer.

Good morning!

CM, how is the energy project going?

Oh, mid July Tatoulia. He's going very soon. ((Hug)).

Lila, how great that you can now save time and money and gain space by shopping your closet instead of the store! Bins of like things are a good solution for deep shelves.

Dh is going to play golf this morning and Bean's family is going to go get together with friends. They will all be back around nap time. It's going to be a beautiful day, so I will try to get some things done outside. We are going to visit family soon and I want to leave the garden in good shape so the farm sitter only has to deal with the animals. There is really nothing harvest yet, so I don't want to ask her to weed! My pile of "wash this and take it to be recycled" next to the hose in the yard is down to two items. (Doesn't mean there isn't more in the barn, but this is a good start.)

I also want to work on the basement again, but not on nice days.

Oooh that Iowa Pine sent of Mrs Meyers is like liquid gold, Lila! I'm jealous that you have a bottle.

Very satisfying day you had with help getting things out, SubC, congratulations!

Good work not buying the jackfruit when you have fruit at home, CM!

I LOVE the postcard idea, SubC! Will do. There's something coming mid July that I know he would have liked.

Okay I'm breathing.

SubC! That sounds great! What a good help she is to you. Very good, it is so nice to see progress, find the lost things, send things to where they need to go, isn't it?

This hall closet is tall, narrow, and deep. I think it is meant for towels and such. We have towels on the bottom 2 shelves (which I re-folded and straightened and dusted the shelves) but things had begin to spread to those shelves as well, so to get a towel you would have to move a couple bottles of cleaners or lotions or whatnot.

The top shelf, which I need a stool for, I did not sort. It is almost all cleaners.

The other shelves have many things living in them.
Vitamins/supplements that are not in daily use
Bottles of dog shampoo, dog ear medicines, dog this and that.
Bottles of human shampoos, conditioners, lotions, bug repellants, hand creams, that kind of thing.
Toothpastes, floss, new toothbrushes all got put into a little stacking bin. Then supplements the kids use are in another little bin now, and some other ones are in the third little bin. So that is all neat now.

It was so bad that if a kid said "mom I need shampoo" I would just go buy them a bottle since I did not want to dig through dozens of bottles in the closet!

Now, there are just a few shampoos/conditioners, a body was, and a lotion. All lined up neatly so you can see them. All the rest got tossed. All the dog related things are in one corner, easy to see (some got tossed). Any vitamins/supplements that did not get tossed are now lined up in rows where I can see them. Band aids and q tips on a little rack in there.

It is profoundly better, looks nice, AND we can find what we need and it won't be so old and gross that it has separated into clumps! I threw those out.

I feel so good about this! I have family on their way for dinner, but after that, I might even do a little more sorting of cleaners. I already found 2 of those nice scented Mrs Meyers cleaners, one in peony and one in pine. I feel happy 🙂

Lila, that is amazing! What sort of stuff lives in the hall closet?

You are making so much progress!

Dd helped me in the basement for awhile while Bean napped today. We sorted things into piles by theme (recycle, trash, donate, holidays, baby library, art..), and then we had moments like this:

Dd "oh! This is cool! (Bean) is almost ready for this. Can I take it home?"
Me "yes!"

Dd "hey, can we borrow that kite?"
Me "yes!"

Me "I'm supposed to give this back to (heartdaughter) but I keep forgetting."
Dd (who lives 5 minutes from heartdaughter) "here, give it to me, I'll put it in my car."

Me "I don't know what to do with this. Your brother left it here."
Dd texts brother "he says donate it."

And so on.

I found ds's little firemen that I have been searching for to go with Bean's firetruck since March! Now they are in the fire truck instead of a box.

Dd also pointed out "you have a lot of empty containers. If you put all of this random stuff into the containers, the volume would be cut by almost half. Even if you don't sort it or get rid of anything. Then you would have more space to sort out one container at a time." I think she is wrong about "almost half" but yes, it would cut down a lot.

I did fill one empty canning jar box with canning jars and put them back in the cupboard in better order.

post 2 -

I was struggling with getting anything done in my bedroom, so I turned to the hall closet. Took everything from 3 main shelves out, threw away 35+ items that are old and expired, dusted every item before putting it back in an organized manner. I moved a few items to other areas so they can be used. The closet looks SO much better and things are where we can find them now! I am proud of myself. Some of this stuff has been in there more than a decade and I was unable to get rid of it. I am making progress emotionally, I think.

I like your postcard idea for Tatoulia, SubC. We are so used to electronics now, but it is so fun to get a special piece of real mail!

CM, my father lived overseas when he was in the military, so when he came back, he always had interesting asian foods for me as a child. I remember him making tempura, which was a favorite. And he would go to the asian market and get wasabi peas. And he would get those sesame snack crackers, the ones that look glazed. They were so yummy! Also I recall one of his favorite snacks was dried squid. It came in a little clear pouch and I guess those were baby squids because he would eat them, with real tentacles with suction cups on them, and they were the size of a finger! I did try them, they tasted like fish jerky. So there you go if you want to really expand your palate!

We had one son and his girlfriend over this morning for a bit, with Teen and the youngest Son (the one who lives with me) and had a nice visit. Now there is a break, and the other son and his wife and Tot and Acorn will be over at 5. I am looking forward to it. The only thing I am not super excited about is Hoarder Ex is also coming by to see Teen, but he has been decent so as long as he does not start dredging through his hoard in the 'rental space' he has downstairs, I will be fine.

I think I will drink some caffeine and try to get a bit of sorting done, since I have time. I don't have that far to go to hit 500/1000 items gone and that is motivating to me! Love the Daily Tally thread!

Happy Saturday

Am currently working on optimizing my caffeine intake. Weird weather for July - cooler and frequently rainy, overcast. Makes me sleepy and unmotivated. Went to the Asian market yesterday for the first time since pre-Covid, maybe longer. Got Oolong tea (learned that tea has caffeine levels from white through green and oolong to black). Here's a link about it:

Tea facts of interest

So today, hopefully, my energy will return a little.

Also got ginger candies - ginger is healthy in several ways, and I hadn't had any for awhile. You can of course get ginger tea but the candies are tasty and easy to pop one on the go.

It was fun looking around in there, seeing different foods that aren't in the ordinary supermarket - it is something that interests me and there are times when I get more exploratory with different things, especially fruits, in a way that as a picky eater might expand my palate in a fun, non stressful way. I'm thinking about trying ube and pandan flavored things. The colors are pretty!

Almost bought a tray of jackfruit pieces, because my Filipina former roommate introduced me to jackfruit and I like it very much. But we have watermelon still to eat up so I thought better wait. The watermelon has been blah - too early, trucked in, lacking in flavor and sweetness. But later we'll have local ones. I know that the senior center has a program for low income vouchers to the farmer's market so I may get one of those so I could get a good watermelon or cantaloupe, or peaches, etc.

Hey, looks like the sun is peeking out a little - it will get humid quickly if it sticks around.

Tatoulia, that does look interesting.

My husband's cousin is a potter and he did a major project based on the face jugs some time ago. I tried to google it, but it appears to be buried somewhere in cyberspace now. It doesn't help that his name is the same as a professional basketball player.

Dd is having her tub refinished today, so her family will be arriving soon to stay for the weekend. They only have one bathroom.

Lila, I am very excited that there is no trash in your bedroom!

Tatoulia. There was a period seven years ago when it was a good day if I ate and took a shower. You are doing fine. Just keep breathing.

I would like to suggest a project for you while BF is gone. Go to exhibits you think he would like, buy a post card (or several) and write notes to him about the exhibit and mail them off. It will be both a distraction and a connection.

I found a few small things to donate yesterday.

Ok, must get moving. I slept late.

That museum sounds very interesting. I looked up the potters. I had never heard of this before. Thank you for sharing it.

It has been a very long time since I have gone to a museum. Maybe that is something I can do.

I just finished making the dessert for tomorrow; it is after 9 pm. I wiped up the kitchen and got most of the dishes to fit in the dishwasher, which is running. I wish Son was up to help me clean a little more, since family will be coming over starting in the morning and lasting through the day... maybe with a break in the middle. One of my kids has to work in the afternoon so it complicates the timing a bit, but we will make it work.

I did not get much else done around the house. I got a trash bag and took it in my bedroom but there was nothing I could see to throw away. That's progress, right??

SubC that's the shingles shot for you. Feeling lousy and flu-ish. Hope you are doing better!

Lila, glad you were able to turn your mood around.

I had an okay day WFH. Then I napped, showered, and BF and I went to the museum of fine arts. We saw an exhibit that you would have enjoyed, SubC, The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina. Painful story. Remarkable pots. Really breathtaking and presented well.

The other accomplishment was I kept breathing and I didn't cry. I also saw mom.

I really need an energy drink or something. Ok, I am forcing myself to get up. Will report back.

Thanks, SubC. Yes, I managed to feel a good bit better. I was feeling so icky that I needed a change of scenery (good idea!) and went to run my errands. I got the ingredients I need, some clearance toys for the grands who have birthdays coming up, a few other things needed.

The best thing I got is new toilet brushes! I got the cheap $5 ones in holders for each bathroom and threw out the old nasty ones. I feel better about my bathrooms now.

I also went by the donation place and gave them all the stuff that I have been putting in the back of my car to donate. Love it when it's really gone!

Just had some Coke and cheese. Might do a little more decluttering, we'll see. Still in sort of a mood but not angry anymore.

Well Lila, it is afternoon now, so I hope you found a way to save your day.

I was going to say maybe a change of scenery or some exercise (walk the dog?) or a break to do something fun by yourself for at least fifteen minutes..

Maybe call a friend?

I am having a pretty good day. I scheduled my mammogram (a year late) for Tuesday. It is halfway to the thrift store I prefer for donating and also like to shop at. So, my reward will be shopping, but I am also going to try to use the trip to motivate me to do some more clearing out so I can drop things as well. I have a pile started and it will be good to get it out of the house.

Good morning all.

SubC, glad you are feeling better. Tatoulia, I hope you are having an okay day. Depression is so hard. It is immobilizing at times. I hope you find comfort in today.

I am off today. I have been in a sour mood because of some upcoming uncertainty around my kids and grands. And Ex the Hoarder came around to visit Teen, and I don't like the reminder of what a d*ck he is. And someone I really like was condescending to me the other day and I came home and cried a little and am just in a grouchy mood about all of this. But I am trying to make things better.

Today already, before 9 am I have:
- taken 2 bags of trash out for the trash collection today
- decluttered 8 unopened covid tests that were in my bedroom and spare room (counted on the Daily Tally)
- loaded the dishwasher
- had coffee and read on the deck
- fed the dogs

I need to make a special dessert today for our family dinner tomorrow. I need to run to the store to get one last ingredient I need, plus a few other items. I need to stop at the pharmacy to pick up Son's med.

I feel so irritable. How can I turn this around? I don't want to be a grouch all day.

Good morning!

My headache appears to be gone, my arm is less sore, and my stomach is open to negotiations, so today should be better.

Dh and I are going to do yoga shortly when he gets up.

I did finish all but one thing on my list yesterday, but that was only because I made a very short list.

Today's list is longer because I am not keeping up.

How is everyone else doing?

Well, it is 6:15. I just got out of the shower. I ate lunch at 5.

My sheets are in the washing machine and I have turned the 4 cups of blackberries and one cup of black raspberries I picked into 2 and 3/4 jelly jars of jam.

The dishwasher is running, but about half the jam mess didn't fit.

My head still hurts, my arm still hurts, the nausea came back after I ate, and I'm feeling very tired. Whine, whine.

I did also put away most of the groceries I bought yesterday and pick and wash some lettuce that is in the fridge ready to use (had some in my sandwich for "lunch")

Ok, I'm feeling pretty crummy. Sore arm, headache, nausea.

Not sure how much of this I did to myself though, since I picked berries and peas. I have been drinking a lot of water. Hopefully if I sit for a little while I'll feel better.

Tatoulia, I think you should give it the ten minutes!

Currently my goals have been reduced to "drink, eat, shower." Possibly not in that order.

Wow! You did so much! You are my hero! What a great feeling to get the expired meds out of the house! And a less than great feeling to get the shingles shot. My first one was a bit troublesome but the second one was better.

Having my coffee, so coffee clinks! Going to go to work soon. I showered last night snd think that I will not shower this AM. I'll just go to work with hair that was wet when I fell asleep and let it go at that.

See you all later. It is recycling night for me so I'll be happy to get everything out of the house.

I have an easy enough 10% item I could do tonight. Finish up an area that would take ten minutes, max, and would take the area from 90% done to 100%. What do you think?

Tatoulia, grief is heavy. It makes everything harder.

I decided to squeeze dropping the expired medicine at the secure drop and getting my shingles shot into my errands yesterday. Now I have a sore arm and a headache. Also I didn't get everything I wanted to do at school finished because the shot took longer than I expected and I had to rush off to class.

We had a rough class last night - everybody broke something - even Walt who is really good. But we also had some really cool pieces, so overall it was a fine ending to the session.

I slept late this morning because of getting home from class late. I need to get out and do my chores, and I want to pick blackberries this morning before it gets hot and rains. I also need to wash my sheets today because I didn't shower after class last night and my hair smelled smokey, so now my pillow smells smokey.

I did get to the dry cleaners today. And I did two loads of laundry (folded and put away). I've showered and dishwasher is ready to go. Bf came over and brought me seltzer. We visited with mom for an hour and then we ran to the grocery store for milk and fruit.

So I didn't do much on my day off but I did it. Once I'm in a routine again I'll do better right now the depression is keeping me from doing anything. And that's okay. I'll be okay.

Lila, you are doing great! And you are accelerating. I don't see you having any trouble doing first third in 5 months, second third in 4 months, done at the end of your year!

Tatoulia, now it is 2:00 and all I have done is make and eat lunch, load the car, and take a shower. I have six baskets of laundry waiting to be put away. (My dresser should be empty, but it is far from it) now I have 3 hours to do all my errands and get to class - with an hour of driving. How will I ever make progress like this?

CM, I hope you and your roomate find some working solutions.

We got 2-3/4" of rain in the night. More to come.

My July 4th post which I accidentally posted on the Daily Tally instead of here.

Hope everyone will be okay, and able to enjoy whatever is comforting about the holiday and maybe a brief diversion from the heavier stuff. It's been pretty hot here. A change is coming later in the week. I'm going to butcher the watermelon soon, and sit out and watch the fireworks that neighbors will inevitably be shooting off. They are impatient, starting up even though it's not dark. If I spent money on fireworks I'd want to get the full effect.

Roommate and I are trying to brainstorm solutions to things like overscheduled time, cluttered house, time management (me primarily on that one), chronic joint pain flare ups (roommate), and so on. Hard to believe we'll be coming up on a year she's been retired, in mid September. It takes a year to see how things jibe, what with changing seasons and daylight savings and holidays and many other things, to see how everything coordinates together, what flows vs. where the logjams occur. Maybe the next year will be more efficient. I hope. These summer nights end up seeming endless then ending in a scramble to get meals and pet care and showers and whatnot and get each to bed at a reasonable time.

I've been in touch via Facebook messenger with my old college friend I met during orientation in a randomly assigned small group - we discovered we were both creative writing majors and became immediately thick as thieves. Then she ended up in other parts of the country, and I was going through various tribulations and didn't always get time to write. Anyway, it's been fun to reconnect and hopefully it'll be a boost for each of us. I bought that nice laptop almost a year ago too, and I want to do so much more with it. Plus roommate and I have a few more digital art classes coming up this month.

Well, I better go check on my watermelon.

Wow, SubC, you are amazing. I mean this truly. I am a slug.

Lila, great work being a 1/3 of the way to your goal! You are doing wonderfully! There was a time when those items would still be there's just hanging out. Great work!

I a o; my second load of laundry. House has been cleaned so I feel good about that. BF is crying. He is having a tough time. We are trying to joke. It is not easy.

Good morning! Nice to read about what you are doing, Tatoulia and SubC. I had a nice 4th with my grands. We had a cookout and the neighborhood came out to do fireworks in the street and driveways. Tot had a blast. Acorn did until it got too loud and then she went to sleep.

I did great on decluttering yesterday. I posted 51 items gone on the Daily Tally thread yesterday! And I have at least 14 more in a bag that I am taking to someone today (VHS tapes they want). I passed 1/3 of the way to 1000 items gone from my home. I started counting on January 31, so it is about 5 months in. My aim was to have 1000 items removed from my home by the end of this year. I only count things I was actually keeping/saving, not actual trash. So if I use up lotion, I don't count the bottle when it goes. But if I throw out half a bottle of old lotion I saved for 10 years, that counts.

Today is my last day 'off' and I am watching Tot and Acorn while their mother has an appointment. I actually am supposed to work today but they are more important, and I need one more day, anyway. I will start checking work emails and doing actual work tomorrow. Today, I will declutter some more!

Funny Tatoulia, I feel like I accomplish so little.

I've been up for 6.5 hours. I've relaxed with my coffee, unloaded the dishwasher, done yoga, had breakfast with Dh, started a load of laundry, done my chores, pulled weeds for three hours, thrown the laundry in the dryer, and spent the last 30 minutes surfing online and drinking water. I still have to go back out and pick lettuce before I can make my lunch. Most of that will need to be done again tomorrow. Only the weeding feels like progress, and honestly it feels more like catching up.

I'm up and have emptied the dishwasher. I'm going to do some laundry. BF coming around 2. Cleaners coming at some point.

I'm so impressed with how much you get done in a day, SubC. Amazing.

Good morning!

Today is a day I drive into the city for class, so I am organizing my errands. Recycling and a bit of trash to drop and a few things to take to my classroom.

The day-to-day is not bad, and Dd vacuumed before she left. I have garden work to do this morning.