Hi MayMay 🙂

My neighbors pay me to watch their pets when they are away over night or a few days.
In the winter they take their pets and their huge RV and travel to warmer climates and I take care of their house.

He is filling those trash cans but with LEAVES and not any clutter/trash/garbage. 🙁

Hey Tillie,

I hope you are able to get your husband to fill up all of those trash cans. 🙂

Why are you watching your neighbors pets? Are your neighbors out of town?

Captain's log
Star date 07102012

As the last surviving human on this starship it is my duty to carry on.
To seek out new life and new civilizations.
To boldly go where no one has gone before.

Today I will continue to feed and care for my neighbor's 2 dogs and 3 cats along with all the cats that reside here.

It has gotten cold over night and the days are now cooler too.
So today I will put the evaporative cooler to bed for the winter.

I have lined up 6 large trash cans and the big wheelie bin in the drive way.
My plan is to encourage him to fill all of them and get them out to the road for trash pick up tomorrow morning.
Wish me luck, I need it.

Tillie, last surviving member of the crew
signing off.............

I'm off to the pumpkin patch to pick a perfect pumpkin.

Sorry MayMay,
but he has already installed it and carted off my old HD flat screen tv to his very cluttered bedroom where he already has a HD flat screen tv.

I think he bought me this television just so he could have another one in his bedroom even though I don't see any place he can put this one.

I really do not understand!

Oh Well.....

Hey Tillie,

Sorry to hear about your husband's shopping spree. 🙁 if you don't want to keep the flat screen tv, then I would be glad to take it for you. 😉

Good morning,

Today I am getting ready for the weekend.
On the weekends I try to get my hoarder to declutter in the yard. We have a rather large amount of property that he has totally cluttered.
Or...
get him to declutter in the 3 car carport.

He has a 4 car 2 story garage that is floor to rafters full.
In the garage he has set up tiny "forts" where he hides and plays on his computer.
My main goal is to keep him out of the garage because he never really declutters in there, he just churns or hides and plays.

He was very very bad this week.
He can never pass up a sale. 🙁
He bought me a very large flat screen tv.
I already had a proper tv.
What I need is new eye glasses and a dental check up and cleaning.
The house desperately needs some repairs and maintenance.

Oh Well...

Have a great day everyone. 🙂

OK
Another episode of "What Is Tillie Doing Today".

When I am in the mood to cook I like to prepare several different things all at the same time.
Then I portion them out, wrap and freeze them.
This way I have quick and easy meals ready to eat and they are not those frozen prepered commercial things.

So, off to the kitchen to cook and as I am in there any way, clean up my mess.

Have a great day Earthlings.
Tillie signing off.

Hello!

Beautiful Autumn day out there.
My To-Do list?
Anything I want!
I've got no deeds to do, no promises to keep...

Have a great day everyone. 😀

Good morning,

I am off to water my trees & bushes.

Watiting for A&E to put last night's HOARDERS episode online so I can watch it.

Need to do a load of laundry and tidy up the kitchen.

The floor needs sweeping and the carpet needs vacuuming too.

Hope everybody has a great day. 🙂

Thank you MayMay 🙂

Sounds like you have time before your big challenge to think things through as to how you want to proceed.
Make sure your plans include self care like drinking enough water, eating properly and getting a good nights sleep. 😉

Tillie,
I'm glad Marty is getting better. 🙂

Today my dad and I bought our plane tickets and made hotel reservations for our trip to Seattle in November. We will be in Seattle for 2 weeks. The first week that we are there, we will be helping my aunt and uncle clean out my aunt's parent's level 5 hoarded home. I will be leading the cleanup and my dad will be there to make sure that my uncle doesn't go crazy during the cleanup. The second week that we are in Seattle will be more like a vacation. I'm starting to get really nervous about the cleanup but I can't wait to be out of Ohio for a couple of weeks. 🙂

Good morning,

Marty is getting stronger every day and now has an appetite. 😀

My To-Do list for today is....
one load of laundry
tidy up kitchen
shampoo my hair
take a nap
eat properly

My hoarder has actually called in work and will be home today.
Right now he is sitting at his computer with Marty on the keyboard getting petted.

Hope everybody has a great day with NO drama. 🙂

Thank you MayMay.

Hey Tillie,

I am so sorry to hear about Marty-Cat. 🙁 I hope he gets better soon.

(((HUGS)))

Tina!

That is funny 🙂

Sheryl

Hello everybody.

Been having a rough go of it here.
Marty-Cat was exposed to a toxin.
Do not know "what where how". He is an inside outside cat and does leave the yard, often.
My neighbor drove us to the Veterinarian clinic.
The Veterinarian was able to save Marty but any long term damage is still unknown.

Marty is home now, on a special prescription diet to keep his organs from being stressed.

I am a miserable wretch. 🙁

EUREKA!! I finally found a way to get my husband to help me with some of our much neglected landscaping. As always, he said he'd be out to help me work on the yard and then proceeded to sit in his office on the computer & watching football for hours - but today the sound of his chainsaw running brought him tearing ass out of the house mighty quick! [I was trimming trees] Oh, I knew I'd catch hell for touching his tools - but it worked!
Tomorrow I'll see what else I can get into....
Hehehe ;0)

Hey Cory,

Yeah keeping everyone sane and calm is my BIGGEST worry. Especially with my uncle. I think I'm actually more worried about him and what he might do at the cleanup then the actual hoarders. I can totally picture him getting so mad at my aunt's parents that he punches a whole in the wall and then drives off and leaves the cleanup. Luckily my dad will be there with me. So if my uncle has a total meltdown then my dad might be able to calm him down. All I know is that whether the cleanup goes good or bad, it will definitely be a life changing experience for me.

Sheryl,
I love the stairs photo and the MLK quote. Very inspriational and so true. Each and everyone of us face things in life and we cannot be afraid to move forward. We all get overwhelmed and both of your posts are great motivation that we can succeed if we don't give up. Thank you!

Sorry guys, it has been a busy week. MayMay, congratulations on being the boss on the upcoming cleanup! You can totally do this, but remember this is their house and their stuff so keeping them sane through it all will be your biggest task. Mentally this is straining on everyone involved and while you are physically exhausted from the work, you have to keep you keep yourself in check. You will have a lot of support from everyone there to help including your aunt and uncle, but keep their parents anxiety, fear and stress in check throughout the entire cleanup effort or all work will be shut down quickly. Anyone can pick up a box and carry it outside to an awaiting dumpster. But not many people can get the hoarder to allow you to carry the box outside. Cleaning a hoarders home is like a chess game. Anticipate the hoarders responses and reactions before you even get there and have a plan, a back up plan, and another back up plan. Typically they will manipulate the truth and procrastinate so pushing them and challenging them on their normal decisions will be the only way to change their living conditions, but it will become stressful. Have reasons why things need to go. Have options for where the items will go. If it is something that can be donated, let them know it will be going to a needy family to be used and enjoyed by those less fortunate. If it can be recycled, then do it. Let them know they are saving the environmet. Do whatever you can to allow them to feel good about letting go. Then find their motivation. What is their reward for emptying out their home. Build them a room where thy can do something they are passionate about. Fix up the dining room, living room and/or kitchen so family can come over again and spend time together. Pull out any motivational factors you can to give them something that will make them happy, return passion into their lives so they can find happiness and joy in other ways than aquiring needless "stuff". Best of luck to you on this one!

Live for the moment

Go for long walks,
indulge in hot baths,
question your assumptions,
be kind to yourself,
live for the moment,
loosen up, scream,
curse the word,
count your blessings,
Just Let It Go,
Just Be

Affirmations to use while decluttering the soul & home.

♥Mind♥Body♥Spirit♥
Sheryl

HOPE :

H = Have
O = Only
P = positive
E = Expectations (for yourself)

If that doesn't work, try the link: Keep Moving Forward

The actual quote is:
"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."
~Martin Luther King Jr

Ah, I have to get to sleep 🙂

We redid a few rooms, new furniture (most old stuff was carted off when the new stuff arrived) but there was some old furniture literally in the living room waiting to vacate the premises 🙁

The old-furniture-exodus was going way too slow, so this evening I put the rest of the stuff on free-cycle and it is all gone! Whoot!

Free Cycle - the fast way to unload heavy stuff without lifting 🙂

May May -

The physical stuff returns if the soul of the person is also not decluttered. De-cluttering is from the inside - out. The stuff is just an expression of whatever is going on inside a person.

Best of luck!

Hey Sheryl,

Yes, today my uncle sent me some pictures of the house that I will be cleaning. It is definitely a level 5 hoard. The house is huge and there is junk everywhere inside the house and outside. There is no running water in the house, there are bugs and animal poop everywhere, and all 3 of the bathrooms in the house are filled with dirty adult diapers. My aunt and uncle are not in therapy. They actually are not the hoarders. My aunt's parents are the hoarders. And right now they are living with my aunt and uncle. One of the reasons that I have agreed to lead this cleanup is because my aunt and uncle have been trying to get her parent's house cleaned for a long time now; but every time they clean it her parents always fill it back up again with more junk; and my aunt and uncle are getting really frustrated. So I have agreed to help them.

Hi Tillie!

Wow, tea while watching the sunrise 🙂 Beautiful!

One step at a time! I loved the photo, too.

Been busy here, but things remain clam on the home front.

Be well,
Sheryl

Hi MayMay!

<yikes> Have you ever been to this house or seen photos, or been around the aunt uncle recently.

If this is really a level five type (and level-five internal clutter) - may I ask if the aunt & uncle are in therapy? 🙂 Hoping they are.

Tips ..where is Cory? 🙂

Make sure there is enough cash (aunt/uncle) to pay to dump this stuff at the county dump or even better- rent a roll-off dumpster. Some stuff (batteries, chemicals, old medications have to be disposed of properly... make sure you know the local laws for this 🙂 Should be on the Internet and I bet the code enforcement office would be happy to mail you any necessary reading materials.

Antiques, etc, that are "too many" - ask if you can get the list of local dealers who can also come to the house, and pay cash on the spot. This is delegating some of the "job" back onto others, let them research the "who" part of antique dealers.

Same for metal/scrap/broken appliances - have a list of who can come out and haul away, and pay cash on the spot. Delegate that job and expect these lists in your possession before you set off to help. *This is also more than lists, it starts the person making decisions on who/where some of the stuff is going*

YOUR SANITY: Check in with a 2/47 phone hotline if you start to feel unglued. I mean this, and say it from my heart; this is not easy stuff when it's family - been there.

Take care of you! Take time off & away to replenish your soul, eat dinner out by yourself or with a friend.

Wear old clothing (stuff you don't mind tossing in the trash), wear protective clothing if needed; always wear a mask and gloves.

GOOD LUCK! Seattle has Internet 🙂 Check in here often. I really mean that "good luck" part, too!:)

Today I just found out that in a little over a month I get to go to Seattle to help clean up my aunt's parent's hoarded home.

My aunt and uncle from my dad's side of the family has just decided to let me help them clean up my aunt's parent's hoarded home. The way they describe the home it sounds like a level 5 hoard. I'm excited about the clean up because my aunt and uncle have decided to let me LEAD the clean up. Because they know that one day I would like to be an Extreme Cleaning Specialist like my 2 crushes Cory Chalmers and Matt Paxton. I'm kind of nervous about it because this will be my very first clean up and I'm leading it. I just hope I don't accidentally do anything to screw it up and make my aunt's parents mad. I'm mostly really excited about the clean up though. I'm thinking about asking them if I can spend time with my aunt's parents and then spend the night in their home like Cory got to do on that one episode of HOARDERS were he helped Doug. 🙂