Egads, I hate dealing with my own messes, let alone someone else's. No wonder quite a few of us live alone. 🙁 Anyway, here's to a good day.

Karl, it is good you are seeking a social life and contacts outside your home. Remember at least to do 15 minutes a day cleaning!

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and stocked up. I used the motorized cart while there since I was already too tired to begin with. I've been beyond tired since I returned. I did put all the things away properly though and started loading the dishwasher with dirty dishes.

Today I have to find my papers to get new tags for the car and pay property taxes. Then finish loading the dishwasher and actually run it. I need to look up/find someone to come haul away my disgusting old refrigerator and get that scheduled. Need to break down large cardboard boxes on the patio so I can load them flat into the car and recycle them.

Gentle nudges all around, friends.

Tillie, sorry to read how your strategy is not working and the stress you are feeling about it. As a hoarder myself, I wonder if he thinks you joined the hoarders club and are on his team now. If a cleanie started leaving stuff around I would think they were finally relaxing a little. Hoarders have a different way of looking at things than a normal person. I was hoping it would work for you, you now have to wonder if the stress on you is worth it. I wish you well and a hoard free life.

I was waitlisted for a MeetUp event today, but a late cancellation finally got me onto the attendee list. So it seems I'll be out socializing for most of the day -- which means I won't be getting any clean-up done today (at least, not until late), and I'll also miss tonight's support chat (again).

Thank you Roxie 🙂

Good morning? 🙂
I am exhausted already.
The house is disgustingly filthy now. There is stuff laying around needing to be put away.
My nerves are frazzled.
All the cats are being nasty mean because of the kitten being here. Hissing & fussing with each other.
He has taken the kitten and gone off somewhere, visiting I guess.
Don't think this plan of me not doing stuff here in case that was enabling him is working.
He doesn't mind wearing dirty clothes or having his dirty dishes pile up. He doesn't mind living with the messes he makes.
He has been complaining about some of the obstacles I have left laying around. Strange, since he doesn't mind the obstacles he leaves laying about.

I want to work in the garden. Weather is perfect for it.

My TO-DOs for today...
clean the kitchen
do a wash load of rags
water my spider plant

Remember 5:00pm PST tonight is chat. 🙂

Thanks for listening to my little pity party. ;D

Tillie, keep that tough love going. He did the right thing rescuing the kitten...it would not have survived because it is ill. Now with medical treatment and one-on-one "mothering," it stands a chance. But you are right, he'll want to keep them all. He needs to learn that a good "parent" is prepared to let his baby leave the nest for a happy home. 🙂

Karl, got it! I myself bought a small paper shredder to now help me sort through the too big piles of paperwork still ahead of me. I have to divide it into years for tax purposes, then buy accordion files for each year. Will do soon.

Diane, glad your energy is back! I'm impressed with how much you can get done.

Dianne, thinking of you and hoping you trek onward.

The cats are underneath a building where he works as a maintenance man.
He tried to trap the mother but she won't get in the trap.
The kitten wandered out from the hole while he was working near by and he was able to just pick him up.
The kitten has a cold, could not see enough to run back under.
He wanted to capture the cats to get them medical help, spaying/neutering and rehoming.

The real problem is that he wanted me to do all the work. I told him that I am no longer able to put in all the time required anymore due to my health.

Plus he is a hoarder.
He would be a cat hoarder if he could but I will not allow it.
The last two abandoned and starved near to death cats I rescued he pressured me to allow him to keep them.
He wants to keep this new kitten but that would be too many cats.
I have to do all the cat chores here or his 2 cats would not get all the proper care they deserve.

Forcing him to properly care for this kitten is teaching him that having cats is not all fun & games.
He has to feed it, give it it's medicine on schedule, clean up after it and take it to the Veterinarian.

Now maybe he will believe me when I say that I will no longer do animal rescue. 🙂

If he'd left the kitten where he found it, wouldn't it still be under the proper care of mommy cat? It didn't sound like the kitten had been abandoned.

WAY TO GO! Karl by paying bills online. 🙂

Diane,
you need to visit our "self care" thread and schedule in a manicure for your blackened nails. 😉
After gardening in sandals I have the matching toe nails. ;P

Fantastic! using what you already have to get those projects tackled around your home. 😀

Anyway...
Him having the full responsibility for the kitten care is working.
He has made plans and even posted photos on line to find the kitten a good home. 😀
We went grocery shopping today & got some food.
Planning on showering soon and getting to bed early tonight.

TTYL 😀

Ok, now I am actually going to get off my duff and get to work. This week I am going to clean my bathroom. I am thinking I don't need 37 lipsticks since I don't wear it anymore. Don't really need eye shadow or mascara since my eyelids droop too much to use it, lots to throw out. Old lotions etc. so much I can get rid of yippee. How do I get the mineral deposits off tub and toilet? Years of neglect, it isn't pretty. Did put in a new sink last year, so that looks good, the rest really needs help.

I enjoyed reading what everyone is up to, sorry Tillie you live with a pain in the neck, and weeding didn't help (attempt at humor) I feel like a stranger after missing yesterday. I wrote on my personal blog, a novel, to process all my thoughts, well some of them. Basically, rained and saw areas needed to be patched on trailer roof, so did that yesterday, and some in craft room. Today up at 5AM started working at 6AM, worked all day, but outside. Will do dishes, make soup and go through 2 bags of clothes this afternoon. I have been really motivated now that burns are healing,makes me really grateful for how good my health is most of the time. As the clutter decreases my energy increases, and I am happier. I am slowly letting friends back into my life. You never know, a repairman might even be allowed in one of these days or months is more like it. I have been consistently working for 7 or 8 weeks, the longest I have ever stayed motivated, ok, a few bad days, but I continue to have hope that I will live like I deserve this year. Not bringing anything home has helped so much, I felt hopeless stacking new stuff on old hoard. Every thing I have done and fixed has been with things I already had. Feels good to use some of my stuff before it rots and has to go to junk yard. Happpy to see so many interesting posts on here.

Roxie, I do already pay all my bills by computer, so my mail disorganization hasn't hurt my credit rating. I do it by hand, rather than automatic payment, since I'd still have to track it to make sure the money is in the bank in the first place.

Thank You Roxie 🙂

Unfortunately, I used to be the animal rescue.
Baby & injured birds, nursing kittens, rehoming abandoned pets, trapping & neutering feral cats.
Still have all my equipment.
My three cats were baby ferals and his two cats were abandoned pets.
But I had to quit because I am just always so tired any more.
Last night I sat him down and made him learn kitten care & he had to tend to the kitten while I got to sleep.
Hoping this will make him think twice before bringing home any more. 😉

Karl, I have shared your "mail problem," with stacks lying around all over the place.

One thing that works for me regarding bills is that I've set up online payment capabilities for many of them, and automatic payment abilities wherever possible. That really helped rebuild my credit ratings since I now am rarely if ever late in paying or failing to pay all together.

Roxie

Thanks for all the encouragement, boardies!

Tillie, if you go to petfinder dot com, you can search for local animal rescue groups. See if they can take mama and baby, especially since you're addressing the kitten's health issue. If mom is too feral, she can still be trapped and spayed and returned outdoors after the baby is weaned, or if the rescue group has bottle baby feeders. They could then tame and adopt out the baby. Many rescues have humane traps to borrow or rent, and many have low or no cost spay programs.

Karl, congrats on the mail work. It seems to me that you dedicating 15 minutes a day of cleaning and/or sorting is at least a way for you to start. Good for you. I know it helps me on my worst days.

Dianne, I'm so glad you are getting yourself the medical attention you need. It should help your continuing efforts to change your life and your home.

Today I feel like Pigpen. I just want to work on ancestry dot com. I ought to take things (already in the car) to the thrift store to donate, and ought to stop by the cat shelter, but that means taking a bat or shower first and all that. Makes me tired just thinking of it.

My TO-DOs for today?

I have a very bad head ache and stiff neck. Probably from the weeding I did yesterday combined with a lot of stress brought on by my hoarder's actions.

Under a building where he works is a momma cat and at least one kitten. The kitten came out and he picked it up. Tiny little thing, still nursing and has some sort of disease.
He brought him home.

He is in town at the Veterinarian with him.

I made it very clear that we have enough cats & he can't keep him and that he is putting the health of our cats at risk just bringing the kitten in.

🙁

YEA! Roxie 😀

That would be a really scary dream 🙁
It is common though for people to have these fears of things returning to their former condition. But the fear also helps to keep you motivated to prevent that from happening.

WAY TO GO! Karl And Dianne! 😀

Very important to be able to read all that small print. 🙂

Best way to deal with mail...
Every day when you bring the mail in
take one minute to sort it out
toss all the junk mail immediately into the trash
have one spot to place all the real mail. This could be a basket or flower pot placed near where you do your bill paying.

This will keep the pile small enough to more easily deal with.

You could start doing this today with the new mail as you start to tackle the other piles of the older stuff. 🙂

Karl that is excellent!!

Now I just need to remember to read the prescription bottle haha

After nearly a week of getting nothing done, I made a point to do 15 minutes of cleanup before going to bed tonight, sorting a stack of mail, some of it dating back to December. I got rid of the junk mail, and put all the bills in one place (I haven't yet decided how I'll deal with those when the time comes).

I found one envelope containing something I'd ordered a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't realized it had already arrived, and I've been watching the mailbox each day waiting for it. Life would sure be simpler if I were more organized from the start!

Way to go Roxie! Every little bit helps
Awesome job cleaning!

Tillie- Cory forgot to mail it last Fri due to busy schedule but mailed it today and will get it in a few days.

Went to interview today but it's really a employment agency when I got there I didn't know before hand. But still delayed due injury 🙁

One week down, two weeks to go and counting to walking
Hope everyone is doing well and keep cleaning a little bit at a time.

Good Day,

OMG,last night I had a nightmare that my house had gone back to its previous state. It's a pretty constant fear. I did clean a large mirror yesterday, and a few squares of the kitchen floor. Doing the floor all at once is too much for me. I gathered up and put into a large cardboard box the bits of corrugatd cardboard that I intend to recycle. The goal is to get the box into the car so I actually go to the recycle center.

Otherwise I'm not getting much done. The fine art of procrastinating.

Roxie

Good morning 🙂
Yesterday I was all ready to do lots of weeding and watering in my garden.
Before I even started out there I got a nasty spider bite on my ankle.
Was treating it when my neighbor came by to visit and she gave me an OTC benadryl to help.
Since I never take any drugs or drink alcohol my tolerance is very low.
That benadryl knocked me out for hours. 😛
So, today I will once again attempt to water and weed.

Of course the cat stuff needs doing first.
Then I need to decide on menu choices and make a grocery shopping list for tomorrow morning.

I am still doing the not doing stuff to see if maybe that was enabling my hoarder. Hoping to see some success come about this week end.
Maybe if the wasps and spiders out there start biting him?

Wishing everyone a cheerful and productive day! 😀

Dianne
WTG! 😀
Isn't it nice that every morning we get a fresh new day? 🙂

YEA! WTG! Lynn 🙂
My book was mailed on Tuesday and I received it on Thursday.

Hey Karl 🙂
Hoping you had fun out with friends & pizza & games! 😀

Diane,
Wonderful wonderful all you have gotten done! 😀

Another great day. Tomorrow is garbage pickup and I hustled to fill up the garbage can/cart. It became easy when I went into a walkway that goes to back yard. Anything that mice had chewed or pooped on or lived in, is now in garbage. I had this Chico brand, fleece full length coat that I couldn't part with, but never wore. It had been chewed by mice, I assume, mice have rich tastes, think coat cost over $100, and now is in garbage. Good lesson on giving things to people and not rodents.
Went to doctor, wounds are healing, only a tiny problem, all will be well, so glad you encouraged me to go to doctor, prevented infection I am sure.
Rained yesterday and today so got to see where my deck roof leaks, not bad, will fix tomorrow.

Today I got another call for an interview. Yahooo! After I go to doc appt I go home and then get ready for interview a little latter.
Today I got my clothes ready for tomorrow for doc and then for the interview. Will take another shower tonight to be ready for big day for tomorrow. It's been in the 80s now and sunny.
I've been doing more research job hunting and still sending resumes in. Having things organized in my area really helps.
Lucky Bamboo plants really do bring luck. They are a die-hard plant that does well in indirect sunlight. I have two and love them because they are small and not too tall(yet).

Do hope all is doing well, with smiles; later

Sun-Wed: 4 days of no actual cleanup. 🙁

Tuesday I attended the online chat support. When the discussion turned to gardening, I mentioned that I have a blue aloe (impulse purchase three years ago; bought with the idea that it can probably survive some amount of neglect). It's been looking rather crowded in its tiny 4 fl oz original container, so while we were chatting I cut open the original container and moved the plant to a larger plastic tub after cutting some holes along the bottom edge. I moved it from the inside window sill to outside, but the angle of the house and garage might be blocking most direct sunlight during the day.

Restless last night, and interrupted by two early morning phone calls (which I didn't accept). I'm about to go out to meet friends for pizza buffet. This evening I have a board games social meet. I'm not sure what I'll be able to get done during the afternoon.

Thanks Tillie,

Tillie about when did you get your book? I haven't recieved mine yet. He said that he'd send it out last week Fri and was hoping in a few days it would show up or so but not sure when it would come.

Been reading everyone's post and sounds like goals are being met. Awesome job everyone!
Keep up the good work.

Take care everyone

New day, new start.

take care everyone 🙂

Good morning 🙂
Cool & cloudy here. Good day for me to get out and do some weeding.
First, do cat stuff.
TTYL 🙂