Haha-I wrote take cats instead of take care. I do love cats!

WELCOME HOME, Roxie!!! Baby steps! Wish I were there to help you with your groceries and other things.

Glad to hear from Tillie as well! I binged watched Vreaking Bad so understand the fun that can be!

Will write more later on--just finished seeing Mom and taking her for groceries, then seeing ill family member and taking him groceries, now hanging out with BF before meeting a friend for afternoon tea

Take cats, everyone!

Honey, I'm home. Spent all of August so far in the hospital. Went in as outpatient with severe dehydration and I insisted on staying as an impatient because of alarmingly low blood pressure. Spent two of the weeks in a rehab unit building strength and letting them adjust meds until I got to somewhat reasonable BP levels.
\
\Now at home I'm back to tiny baby steps as I monitor and further adjust meds. I'll take it one hour at a time and focus on hydration, nebulization, food and practicing a little walking with my walker only inside.

I have missed you all.

Good Morning Everybody 🙂

Make sure to enjoy these days. Remember to play. 🙂

Happy to hear the job is going well, Barb. Re the toilet seat, I bet it will be easier for you to keep clean and keep the bathroom clean if you feel you have the right toilet seat. Sometimes "hating something" like particular carpet or dresser, can give me a ready-mades excuse for not keeping it clean and clutter free. Right now the only thing in my house that bugs me is a chair in my library area. It's nice and all, I'm just not crazy about it. I have a plan, though, and I'm keeping it free of clutter in the meantime.

Sticking to emptying my dishwasher and keeping all dishes out of sink. Ditto folded laundry. What a pleasure! Going to be another cool day in the Northeast. Hot days such as your weather, Barb,really take it out of me!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Saturday!

Good morning, everyone
I had a good week at work. Settling into a new routine can be tiring, but the workload and pace are manageable and people continue to be friendly and helpful.
Last night the young man mowed for me. I had to pay him extra. With all the rain we had over the past week, the grass was quite tall. It was very hot last night and he missed several spots and did not trim, but it is done and I won't get a ticket from the city.
I have not been able to make much headway on the clutter this week and was not able to have any workmen out. When the kitchen faucet was opened, the box contained the wrong one, so we had to contact the distributor and send it back. They discontinued making the easy-clean toilet seats I like. I was able to purchase one new one and had to persuade Lowe's to let me buy their display model off the wall at a reduced price. The other stores in town do not carry it. It is a little scuffed up, but I think a little Bar Keeper's friend should fix it. I know I am a little OCD, but I want my toilets to match.
This weekend, I will trim and weed outside, clean the kitchen and bathrooms, and start again on decluttering. I will need to pace myself. I have air conditioning , but temperatures will continue to be in the high 90s and it is easy to overdo.
Have a great weekend, everyone. Stay cool. I will check in Sunday night.

Oh boy things are unsettled for you, Karl. I hope you and your housemates are able to find a solution quickly.

Diane, I haven't felt like posting all week because I haven't done anything. I just think that we need to be fair with ourselves. We do a lot and as hoarders, it's not just about hard physical work, it's about hard emotional work. How'd we let it get so bad, how can we let go of this thing or that thing, why'd we spend so much money on useless stuff. We struggle and we cope and we work hard. Certainly we deserve to take a break without treating ourselves so unfairly.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Hopefully energy and a forgiving spirit.

Goodnight, dear friends.

Registered mail from the owner of this home does not contain an announcement of rent increase as expected, but rather a 30-day termination notice. I told my housemate to go ahead and ask whether we can stay and pay the higher rent that was previously under discussion; meanwhile, I've started looking for a new place. Since we've been getting along OK here, I'm now considering a place that the three of us can continue to share, instead of going separately.

Thanks for saying hello Tat. I feel so much better hearing from you and that I am not alone being lethargic this week, please do go to doctor. I watered things outside tonight and watched a show on PBS was feeling frustrated that I did not do more, then read your post and feel like forgiving myself and knowing tomorrow will be better. Hugs

Good to hear from you, Diane. I too haven't gotten any measurable work done this week. Glad to hear that you've been to the doctor! I'll try to use that to motivate myself to get to the doctor myself! I am exhausted,barely making it home from work before falling asleep for three hours at a stretch! It feels like thyroid meds are due for an adjustment. I am maintaining my house, however, so I'll take some solace in that. But honestly,without making forward progress, I feel like I'm not getting any thing done. Good for you Diane for getting a donation bag together AND getting some fun time in!

Let's not beat ourselves up for not getting as much done as we would've liked.

Thinking of you Diane and all of our friends here. Glad also to hear from LR. Missing Tillie, Barb, Bitsy, Karl, Dianne, Roxie and anyone I've neglected to mention. Check in when you can.

my long post did not post so will make this short, Tillie and LR and Tat, hope you have a good weekend
Ups and downs here, took donations to thrift store
Went to art festival by the river in Bend today, excellent art, so nice
Went to new doctor, wonderful woman.
Not much progress this week
dishes done

Good morning. Things are slowing down a bit today for me. (Well, I'm expecting to be busy, but it's more of a "flexible schedule" kind of busy.) My relative's funeral will be held early next week, fyi.

I had decided to look in my parents' house for some old photos of that relative (pictures from her younger days) that I could scan and send to her family. A container that had some of these old pictures (and yes, I did find some good ones) also has some of those not-so-beloved silverfish in it. Been reading on the Internet about how to get rid of those little critters. It's always good for me to have more incentives to clean and declutter.

Happy day. Hugs.

Sending you warm wishes, Tillie. I "channel" you every day when I defend my progress...of course, I'm merely defending against myself, which is easier than defending against someone else. Still, I am a formidable opponent and must take the time to fight the urge to just leave this or that, there and there.

Hope everyone is doing well. I haven't done anything new but haven't backslid.

Hi 🙂

Sorry for not posting much lately.
Trying to keep it together here & that takes all my strength and attention.
Hoping that things here get all sorted out soon.

Take care (((hugs)))

Thank you, dear LR, for taking the time to check in with us. Stay strong.

Good afternoon! Love that your kitchen is clean and clear, Tatoulia!

My thanks to all of you for the hugs and condolences. They mean a lot to me. Beautiful quote, bitsy! One of the positive things about a time like this is that it can bring family members and friends together for mutual support, people who perhaps hadn't been around one another in a long time. Such is the case in this situation. (This is the side of my family that has a number of members with "our" issues, by the way, so I will get to see a lot of "us" at the funeral services this weekend.)

Before I post this, I want to say that I could have sworn I posted this already this morning. Not only did I think I posted it, but I thought I confirmed that the post did "take." I'm confused. Maybe that's just my general state of being at the moment. Anyway . . .

Hugs to all of you.

Hello everyone. I can see that we have all been dealing with a lot lately. For me, I've spent the last several days trying to get my hands on some diagnostic study results for an I'll family member. Its been a nightmare, fighting with his insurer to get something covered but isn't due to some missing paperwork. His PCP hasn't been able to get it either so I took matters into my own hands and took a half a day off from work to get it dine. The usual call this number,talk to that person, only to end up at square one, being referred all around and ending up at the same place I'd called originally. It is compounded by the fact that I am not the patient and although I am health care proxy they require all thus other stuff. Eventually got in my car and started driving instead of phone calls. It looks like my hard work paid off and 8 think I have the right stuff now. Going to fax it all over the place when I get to work tomorrow. I wish I'd thought of just finding them on my own back in July when issue first arose.

I have not spent any time in my scary closet but let's not focus on the negative. The positive is I'm keeping up with clean and clear kitchen. Never a dirty dish on sink. Counters clean and clear!! Dining room table still looks very pretty. No papers! All laundry washed and folded and put away. It feels so much easier to be me.

I hope everyone is doing well. Please take care of yourselves. Barb, my heart sank when reading that you heard someone being called a hoarder. Oh boy.

LR2014
thinking of you with love and sympathy

"What we have once enjoyed deeply
we can never lose.
All that we love deeply
becomes a part of us."
? Helen Keller 

I am so sorry, LR. (((Hugs))) from me, too.

My condolences, LR.

LR2014

(((HUGS)))

Good morning, everyone. I wanted to let you know that my much-loved older relative that I've told you about passed away last night. (I was on chat last night and didn't get the news until I saw my phone this morning.) Thank you again for the extra love and encouragement you all have given me over the past few weeks regarding this situation. I probably won't be on the daytime chat very much over the next few days because of family matters.

Glad to have met so many new people last night on chat! Welcome to all of you!

I'll be reading posts when I can, but I may not be posting much during the next few days. Hugs to everyone.

Good Morning Everybody 🙂

Please take care of yourselves.
Do the best you can with what you have to work with.

Wow, sorry so many problems you all are dealing with.I almost did not come to this site today because I feel like I wasted most of my day being indecisive on how to do a few things. Did do dishes, watered some bushes. Used perimeter spray on red ants yesterday, today most appear dead so used it again. Found 2 more areas in back yard with huge ant colonies, same big red ants, sprayed the heck out of them, hope it works. Still too hot for me. Supposed to cool down tomorrow, sure hope it does. I found myself jumping from task to task and find it a big waste of time so tried to stick with one thing until done. Think I will go get groceries soon, also have to drop off donations.
Hope tomorrow is a better day for all of us

Hello,

Hoping today will be a better day.
Yesterday woke up with a migraine and then the well pump malfunctioned so I had no water.
A packrat was in the pumphouse area and ran back under the house when I opened the door.
Wrote a post here and when I hit "enter" my computer went blank & the post dissapeared.
Scooter scratched his eye on another cat's claw. Think it will be alright, hope so any way.
So far today the headache is gone and I have water.
Fingers crossed.

Take care everybody. (((hugs)))

Tatoulia and Dianne
Thank you both so much for your posts. My son had catheter removed last night and may be released to go home today. So now I am freaking because there may have to be home care, and he probably shouldn't come to house till he's more healed. to much stuff to trip over and not a good environment to be taking care of surgical wound and colostomy care. So I guess I will try to get a motel room. maybe extended stay. More money I need to spend on trying to un-hoard. This is how I don't get things done. one "crisis after another. overwhelmed. decisions, decisions. headache, nausea, etc.. Don't know about getting help.

I am sorry about your situation, Karl. I hope everything works out for you. It must be frustrating to have to keep moving.

I was eating lunch at work the other day in the break room and I overheard someone say, "Yes, she's a hoarder." I froze instantly. But they were not talking about me. They were talking about a woman that works in another part of our building. They said that this summer four people came in to help her clean and reorganize her workspace because it had gotten so bad. And they wondered aloud what her house must look like where she lives. And they wondered how long she will be able to keep her work area neat and clean.
No one at work would ever guess that I am a hoarder. I am super organized and super neat at work. You could say I am obsessed about it. My desk is clean and everything is put away before I leave even if I have to do it after I clock out. I have even been known to purchase color-coded file folders and containers for things I use most often so that I can locate them easily. This is because, for me, if everything looks the same, it becomes confusing and things get lost. If things look different, I can make decisions about where they go faster and easier.
And I was reminded again how alike we hoarders all are and yet how different. Some of us, like the other woman, are chronically disorganized. Some, like myself, have to be super organized in order to function. And maintenance is crucial. Once clutter reaches a certain point, we cannot deal with it effectively without becoming extremely anxious.
There are so many of us out there trying desperately to get back a life that has spiraled out of control. We just take one day at a time, one step at a time, do what we can for today, and trust that we will get where we need to be in the end.

Have a great day, everyone. Keep your eye on the prize!

New housing-related woes. (Not a hoarding issue.)

Near as i can tell, the owner is also having financial difficulties and is hoping to solve them by raising the rent. Though if we respond by moving out and the place goes unrented for a while, then that's going to make the owner's financial situation worse, not better, for the immediate future.

YAY Diane! Congratulations!

i wrote long post (below) and it would not post, I copied it, closed this site, then logged on again and pasted it and it posted. I think it took so long to write previous post that I got timed out or something, so after reading posts about not being able to post, I wonder if it is a timed thing, if we take too long we can not post. Good reason to copy before we attempt to post