Decluttered the corkboards, took out the trash for tomorrow morning's pickup, started the dishwasher. Things are in reasonably good shape around here, amazingly. 🙂

I didn't post yesterday, because I woke up about 5 am with severe diarrhea, managed somehow to pull myself together enough to go out and give a talk by 10 am...came home had to do an infusion, go to online meetings at 4 and 9 and keep up with the dishes, take meds, feed dog etc. Under the circumstances that was as much as I could do. I didn't eat anything until about 2 pm by that time my intestines were OK. I think it was adrenal stress rather than an infection or anything.

Today I caught up on a number of phone calls that needed to be done this week, and the first prospective handyman stopped over with his daughter. He fixed my interior door that slides into the wall on the spot for $25, and gave me a reasonable estimate for taking care of the shed, pressure washing the front porch, painting the eaves where my son could only reach the bottom two boards, covering the hallway to my kitchen where the wallpaper is peeling badly with vinyl wainscotting, repairing the grout next to the tile floors, etc. I liked him and thought his prices were very fair so I'm going to get all that neglected stuff done. He is even a licensed electrician so something can be done about the lamppost in the back next to the shed which is half broken and just sitting there with the lamp hanging from the post.

I have two very cluttered corkboards in my house, one in my bedroom and one in the den, and I think this evening since I am still taking it kind of easy, I will spend 15 minutes on each--I bet I can finish them both in a half an hour.

Oh! And my Scottie got a bath down at the pet grooming place. I'm keeping up with the dishes and kitchen counter, amazingly.

Good morning 🙂

Not ten minutes after I crawled out of bed, my cat jumped up on the bed and vomited on my pillow. 🙁
Gunna be one of thosedays.

Anyways...
now have laundry hanging out on the clothes line.
Have no set plans for today. Did a little bit of tidying up and cat related stuff.
Thinking of looking through every drawer, cupboard, nook & cranny and seeing what, if anything, can and should be donated.
My favorite charity thrift store could really use some more inventory.
I have been supporting their worthy cause since 1988.
It makes it very easy to donate to them when I can see all the great works they do for people with learning disabilities right here in my community.

Don't forget to smile and look for the fun! 😀

Good morning and happy Thursday to Abbey, Barb, Billie, Bluerthnu, Candy, Dave, Diane, Dianne, Helpless Hannah, Jess, Just Me, Karl, Kathy, Mar, Roxie, Sharon, Tillie, Trapt, Trust God and Clean House, and Vi (and to others here I may have failed to mention).

Some of us who have hoarding issues have problems passing up something that is free. Isn't it great that we can come here and get help, hope, support, caring, friendship, and more . . . all for free? Many thanks to you, our much-loved Cory Chalmers, for the time, money, effort, and caring you have put in to make this possible for us.

I got my posted goals done yesterday. I ended up spending longer working in my BIT book than planned, which is a good thing in my case. I didn't end up getting the type of "fun" worked into my schedule last night that I'd originally thought about, but I did spend some time on the phone with two good friends. That was "fun" enough.

One additional positive from last night is that I applied the principles from my Tuesday BIT book work to an item that's been taking up floor space and going unused for a number of years. I've decided to let it go. I think I can get it loaded up into my vehicle (by me or by someone else) for donation within the next two or three days. Yea for the decision (after years of waffling about it)!

Tillie, I hope you did get some rest last night. Thank you for what you do here to help and encourage us all each day. Many, many, many hugs.

Diane, I'm sorry you're not able to get much sleep right now. Sounds like you're getting a lot done. FYI, I got a big laugh the other day about the idea of vacuuming the dog. Hugs.

Roxie, I'll be sipping tea at breakfast and clinking my glass to your cup of coffee.

Will try to post more later. Hugs to all.

HI EVERYBODY! 😀

Hi Mar 🙂
GREAT to "see" you! 😀

Hi Violet 🙂
Happy the garbage situation has been solved for you! 😀

Hi Barb 🙂
You sure have been busy!
YEA!!! for salsa garden sprouts! 😀

Hi Roxie 🙂
Keep taking good care of yourself (((hugs))) 🙂

Hi Dianne 🙂
Take care & come back soon (((hugs)))

Hi LR2014 🙂
working with BIT is so good because CBT helps us change the way we experience and feel and think about situations and experiences.
Helps us to re-think our thinking. 😀

Hi Diane 🙂
whenever he hooks up a different modem he has to then "tell" my computer that there is this new modem before it realizes it's there.
He goes into the main control panel to do this.

Hi Cory 🙂
Always GREAT to "see" you here! 😀
WOW! so wonderful that so many are reading here now.

Woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn't sleep any more.
Got up and did some stuff inside while waiting for the sun to come up.
Went out and watered trees, bushes & shrubs.
Removed & washed window screens.
Hosed down the exterior walls that don't have clutter around them.
Swept porch & walkways.
Washed windows and yard stuff & door mats & porch.
Washed the back door porch floor.
Scrubbed & sanitized litter boxes & dried them out in the sunshine & fresh air.
Came inside and washed the interior sides of the windows that don't have clutter in front of them.
Washed the suncatchers and hung them back in the windows.
Took a shower & washed my hair.
Did three loads of laundry, line dried it, folded it & put it away.
Did other stuff too.
Should sleep soundly tonight. 😀

WAY TO GO EVERYBODY!!!
for all you have been doing and for just being you. 🙂

Hello All!!

I just wanted to say how awesome you all are! I have been reading through your incredible posts supporting each other with praise, as well as helping pick up those that need help. This is what this board was created for almost 5 years ago.

Cory Chalmers
HoardingCleanup.com

Dishes done, almost 2 hours on paperwork, filing, tossing, responding. tried for hours yesterday to hook up modem, now back to rented one, very frustrating, shows there is strong signal, just can't connect.
This lack of sleep is no fun at all.
Made a long to do list to see if that would give me some direction.
Vacuumed some more today, that dog really sheds. did one load of laundry and hung out. so windy here, tough to be outside. Partially cloudy. supposed to rain, if not will water.
Sure will be nice to sleep again, 2 more weeks, 27 days total, that is a long time to wake up at 4am to a barking dog. the owner talked me down in price, now am regretting it and feeling a little taken advantage of because they are wealthy and I am pauper status. When tired, notice I focus on negative too much, ok back to big bedroom for another 10 minutes, maybe 7 minutes, already worn out.

Hi to all. Great to read your posts.

Here are my minimum goals for today: Spend fifteen minutes in my BIT book, spend ten minutes on paperwork, add to my gratitude list, and sweep the kitchen. I've been a bit extra stressed the last 24 hours, so I think that finding something to do for a little bit of fun or relaxation might be extra helpful today. I've been feeling somewhat under the weather off and on today, so I probably can't get too "rambunctious" with my for-fun activities.

As I shared at chat last night, I was working in a section of the BIT book yesterday where, as an exercise, you were asked to find three things to try to discard: one that you thought would be easy, one you thought would be moderately hard, and one you thought would be very difficult to get rid of. Then after trying to discard them, you had to answer questions about your experience.

I dealt with the first two categories OK (and took my "moderately hard" item to Goodwill this morning . . . yea!). I had trouble even choosing a "very difficult" item, though. I ended up deciding that for the moment, most of my stuff falls into one of three categories: fairly easy to discard, moderately hard to discard, and impossible.

The good thing, though, is that from things I've done in the past to work on my clutter issues, I already know that I've made attitude progress. Some of today's "easy to discard" items once would have been a part of my no-way category. So the fact that a lot of my stuff is currently in my "impossible" category doesn't worry me too much. I believe that with more time and more work (working in the BIT book, interacting with all of you, etc.), I will keep making attitude progress. I have some faith that my "impossible" category will continue to shrink.

Lots of hugs to everyone.

Back half of the Den is done! I love my new vacuum. sorting laundry and washing more. have dishes and some other stuff to do but I sure am tired. I'll work on things anyways. Still haven't spotted that enormous spider again, i kind of hope I do so I can catch her and get her out of the house. Normally I'd smash her but she's so big I kind of feel she's earned my respect by eating the nasty things around the house.

I'm looking at Dishes, Mud room and Laundry today. It means I'll be downstairs most of the day, but I only have little things to do upstairs aside from the Kitchen.

I hope you all have a great day today, glad to see you Roxie and I'm glad you're doing alright.

I can take watering the garden off my list. It is pouring down rain!

Thank you for your warm welcome back. I wouldn't just disappear from here without goodbye unless I could avoid it. You all matter to me, and reading each post.

Dianne, please check in now and then rather than abandoning us, okay? (((Dianne)))

Good morning, all.
Roxie: Please continue to take care of yourself and take the time you need to get back on your feet.
Tillie: I feel for you with the dust. I live 3 blocks up the hill from the farmer's field and it is plowing, planting and fertilizer season. Even though my little house is pretty tight, I am always amazed at the amount of dust that comes in until the crops take root in the ground. I really need to dust and vacuum every day, but I seldom do.

It took me two days to get my one day list done because I also cleaned out the little flower bed by the garage and the bed under the kitchen window.
I need to be outside part of every day either walking or working in the yard. The vitamin D from the sunshine keeps me healthy and improves my attitude. Watching the little seedlings pop up out of the ground, smelling the flowers and herbs, tending my garden, all make me happy.

Reading and working in the book on procrastination is helping me discover that it isn't so much a matter of avoiding work as it is in learning to set priorities. When I was working and caring for family, I wasted time at home worrying about what wasn't getting done at work and time at work thinking about what needed to be done when I got home.
Learning how to balance the priorities in my life and adjust them when needed without beating myself up over what doesn't get done right away is essential.

Today I plan to:
1. Do one load of laundry: sort, wash, dry, put away.
2. Stay current on dishes, clean off kitchen table (grocery bags, priority one bills and correspondence, misc. stuff), vacuum the kitchen floor.
3. One bag of living room clutter out to the toter.
4. Plant impatiens in the bed next to the garage. (Only one cosmo came up this year---not enough sun to thrive.)
5. If it doesn't rain today, water the salsa garden. (The seedlings are up!)
6. Work some in the procrastination book. Decide what i might want to post in that thread.

Have a great day, all!

nearly finished with the den, did a few loads of laundry, got really thrown off of that by a huge spider haunting the place. wormed the cats searched for apartments, and am now trying to set up a doctors appointment.... hoping to get more done tomorrow and more sleep tonight. Sorry I missed the meeting, the Holiday threw me off bad. Garbage situation resolved. The man called today and it seems they changed the billing address without notice causing our auto payments to stop. when asked about why our recycling was still being picked up they said, oh you got free service I guess. sigh... See you all in the Morning.

Roxie, you get on before me, but I hope you can enjoy your morning coffee tomorrow 🙂

Tillie, hihi!

Hello to each of you!
I have read your posts and worried about Roxie's health, but glad she is recovering. Also I'm glad for your achievements, way to go! 😀

Hugs and good night!

Got all my posted goals done for today. The specific work I did in the BIT book today took up most of my time this afternoon, so I didn't get a lot else done. Planning to be at chat tonight. Hugs to all!

HI EVERYBODY! 😀

WAY TO GO!!!! for all your accomplishments and thank you for the updates on your lives. 🙂

Was planning to get outside today and finally wash the windows
but...
weather prediction for today is DUST.
So...
really needed to clean inside after that 3 day weekend.
Got it all done! 😀
Vacuumed up lots of cat hair and tracked in dirt and kitty litter.
The wind is starting to pick up intensity now.
Maybe tomorrow those windows will get washed. "?"
Planning to cook some food for me to eat.
Something that I can just microwave up later as I get hungry.
This keeps me from unhealthy snacking on whatever is easiest to grab.
I keep thinking today is Monday but it's really Tuesday. lol

TTYL 😀

Roxie, I'm glad you're okay. Please take care of yourself. My mom in law tells me that all the time. It's easy to forget but it is so very important.

Dianne, I hope your family problems get resolved quickly and without too much hassle. Good Luck.

Today's plan isn't terribly intricate. It's Monday and I always take it easy on Mondays. That being said, Today the Laundry Room calls I've got a few loads of laundry to do and everything needs to be swept and sanitized. I did clean the cat box last night, I hate doing it, but it's better for everyone that I keep it clean. We switched litters and hopefully this will do a better job.
I also plan on finishing the back half of the den, which mostly means tidying boxes and finding places for the rest of the books. Once I get it done I'll post more before and after pics.
I'll try to get around to the mud room, it's overdue. Definitely though I'll get to using that new vacuum.

Kathy, you are doing great, same with you LR. Dianne thanks for letting us know what you are doing, I wish you the best. Roxie, how are you feeling?
Today I have done several things, wanted to check in here before I try to install new modem in case I lose use of computer if something goes wrong. So if I am gone for a few days; it is techie reasons!
Tillie, did vacuum this morning, thinking of you while going over and over floor, lots of dog hair. Even vacuumed dog for 3 seconds.

My employee was here this morning and she and I finished decluttering the remaining five kitchen drawers and the only remaining cabinet. We used Tillie's method of putting a sheet on the table and she did things like wash items and put batteries in the flashlights, I sorted and organized. This means the kitchen is actually DONE.

I have four (4) meetings the rest of the day, three of them online, and a talk to give tomorrow morning. I'm prepared for the latter. So any chance I get the rest of the day, I'm going to rest. Already talked to my mother, who seemed to be dangerous depressed yesterday, and she is better I think.

I have one box of things to donate from this morning (and others were thrown out) and the box is in the car to take to the Goodwill trailer (closest donation spot).

I probably won't be posting as regularly for awhile.

Wishing everyone a blessed, safe, productive summer.

{{{Roxie}}}

Do you have anyone who can check in on you and make sure things are going ok?

Morning plans are to sweep or vacuum the kitchen floor, remove the old sponge from the kitchen sponge mop so I can replace it later, then go to the grocery store. Later in the morning, I plan to go to the Laundromat to dry the pillow I washed yesterday, spend twenty minutes walking while laundry is drying, and then meet with some friends around noon.

Later today, I plan to work some more in my BIT book. I'm at a point in the book where a lot of effort, thinking, and writing will be necessary on my part, so I don't know how much else I will get done today (in terms of clutter/cleanup) after that.

Hugs to all.

Following up on my goals for yesterday . . .

There are two easy-to-finish goals from yesterday that I didn't do. Why didn't I do them? Because instead of actually looking back at my posted goals, I was relying on my memory. I "thought" I'd done all my listed goals. Now I know I need to actually look back at my posted list before hitting the sack. I did one of them this morning. I will go do the other one now, and later I will post my goals for today.

I'm so sorry about what's been going on with you physically, Roxie, but I'm so glad you are well enough to post! Since it's not at all like you to go for this long without posting and since (I think) you had a doc appointment scheduled for the early part of last week, I did wonder if you might have been admitted to the hospital for something. I certainly didn't expect a heart attack! (Neither did you, I'll bet.) Whoa! Many, many, many hugs. I have missed you!

Roxie, so happy to hear you survived all of this. Difficult week for you, happy your house is clean and you can just take care of yourself and get your strength back. Hugs to you.

ROXIE (((HUGS)))
take care Sweetie and please keep us posted
(((HUGS)))

Although I'm feeling sort of out of the swing of things here because of my absence, it is good to read all your posts.

Tillie, I used your sheet idea on the junk drawer that wouldn't close in the kitchen...sorted it into four categories, stored some things elsewhere, and left the office supplies, deck of cards and eyeglass repair kit in the drawer which is now quite clear and not overcrowded. Put away keys (labeled); hardware (in small ziploc bags, labeled), chargers and cables and power cords (in a translucent plastic bin, labeled, in the cabinet under the junk drawer)...and if I wrote this all to the list already, count it as incipient dementia or something but the drawer is decluttered and organized. Threw out some stuff too...Plus I put the sheet I used in the laundry. Ate dinner, dishes in dishwasher. I think I am making some good progress today. I have the material out for the talk on Wednesday and a lot of Sunday's will be usable since it's in a different place.

Things eventually got more quiet around here, so I was able to stick around and work inside longer than expected. I'm taking a break to read posts.

I have an out-of-town friend who is well versed in my clutter issues. She understands quite well that issue that came up on chat last night: what happens inside of us when there is the "threat" of having company. She called this afternoon en route to a certain destination, and I knew she'd be passing by my general area. I decided to play mind games with myself and told her to feel free to stop by (and to not tell me if she was really going to come by or not, so that I'd get busier with my cleaning). She laughed and said (menacingly), "I'm coming over!" I got busy. (I haven't had anyone inside since the last maintenance repair guy came.) She did stop by about forty minutes later just for a moment. In the meantime, I got various things done I would otherwise not have done today. When she left, since I was still "on a roll," I decided to play more mind games with myself. I set the timer for thirty minutes, pretending she still hadn't arrived. (Being able to think imaginatively can be to my advantage at times.) The thirty minutes is up. My sink is now shiny, I finally chunked an item that had been in my way in the kitchen for six months, I got my kitchen floor (almost) ready to be mopped, and did various other little things.

Now I will return to my "regularly scheduled program." Hugs to all.

Wow Monday is a great day to post with new insight I noticed, good going everyone. I hung one framed picture of dessert with blooming cactus on a rocky slope over where I am sitting.
I already filed some stuff, opened camera instructions online then printed off the pages on how to put pictures on computer etc. Made 2 copies, one for file one for where I keep camera. This was after wasting at least 1/2 hour looking for papers.
Put mailing label on return modem box, wrote down ups tracking number etc. Next step is to hook up personel modem so can return theirs, one step at a time. May try today but for sure tomorrow when I know good tech support can be reached.
Went through whole yard on poop patrol, now in garbage can. Left door open last night and was able to sleep until 6am, forget about safety, need sleep, do feel more energetic today.
Attached white tv cable to wall so not just hanging across doorway.
Played fetch.
Today I would like to try out camera instructions to try to email pictures to owner, just had enough after hooking up printer and finding computer manual online and downloaded, then printed. Shall we wait until tomorrow to vacuum tillie, I got it out then ran out of energy for now.
Washed bedding this morning, now hanging on line in sun. When you mentioned how nice it is to climb into a bed with clean sheets, I realized it has been over a week, plus needed motivation to shower and wash my hair this afternoon after I clean up some stuff in yard. It is so nice having the dog sleeping in the organized living room, so peaceful. I can appreciate the progress today.
About procrastination, just like hoarding, easier to see in others for me. Just like the white cable, I do things, then wait to do the finishing touches, when in reality, it only took a couple of minutes to finish today. Modem, afraid I won;t be able to figure it out so wait until I am smarter, that would be waiting forever, so just have to go through the discomfort and do the best I can do. I think learning adult skills of being responsible and making decisions, and taking action, instead of sitting back in fear and blaming others, can be learned, just a task for the brave. I know, enough already.
I would like to do one more load of laundry today, dishes are done, garbage out, feels so foreign to be in here with out dread, of course went into big bedroom today and felt the dread, did work 10 minutes in there, and will do another 10 today now have a timer again. Amazing how timer gives me courage to face things knowing there is an end to discomfort. I can do almost anything uncomfortable for 10 minutes, just have to set the timer and start, even though I do NOT want to and have no motivation to do it, just do it because big girls don't live in a hoard, and no one is going to save me from hoard, except me. Ok really enough now. Thanks for all of your hard work, it really does help to read your progress