Wow! You are doing great, Lila and SubC!

I have to clear desk, dining table and coffee table. Won't be too hard, though. Have a few tiny presents to wrap, I'm almost out of tissue paper and the store shelves are bare. It's actually a good thing to see that due to supply chain or other reasons, the stores aren't overstocked with a bunch of junk. It feels less like waste and conspicuous consumption this year.

I have two remaining errands this year. That's it. I haven't done my Christmas cards and for some reason I'm still feeling solid.

I'm exhausted. I hope to be able to raise my energy level tmr.

I haven't even done any laundry. That's how tired I've been. Very low energy and very tired.

Lila, I call those tasks that look large but take minimal time "five minute miracles". It truly only takes five minutes to unload a dishwasher

The only thing I'm keeping up with is making my bed and doing the dishes.

I have to bake an almond cake tmr. For Christmas Eve.

Well, except I moved them to a room they don't go to because the room the go to is????

It's a process.

Just got a call from Dd. She's bringing the Bean out here to spend the night so they can clean their gutters tomorrow. Dh will return him when he goes to his guitar lesson tomorrow evening. Then they will be back on Friday for a short visit, drive up to dsil's uncles' for a Christmas Eve celebration, and back here to sleep.

Gotta go get the chores done!

hey good work SubC! Sometimes we have to move things as we clear. I figure as long as I am still making progress, it's fine to move some things to the room they go in, and deal with them later. It's worth it to finish a space.

I hit a stall because now my fam is coming to make cookies and although I want to, and enjoy it, and am happy and love them, it also is stressing me out! I am seriously lacking in alone time and also am having trouble figuring out what to let go of til after xmas and what to do now. One of my coping mechanisms is list-making, and I channeled that into a planner the last few years. So I sat here and fiddled with my planner, organized it a bit, highlighted some things. I will work on it some more later. I guess I am going to go take my dog in the yard to play fetch before they get here.

Yay Lila!

Enjoy your clean kitchen!

You should definitely get that sad box out ASAP.

I "finished" the small table of school stuff, but I "finished" it by moving sone things to the folding table in the basement and some things to the dining table on the porch h (although I did first clear some easier things off the dining table to ake room.

There is still bin on the scullery floor, and there is still a lot on the dining porch floor, but Dh thinks I have done well. I shifted gears to wash things that were piled on the scullery counter and will have a place to go when they become dry, so that got a little better. And I resigned a few items to a trash bag.

I was feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, but then I realized that all the things I have done today happened during the time I would usually be teaching (I would STILL be teaching) so really, I did a lot and if I didn't have a job, I could probably keep up with my house... (except I don't keep up with it in the summer either..what was I doing all summer? Gardening I guess.)

I think I'm going to rest a bit and then tackle the tree this evening.

part 3 -

the kitchen table is CLEAR!! It is totally empty and washed off! I am shocked it took only a total of about 15 minutes to get that done, when it was literally covered and piled. I am sharing this to encourage you guys:
1) it usually takes less time than we think to clear a space, and
2) once you have cleared a space that was hoarded up for months or years, if it gets re-cluttered, clear it ASAP! I did not let it go on for months, but cleared it within a couple weeks and it was SO much easier because everything there was recent stuff and I pretty much knew what to do with it all.

I learned a great lesson today.

Also, the bar counter is about 75% done, the dishwasher is unloaded/re-loaded, the counters are about 50% wiped off. And I even moved something from the living room and put it away.

I am actually proud of myself.... a nice change from feeling so ashamed of myself (which is unwarranted but I've felt it a lot over the state of my home). I keep glancing at that cleared table and feel surprised every time!

update - sitting down to have a cookie.

I got the table and bar counter about half cleaned off fairly quickly! A lot of it was mail and packages (Christmas presents). I moved the packages to my bed, and later I will open them so I can wrap everything. There were a couple boxes which I put in my room for donation boxes. A few small items all got put into a little bin. I sorted a pile of paper and bills and got rid of about half. There were dog toys and chews and I put them all in a small box and moved to my room (there is a dedicated dog treat bin and I will put them in there).

Now all that is left is bags of rolls and a box of protein shakes to put away, my sewing machine that needs to be put back into the closet, and a few random items. It was not nearly as hard as before when it was 5000 unrelated items.

The kitchen is still not touched. I was hoping my husband or son would come in an unload the dishwasher, but son fell asleep and husband went back to hiding in his room. It would be more trouble to ask him to do it. I hate unloading but I know it will take me less than 5 minutes so I am just going to do it, load it and turn it on, get counters wiped and sink washed out.

Living room is also cluttering back up and dusty. I don't know if I can deal with that today though but it is bothering me.

So my solitude for yesterday did not work out - I ended up having to get a task done and taking a friend along with me on those errands to work on things together. But it was pleasant. I enjoyed her company, but I do sorely miss being alone. So today, I am enjoying a quiet, peaceful morning with NO outside work. Family is coming this afternoon to bake cookies together, so that will be nice.

BUT!!! how can we bake cookies when then entire kitchen table and bar counter are once again covered AND stacked with clutter? And the kitchen isn't cleaned. So... I will work on those but it looks quite overwhelming. I don't know how it got this bad when I JUST spent all that time getting them cleared.

I mailed box #2. It had an album, son's fave book as a child, a few more of his ornaments I found and a small stocking, and the little quilt I made when I was pregnant with him. Plus cards for my grands. When I came home and went in my room I saw the empty box with his name on it and that hurt. I got that box when he was born and put all those things in it for over 30 years. How is that even possible? He is still a little boy in my head, and seeing his box with his name on it empty makes me sad. So that box is going to be the next donation box. I already put a couple of xmas decorations in it.

Will be back later as I try to clean surfaces.

Hello again.

So besides the (untouched) tree, my goals for cleaning today were to clear the scullery floor, clear the dining porch floor, and clear the small school table.

The scullery floor is mostly done - Dh swept it too! But the last few things are really hard because they are a bunch of individual items with no homes. They are all in a bin, but there is nowhere to put the bin.

I am thinking about switching to a new area even though it would feel so good to have that done.

Dh is being very nice to me. He offered to drive half an hour to drop off a big box of styrofoam for me. He hates dealing with styrofoam.

I almost didn't go to the party last night, but then at the last minute I did. It was nice. Far more lightly attended than in previous years, but a good group of people. Good food, some pleasant conversation.

All potters, and the gift exchange was to bring a piece of pottery you made in a plain brown paper bag. They had us draw numbers and someone wrote the numbers on the bags. The person who got mine seemed to really like it (I pulled a bowl out of unsold stock from when I was doing shows) and I got a pretty tumbler. The guy who made it said he didn't have much fired and that I could trade it for another piece if I want in January (he has work out at the studio.) I will probably keep it, but it's fun to know that if he puts one up I just fall in love with I can trade!

More cleaning and clearing today and I plan to finally get the tree done! (Maybe) nowhere to go at least. Dh agreed that I could set up a folding table in the corner of the basement and Kay out all my teacher stuff on it as I have been using the dining porch table and a smaller table in a guest room as desk space and I just don't have time to process all of this.

Happy Solstice! I love having you back, CM. SubC p, I'm glad you made the decision for some alone time. You don't need DH's family right now. And maybe see your husband's comments for what they were: he was sad you weren't there. Hello Road and Hello Lila.

Back to work for me
Oh I dreamt I was doing laundry and m pay Grandpa L gave me quarters for the dryer. (Although I use our common area washer and dryer, it is free).

Thanks be to God for the solstice 🌞 happy dance! 💃 woohoo, longer days! Any little thing to bring hope right now is so welcome. And Christmas 🎄 surprisingly enough I have been able to at least maintain some sense of the spiritual and meaningful despite the craziness of this year. One of you mentioned that and I was like Yup! 👍

That one post I made awhile back when after I reread it I realized I'd used the word Enough three times or so in quick succession, and y'all picked up on it and I'm glad it gave some inspiration. I put it in my "winter journal" that I do every year, just a few pages that anchor me against seasonal depression.

One time in a dieting context I'd heard this phrase: Enough is as good as a feast. Actually it's usually better, healthier, less overwhelming. As we who battle clutter well know! 😉

Thanks a million gazillion for the affirmations regarding my need to trust that this is a safe place and let go of any shame. My mind really knew that all along but the heart is slower to catch up. But I feel I'm turning a corner.

My friend who died, she struggled with clutter too. She had trauma from her brief marriage to an abusive man, she was a busy single mom, had health and mobility issues later on, and was like many of us longing for the time when she could've gotten ahead of life's relentless pace long enough to put things in better order and be able to relax and enjoy.

Maybe I will honor her by being more steady, more determined, more committed to getting on top of my own clutter problem. She would be cheering me on from Heaven, where she won't be shackled by all the things that held her down in this earthly existence. *my eyes are leaking* 😢 *but it's okay, they're the bittersweet type of tears*

I want to say more to each of you, about Road's son and Lila's boxes and SubC's family and Tatoulia and the painting of the kitty and just so many things. And for Covid and the worries about it to get the heck out of all our lives. Know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers. 💞 One way or another, we will get through all of this.

Good morning!

Happy solstice! May the coming of the new year bring light and joy into your lives!

I am going to a party tonight to celebrate. It will be held in what is basically a big warehouse with people who skew older, liberal, vaccinated and boosted. I think masks are required, but there will be food and beverages including alcohol. (I will not be drinking alcohol) wish me luck. And the courage to not change my mind.

Tatoulia, you have to do what you need to do to feel safe. I'm glad you are feeling better.

CM, I would love to see you posting more again - any time you feel like it, even if you just pop in with a sentence or two! You don't ever need to be embarrassed here! I hope you get your nest in order. 😉

Road, all progress is good! I hope you and your brother are able to strengthen and encourage each other and even improve your relationship through this project!

Lila, enjoy your solitude! It is underrated.

Dh told me his family was sad that I didn't come. I said "I find that hard to believe" he said, "no, people spoke to me one on one and said they were sorry you couldn't make it." "I said "that is not the same thing." He seems to be under the impression that his family likes me - which I find odd, because I argue with his brother, have nothing in common with the other women, barely interact with his brother in law, and am possibly thought of by his grown/teen nieces and nephews as "the weird aunt who slipped us extra desserts when we were little". (Only one of them still talks to me. - not like "I'm never speaking to her again" just like "things to do, nothing to say.")

I somehow blocked out the reality that we are hosting the annual "Family" Christmas party with our closest friends this year. If all the kids and grandkids make it, I will have 21 people and two large dogs in my house Dec 27. (That is actually two families that started 25 years ago as two couples and 7 children under the age of 8 - we missed one year for covid.) I have to clean the scullery and the dining porch!

Ack.

Boy we really are lucky to have such fabulous women in our lives! Thank you all!

CM what a shame to lose your friend. I am so sorry.

I made a decision this AM that I'm not returning to the office until January 10th. I'm too nervous. I spoke with my temporary employee about it and she said we should do whatever I'm comfortable with. She is interviewing for my open position tomorrow. I'll interview her first then she has three other people. Assuming she is hired, then she'll be able to go into the office without me. Our office reopen date has been moved to mid-February, but that's feeling less and less likely.

Cleaners came today. So my bonus is that I get clean sheets tonight. I just got out of the shower. I ran errands with BF tonight including taking the lovely oil painting portrait of his cat to the frame shop. We picked a very ornate frame. It will be ready in about a month but that's his Christmas gift. I could not take it to be framed without him He needed to be a part of the process. I made him leave before I paid. Then I met him at the office and we ran errands.

I am feeling better today. I slept very well last night and I did manage to do some stuff around the house today.

I know there's a lot going on in each of your lives. I care and I am here for you. ROAD you helped your brother! Wow. I used to take care of a mentally and physically ill family member and I used to clean his house on the weekends. I couldn't do more than about two hours since I wouldn't use his bathroom. I no longer have contact with that person. It's been a few years now.

I'm glad you posted and you are missed when you don't. If there's one thing we can all agree with here I'm sure it's that we don't want others to feel shame about anything. I like your idea about a focused approach. Makes a lot of sense to me to work on a happy place area in your home. whatever you do I hope you won't hold back from posting. I appreciate your presence. Hugs to all.

Thanks, ladies. 💕 I am going to try and post more. The embarrassment and frustration over the house situation made me want to hide for so long. And I still don't like it, of course. But I just have to put it on the back burner of my mind. My roommate and I have coped thus far, and the only thing that we're truly apprehensive about would be winter storms. But so far none pending.

I got to talk with the other Musketeer this morning and learned more details on the way things progressed in our friend's last days and hours. And I'm sure it helped my surviving friend to have a listening ear. The funeral may be Monday.

Feeling mostly calm for now. Pondering things like trying to contact other friends I've been losing touch with in hopes of rekindling connections. Or even seeking out new friends. Covid makes all that more challenging of course.

And I want to do little things to make this crazy life in this crowded house more bearable. I'm starting to declutter the "nest" that always happens when I sit in a certain place regularly. In this case the sofa. Our bunny club people usually want to stop by on Christmas day with cookies and it'd be nice not to feel embarrassed or pressured.

The bunny club caught a break regarding the drama situation, and I don't want to reveal too much but it's going to be resolved soon. I hope the players will be able to just calmly move on and stay or go as they see fit and if they stay I pray for healing and harmony, and in any case for peace and calm.

So I'll just leave things there. Since the home repair troubles are out of my control, I won't mention them again unless there's some actual news to report.

Lila, great job on those boxes! I know it was a process and pretty heavy stuff emotionally but great to see you work through it and get some closure on it. Many projects like this await me I think.

In my family we are all over the map with covid. We have 3 people who just had it despite being vaxxed. elderly parents being extra cautious, some who are really not being that careful and heading down to universal and NOLA for work on planes, etc. the H and son who are heAvily exposed from being in school, and me and my brother who are not working right now. I think since we are NOT all bolstered we will buy some of the rapid tests and have a couple people take those before each gathering. sounds like they're gonna make those cheaper but so far I think they're still about $10 a throw. Wouldn't want to drop that $$ on a regular basis but for next two weeks we will use those so we can see family and not worry as much.

CM, I am so sorry. That is painful and deep. I lost a close friend this fall also. I understand the overwhelming ache. Praying for you today.

I have to leave in an hour for meetings and after that, errands and christmas shopping. I do have more errands and appointments tomorrow, but they are by myself (car in shop, pet to vet). I hope to see NO ONE but family from this afternoon until Christmas Eve (when I work). Three days of solitude sounds so great to me and I am ONLY answering my phone if it is truly emergent.

Hoping to put together box #2 for my son this morning and mail it today.

My "clearing" related contribution/update is that I went to my brothers for a couple hours yesterday and helped him clean. Didn't go well at first because things got very tense very fast. I thought he wanted help cleaning but he started obsessing on reorganizing one cabinet instead so that kicked things off on a confusing foot... He said he was going to get triggered. Then he said he was almost triggered. And then he was triggered. And then I got triggered because he started treating me like my dad treats my mom. Oh my god the dysfunction was hanging thick. I will spare the details but in the end he accepted my offer to do some cleaning in the other room. Luckily he pulled himself together and got through cleaning the worst of the mess in the kitchen and got all his stuff out back in the cabs. I started working on the dining room. We have been trying to visit more because he lives alone and since he got laid off has very minimal human interaction. But the pet hair, dust and odor in his house is pretty extreme. Ok, it's extreme. He has already cleaned the worst in the bathroom and was in the midst of dealing with the kitchen, so I decided to take on the dining room since that's where my son would sit to eat while we visit. I got the table washed off and some of the antique furniture and accessories dusted. It was a challenge because it was so thick when you would go to wipe it it would just fall like powdered sugar. The paper towels weren't working and the wet wipes seemed to be stripping the finish off the wood and all he had was a table spoon left of lemon oil and Murphy's oil soap. Really I needed a vacuum but I didn't want to interact with him too much. Anyway, between us we made another big dent in it, it's still extreme but it's noticeably better than a few weeks ago, which is great. Progress.

Hi all,

My condolences to you, CM. Sounds like you are managing ok but I really feel for you losing such a close friend who, it sounds like, you really went through a lot together, and have really been there for each other. I hope you're able to team up with your other musketeer to make it to the funeral if only to connect with each other. I'm sure that would help both of you.

Lila, hope your other event went well and you have had a chance to breathe.

Tatoulia, I have no words of wisdom but I appreciated what the others have said. Til those feelings pass, I'll send over some good vibes.

Hugs and prayers and good vibes to all y'all incredible smart, talented, funny, supportive women. This is a very stressful week for most (with nothing especially stressful happening) so as my somatic therapist used to say "feel your butts!" I am tempted to just leave that there with no explanation but I'll just say it's the tag line to a grounding exercise... mid-spin, one can say to oneself: "feel your toes, 12345, 12345" etc. and on up to your seat.

So: take a deep breath and feel your butts, people.

CM, I am very sorry about your friend.

I am also concerned about your handyman both as a person and because you rely on him. Is he involved in the current house situation?

Be gentle with yourself. Remember that the message of Christmas is hope and stay focused on that. You may just have a more spiritual and less secular Holiday this year.

Lila, yes, that makes sense. Those are promises you have to keep. I was concerned that you had friends calling you because they had company coming and their house wasn't clean or they couldn't pick up a cake before the store closed - that sort of thing. But that is a very emotionally draining job. I still think you should screen your calls. You need some down time to recharge or you will just end up burned out and no good to anybody.

Covid - I am in Ohio. We are just ahead of Massachusetts on cases per capita, but since much of our population doesn't believe in vaccines, we have twice the per capita death rate - new record this week. Hospitalizations of children are rising. Dd is boosted and has stopped wearing her mask at work because she feels it was negatively affecting her career. She says we are all going to get omicron anyway. I am not entirely confident that we will return to school January 4, but I don't think my state will have any more lockdowns or mask requirements. Nor will we have vaccine mandates. Our governor did a pretty good job at the beginning, but then people with guns started showing up at the homes of government officials to protest and he wants to be re-elected. And not shot.

Moving on, I get Bean today.

Again I just need to touch base. Because big heavy things. 😪

My friend died today. The one who almost didn't make it in spring 2019. She was one of my safe people, I could call her to keep myself from a panic attack. Our mutual friend is another safe person and we were the Three Musketeers.
❤ ❤ ❤

The other friend was also her medical power of attorney. So I imagine she is exhausted. This has all unfolded over about three days, with a bleak outlook, then a short time of unexpected hope but it didn't last, and yesterday the crash. I had a rough morning and early afternoon. As in separation anxiety when my roommate went to the ladies' room in a restaurant and I was sitting at the table still. But, I took my medicine and got past that. Even was able to take Christmas stuff to my 98 year old lady and her daughter and visit awhile.

And was calm yesterday evening and this morning through church. I deliberately held off from inquiring about my friend in ICU because I knew the other Musketeer would let me know and I didn't want to be interrupting communications she would be having with the family. I decided to take a nap. I had awakened from it shortly before the text came that the end was near. We texted and prayed for our friend. She passed about half an hour later.

I'm okay. God has given me the grace to deal in the moment, and with it the wisdom to resist looking too far down the road.

It might be that I travel to the funeral, if the other friend and her husband can take me. They are 5 hours away south and east of me, and the town where our friend died is an hour and a half or so north. The husband is a firefighter and paramedic and she is a fellow panic and agoraphobia sufferer so I wouldn't feel apprehensive traveling with them. But we'll see what unfolds. The friend who died was from another town originally which is north of here and not as far, and it's possible they may opt to bury her there.

.....

Other happenings - another friend has grandkids who were exposed to Covid and the little girl had a fever tonight, she and a grade school age brother tested positive. And the other grandma. My friend was with the kids and so is in quarantine and concerned because she is in poor immune health and also germophobic.

My roommate and I thought to text our repair guy just to see how he was, and maybe drive by to see his yearly Christmas display. He replied he is in the hospital. More complications of his condition from the injury, for which he didn't say whether or not he'd been able to have the planned surgery. Poor guy, he is like Job in the Bible.

This promises to be a "memorable" Christmas... I will try to find ways to make it still a good and meaningful time even if an unusual one.

As soon as things are settled and the holiday traffic is over, I have some things I plan to do to improve this situation, such as go to the laundromat which should've happened last week but things got messed up. And if we keep having mild temperatures I may even work in the storage unit. It would take my mind off the big things and be something more tangible to focus on.

Take care... I am pretty far behind now on reading posts, but maybe I can catch up a bit this week.

Tatoulia, oh no. I'm sorry about covid. I have relatives back east who say it is very bad. It is not bad here yet.

SubC, it is a commitment but volunteer. I have a volunteer leadership position that I made a commitment to - if that makes sense. I do love it. It just has piled up on me recently because I was sick, and now the holidays, so I am feeling tired. I work 5 days a week generally speaking but this week I worked 7 and that was just not a great idea for me. I did take a half day off today and felt SO much better tonight and enjoyed the event, even though I was working. It was fun. I too have moved people out of DV situations; that's part of what I do. Occasionally I take someone to the ER, or to the Crisis place and sit with them if they are suicidal. Or someone has a family member die. Those are the kinds of crisis I mean. Aside from that I have gotten much better at saying no to requests where with a few more calls they could find someone else to do what they're asking of me.

So the plan was, 2 hours of meetings tomorrow morning and then get all my errands run. But there is something I have to go do and that person ended up being another appointment that is going to take about 2 hours of my time after lunch. I am really an introvert but this has to be done so I am going to try and find some fun in it.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm sure it's not as bad as it feels. I have a list for tomorrow. My cleaners are coming tmr instead of Wednesday. That's fine. I'm happy if they are picking up some extra jobs at the holidays.

I'm getting close to going on lockdown. The covid numbers are not good.

Thank you for helping me.

So Lila, is this a job (volunteer or paid) thing or just a "everybody knows they can call me" thing?

I am a person you can call in an emergency (I once threw my teenaged son into my truck and explained to him as we were driving to another state that we would be moving a person and their belongings out of a domestic violence situation)

But I have a very high bar for what is an emergency vs. what is a learning experience and I am pretty good at not letting people take advantage of me (which means I generally don't give you my time and energy if I am going to regret or resent it.)

Please screen your calls. Or even let them all go to voice mail. If the two minutes it takes to check the voicemail matters, they should have called 911in the first place.you can say you were in the restroom. Or asleep.

I'm glad you enjoyed the wedding and that you got some down time.

I don't know much about dogs, but what you are doing sounds like training.

I am SO proud of you about the box. That is a huge achievement!

Dh got home two hours early, so I didn't clean up or take the compost out. It is fine. I did bake raisin bread, which he was happy to see.

SubC, you have a good point. I am frequently called in crisis situations, so I tend to answer my phone. Except I did start shutting it off at night about 2 years ago after a few 2am, 3am calls. Now it is off at bedtime and if there is a real crisis they can call 911. But what I can do in addition is screen my calls from now through Jan 3. I commit to looking to see who is calling me, and taking a few seconds to think about whether it could be urgent or now, and feel whether I should answer it. They can also leave me a message and I will check them just in case.

I liked how you explained the Laundry Everywhere thing. It really is like that sometimes. I look and feel like my house is a complete wreck, but after 15 minutes putting things away, it looks remarkably better.

Tatoulia, I hope that is the case for you. I'm sorry you're struggling too. Will you get a break, a day or two 'off' to decompress?

The wedding was wonderful and very nice. I enjoyed it and the food was great. It was A LOT of work and I came home exhausted. But I took those few hours before bed last night to do some self care, rest, nice long bath etc and then today I stayed home from church and just enjoyed a day of resting and relaxing. I still am supposed to do the other event tonight, in about 2 hours. It own't be that much work. The biggest effort for it will be me getting makeup on and getting dressed, which I'd rather not do, but oh well.

I did one thing yesterday though. I took that one box to the post office and mailed it to my son. What a huge weight off me. I had moments thinking about opening the box and taking things out to keep. I am relieved it is gone, and I have already let go of what happens to it. I already imagined how I would feel if he says it was dumb and throws it all out. I am okay. I saved it FOR HIM. I hope he will save it to show his children, but at least I think he will save the photos. I will get the second box put together tomorrow and hopefully mailed as well.

Also I have not had time to do anything with the dog training, but I have been making him sit and wait before meals and before getting let out of his kennel. And making him take treats gently.

I hope to have a very productive week.

Tatoulia, take a breath.

I am sorry you are so run down. You try to do so much for so many people.

I don't believe your house is a pigsty though. For one thing - it was thoroughly cleaned not to long ago! For another, you have pared down so much that there just isn't enough stuff in your house to be that bad. I bet it will come back together much faster than you think.

I will give you an example - I had clean laundry EVERYWHERE! I had dumped some on my bed to sort, and I thought, "ok, before I reply to tatoulia, I will put away 20 things." Well I did - and do you know what was left? A shirt, four socks, and some underwear. The underwear just gets tossed in a drawer. So I finished the whole pile.

Then I thought "I will take this basket down and bring up another one." But there wasn't another one to bring up! There were 5 baskets of laundry, but they were all things that go downstairs. And I thought "how do I have FIVE baskets of sheets and towels for downstairs? And then I dumped them together, and there were only 3. And I think I could have made two - but one basket is already folded.

So my "laundry EVERYWHERE" turned into three baskets after about ten minutes of work.

Here is another thing that I thought of today when I was worrying over all the things I haven't gotten done. Usually when Dh visits his family, I have to go with him. And I have somewhere between a miserable and tolerable visit, with occasional moments that are nice, and I get very tired. And when we get back, the house is just as bad as it was when we left, I owe the farm sitter money, and there is extra laundry.

So, all I have to do to come out ahead is spend less than I would owe the farm sitter on food, water, and electric, wash the dishes I use, take out the compost, and run a little laundry. Plus, I've had a lovely time and I'm well rested!

I'm already ahead on the dishes and laundry, and given what the farm sitter charges, I'd be shocked to run the bills that much higher. So really, the only thing I have to do today is take out the compost. Sometime in the next six hours.

Road, check your laundry!

I'm falling behind. In every area of my life. Except my bed is made. Everything else is a giant awful mess. I'm late on everything. And I'm exhausted. Run down. So tired.

My house is a pigsty.

Good morning!

I did not make ddil's gifts last night. I suddenly thought that Dd2 might like a version of what I was making for ds, and since I already had everything set up for hand building those, I made a bunch more.

This morning I will switch to the pottery wheel and ddil.

I also have 7,000 other things on my list. What will I get to? Who knows!

Dh is coming home tonight. I miss him, but I would also love to have a whole week like this. Two days is not enough.

Yesterday when I was cleaning up the studio, I sorted through most of the new stuff from DD's garage. There are some beautiful tools! There was also a small amount of trash that I bagged, and a lot that needs to be washed. There has been a large platter driving me nuts for a couple of years because the glazing came out beautifully, but it warped and cracked at the edge. Yesterday I took a deep breath, dropped it on the concrete, collected the pieces and added them to the bulwark fill.

I also moved some boxes, dragged the dangerous pottery wheel to the scrap metal zone, mopped part of the floor, started a box of things to take to school and never bring back, and tossed a couple of unfinished projects into the scrap clay bucket. Plus washed a few tools and put some things away.

In the house I took care of a basket of peppers and tomatoes that had gone by.

I do need to clean up (baskets of clean laundry, piles of teacher presents, school materials from Friday, and things from my pottery class that ended are everywhere) before Dh gets home.

Lila, I hope the wedding goes smoothly.

I don't know why you would get called to do something next week? Are you on call for a job or did you tell someone they could call you?

You can not answer your phone.

Seriously. It's a thing. My cell phone is in my car, and if the house phone rings, I will only answer it if it is Dh or one of Bean's parents. My mom promised not to call me. I promised to email her that I am still alive after I do chores tonight.

My studio is somewhat cleaner and more orderly. Only somewhat. I still plan to make Christmas gifts for ds and ddil before I go to bed tonight.

Good morning. I like the sound of home alone, SubC. I need it and can never get it. Theclosest I get to home alone is if I get up at 5 or 6 (impossible for me in winter, but I can in spring and summer) then I get the quiet house for a little bit.

I have the Big Event today. I'm supposed to go at 11:30 but I have a feeling I might get called to go sooner. Okay actually it is a wedding so I really do need to be there if called, to support my friend. I am not just attending, but helping serve food and doing cleanup so I expect to be there 5 hours. This will be difficult for me, not just being on my feet that long (I will be sore) but also being around people for that long. I won't get much done this evening because I will be sore and tired.I did decide that if at all possible I will stay home from church tomorrow morning. I love church but I am so exhausted. I just want to watch it online and eat pancakes. I need time to be home and decompress - because I am working another event Sunday night for 3 hours. Not super excited about it either but I committed. So... today 5+ hours, tomorrow 3 hours. Then Monday I have morning meetings and a ton of stuff to catch up on: car accident stuff, kid health stuff, mail packages, etc. I have done no shopping for Christmas. I have to do that probably Tuesday when I have a vet appt as well. And a car alignment same day.

So it looks like my 'day off' to be home will be Weds and Thurs (possible I get called to do something but I hope not). Then Christmas Eve (working 4 hours) and Christmas day and then I plan to try and take the entire week 'off' to be home. I may make a few phone calls but I NEED the break.

Wish me luck... I am a bit stressed.