Malarky
Junior Associate
Truth and snark are equal opportunity here.
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 21:00:51 GMT -5
Posts: 5,313
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Post by Malarky on Sept 22, 2021 16:04:35 GMT -5
I'm another one who doesn't post very often. I'm usually 6 pages behind when I even find the time to pop in and catch up on reading.
We're a year into "replacing the hardwood floor" which of course, involved so much more. Bless DH, he's put so much work into it. Luckily we have skillful friends who have helped with labor and teaching DH how to go about it. Floors are installed in all three rooms upstairs and DH has just started moving into his new office. A bit more of touching up the paint in the guest room/exercise room and I'll be able to get that room situated.
I thought I'd have more time over the summer to do projects around the house but I ended up working more than intended. My goal of cutting my hours to 30 hours a week translated into leaving early four or five times.
In June we had a meeting to determine what we could do to prepare for the fall/winter holidays. Expectations definitely not met! The day to day things were all pretty much all we could accomplish. Like everywhere else, we are short staffed. I'm not looking forward to the holidays, staff and supplies are short and demanding customers abundant. I spend a good deal of my time sourcing basic supplies like iced coffee cups and desiccated coconut. I'm tired of explaining to people that nearly every food item has gone out in a takeout package of one sort of another from every single food establishment and manufacturing was shut down for most of the past 18 months. Supplies are simply not available. And telling me that McDonalds has cups makes no difference. They have warehouses full of printed supplies as backup and we are a small business. WOW..didn't mean to go off on a rant! Not taking it back, though.
I do keep plugging away and tossing or donating random things.
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startsmart
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 12:45:52 GMT -5
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Post by startsmart on Sept 22, 2021 17:45:17 GMT -5
I am slowly chipping away at all my work tasks that need to get done before vacation. I had a productive call with one of my clients with their projects from October to January and also uncovered some mistakes in their system that I need to correct asap (I didn't work for them when this happened so yay! not my fault!).
The house stuff is not getting done as quickly. I did finally finish scrubbing the oven racks and put them back and then bleached and scrubbed the sink in the laundry room that I use to wash paint brushes. I need to do a little more packing so I can fit my snorkel and mask into the bag - if necessary I can rent fins but I do not want to put my face and mouth on borrowed equipment when I go out.
I also purchased a couple of frozen meals from a local restaurant so that when I get back I have some easy to heat food in case I can't get to the grocery store the same day.
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Lizard Queen
Senior Associate
103/2024
Joined: Jan 17, 2011 22:19:13 GMT -5
Posts: 14,659
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Post by Lizard Queen on Sept 22, 2021 17:46:17 GMT -5
toomuchreality, I remember few years ago a "slackers" thread was created in addition to this one. Quite a few people posted on the first few pages and then we must have all "slacked away" as it died. That was much more my speed as well since the ladies on this decluttering thread seem very motivated and industrious. I still read here and get inspiration, lots of good ideas, but I don't post. Ahem, my basement is still full and hasn't been organized as I was hoping to all these years later so... Haha... A slackers thread sounds great. The peeps posting here are SO productive! I remember a time when I was productive. "Just do it" and get it done worked for me then. Now I do enough to get by. No worries. I'll be around. Thanks for the encouragement! You can add me to the slackers thread. I only post here when I've actually done something. Notice I don't post very much. 😛 Actually, Ive been picking up/cleaning up a little more than usual. Makes things look much better with not too much effort. I'm gonna give myself a ⭐, because why not. 😋
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nikiz628
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Post by nikiz628 on Sept 23, 2021 14:22:12 GMT -5
Welp, we are back in quarantine. DS2 tested positive today. I am not surprised, his best friend tested positive on Monday and they are inseparable at school. They let them drop masks outside at recess, so sharing is what they did apparently. Half of his kindergarten class is now in quarantine.
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seriousthistime
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 22, 2010 20:27:07 GMT -5
Posts: 4,703
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Post by seriousthistime on Sept 23, 2021 14:59:44 GMT -5
Hi all, I need to join this thread. I am set up to get rid of extra stuff through our local "Buy Nothing" group on Facebook. I've done pretty well with that, and have a big box going in my living room where I put the stuff I want to part with. Every few days I go through it and group like items together to post to the group. For the longest time I have wanted to get white melamine shelves cut to size to add to my kitchen cabinets. I have two moveable shelves per cabinet and because I'm not really tall, the moveable shelves are only as high as they need to be, and no higher. This means there was too much height on the top shelf which was not used much. I rearranged three cabinets today. The coffee cup cabinet was not near the coffee pot and too much other stuff was in there. The spice cabinet was not big enough and needed to go into a bigger cabinet. The wine glass cabinet was a messed up jumble of wine glasses and a catch-all for other stuff. Now the wine glasses are where the coffee cups used to reside. The spices are to the right of the stove in a bigger cabinet. The coffee cups are above the coffee makers. And I have free shelf space in a couple of cabinets. Success! I also went through my pantry cupboard to get rid of expired food, refresh my memory as to what is there and usable, and make plans to use it up. The freezer part of my fridge has food I need to use up too. I put a dent in some broccoli I froze, as well as some brown rice I keep in the freezer. Earlier this week I thawed a few chicken breasts I'd frozen and made a pasta dish using some frozen veggies that were taking up some room, and tossed in the rest of a pack of pumpkin-shaped butternut squash pasta from Trader Joe's. I made almond flour chocolate chip cookies, using items from the pantry and the flour I kept in the freezer. Overall, I've eaten well this week and feel so much better working through the stockpile in the freezer and pantry. My house is not big. I am the only one living in it. Why do I have so much stuff
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startsmart
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 12:45:52 GMT -5
Posts: 4,438
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Post by startsmart on Sept 23, 2021 15:55:20 GMT -5
I've been continuing to clean the house pre-vacation and getting mixed results. I still have more food that I need to process, freeze or eat before I go and my meals are increasingly random. I have a bunch of cherry tomatoes that I think I'll freeze for soups and sauces later.
I finally turned off my AC for the Fall since the heat has abated, it'll be nice to see if my electric bill comes down with that off. For a very old window unit it does a decent job of cooling the whole first floor.
I am trying to get better at putting things away and having a place for everything so the next big project will be my built-in master closet. I have piles and bins of sheets, pillows and blankets in my room that need a home, as well as all my clothes that hang or don't fit in the dresser. I will be near an IKEA and can look at the configuration that I think I want to get and make plans for that.
Now that both sides of the pantry is installed in the laundry room, I am amazed at how much space I gained! The cleaning supplies, laundry soap, drinks, small appliances, pantry staples and snacks are all easily accessible and freed up so much space on the floor. Very helpful!
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Sept 23, 2021 17:13:07 GMT -5
So my sister and I traded boxes at the Covid test site.
I thought I was receiving the military painting.
I came home with a large stack of about 10 books regarding the history of the area where she grew up. Most are long out of print. The one I knew about and have been trying to find is in the stack. I thought it was only in paperback, but I now have a hardback copy.
5 boxes of things my sister thought could be related to genealogy.
Several framed family photos including the military painting and the Hummels I gave mom for Christmas over the years.
I'm happy. Now I would like to sit and go through it for days and I don't have time.
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toomuchreality
Senior Associate
Joined: Sept 3, 2011 10:28:25 GMT -5
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Favorite Drink: Sometimes I drink water... just to surprise my liver!
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Post by toomuchreality on Sept 24, 2021 9:23:54 GMT -5
Welp, we are back in quarantine. DS2 tested positive today. I am not surprised, his best friend tested positive on Monday and they are inseparable at school. They let them drop masks outside at recess, so sharing is what they did apparently. Half of his kindergarten class is now in quarantine. Yikes! Sorry to hear this.
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debthaven
Senior Associate
Joined: Apr 7, 2015 15:26:39 GMT -5
Posts: 10,320
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Post by debthaven on Sept 24, 2021 12:35:49 GMT -5
Oh no nikiz628 ! So sorry to hear that! Yay TheOtherMe ! That'll keep you busy after Toronto! Welcome seriousthistime ! Sounds like you're already making great progress! This weekend- doc appt/Fri - make mammo+bone density appts/Fri - make dentist appt/Fri
- Shitepile/Sat - pharmacy - lines (ongoing) - DH's Quickbooks I'm behind on everything. I did a load of laundry today but there's more. I'm also trying to catch up on regular medical appointments so I don't spend my time off in December doing that. This weekend I have to attack Shitepile. It has grown enormously.
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moneysquirrel
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Joined: Dec 19, 2010 13:12:39 GMT -5
Posts: 1,908
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Post by moneysquirrel on Sept 24, 2021 12:48:02 GMT -5
Project/Appointment/Misc List: Updates in Red* Monthly service -- house -- Monday * Medical Tests *2 -- Tuesday* Insurance Adjustor Meeting -- Thursday Will get the report in 7-10 days* Donation Pickup -- Scheduled for Friday (Not sure if they will be picking up or not. May need to be rescheduled again.) 240 items added to my total gone this year. * Craft Show -- Saturday and following Saturday as well. * Unfinished beading projects = 5 2* Unfinished craft projects = 2 1* Call Roofer (after meeting with adjustor) Called and per his recommendatins will contact him again after I receive the report from adjustor* Call Siding/Patio company (After meeting with adjustor) Meeting Monday* Prepare for class I teach (beginning classes week of 27th) * Call local school @ November craft show (is it happening??) -- Called and left message with person who answered, my info will be passed on to someone who might know something. They are not having one this year. Did sign up for another one this morning
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Sept 24, 2021 14:41:15 GMT -5
debthaven I can't tell you how excited I was when I took the lids off the boxes last night. It was all I could do not to start digging through them. I don't have time right now.
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moneysquirrel
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Joined: Dec 19, 2010 13:12:39 GMT -5
Posts: 1,908
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Post by moneysquirrel on Sept 24, 2021 15:31:00 GMT -5
Only had time to update a while ago. I will be meeting my friend a little later as we are allowed to start setting up for the craft show tomorrow later this afternoon. We will just get the tables set up tonight so that tomorrow we will just have to set up the display of our items Got my tables in the car and the rest will be easy to load once I get home. The boxes and bags of donations left my house this morning. 240 items in all finally out of my garage. Have an empty box in place to start the next box as I run across items that need to go. I am afraid that the only thing I will be decluttering in the near future is money from my savings to make up any shortfalls that the insurance won't cover. I have a rough estimate of two of the four major repairs needed and it is slightly less than $20000. Still need to get estimate on roof and fence. Pretty sure that I will need a new roof as well. Really hope and pray that the insurance will cover a lot of these repairs. Even with all of my damage, I am still one of the fortunate ones. The homeowners a half block away had rooms of furniture of bedding, sheetrock and other damage out for pickup. I think there is only a handful of neighbors without roof damage. Driving around all I see are tarps -- blue, green and white among other colors. TheOtherMe -- Have a safe trip and even better you have a treasure trove of boxes waiting for your return home to look forward to. startsmart -- Great idea to get some easy to fix dinners for the freezer to use upon your return from vacation. Please use some of your non-speaking time to relax. We know that you will be back beingthe Engerizer bunny upon your return so rest as much as you can while you are there. seriousthistime -- Welcome. You seem to have made great progress in the never ending process of elimination of items from our abodes. debthaven -- Are you almost finish you horrible weeks.
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debthaven
Senior Associate
Joined: Apr 7, 2015 15:26:39 GMT -5
Posts: 10,320
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Post by debthaven on Sept 24, 2021 16:37:16 GMT -5
Are you almost finished with your horrible weeks.No, unfortunately. It looks like I will even set a a new record for fall semester hours. I'm hoping to reduce my hours more than planned in spring semester to compensate, but it's still too early to know. At this point I won't refuse staff/faculty hours because it really is the perfect retirement gig since it can be done on Zoom. I hope that everything works out with the insurance moneysquirrel ! I'm sure that is immensely worrying and stressful.
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debthaven
Senior Associate
Joined: Apr 7, 2015 15:26:39 GMT -5
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Post by debthaven on Sept 25, 2021 5:49:59 GMT -5
This weekend
- doc appt/Fri - make mammo+bone density appts/Fri - make dentist appt/Fri - Shitepile/Sat - go through the Cow/Sat - pharmacy - lines (ongoing) - DH's Quickbooks
(The Cow is a vertical file on the desk for paperwork that'll be needed soon, ie prescriptions, gift vouchers, reservations, etc)
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finnime
Junior Associate
Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
Joined: Dec 23, 2010 7:14:35 GMT -5
Posts: 7,407
Member is Online
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Post by finnime on Sept 25, 2021 5:54:40 GMT -5
We have a Cow, too, on the table in the entryway. It does fill up.
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debthaven
Senior Associate
Joined: Apr 7, 2015 15:26:39 GMT -5
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Post by debthaven on Sept 25, 2021 5:57:49 GMT -5
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laterbloomer
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Joined: Dec 26, 2018 0:50:42 GMT -5
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Post by laterbloomer on Sept 25, 2021 9:08:35 GMT -5
When I painted the open space upstairs I didn't paint inside the front closet. Today is a rainy, don't leave the house kinda day so I'm going to do it today.
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startsmart
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 12:45:52 GMT -5
Posts: 4,438
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Post by startsmart on Sept 25, 2021 9:46:46 GMT -5
Hello from the airport I am waiting to board my flight and just clearing out all the emails I don't need to worry about until after I return. Had a great dinner with my cousin last night and will see her again in about a month when I come up to Ikea to do some shopping. moneysquirrel - I am speaking for 90 min of a 10+ day trip so I am anticipating most of my time is relaxation I am very much looking forward to the speaking and the group coming is really fantastic. In an attempt to be an actual adult who plans ahead, lol, I went through the membership I have to a meal planning service and picked out 4 meals to make when I get home. Then I wrote out all the ingredients so I can stop at the grocery store on my way home and have everything I need to refill the fridge. The frozen meals from a local restaurant are my "I just got home and I'm exhausted and the fridge is empty" meals.
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debthaven
Senior Associate
Joined: Apr 7, 2015 15:26:39 GMT -5
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Post by debthaven on Sept 25, 2021 10:48:44 GMT -5
Have a wonderful trip Startsmart!
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nikiz628
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Post by nikiz628 on Sept 25, 2021 12:08:52 GMT -5
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Joined: Dec 27, 2010 21:04:44 GMT -5
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Sept 25, 2021 13:19:46 GMT -5
Chloe - the black snakes are common in this corner of Kansas, they're not venomous or dangerous and do eat a bunch of mice and rats. However. I still don't want them in my house! Since my second floor has an access door to the roof and stairs outside I always worry that someone or something has gotten inside while I'm at the store or sleeping and is going to come downstairs. I think that will get better as I continue to replace the windows and am able to move my bedroom upstairs. Right now it's a building site and storage room. Wait! They’re in the house!!!!! Oh, no thank you! I assumed they were outside.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Sept 25, 2021 13:25:02 GMT -5
Welp, we are back in quarantine. DS2 tested positive today. I am not surprised, his best friend tested positive on Monday and they are inseparable at school. They let them drop masks outside at recess, so sharing is what they did apparently. Half of his kindergarten class is now in quarantine. So stressful! How’s it going?
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Joined: Dec 27, 2010 21:04:44 GMT -5
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Sept 25, 2021 13:26:37 GMT -5
Taking DD#2’s bike, bedroom desk & chair, and a few odds and ends to her. She and her college roommate have switched complexes for this school year.
It’s a five hour round trip, so this will consume today.
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laterbloomer
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 26, 2018 0:50:42 GMT -5
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Post by laterbloomer on Sept 25, 2021 16:29:29 GMT -5
I got the closet painted, 2 coats. And since I had the paint out I touched up some spots that had already gotten marked up. Things look nicely refreshed.
I also cleaned my washing machine today. It's been on my "I should really do that" list forever, and by that I mean at least a year. For some reason I thought it was a bigger deal to do than it is. As I was putting a load in today I thought "I'm going to just try giving this a wipe". 10 minutes later it was all cleaned up. It reminds me of that Facebook meme "I will learn nothing from this" 😁
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wvugurl26
Distinguished Associate
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 15:25:30 GMT -5
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Post by wvugurl26 on Sept 25, 2021 16:41:54 GMT -5
I cleaned the washer a couple weeks ago. Wiped it out, ran a hot water bleach load through and I bought some of the Tide washer cleaning packets. I'm not sure if it had ever been cleaned. I had to go to last year's notebook to mark it off the list.
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nidena
Senior Member
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Post by nidena on Sept 25, 2021 17:55:22 GMT -5
I did the reverse of decluttering: I added to...
Bought two new rakes, some loppers, and a 17' ladder. There's a valley where two parts of my roof meet and leaves have collected there. I figure I better clear it off before this year's load dumps off the trees.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Sept 25, 2021 18:05:47 GMT -5
Finally in my hotel room, about an hour from the border.
My technically challenged sister was in tears because she didn't print two pieces of paperwork that she needs to get in to Canada.
We just spent an hour with the hotel clerk getting them printed. She couldn't get the public printer to work so they had to be sent to her email account at work and she printed them on the hotel's printer.
Now to relax and home for no calls from her tonight.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Sept 26, 2021 13:10:48 GMT -5
This week - pharmacy - doc appt/Wed - lines (ongoing) - DH's Quickbooks (won't get done this week but keeping it on the list)
Today we met DS2 for lunch in Paris so I saw the Arc de Triomphe wrapped up (albeit from a slight distance).
Another rough week ahead with a lot of extra hours spent on proofreading E's thesis.
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toomuchreality
Senior Associate
Joined: Sept 3, 2011 10:28:25 GMT -5
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Favorite Drink: Sometimes I drink water... just to surprise my liver!
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Post by toomuchreality on Sept 26, 2021 14:12:07 GMT -5
This week - pharmacy - doc appt/Wed - lines (ongoing) - DH's Quickbooks (won't get done this week but keeping it on the list)Today we met DS2 for lunch in Paris so I saw the Arc de Triomphe wrapped up (albeit from a slight distance). Another rough week ahead with a lot of extra hours spent on proofreading E's thesis. Sounds busy, but not all bad. Enjoy!
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debthaven
Senior Associate
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Post by debthaven on Sept 26, 2021 15:04:14 GMT -5
Thank you toomuchreality . I don't do well when I'm overwhelmed, but you're absolutely right.
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