2022 Declutter & Organize Your Life

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 1, 2022 11:25:41 GMT -5 snapdragon said:

Dec 1, 2022 9:54:41 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

DN1 has officially asked me to go to Aspen with them the first week of January.  No offer of paying any of the cost and I would be there to take care of the Toddler while they ski.  I told him when he first asked that we would have to work out a cost sharing agreement.

I think it's a no.  I'd rather go to Toronto later in the spring.

Glad that you are figuring out your boundaries TheOtherMe .

Iggy aka IG - Hope your feeling better.

I priced it out.  I don't really want to fly but I have an air fare credit that made it very reasonable.  But a condo in Snowmass for 6 nights is over my monthly income.  Now it's an easy no unless they are willing to upgrade to a 2 bedroom condo.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Dec 1, 2022 15:16:52 GMT -5 startsmart said:

Gah, this last month has just been brutal. In the midst of making arrangements for her cancer treatment my mom has had to put both of her dogs to sleep (they were 12 and 15) and she’s devastated. It’s a terrible time to adopt a new dog because her radiation treatment will likely be 3-5 times a week at a hospital an hour from home. Both dogs had a sudden downturn (heart failure and total loss of mobility) so it was the right thing but just really sucks.

that is so tough! my heart goes out to you and your mom. Hope she is keeping her spirits up.

Losing pets is very difficult and worse when it is sudden. I'm sure she was counting on their comfort through the treatment too...

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Nov 30, 2022 14:42:06 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Oh no Iggy aka IG ! I hope you're feeling better now. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Nov 29, 2022 8:47:20 GMT -5 saveinla said:

I did not want to sleep at 6 PM yesterday evening, so I went through and emptied the suitcases and put 90% of the stuff away. Today I have to go through the clothes to be washed and start running them. 

Its been 5 years since my mom passed away suddenly today and its been weighing heavily on my mind. Not sure how much I can do - I will be donating to the food bank in her memory, as I am too tired to do anything else. I have been up since 2 AM thinking of my mom and sister and trying to make sense of it all.

this is a song that helps me in those kinds of moments....

[Rukh O'Rorke]

today was cleaning day. I got the person i had last time, for some reason.....was a little more out of whack due to the extra food bonanza that lasted like a week....

keeping things on a fairly even keel, but not making any progress. Maybe a little here and there....Now need to get ready for christmas....end of year work stuff....end of year financial and medical stuff to get through, and seems a bit overwhelming. Feeling a bit stressed.

But - the house is nice, just going to have a nice evening. Worry tomorrow!

[debthaven]

I'm so so sorry to hear about your mom and her dogs startsmart ... such terrible timing for her!  I hope her treatment goes well. 

TheOtherMe is it possible they just assume they'll be covering the cost of your stay? Because expecting you to pay your way to babysit is unreasonable. 

One more Zoom class tomorrow am, then another week done. I'll finish the marking tomorrow. 

Laundry finally all caught up.

This weekend
- mark 8 26 reports (Wed/Thu)

[TheOtherMe]

debthaven  No it isn't that they are assuming they will pay.

I made that assumption in the spring when they wanted me to go to Chicago and babysit the Toddler while they were at a conference.  When I asked who was paying for my hotel and parking, I was told I was.  I told them I could not come.

That's why I tried to clarify this before making reservations.

When they asked me to come to Toronto when they went to Buffalo overnight for a conference, they did pay for the guest suite.

I did find out I have an airline credit that has to be booked by the end of the year, so that will be a cheap flight.  The guest suite is $100CND  which is less than $100US.  

[finnime]

I'm so sorry about your mom and her pets, startsmart.

[debthaven]

This weekend
- mark 26 final reports 
Unfortunately my final exam is in late Dec. 

I don't blame you for not wanting to go TheOtherMe . My niece and her ex used to take my sister on vacation with them so my sister could babysit, but they always paid for her. 

PS Just one week of regular classes left, and 2.2 weeks till Christmas break. I have a light schedule next week.   

[debthaven]

I finally came up with affordable ideas for Christmas gifts for my niece, grandniece and grandnephew.

I'll probably go into school early on Monday and go to that mall. It'll be much less crowded than going to my local mall on a Saturday.

 

[debthaven]

By the way I can't be bothered to go to book club next week, so I told A I'd stop by this weekend. I was curious how long it has been since the last time I went to her house. I had to root around in my old posts to find out. 

Turns out our "spat" was very early Sept, so it will have been 3 months since I went there. (I HAVE seen her elsewhere, ie at book club and a local festival.) And we still phone each other once or twice a week.

I'll still be forcing myself to go but I'm willing to force myself ... every 2 or 3 months. 

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 2, 2022 8:06:04 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I don't blame you for not wanting to go TheOtherMe . My niece and her ex used to take my sister on vacation with them so my sister could babysit, but they always paid for her. 

If they were paying, I would happily go, but they aren't and I don't ski and don't want to spend that much money for the privilege of babysitting for a kid who is still in diapers.

[moneysquirrel]

debthaven -- Thought of you as I watched the local news.  Your president is in town today and lots of local news coverage.  

Car is packed for tomorrow's craft show.  Still have one more item incomplete but it is not needed for tomorrow but if I feel up to it I will get it done tonight.  Another show next weekend and that one id the last one in 2022.

startsmart -- Sending good vibes to your mother and family.  

[debthaven]

I saw that moneysquirrel ! I also read about the state dinner ... now I'm craving NE lobster LOL. 

Good luck with your last craft shows this year!

[startsmart]

I talked to mom for a long while today, they buried both dogs in the property and had a good cry. They’ve decided not to look for another dog until Fall when my mom is done with treatment and they’re get through a few trips.

Today was fairly productive as I did my grocery shopping, caught up on the dishes, got adjusted at the chiropractor and cleaned up around the house.

I installed the new shades from Ikea in the kitchen on my new windows and it looks so good!

[laterbloomer]

Dec 30, 2021 14:14:27 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

1. Paint inside my bedroom closets and armour.
2. Wash living room rug.
3. Paint downstairs bathroom.
4. Get on demand water heater then finish laundry room.
5. Do garden and yard this spring.
6. VPL flooring for upstairs.
7. Laminate flooring for GW's room

Wow! Okay, I got 1 & 2 done, 3 is on tap for next spring after I get a thin crack on my foundation sealed, changed my mind about 4, I don't want to talk about 5, 6 got bumped again and 7 is on track for early in the New Year when GW moves

[laterbloomer]

Hi all 🙂
Sorry about the abrupt post. I hope everyone is doing well. I haven't been able to keep up with threads lately. But I remembered posting goals for the year and I wanted to see how I did. I definitely ended up going in a different direction.

[laterbloomer]

On the decluttering front, I purged my closet AGAIN. I put a huge suitcase of clothes away as my summer clothes, I have a huge garbage bag of clothes to be donated and a bin of clothes (mostly pants) that are my goal size but I'm 20 lbs too heavy for right now.
I've attempted it before but I seriously need to go a year without buying clothes. It almost goes hand in hand with wanting to lose the 20 lbs I've put back on plus another 5-10. I have clothes for the size I am now and clothes for going down 2 sizes. I really, really don't need clothes!

[saveinla]

I worked and watched a movie in addition to taking a 2-3 hour nap. Jetlag is bad, but it is what it is.

[finnime]

DH has been quite sick for a few days now, so I've been sorting and setting up for framing a bunch of pictures. This has been a goal for months.

If you ever want to get great photograph prints of any size or material, use Printique.

Today I will set up the Christmas tree. I bought one at Costco, along with a wreath which now adorns our front windows.

Also, I'll send Nino around to vac the house. Franklin the Dog is always shedding. Nino helps keep it under control. He does get confused when we move furniture around or have boxes out, but then it just takes him longer. Good thing robots can learn.

After this, time to start baking for Christmas.

[Sharon]

Today was a very productive day and I really feel like things are more under control.  This morning I did housework.  The bed is changed, the bathrooms cleaned, dishwasher ran and emptied, and general kitchen straightening, cleaning and putting away.  I also did 4 loads of laundry

After an early lunch I went outside and raked and mowed leaves all afternoon.  I wanted to get the leaves off the lawn before they killed the lawn and we are supposed to get snow tomorrow.  It was chilly but we had blue skies and sunshine so it wasn't too bad.  The high today was 34 degrees but since I was doing physical work I stayed warm enough.  I'm very pleased with the amount of leaves I got hauled out to the pasture.  There is still plenty to do but I made a major dent in that job.

Just before coming in I hauled a few more lawn chairs into the shop and covered the BBQ.  The chairs are on a covered patio but I think they will just stay nice longer if put away.

[debthaven]

I backed up my computer today for the first time in 9 months. My previous disk stopped working, so DH ordered a new one. It took 9 hours but it worked, which is a relief. 

Then we went to dinner and a concert with friends (the ones we celebrate Thanksgiving with). DH loves going out, and he's much more social than I am. I just want to hibernate in winter. But I try to make an effort when I'm working less. Nobody wanted to go out in the dead of winter, but it was phenomenal! 

Sharon if you don't mind answering, did your DD have a boy or a girl? Again, congratulations!  

laterbloomer you're allowed to change track here!   I seem to remember you have a young man staying with you too. You've gotten a lot done these past two years!

Catching up on laundry and seeing A tomorrow.  

[TheOtherMe]

Did your external drive die?  

I am trying to back mine up at least once a month--at least the genealogy information.  

[debthaven]

It just refused to do the back up ... To be honest I don't know why. It was 8 years old but that shouldn't explain it.

I tried 3 times since March 22 (the latest back-up before today's). After the third time it didn't work DH ordered me a hard drive.

[finnime]

I need to initiate organization of my technological life, beginning with purging old files and properly archiving those that retain value. Over the years I've had 3 laptops since retired that have their backups on google drive. I occasionally pull a file or two from one of them. Need to clean that up, and purge junk from my current laptop.

[TheOtherMe]

I make sure the genealogy, financial and photos are backed up.  I do need to purge the documents folder of stuff that is no longer pretinent.

[Sharon]

Dec 3, 2022 19:52:45 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Sharon if you don't mind answering, did your DD have a boy or a girl? Again, congratulations!  

DD had a girl, so that gives them two boys, and two girls.  This is the first of there children that got DD's hair and coloring.  DD was born with a mass of black hair, more hair than I have ever seen on a baby.  This baby has a full head of black hair, not as much as DD but still the first baby with black hair.

[startsmart]

Feels like a mismash weekend here.

I did finish sewing and quilted the Christmas table runner. Now I need to add the border.

I’ve also been cooking at home and trying to empty out the fridge/freezer this month.

Laundry is caught up and mostly put away.

Oh and I adopted 2 kittens they are currently settling in and very skittish after living on the streets but socialized by a friend out of town. Building up trust and letting them get used to me before they get to roam the house.

[snapdragon]

Nov 30, 2022 11:43:31 GMT -5 snapdragon said:

I have a small list for this week -

Fold and put away laundry on the bed

Wash dirty clothes and bed linens

Vacuum

take standing fans back to storage along with a few extra containers

enjoy time at x-mas party Sat morning

remake the bed so it's even cozier.

I managed to do much of nothing. I just was not in the mood. Once the weekend hits it's relax time not work on things time in my head so I will be pushing this forward and working on it during the week. I did manage to get dishes washed and half are put away but getting ready for work got in the way.

[Iggy aka IG]

I am back full-time and caught up here!  Thank you for the well wishes.

startsmart, I am so sorry about your mom's dogs.  

Similar to others, I need to streamline my technologies which will include purge and recycle my old CPU and two (three?) old cell phones, clear out and delete an old email account and move everything to a new-ish one.  Easier typed than done.  

During the initial stages of being down, the most I could do is complete a huge stack of reading, watch and purge about a half dozen DVR hours and did online Christmas shopping.  As I began to feel better:

-Compiled a large gift bag full of never and gently used Christmas items to donate to someone in need of holiday cheer
-Tossed the old tree skirt in anticipation of the new buffalo check (plaid) one I purchased
-Tossed a few more shabby/broken Christmas items
-Brought in the large Sam's Club order piecemeal
-Finished decorating the house and tree
-Moved small outdoor decorations inside
-Early last week I methodically cleared off my home office desk and set up the laptop and mouse and pad so I could start processing the plethora of email
-When I returned to the office, numerous boxes were waiting for me, so I brought those home a few at a time
-Wrapped several presents
-Planned this week's supper menu
-Yesterday I finally felt well enough to wipe down the fridge interior and Swiffer the main room floor.

I cancelled the appointment with L during my illness and look forward to having her over this week.  The neighbor kiddo sleepover was cancelled and hopefully rescheduled for this weekend.