2024 Organize & Declutter

[Sharon]

Today I decluttered my house cleaner.  It was too much work for me and too much money for what I got.  She charged $75 for the first hour and $45 an hour after that. 

Today I went back a dusted my bedroom again.  She had only dusted the tops of the dresser, night stand, and headboard.  I have a bookcase headboard that has two little doors that can slide back and forth.  She didn't do any of the sides of the furniture.  She also didn't move the table lamp from the nightstand.  It is lightweight and I move it a little to one side and dust and then a little to the other side.

I've also been plugging away at getting ready for winter.  The extension cord is out that I use to plug in the light in my pump house to keep it warm enough to not freeze.  The geraniums have been put away.  Hose bibs are wearing their little foam hats and other general items like that are done.

[wvugurl26]

I took the whole day off. I was off in the morning for a doctor's appointment and a mildly uncomfortable test. I decided I wasn't going to sit in my desk chair the rest of the day and try to concentrate.

I went through all of my closets upstairs. There's a big pile on the guest bed to donate. The rug in our bedroom also got swept with this pet hair broom I found at Aldi. That rug just holds my hair. I shed everywhere. I also did more dusting. The seasonal holiday shirts have been swapped.

I need some containers or a skinny dresser. But now that I've sorted again I know what I need. I'm always loathe to buy containers without having a use. I have some just because they were a great deal and those have gotten used.

Our upstairs is generally the last thing I get to but we are working on it this week and over the long weekend.

[TheOtherMe]

My organizer is going out of business.  I am disappointed.  She did refer clients to another organizer.

She had been a nurse practitioner in dermatology before she had kids and she is back to doing that.

[debthaven]

Sorry to hear that TheOtherMe . 

[Iggy aka IG]

I hope everyone is well.  Have a wonderful weekend.

[moneysquirrel]

TheOtherMe -- Sorry to hear about your organizer.
debthaven -- Glad to hear about your progress.  When do you begin PT?

Today the cleaners came.  I thought I was scheduled for next week but am happy that this month's cleaning is done.  I had to cancel last month so the house needed it.

Also I decided to make some veggie soup.  I have been wanting some for a few days but waited to see what was projected for Rafael as I didn't want to add anything extra to the freezer if it was heading in this direction.  Also yams are in the oven.  I usually bake a few at a time and then I freeze them for a future meal.  They heat up really well and make great mashed sweet potatoes.  I usually cook more in the fall/winter when the house is cooler. 

Today I also put the new tags on the car.  That is done for the next two years.  

No craft show this weekend so I hope to:
*get a few loads of laundry done
*work on the last kit I purchased at the summer retreat -- have quite a bit done but had to put it on hold as I needed to get other projects done first.
*create a few samples for a possible purchase

[snapdragon]

I hosted Coffee this morning and it went off really well. I was short 1 chair but that will be fixed for next time. 12 people worked surprisingly well in the living room. I don't believe I could have too many more people comfortingly. So probably ultra max of 20 realistically looking at 14-16.

Lots of complements on the house and living/dining/kitchen decor. I will take it and enjoy the next coffee at someone else's place. I could possibility do this once a year and that would work for me.  

Party is about 90% cleaned up just waiting for things to dry and moving the folding table into the garage. (I need for the tablecloth to dry.)

I started laundry and I need to work on finishing that along with changing out the bedding this weekend. I need to start thinking about Xmas lights and getting those up sometime later this month. They are so cheery, they make me smile.

[debthaven]

I could possibility do this once a year and that would work for me.

Glad your coffee morning went well snapdragon ! That's how my book club works ... everybody hosts once/year.  
moneysquirrel I started PT last week. It's not going very well.  I'll be going twice a week for the foreseeable future. 

November list:
- order new glasses
- osteodensitometry + gyn appt
- Xray + surgeon appt

I'm still waiting for the insurance papers for my operation, so the glasses are on hold. 

[startsmart]

It’s rainy and dreary here so I spent an hour upstairs cleaning one of the bedrooms. I put on Spotify and found some cleaners up there and made good progress in an hour. I also cleaned the litter boxes out and swept up a lot of cat hair!

Lincoln was up there with me, running around and having a grand time. I also gave him an old stuffed animal to destroy when he’s not chasing the cats.

It’s still pretty light out for another hour so I might just go back up and do another room. I found two bins of purses and bags and purged about 20-25 bags that I never use anymore.

[TheOtherMe]

I talked my primary care provider to do my appointment in 2 weeks by telehealth.  I have gotten on their case before about absolutely no masking requirements.  So for this appointment, I get telehealth.  I was told if I don't come in to the office in 6 months, I will be fired from the practice.  I might not care.  

[snapdragon]

Nov 8, 2024 17:02:47 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I talked my primary care provider to do my appointment in 2 weeks by telehealth.  I have gotten on their case before about absolutely no masking requirements.  So for this appointment, I get telehealth.  I was told if I don't come in to the office in 6 months, I will be fired from the practice.  I might not care.  

Sorry, sending hugs. 

[debthaven]

TheOtherMe  I think you will care much more about being "fired" from the practice than they will about "firing" you.

I would suggest scheduling an appointment for early in the day and wearing an N-95 mask. I know it's not ideal but neither is not having a PCP.

[startsmart]

I finally got a plumber out to fix an issue and therefore did not go back upstairs to clean tonight. I have been moving stuff upstairs and downstairs and cleared off the bookshelf on the landing I want to clean and paint.

[TheOtherMe]

Nov 8, 2024 17:30:16 GMT -5 debthaven said:

TheOtherMe  I think you will care much more about being "fired" from the practice than they will about "firing" you.

I would suggest scheduling an appointment for early in the day and wearing an N-95 mask. I know it's not ideal but neither is not having a PCP.

I don't care.  I will look for a small office.  This is probably the smallest office in this practice but they have specialists coming in from Dubuque every day.  

I always wear an N95 mask when I am around any other person.  Only Maddow and Amelia see me maskless.  

Last time I went there, they put in my chart that I refused to be weighed, which was not true.  I was never asked to be weighed.  I did refuse to remove my mask because the doctor was not wearing her mask correctly and no one else in the office was wearing one.

[startsmart]

I spent another hour upstairs cleaning and organizing. I’ve been keeping heaters and fans in the space under the stairs on the second floor but it’s not worth keeping the boxes anymore. So 8 empty boxes came out and I filled that space with the full boxes I’ve been going through.

Then I cleared out another room, went through those boxes and consolidated everything I could. All the chairs are in one room (some need more sanding) and I have an empty room so I can take out all the plaster and then the carpet. It also needs a new window.

I have a backpack full of stuff to donate and two big bins of egg cartons for the food bank.

[moneysquirrel]

Got two loads of laundry done. One of which was the sheets.   Extra containers of soup are in the freezer for future meals as are the yams.  Have not touched a bead as of yet.  

Also fyi -- did you know that ziploc makes a half- gallon freezer bag.  I have trouble finding the pint size locally so when I went on Amazon for that size and I saw the half-gallon size listed.  So I ordered both.  They came in today -- perfect for when things won't fit in the quart size but the gallon size is too large.

[debthaven]

Holy cow Sharon  that is pricey! No wonder you expect more from the cleaner!

TheOtherMe could you get one more session in with the organizer before she stops?

I caught up on Shitepile this weekend, DH mailed the letters.

DS2 and E came today, they're sleeping here tonight. Tomorrow is a holiday.

I have laundry to do but we ran out of laundry detergent. That has NEVER happened to me. 

Since Monday is a holiday, I'm working Tues/Wed instead of Mon/Tues. I REALLY don't feel like it, but on some level I know it's good for me, and the money is welcome. It's only 6-7h a week.

[TheOtherMe]

She only does one day a week and is booked for the rest of the year with a waiting list.  Not doing sessions past mid December.  

I have heard from the person she referred me to and will book with her.

[debthaven]

Aw that's a shame but I'm glad she could give you a referral TheOtherMe . I hope you'll be happy with the new person too.

[TheOtherMe]

I hope so.  She had started saying about this time last year that she was bored and that she gets bored easily.  Before she had kids, she was a nurse practioner.  She had to get her license up to date and find a job.  So that's what she has done.  

Kids are in school so she doesn't feel bad about working more hours.

This organizer said the previous one had told her she had referred me to her.  She works 3 days a week, so tomorrow I will get something set up with her.

[finnime]

I'm going to shower in an hour and pack our bags to go to New Mexico. We'll leave in 3 hours for the airport.

I put in one last order with the printing service to supply the last 3 shows this year. The first one is a small one, but very busy, at the high school. THe second is a very large one in Rhode Island, next door to us really. The last one is small-medium at our town center in the Unitarian church. I have hopes that they'll go well, outstandingly, and very well, respectively. We'll see.

I do want to vacuum before we go with Franklin the Dog gone to ODB's for the week we're gone. He's in full shedding mode.

[debthaven]

Have a wonderful trip finnime !

[Sharon]

This is a 3 day weekend for me and I've gotten a few things done around the house.  Saturday I mowed the front yard which took 3 hours since my riding mower has a flat tire.  The fresh air felt good.  Yesterday I defrosted the freezer, got rid of some items that had gotten lost and were now freezer burned, and then got everything reorganized.  I now need to do the refrigerator freezer because I know there are somethings that I need to move between the two freezers.

Today I'm going to a Veterans day parade that the kids school has every year.  It is a small school in a town of 2,000 people.  In the afternoon there is also a community wide assembly for Veterans day.  I won't attend that but will instead have DGD2 for the afternoon while DD attends the assembly.

[Iggy aka IG]

I did it!  Last Friday before leaving the office, I installed the keyboard DH bought me for my birthday.  My birthday was in February.  That means that "task" was on my procrastination list for 8 months.  The removal of the old keyboard and installation of the new one took an entire 6 minutes.  Why, oh why do I wait so long to do some things??

Prior to leaving Friday, I also made a cute weekend to-do list using various ink colors.  Accomplishments:
-Finished putting away the rather large Sam's Club order
-4 loads laundry including Halloween potholders, towels, and tablecloth
-Emptied and refilled the dishwasher twice (I was behind, I baked cookies, and we had guests over Saturday)
-Scrubbed 2 toilets
-Refilled the ice trays, Keurig and hand soap dispensers
-Played with the kittens
-Planned this week's suppers
-Read, listened to a few football games
-Took a walk with the kittens.  Although it was sunny yesterday, the ground still has snow in spots.  My black cat named Charm wanted to be held for the first half of our excursion.  The tortie doesn't mind the snow, and Charm's sister from the same litter stayed inside, lol.


Today I'm semi-WFH because of the holiday:
-Folded yesterday's clean towels
-Put away my record albums while the above fluffed in the dryer
-Hand washed a few dishes, scrubbed the microwave interior and stovetop
-From my procrastination list I finally started to move things here in my home office in order to relocate my desk.  One of two oscillating fans is now downstairs, three pieces of small furniture are temporarily in the middle of the room, and a floating shelf was cleared off and will be installed higher in order to accommodate my rolltop desk.

[TheOtherMe]

Nov 11, 2024 17:03:18 GMT -5 Iggy aka IG said:

I did it!  Last Friday before leaving the office, I installed the keyboard DH bought me for my birthday.  My birthday was in February.  That means that "task" was on my procrastination list for 8 months.  The removal of the old keyboard and installation of the new one took an entire 6 minutes.  Why, oh why do I wait so long to do some things??

I ask myself this often.  

[TheOtherMe]

Organizer is scheduled for January.  That was the schedule I was envisioning and requested.  Best part is she doesn't start until 10 AM.  I'm sleeping weird hours.  Hopefully Amelia waking me between 3 and 4 AM and then I go back to sleep is over by then.  In case it is not, 10 AM works better.

[NastyWoman]

I love how well my local Buy Nothing group works. There was exactly one hour between taking a photo of some kitchen odds and ends (10 items) to having those items picked up. And that includes time for me posting on FB and the admin approving the post. 

Not much in respect to the number of items but it sure is very efficient.  If I had to guess people check their FB accounts before heading home and picking items up "en route" as much as possible.

[jerseygirl]

Found a folder of old tax returns - 1999 to 2008
Shredded them all! Today is paper recycling so was able to get into the recycling
Interesting to look back and see these

[TheOtherMe]

I'm not only an anal accountant, but a retired IRS agent.  I can't get rid of the tax returns I have filed.  They go back to 1968 and I have every one.  

There is no good reason to keep them but I can't shred them.

[Iggy aka IG]

Nov 13, 2024 11:19:21 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Found a folder of old tax returns - 1999 to 2008
Shredded them all! Today is paper recycling so was able to get into the recycling
Interesting to look back and see these

  I've done the same with old checkbook registers.  I'm a numbers geek.