This time it has to go!

[messymimi]

Dear Bee,

Glad the dentist visit is over, and hope you get good sleep tonight.

messymimi

[bee17]

Had a weepy day yesterday. Managed to get out to the garage again, but it was a struggle due to painful knee. It's so annoying that this knee problem has flared up again after a three year respite. I expect it's because I've been carrying so many heavy bags around. Last night the joint seemed to click back into the right position for a while, but then it started hurting again. Have resorted to wearing a knee support today as it's fine weather and I need to do some more work on the garage before the heavy rain starts at the weekend.

Another reason why I'm weepy is because it's starting to hit home that I'm moving away and leaving behind a lot of dear friends. The town I'm moving to is over 200 miles from where I'm living now. I'm not a car driver and neither are many of my friends, so visits will be few and far between. My move is two weeks today.

[messymimi]

Praying for you.

messymimi

[bee17]

Thanks for your prayers Mimi. Had a better day yesterday. I was praying myself for healing for my knee. The support bandage helped a lot and it feels ok this morning (it's 9 am and I'm just getting breakfast). It was a fine, sunny day yesterday and I managed to take some more stuff from the garage to the tip. There's not too much left to do now, so I should manage it in a couple more trips.

The weather forecast has changed and it looks like the heavy rain will hold off till Monday - another answer to prayer. Won't be able to do much on Sunday as I'll be out at church then at a farewell meal with my home group in the afternoon.

The recycling people come this afternoon, so this morning I need to go through some more stuff and see what else I can put out. I've just wasted an hour watching TV while typing this, so it's time I got going.

[The Eliminator]

 
Hi bee17!

I've been looking for this thread, I knew I had seen it once before... I forgot it was on the public blogs!  You've been working so hard, bless your heart.

Decluttering is bad enough, and moving is bad enough...  but the two at the same time?  
You poor thing!

I sure hope your knee stops hurting... anything to make the process more difficult...  
(my knee has been acting up again, too!)

I'm sorry you'll be missing your friends... I can relate to that, too!  Not sure what long-distance phone rates would be for you, but at least you have text messaging, and Email.   Once upon a time, there was only 'snail mail!'

You take care, sweetie... I'm working my heiney off over here, too...  so let's just keep doing what we need to do... and know that someone else is doing the same!

  

p.s. -- been wanting to ask... is your ID an ode to the bomber aircraft, or the Olivia Newton John song? Probably not the bomber... and maybe neither, but just thought I'd ask!

Good Morning, Bee. Am sending you lots of good thoughts today.

[bee17]

Hi Serena and Eliminator,

Thanks for the encouragement - I certainly need it.

Today has been another emotional day. The garage is getting me down as it's taking longer than I thought. I found newspapers and magazines stashed there dating back to the early 1990s (!), so took all those to the tip. Managed to fit the contents of three suitcases into one large one, which meant I could get rid of the two empty ones. I was just starting to feel better after tossing the papers when I got a message telling me that someone wants to view the flat on Monday afternoon. That ruined my plans to finish sorting the garage over the weekend, as the flat will need some major work before it's fit to be seen. Then I got a text from my brother asking how I was doing and if I still had lots to pack or get rid of (he has no idea!). At this point it all started getting too much. The last straw was when I walked over to the 'non-recyclable' area to throw in one of the suitcases. I've had this case since I was a child and it still has 'Bergen Line' stickers on it from a trip (by ship) to Norway many years ago. Suddenly it seemed like an old friend and I didn't want to part with it. Decided to take a picture of it with my mobile phone, and as I was doing this a woman came up and looked at me - she must have thought I was crazy! I tossed the suitcase in the skip and watched it bounce away out of reach. Then I burst into tears.

After hiding in a corner for a few moments I recovered my composure and was ready to set off for town. Just then I heard someone saying 'hello' and turned round to see a young man from my church home group. I was kind of embarrassed as he's half my age and I was standing there with tears streaming down my face, but he happens to be a very pleasant and friendly guy (and handsome!) and he offered me a lift in his car. He also offered to help me out sometime next week, but I feel awkward about accepting.

My brother previously said he might come and help me this weekend, depending on how I was getting on. I told him I had lots to do and am waiting to see if he's able to come or not (it's quite a journey and he is under a lot of pressure at the moment). If he comes it will be a mixed blessing, as I'll need to worry about clean bedding and feeding him over the weekend. Decided to buy some boxes on the way home so I can start to do some serious packing. If I don't manage to sort the stuff I can at least hide it in the boxes till the viewing is over.

Sorry if I'm a bit self-focused just now. I know many of you are facing similar pressures and need encouragement just as much as I do, if not more. I'll make more effort to respond to your posts after my move.

[The Eliminator]

Hi sweetie! Oh, you poor dear!

Hey, don't worry about me! I am happily content,
and I'm staying put, just desqualoring here at my leisure!

I can truly understand the wanting to take a picture of your suitcase,
and then the old hag... er, uh, I mean lady looking askance at you..
and I already know that under normal circumstances you'd've been
able to share a giggle with her about it, right?
I know, I know, I've been there!

That was nice of the cutie guy to give you a lift home! I can see that
you might feel awkward accepting his offer of help, but if you really do
need it... accept it!!!
Just remember, it does others good, too, to be able to do something
to help someone! And, also remember that he said hello to you first...
if he had wanted, he could have just carried on, and pretended he
hadn't seen you...

Years ago, I once helped a girl from my church, I moved ALL of her
boxes from her apartment, alone, across town, took me three trips.
She was at orientation at her new job, and could not take the day off
to meet the move-out deadline. It was a little tough, since I was alone
moving her stuff, and it took three trips to a kinda scary part of town,
but I did it, and I am still glad that I could help her!
And that was decades ago...

Take him out for a nice lunch to thank him!

I wish I could be there now, to help you myself!!!

[bee17]

Thanks Eliminator,

The good news is that my knee is no longer hurting.

By the way, my ID has nothing to do with bombers or ONJ. My first name and surname both begin with the letter 'B', and 17 is the number of a house where I lived which was special to me.

Hugs,

Bee

[butterflygirl]

OOO! Mimi, great idea on the bucket of water! I go so tired of needing to burn HUGE piles of personal papers because unless you crumple them, they mat down and won't burn. Was going to drive the several huge boxes into the recycling center (a half hour away, the county doesn't make thing easy to recycle unless you PAY them to come get it). But I was worried about privacy, now I will leave the box in the rain in the back of the truck for a day.

[Meme]

I did the water shredding yesterday--- = it worked and was a blessing to my ears-- I did toss the wet wrung mess into my garbage as recycle is not an option for me--- I will use it again for private bundles as that is often why the pile is never shredded as I just hate that inferno noise-- LOL

Meme

[butterflygirl]

aw Bee
Sorry it hurts so much. It sure does, too, hurt bad sometimes handling all this stuff.
I just spent needless sad hours (two days) feeling all alone, no one to help me. Then realized what I was doing to myself (again). That it was just my "little girl" wanting some nice, strong loving person to come take charge, make my decisions and say "it will all be all right, don't worry." So now, I just have to do that for myself.
Sounds like you are making strong choices about the stuff in your garage.
Parting with the childhood suitcase...I seriously don't know if I could have done it. But the organizer from that show, Clean Sweep (Peter Walsh) when he talks to people makes them look at the "special" item and define WHY it is special: Is it the item itself, or the memories it conjures up? Then, if you really want to keep the item, you have to "honor" it, by keeping it clean or someplace where you use it. Like a suitcase could be used to store blankets under your bed.
It is so hard to fight the dreary rain to get stuff done!
I hope you have warm clothes to wear while you are doing this work. I have a "lovely" (I'm being sarcastic) outfit: it is long johns covered with sweat pants and sweatshirt; long warm socks, and over this an ugly, one piece snowsuit that is torn and covered with paint stains (it was black, now very colorful with the paint) and a knit hat. With a pom pom on top. I don't care, because I am toasty warm while working in my garage! I also look like a very peculiar sausage. Or homeless lady, I suppose.
Your friends - get a camera for your computer and get the free Skype or some such internet phone service, and keep in touch that way. I love my internet phone and can make calls anywhere, any time, free!
Maybe the lady watching you felt bad for you and understood, after a few moments of looking at you, what was going on. Another thought: wonder if she "rescued" your suitcase? My mother is always doing that at the apartment complex where she lives!
I have to "show" my house for rent Sunday at 3:30 p.m. I feel for you about it not being ready. GAK! Me neither. I am actively practicing procrastination at this very moment.
Thank goodness - you are moving - a built in excuse for any mess!!!
Cheers!
Butterfly

[bee17]

Ha! Well it's now 11.30 am on Saturday and I've got a serious case of John's IGAD disorder. Over the last few days I've got into a bad habit of staying up till about 2 am and then getting up late next morning, which is doing me no good at all. Today I slept till 10.30 and have achieved very little so far, apart from washing a few dishes and putting some things into the kitchen cupboard so they're not cluttering the surfaces. I am, however, in a good mood and feeling relaxed and ready to tackle things...after I've finished watching this TV show! After all, I've got all day...

Saturday is a day when I usually meet up with friends in different cafes in town. I'm now thinking that since it's got so late I may as well go out now and come back to the clearing up later. Will pack a bag for the charity shop first though!

Thanks Butterfly for your kind words. I don't think the lady at the tip was really paying much attention to me. She probably just wanted me to get out of the way so she could throw her own stuff into the skip. She went back to her car a moment later and came back with another armful. The funny thing about the suitcase was that I didn't realise I was attached to it till that moment. I'd looked at it in the garage and decided it was really tatty and old and just a piece of junk, but when I came to throw it away it suddenly became a piece of history (or at least my history). I've since worked out that the stickers must date from a trip when I was about 10 years old, as previous trips to Norway were with a different shipping line (we made several trips as I have family in Norway).

By the way, the weather is relatively warm over here (about 53 degrees) so I don't need too many layers. The temperature has gone up a lot since last week.

Well, I've spent too long on here now. Must motivate myself and get out.

Bee

[messymimi]

Dear Bee,



There have been things i've lost, too, and was sad about.

Hope the next few days go well, with your knee and the weather, and that you get a lot done.

messymimi

[bee17]

Hi folks,

Just been talking to my mother on the phone and need to vent. She knows I'm a hoarder but hasn't any idea how bad I am. She has allocated me ONE BOX in the bathroom for my toiletries and has forbidden me to bring home any old perfumes and stuff. This is really hard for me. I have enough perfumes, lotions, potions and soaps to fill at least five boxes. I have multiples of everything, and most of them part-used as I can never open one bottle and stick to it till it's empty. They're too good to throw away and not good enough to give away. I really want to keep them and feel resentful that she's telling me what to do with my stuff. I'm sure part of the reason for my hoarding is that she's so controlling. Will offload what I can, but I'll probably end up hiding things in boxes together with other stuff.

Sometimes I wonder if I have a mild form of ADD, as I have the same problem with a lot of other things I own. There are so many half-read books and half-finished craft projects and half-used notebooks and half-empty jars of food, etc. It's like I need constant variety and can't stick with anything till it's finished. It would be so much easier to get rid of things if they were either brand new and perfect, or else finished with. Being single and living alone doesn't help, as it takes longer to use things up. Who wants to eat the same food five days running? Or use the same shower gel every day for a month?

Now for some good news. A friend of mine has just invited me to go with her for a "Champagne tea" at a posh restaurant in town before I leave. I've never been to this restaurant before in all the years I've lived here as it's quite expensive, so this will be a real treat!

Thanks for your post, Mimi. I do appreciate you taking the time to read my blog regularly and respond.

Bee