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Post by Diane on Jul 17, 2015 15:07:38 GMT -5
I have dozens of large boxes and bins to sort through. DOZENS! I started with one small box on top of it all in the closet. Contents: My 1967-1968 childhood diary My 1976 Europe travel diary Clipboard Comb 2007 newspaper article about my former sister-in-law iPhone speaker 1990 and 1992 school pictures of my son 2003 cassette teaching tape from a seminar Blue Sharpie File folders Manila envelopes That was only one small box! Diaries went where my yearbooks are stored, office supplies and comb were put away, I started a box for just kids' school pictures by the photo albums (I keep running into them everywhere), youngest daughter said she will take the speaker, sister-in-law was offered the article (or I toss it), and the teaching tape went into a drawer of cassettes. (One day I'll decide which cassettes I really do still want and pay someone to transfer them to a CD.) I even put the EMPTY box into the recycling bin! for Day One!
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Post by dtesposito on Jul 17, 2015 17:19:24 GMT -5
Welcome to the challenge Diane, it sounds like you have your work cut out for you! It's great that you're putting things where they belong, because that way, if places fill up, you'll know you have to start paring things down as you go. One box down! Diane
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Post by sparkle on Jul 17, 2015 22:12:44 GMT -5
Good job, everyone! Diane, I'm lagging a bit behind on stretches. Glad you mention them because it always reminds me. I was going to do them every morning but that never got off the ground.
This has been an amazing ride. I met with the estimator for the pros last Wednesday. It hailed on Thursday. I called State Farm and started a claim for hail damage on Friday. They gave me a roofer recommendation and it turns out he lives just down the road from me and knows my brother. I met with him on Monday. The insurance adjuster came on Wednesday and got back with the settlement the next morning so I picked my color and signed a contract yesterday. The roofer led me to a contractor to put up and paint facia boards so I can get proper gutters installed as well. He's coming out on Monday to scope out the job. He may be able to help me with the barn which would be wonderful because the pro never got back to me. I'll know more when I meet with him. He said he'd take a look at it. I'll put together my list of questions this weekend. There are so many things around here that need fixing.
Today I got approved for a line of credit. It takes off a lot of pressure. Oh, and Big thing! Arc is going to start sending a truck out this far once a month. They will make a pickup on Tuesday after next. Just think, I don't have to schlep things 25 miles into town now. I have at the ready 7 boxes of good clutter, 3 of those nice ergonomic laundry baskets with clothing, a leather suitcase and an old basketry bassinet which they said they will take. I will be so glad to get that stuff out of the house.
Things seem to be falling into place nicely.
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Post by dtesposito on Jul 17, 2015 22:18:25 GMT -5
Stretching done for today. I'm feeling a difference from doing this, my neck is much looser and I'm not always afraid of pulling a muscle. I'm sure if I did this every morning AND every night I would feel even better. NO chance of that though, I'm kind of amazed that I'm finally doing it daily. (Well, except for that one day...)
I have some unexpected time off over the next couple of days so I should be able to finish up the book hours and also start on the second set of blinds this weekend.
Diane
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Post by dtesposito on Jul 17, 2015 22:22:50 GMT -5
Wow, weird, I've been trying to post the above post for about 10 minutes now, lots of trouble connecting. Sparkle, things are certainly moving forward for you, not necessarily in the way you wanted, but the roof will be great. I'm kind of confused. I know you were living in a house, and you talked about the hoarded house over a bridge (?). But now you're living in yet a third house? Is this the house that will get the new roof? How many houses are there??? I'm glad things are happening. Diane
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Post by angela on Jul 17, 2015 23:29:29 GMT -5
Such good work magda! Yes that is a big list, but you are working on it and making progress. Welcome Diane. on that box sorting today!
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Post by sparkle on Jul 18, 2015 0:33:56 GMT -5
Haha. It's no wonder you're confused. The house I'm living in used to be my mother's house. The house is in pretty good shape and I'm keeping it caught up 'good enough'. This is the one getting the new roof. Across a gorge via two-lane bridge is my house wherein I went into a really deep, deep depression and squalored it way beyond safety, a true level 4 on the 1-5 hoarding scale. This is the house that has the barn. That's it but it's still a hoard of houses. I invested in real estate when I was employed.
Once the barn is emptied, I can get back to work on the hoard house where I will now have a place to put donations awaiting pickup and bagged trash until I can get it out to the road where the trash cans are. I'm going to splurge on white compactor bags which are like black contractor bags but smaller, thus lighter, and they have handle ties. Much easier on the back.
By circuitous route I have managed to pull myself back and with recent financial help from my nephew am putting my life in order. Much of the credit belongs to people here at SOOS. I couldn't have done this without you.
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Post by Diane on Jul 18, 2015 2:05:13 GMT -5
Well, before I head to bed (it's midnight), I'm happy to report that I also got a bin done! This one was with my husband's help. It was full of old cords and cables and electronics. Everything in that bin was either tossed, put away, or donated. Two more bins came out, and they were full of pictures and frames, and I didn't have it in me. I knew I'd bog down. But they were both only half full. I consolidated them into the bigger bin. Both empty bins went to the garage for my husband to use whenever he takes on that project. It's all his stuff out there. I even got a bunch of stuff off of the bookcase right by that closet. Things like a 2013 can of snow spray for windows. ( ) I didn't even know I owned it. Maybe I should spray my windows to forget all this July heat? No ... it's going to the basement with me when I go to bed, in the Christmas corner of the storage room. G'night, all! The Second Diane
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Post by sidestep on Jul 18, 2015 5:23:43 GMT -5
Things like a 2013 can of snow spray for windows. ( ) I didn't even know I owned it. Maybe I should spray my windows to forget all this July heat? There's your answer to getting by in the heat, dtesposito!
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Post by dtesposito on Jul 18, 2015 7:30:37 GMT -5
There's your answer to getting by in the heat, dtesposito!Ah, if only it was that easy.....I would spray pretend snow on everything, not just the windows! The Second Diane And I was just saying that you don't hear the name Diane much anymore! Diane, you are on a roll! It's kind of addictive, isn't it--there's such a good feeling to getting rid of stuff and creating space that you want to keep going. Sparkle, okay, so there are only 2 houses--someone mentioned your mother's house and I thought that was yet another one. I think I asked you this before but you weren't sure--once both houses are cleaned out, which one are you going to live in? And, what kind of stuff is in the barn? Has it been full for a long time, so hopefully you won't find things that you still think are good and want to keep? I think you're right, once you're on this board for a while your perspective on what is "good" does change, and you very well might look at everything and think "why did I keep that"? And even if not, you know that you don't have room for it inside, so it's not going to do you any good even if you keep it. Did you send a second email to the pro company? I do think it's weird that they didn't at least acknowledge your message--being busy is fine, but they could say "so-and-so is backed up right now, he'll respond soon" or something. Maybe they'll still come through, I think there are a lot of companies that do good work but don't have good customer communication. Unfortunately, that really diminishes the customer experience (don't I sound like a professional marketer or something?) and the company would have even more business if they would work on the customer service aspect. Both possibilities have advantages--the company would work faster--which could be a good thing or a bad thing--bad if you need time to emotionally deal with things, good if you need someone to just take the stuff away quickly--like ripping off a bandage, you know? At least you have options now instead of no one. And you're getting a new roof! Diane
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Post by magda on Jul 18, 2015 12:34:34 GMT -5
Thanks Angela! You are getting a lot done too. I just bought some more mulch so I hope to be making more progress this weeked and the sun is actually shining at the moment, so that is a good sign.
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Post by dtesposito on Jul 18, 2015 18:33:08 GMT -5
Hi magda, I hope you find time this weekend for the garden.
I cleaned a set of blinds in the DR today. It was the smallest size set. There's such a difference between the one clean one and the two dirty ones! I also sorted out two book piles that qualify as extra decluttering, and 10 minutes listing books for my book job.
Here's where I am so far.
1 Stretching Done every day so far except for one.
2 Book Job 9 hours 10 minutes out of 10 hours.
3 Summer Clothing Nothing done on this: still to do are altering 2 pair of jeans (already purchased) and sewing the sleeves on a few scrub tops.
4 Blinds DONE! 2 finished out of 2 that I said I would do. I might actually try to do more since there's more than a month left in this challenge.
5 Further decluttering I figured I'd keep track of this by room.
Dining Room: Got rid of contents of old trunk, trunk still in the room but will go down to storage. Got rid of one long-term pile of books from DR table. Living Room: Got rid of one long-term pile of books on main desk.
Diane
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Post by Diane on Jul 18, 2015 19:25:08 GMT -5
Several years ago I owned a very large, very nice looking roll-top desk. Problem was, all it became was a place to store JUNK. I never used it as a desk. I needed to move my piano someplace, so we sold it. And I had to clear it out fast to sell it. SO ... I filled lots of boxes and bins with all that stuff.
And I stuffed it in a junk room. A junk room that is now mostly cleared out except for the closet.
The closet. My closet.
When my parents unloaded lots of stuff on me, I knew some of it went to the garage, some went to the basement, and some went to the junk room. I really thought everything in the closet was part of that inheritance.
I was wrong. I forgot about the rolltop desk. I pulled out a mid-sized bin today and it was FULL of paperwork from 2007-2011 of all sorts and types. As I dig through, most is going into recycling or into the shredder. But some I still want. Like letters from children I've sponsored. Like papers I wrote for my Master's degree. So I can't just set a match to it!
I've been going for over an hour on it, and I'm maybe 1/4 of the way through it. At this rate, I may not get the closet done by the end of August!
But I will continue plugging away ...
BTW, you're all doing great! And I love your encouragement. It's really helping me persevere.
Diane #2
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Post by phoenixcat on Jul 19, 2015 10:51:23 GMT -5
Wow - this has become an active thread - everyone is getting a second wind for the end of summer!! WAY TO GO! I hung up my first stuff yesterday!! We've only been here almost 8 months. I went with the most difficult first and hung up a set of shelves and a very large handmade shadow box for a bunch of collectibles. And, put on all the stuff that was designated for the shelves and shadow box. I also hung up a small shelf. I built another shelf system but more difficult to hang- not sure if it is a one person job. PC
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Post by phoenixcat on Jul 19, 2015 10:51:54 GMT -5
double post
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