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Post by desposito on Nov 22, 2022 20:23:31 GMT -5
Catcats and anyone else, please feel free to change your goals if they aren't working for you--this challenge is supposed to help you, not add a layer of stress to your work! I can see already I'm probably still not going to finish my cleaning goal, seeing as I did nothing for it yet and there's only about a week left in month #1!
I think I'm supposed to report tonight but once again will wait until tomorrow.
Swampy, I'm so happy that you got the donations out of your house! That had to have made some maneuvering space for you to work on other things.
Diane
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Post by Unswamping on Nov 22, 2022 20:43:04 GMT -5
Thanks mylittlescholar and desposito I don’t think it made much room. The stuff was in totes and in one stack. There was a stack of empty totes next to it that got some donations piled on top. Once I bagged everything, I stacked the empty totes in one stack. I didn’t even gain floor space by consolidating the stacks of totes, the empties were sitting on a full tote that needs to be put away. So that’s still there because, I have cats. I think they are worried I am moving out! It’s trash and recycling night. I got recycling bagged. Trying to work on trash, but CATS!
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Post by gillian on Nov 23, 2022 8:18:48 GMT -5
A general goal of mine would be to have at least one room Christmas ready, depending on where we eat our Christmas dinner. It'll be a sad time, considering this will be our first Christmas without hubby being in the land of the living.
We were very disorganized last year, but just enjoyed being together - hoping to be better organized this year.
More specifically, right now I need to move books out of the house. A friend has offered to take one box of books to wherever the books need to go when he has cleared our gutters, which he hopes to do tomorrow. I have a small WhatsApp group which focuses on what needs to be done at our house and we communicate through that. My son and his friend plus a couple of friends from church as well as myself are on the group. The one doing the guttering is coming tomorrow to do that, so before that I hope to gather old medical books and old computer books and put them in a box, possibly in a banana box, of which my son and his friend are very fond.
As well as writing all this here, it'll go on to our Trello board - look it up!
Gillian
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Post by desposito on Nov 26, 2022 19:18:06 GMT -5
Hi gillian, glad you're joining in! My sympathy in your first Christmas without your husband, that's hard. I hope you're still able to enjoy the season.
Well, I have waited extra days to report, I'm still mainly working on the same things. I'm really getting into the plant room cleaning, I envisioned just cleaning up the worst mess but now I want to clean all the plant surfaces too.
Only 4 more days in month #1!
Diane
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Post by desposito on Nov 26, 2022 21:11:55 GMT -5
In the last 8 days I have done an hour on the plant room, 10 minutes on filing, have cleaned out two hidden places (a drawer and a small cloth bin, both where I store various plastic bags) and I have potted up two cuttings. One was some very small pieces of Christmas cactus that had rooted, and the other is a piece that fell off of a Tephrocactus (commonly called Pine Cone Cactus). I have no idea if this will root, but I'm giving it a chance. As far as the trading books go, two more of the posted ones were requested--and with the books I'm reading--I have rejected the second fiction that I started. At this rate I can start getting rid of some of the boxed books that I have had forever. I need to choose yet another fiction. The nonfiction is good, I'm around half way done with it.
1. CLOTHING--get ready for winter GOAL 40 minutes
2. CLEANING--other than routine things GOAL 3 hours and 10 minutes
3. BASEMENT GOAL 1 hour and 20 minutes
4. FRIDGE CLEANING
5. PLANT ROOM CLEANING 2 hours done
6. POST MORE BOOKS FOR TRADING 10 out of a GOAL of 10 This project is done.
7. READ BOOKS FROM MY OWN STASH GOAL 2 I have started reading the nonfiction book I chose for this, but decided not to continue with the fiction, so I need to choose a different fiction book.
8. CURRENT FILING 40 minutes done
9. OLD PAPER 10 minutes done out of a GOAL of 2 hours
10. PLANT CUTTINGS GOAL - (Still don't have a count of them) 4 containers of spider plants, graptosedum, golden pothos? and my mystery plant (maybe dracaena) cuttings done
11. ENCLOSED SPACES GOAL - Reorganize as many of them as possible 2 drawers done (wallet drawer, bag drawer) - 1 cabinet done (3 shelves of kitchen items and food) - 1 cloth bin done (plastic bags)
12. OFFICE SUPPLIES & STATIONERY ORGANIZATION
Diane
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Post by phoenixcat on Dec 1, 2022 10:28:21 GMT -5
Great job everyone!    I'm taking a look back to see where I am with all of this  . Posted a massive list on my own blog for everything I need to do between now and February.  1) I need to finish the home office - it is horrible and a real stumbling block. Plan to start on it tomorrow when the cleaners are here. Keep plugging along -getting better2) Continue with my medical appointments. Hoping that they will be mostly finished in November and the only one I will have in December is the nutritionist (which is now covered 100% by my insurance at least through the end of the year). So far, five scheduled appointments for November.   Down to just nutritionist and one appointment for a small cosmetic procedure. So far most appointments are OK as long as I continue to diet and add exercise 3) We are starting a bathroom renovation early next year which is trickling into the master closet and the master bedroom. Between now and Thanksgiving - I need to get out of those rooms everything that can be donated or thrown away. When the renovation starts - it will just be moving into other rooms with no sorting/evaluating necessary. Narrowing down the scope - just going to try and get things put away and only do the clothes especially because I need to figure out clothes for the trip4) We are planning a 3-4 week trip internationally in January/February. Not fully committed yet - a lot depends on my health. But assuming that it is happening - I have a lot of prep regarding my wardrobe and gift items to bring which brings me to... This is DEFINITELY happening but I can't really do a lot regarding my own stuff for another month - changing sizes Will buy gifts as I come across them.5) Sort out the closet with all the clothes I typically wear there and see what fits and what I actually like See #3 and #46) In that closet is a floor covered in stuff that needs to be hung in various rooms - just want to pick out a few that I can hang in DM's old room (nails in the wall already) plus a few that I want to hang in other areas. Then maybe designate a dozen or so things for donate. The rest will wait until Spring 2023. Still thinking of this - have a "generic plan" started7) Maybe (if I can get DH on board) start our own estate planning with meeting an attorney and forming a trust. Drives him crazy because I always get a little nuts about stuff like this when we are both traveling. . However, we wouldn't have wills if it wasn't for that craziness. Have appointment scheduled next week. Between inheriting of DM's stuff and all the drama of his brother's estate - he is much more willing to be responsible  8) Due to a friend's son's wedding - I have two major things happening in December. A) Hosting some of the out of town family so guest rooms/bathrooms need to be accessible and clean and just general "hosting stuff" like food, cleaning. And, B) I'm having a wedding shower at the house so lots to plan around that as well. Making plans - invites are out - stay tuned..... |
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Post by Unswamping on Dec 1, 2022 18:54:13 GMT -5
gillian my sympathy on the loss of your dh and soft hugs on getting through first Christmas without him. I’m glad you have a group of people who can help you with stuff around the house and getting things out. Sounds like you have a good plan. You can do this!
desposito great job on doing an hour in plant room and dealing with cuttings! I hope they all root! Have you heard about the mimic plant? I read an article about it today, it was so interesting!
www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2022/11/30/23473062/plant-mimicry-boquila-trifoliolata
phoenixcat great work on getting all those medical appointments done. Wow you a planning an international trip and a bathroom renovation for early next year? That’s ALOT! I’m always amazed at how much you get accomplished.
Haven’t done much in my challenges. Other than hanging stuff, I forgot what else.  because if I hung the white board, I could have a visible list. Decided that my big thing this month (which I had hoped to do last month), is to empty out a closet, do some finishing and build some storage in it. This will become my pantry. For now, I will box up what is in closet and put aside. Focus on getting the closet done. I have everything I need to get it done. I just need to move stuff around and then get it done.
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Post by outfromundah on Dec 2, 2022 0:59:22 GMT -5
So, I posted in this thread back on Nov. 10 and haven't visited it since. I didn't try to create some sort of specific challenge to get me going, and completely forgot that I gave myself a goal here, but one day I just started, and there has been progress.
From my post on Nov. 10:
I am tentatively going to state the areas that need the most work in my apartment. There are five broad categories: dishes, papers, clothes, inventory, and mixed clutter/junk. I am giving myself a goal to address at least two of these categories for the rest of November and then December. If I do more, great, but I do not want to set myself up for failure by saying I will do more than that.
Since I wrote that, I've been focusing on the kitchen and washed more than half the dirty dishes that were piled up in there, and the microwave as well. Threw a few old pieces out, too. Not many dishes left to wash at this point and then on to the next kitchen task. I've been doing a little at a time and taking breaks.
I have also set an intention to have my kitchen in order and clean by the end of December. I realized that, for me, it's better to set intentions rather than goals because intentions seem gentler to me than goals, and I am more likely to rebel if I think I have to strive for a goal. But an intention seems to say, "What do I want? How can I give myself that?" It might not make sense to anyone else, but it does to me. Anyway, December is now Kitchen Month for me and I'm happy with how it's going so far!
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Post by mylittlescholar on Dec 2, 2022 12:24:04 GMT -5
I was helping LR with her clothes and closet the last couple of days. I was supposed to paint yesterday, but was too tired. We keep adding to the outdoor project. DVD put up a North Pole, and I will be lettering the directional signs (they all point south, but in different languages). I spent time yesterday and today researching and downloading mid-century fonts and translations. printed them out this morning.
Hopefully I will get some more painting done today. It will rain the next three days
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Post by BetsyMarie on Dec 6, 2022 18:28:00 GMT -5
I've thought of something simple, easy, and realistic. Between now and the end of Dec, I'm going to do 3 little things each day. That's all. I'll do more if I want to, of course. I'm mainly trying to stay mindful and actively doing something productive.
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Post by Unswamping on Dec 6, 2022 19:44:06 GMT -5
Did some moving around of stuff to get to closet. Emptied closet. Ran into some issues. One is where to I put the stuff that came out? Two, I thought the measurements of closet and things were different. What I planned to do won’t work, so I need to work on an alternative. In the meantime, I should do some decluttering. Had plans to do that today but cats got in the way.
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Post by mylittlescholar on Dec 7, 2022 11:39:56 GMT -5
Today is installation day! I am looking forward to this phase of the project to be over. We decided to hold off on the merry go round. maybe put it up in the Spring. Also learned that we need to hold off on the varnishing as it needs to be bone dry or it will fog. DVD caulked the edges, put up the gutter lights, and installed the stands yesterday.
After going to a lovely choral concert last weekend, I realized I wanted to add go to events to my challenge list. So I bought tickets to a musical next weekend. the weekend after that, Lady D and 2 will come over for dinner and driving around to see the lights.
I need to review my lists. I know there are urgent things I am not getting to. I do have two appointments this week that I will be able to cross off.
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Post by desposito on Dec 11, 2022 21:00:19 GMT -5
Wow, I have not posted here in a long time!
Hi BetsyMarie, glad you joined in!
I haven't done one thing for the challenge in several days. I've been busy with things, but not challenge things--I can already see several things I won't get done from the challenge. I should have factored in that December is hard for me now, and will probably be for a while, so I'm not having the motivation at the moment. But I will still continue on--I'll post my (minor) progress tomorrow.
Diane
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Post by BetsyMarie on Dec 12, 2022 11:15:21 GMT -5
Just under 3 weeks till Dec is over. I've been keeping up with doing at least 3 little things a day, and most days more. I've decided to draw up a calendar till the end of the year to keep focused. I love calendars like these,especially when the time is finite, and 3 weeks is about right. More than that gets oppressive. Some days of course I won't get much done because of holiday entanglements, but 3 little things every day? Absolutely. Keep on, keepin' on.  |
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Post by Unswamping on Dec 12, 2022 17:31:55 GMT -5
Diane, I totally understand. Yes December can be hard for many people. I hope you can get a little mojo back. Even just one little thing a day will make a difference. Hugs.
BetsyMarie that calendar is an excellent idea. I have done that in the past too and it has helped. I love your three little things a day, it will add up and make a huge difference.
mylittlescholar merry go round? I think I need to do some catch-up!
Thursday night I decided to tackle the living room. Cleared off chair and ottoman. Vacuumed and de cat haired the ottoman, moved it to foyer. Moved snowblower to living room, out of my way. Vacuumed and de cat haired the chair, moved it to foyer. Turned off foyer light and closed the door. Vacuumed about half of the living room floor. Saw other things that needed cleaning but stuck with just vacuuming. It’s been a long time. Friday I loaded chair and ottoman into car and dropped off at thrift store. Snowblower is back in foyer. Also cut down some boxes in living room, visually that helped a lot. Still lots to do in there, and everywhere. Still stuck on pantry project, I don’t see that happening this month.
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