Dreaming of Spring

Cortlands and MacIntosh

*253*

   My dining room table has these three bags of apples on it. Macs and Cortlands. The room smells nice. I was able to get these for $5 a bag. They are each almost 20 lbs each. That comes to 25 cent a lb. I have decided to do some apple sauce but also some apple jelly. I have to see if I have any more cheese cloth. I love being able to buy something cheaply, make it into something good, and it saves money.

  But first I have to clean house. Ugh.

  I am a person that has a really tidy and well ordered house...in my mind. Yeah, not so much in reality. I have dusty window ledges. How do I tackle that when I have so much to do? It is my running theme in my life. I am a sick person who likes to live in a clean home but lives with family that has ADHD.  It is a freaking party! I try to rein in my ADHD tendencies by sticking with one or two areas of interest a day. The kitchen is always part of that list. It is always a mess in the morning. Always! I never wake up to smooth counter tops and everything put away. Today I will also tackle the downstairs bath. That is the *children`s* bathroom but it is also the one that people would use if they came to the house. It is like a fucking swamp. I leave it till I cant take it anymore. Those will be my two areas of interest. The vacuuming, recycling, mopping, dog washing, stair sweeping, dusting, laundry, and general decluttering will just have to wait it`s turn for more energy.

  Yeah, more energy. That is a funny notion. I miss the days of being able to do what I want and my body doesnt betray me.  I will need to muster up plenty of that fabled energy soon. My bestie, A, has some very bad bad back issues. She will need surgery. She is weaving through the maze of worker`s comp now. I am her friend and she will need my help through this. Rides to the Dr. Care after surgery. I have already started cooking meals and slowly cleaning her house. Cooking and cleaning for her but there are her Mother and Son living there also. Yeah, you read that right. I have two homes to clean. I am not complaining. I love her and it has to be done. I just dont know how.  If you have any ideas, just let me know. I fear that this could hurt me. I am already dealing with something neurological that I dont wanna talk about. It will have to wait cause I dont have the time or the money to afford being laid up right now.

  Positives for today are always good.  The furnace is wonderful. I have it on the low side. It is 20 something out but the house is good. You need a light sweater but we aren't millionaires.  I bought a primrose plant for 25 cents. It breaks my spend fast but I needed to see the flowers that it brings. My friend gifted me a blu ray player. I have to hook it up. Very happy about that! Hubs birthday is next week. I havent decided on the menu but he will have a Almond Joy cake. Oh yeah.I am actually starting to like my grey hairs that are popping up. I have decided I wont color. I earned every one of them!

I will post about the spending fast this weekend. While it supposedly snows.

Drowning in a sea of clutter

*250*

 First off we must talk about Doctor Who.
Oh yeah! Two more days until we see some David Tennant and Billie Piper. I cannot WAIT!

 Sorry I have not posted, if anyone cares. I have been literally drowning in filth and clutter. Nothing is more joyous than cleaning up after other adults. Joy To The World! I want to get rid of shit and make this place less ADHD and more about being fucking clean. I am glad that I now know why my family is dirty and my sick ass cannot keep up. They are getting help to learn about it and hopefully be able to help me. Sometimes I just want to run away.
I am boxing stuff up and having large furniture pieces taken away by a charity. I have to empty them out, semi organize all the crap and then paint, get shelving and have this place looking the way that I want it. The problem is that I have a couple adult children that do not know how to let go of shit. Since I am getting rid of that big armoire, the ugly bookshelf and the Ikea coffee table..I need to box up all that stuff that was stored inside of them. You know what that means right?
There is shit piled E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. I have boxes piled with stuff and the stuff will get piled in the corner after the corner is free from the big furniture going away.
 I do have plans and I am slowly making dents. All the canning and cleaning stuff are going on the metal shelves at the bottom of the stairs in the basement. Once I get that out of the way, and all the plants in safe sunny places...I can start tossing.
 It is really hard, you know? I am dealing with full blown perimenopause so I just yell at people for no reason and take things the wrong way at the drop of a hat.
I am a mess. But I am still exercising and eating healthy. The weight loss as stalled but the inches are coming off. I have to drop the carbs again. I started eating them again but not at the level before. I had to use insulin. Then my weight loss stopped. I know what I have to do. I am going to start again on December 1st. I gave myself a date. Otherwise, everything is good.

Okay...this was quick but I really need to get working on the clutter around here. It might not bother them but it bothers me to no end.

Level 1 hoarding must stop!

*251*

  I went downstairs to take the strawberries out of the freezer to make jam this weekend. I realized something. It is October 5 and I have NOT brought up any of my Halloween decorations yet. Not a one.
Is this because the kids are grown?

New way of eating getting in way of Halloween?
No and No.
   It is my cluttered basement. Two events made it the way it is right now. We had a big rain event in the Spring and we had to move all the boxes and tools out of the sump pump area because of the water. They were never moved back. And the washer shit the bed. We have a HUGE pile of seasonal clothes at the bottom of the stairs that need to be gone through and washed. It is things like this that need teamwork but I do not get that. It falls on my shoulders and I bitch about the lack of help and then I get half assed workers. What can I say? We are going to be doing some work around the house. I want a junk run done very soon. I want to toss anything that is broken, never used, taking up space, and has to just go. Old bikes, broken furniture, huge fucking tv sets, ripped up love seat on the patio...the list goes on and on.
 I do not even want to talk about the yard work. I have put a small dent in cutting down the dead or dying plants. I know I could just leave them to rot over the winter, that that is not my style. I will cut down as much as I can in the front of the house and fuck the rest. I am still in a cunty mood because of how I feel. I am exhausted. Having issues with the CPAP. I will make that call to the Dr office on Monday to see if they can figure out a way that I will stop freaking out in my sleep over the pressure.

 On a positive note, it has cooled off a bit today. I am going to open some windows and clean. We did laundry late yesterday and I need to go through all my clothing. Those that are too big, get bagged. The rest get put away and then I have to store my summer stuff too. Big task. That needs to be done so that I am not frustrated looking for stuff all the time. Then I am going to roast whole chicken breasts for dinner with sweet potatoes and green beans.
I am going to make it a good day. I will not obsess about the clutter in the basement....yet. It will need to be tackled soon because we will be purchasing new washer and dryer sometime this month. I cannot wait!!

I did put up my Halloween flag on the porch. That should account for something.

Stop the clutter! I want to get off!!!

*266*


My house is a cluttered mess. There, I said it. I am embarrassed by it. Now to be clear, it is not in any way shape or form defined as a hoarder situation. I just have a couple people in my house that want to save every fucking thing and they just shove them in places. I am sick of looking at it all. Now I will be honest and say that I have clutter too. I have dollhouse/art supply clutter. My reason is because the areas that I made for storing those things, have been infiltrated by other clutter. There are fucking books....every fucking where! Now we do not have a library but it is the beginnings of one. I would love to have one of those organizers come in and help me. I do not have alot of stuff. If I took all my dollhouse/art stuff I think I would have three large totes full. As for the other stuff that is cluttering my home and life. It would fill the basement! I am really tired of looking at it.
What do I do? Do I spend MY money buying totes to put all this crap in to store in the basement?
My diningroom is a complete mess and I am tired of it. I am in a state of constant Flux with the clutter.
I clean off the dining room table today. Tomorrow morning it will be covered in somebody elses shit!
I complain too damn much but there is a point to this. I want to shit out of my house! Books to the used book store! Recycle, donate, and toss!
I want to be proud if someone came over my house. Right now, I would be mortified if anyone showed up.
Give it to me! I need ideas! Oh and we cant have a bon fire so do not suggest that. hehehehe