I carry things to their proper home or take extra things to a new home for storage. Let me explain. All day long when I can even walk that far, I have made about 20 extra trips down the hall. I bought a large Rubbermaid bin about two years ago, and I had not yet found its purpose. Actually, I had bought two bins, stacked them together and dumped stuff in the top one. That made the bottom one inaccessible to me because of the bending and weight. So, I had Oksana free the bottom one for me.
On the UHC plan I had money to spend. I spent about $75 on OTC. One of the things I bought was Q-Tips, two 500 count boxes in plastic wrapping. I also had three 300 count boxes in the hall closet. Then, I had another box of 500 in a bin under a table in the living room. I took everything but the one 300 count box from the closet. They went into the pink bin. I have been doing this with extra meds. I have a new bottle not used of several items with a few pills in the bottle I have not finished. I have too many bottles of lotion. I will put all but one into the bin, same with all categories of items--prescriptions, otc, and personal care.
For everyday use, I put Q-Tips into tall prescription bottles. Who needs to pick up a box of 500 every day? not me. At my house, the box was in a set of open shelves covered by a lace curtain in the wall next to the bathroom sink. I could reach in and pluck out a Q-Tip. So, I never had this space and arrangement problem in my house.
This exercise has freed up room everywhere in one day, it seems. I just need to continue and not become a slacker in this effort. Thursday, we are going to fill smallish boxes with books to take to a small, independent, used bookstore. If we don't manage to get any money for his or mine, I have other ploys to get books in the hands of people who want to read. I think the history books might be best put into the hands of hs students who love history. I have other ideas.
Some of you may clean for 15 minutes or for an hour, but one trip to put something or somethings away exhausts me. That is why I usually do a tiny bit at times all day.
We have had a lot of rain for 24 hours, but a respite now. There is a prediction for a possibility of snow flurries this weekend, mostly a bit north of here.
We are watching The King and I. Wonderful!
The CPU fan is going, hence loud noise in laptop. $300 fix may not work. So, maybe a new computer is in the future.
For dinner tonight, I made Hot Chicken Salad. Tommy is eating something else since he is not a fan of so much celery. Tommy: baked chicken legs, carrots, potatoes, Brussels sprouts. Later: buttered hot roll.
Maybe some of you can relate to two minute cleaning or straightening sessions. I don't know, but I figure it will take about 147 years to get this done. Understand?
Don't be so hard on your self, they are days I do what I call commercial cleaning. I am watching TV but I get up when the commercial breaks start. It may be only 3 to 5 minutes at a time but I seem to get a lot of things done in that time. On days I feel good I may work in 15 minute increments. I could go nonstop when I was younger, get the house cleaned in a couple of hours. I did laundry every day. Put a load in the washer before work, came home at lunch and put in the dryer. Did some dinner prep and then back to work. I had it down to a fine science.
ReplyDeleteNow, it is just me, there is no schedule. I can do things when I want and feel up to the task. Funny, I no longer have a job, a family to take care of and I struggle to keep up with the household chores. My energy levels have become low so I just take things a day at a time. I will admit the house suffers sometimes. I may not get everything dusted or keep the floors cleaned as well as I would like.
I now have a third dog, a big hairy one that creates a mess of the floors. I need to mop/steam clean right now but we are having some rain, so the big boy will be tracking in with wet feet. I have learned to wait until we have dry weather to mop. So I understand, do what you can, when you can. That is all we can do.
Have a great friday, don't forget it is superbowl weekend, Tommy may want some special snacks for the game.
Texas,
DeleteOh, I was not being hard on myself at all. I was just stating how little I can do and for short increments.
I clean during commercials only! And, then I usually need to go pee every time I get up, so my commercial is much shorter...lol.
When I was younger, I could do it all, nonstop after school and at night. Now, the house does suffer. No schedule is terrible for getting thing done because once there are no time limits, it is easy to procrastinate. I could not live with an animal in the house because of allergies. Besides, it might eat me when I died/
I ask Tommy if he wants stuff for ball games, and he turns it down every time. He does have Fritos, peanuts, and Diet Pepsi. So, he is good.
I've been cleaning and decluttering for years already and I'm still not done. Sometimes I can do a lot but often can only do a little, sometimes nothing at all. Working in small increments of 2, 5 or 15 minutes can real help if one can be consistent. I'm afraid I can't be consistent due to unpredictable health. I think you're doing a great job given what you deal with and you seem to have made a lot of progress. Kudos to you.
ReplyDeleteJoyful,
ReplyDeleteSame thing for the three years I have been here! Two minutes is a long time for me standing on my feet because of my back. Yes, my health is unpredictable, too. Some days, it feels like a lot, and sometimes it looks hopeless. Thanks.
Slow and steady wins the race.
ReplyDeleteCheryl,
DeleteActually, the clutter is faster than I am and has more oomph.
No one, on their deathbed, has ever said, "I wish I had cleaned more." You do what you can do. Set mini goals that are reachable. Take the breaks that you need and then go back to it when you can. It will all come together. Use your cleaning lady as much as possible as it sounds like there are things that she is can do that are difficult for you. The more big stuff she does, the easier it is to get at the little stuff. I always tell people to not worry about the big picture, just do one drawer or box at a time. When I was helping my sister, she didn't know where to start. I gave her a huge tote and told her to put all paperwork that was not current billing etc. into the tote. That alone made the room look so much better. Her job was to sort through the box and shred and file whichever was needed. It took a while, but she got it done. The tough part is retraining herself to not let it pile up again and deal with it when it comes in the door. No matter what the organization of any persons house is, there is always room for improvement and it isn't easy for most to determine where to start. You are doing what you can and are seeing improvement. Remember how it was and see how far you have come and that will help keep you motivated to keep pushing forward. One drawer, shelf, bag or box at a time. Ranee
ReplyDeleteRae,
DeleteThe Collyer Brothers (hoarders) might have said that..lol. I do know how little things add up and how to clean, sort, and such. But, I am not capable of even one tiny drawer. Someone else has to take it out and present it to me in a small box or drawer. But, I never let it all backslide more than a day or two. I put Tommy to work, too, since most of this is his. He needs direction, though.
Hot Chicken Salad sounds good.
ReplyDeleteThis evening, we enjoyed some fish with buttered leeks and mashed swede (rutabaga).
With the weekend almost here, I wish you a good one.
All the best Jan
Jan,
DeleteIt was so delicious, I overate! I have never had leeds or swede.
Thanks. I hope you have a good weekend, too.
leeks
DeleteI put a timer on for 15 minutes for each chore and it helps.
ReplyDeleteMarjorie,
DeleteIhave heard of people doing that, but I cannot last 15 minutes. I am glad you can.