Tired

Things I accomplished today:

• a shower
• driving to the store
• calling my father
• a ride into the city
• conversations
• rolling up an unruly piece of foam
• low energy visit with a friend
• holding a cat

Things I did not accomplish today:

• basically, everything else

But the day was gray and overcast. I'm very tired.

Memories

I got through two more drawers in the dresser and then started on some storage boxes. Every box contained random stuff,  most of which had no business in my room. I have some shoes I need to deal with. One pair messed up my foot so they should probably be trashed. The other shoes may just live in the Shoe Cube for now. I may be able to wear them soon.

Because I filled up the trash bag already, I guess I'll tackle the cube and the other storage container on the trunk in my room next. Ideally, I'd like to have them both off of the trunk, but that may not be possible. We'll see how things shake down when this is over.

I found a picture of the dog my grandparents had when I was little. I'm certainly keeping that. I also found a clipboard I want to keep near me because I never have a flat surface for stuff. Now I will. YAY!

I also found some old burned cds full of music I've not really listened to since the 2000's. Cool to have that again.

Trash Day

So the second bag of trash is out. I have two whole bags less of crap in my room than I did before. Yay. Even though my room is no where near clean, the energy is so much better. There is a sense of calm in that room that I've not felt before.

So I'm going to do a very basic thing. I'm going to do an idea page on Pinterest of things I'd like to see go into the room or even things I just like but would never put in the room, but still find a certain harmony in looking at them. It may not go anywhere, but we'll see.

Accomplished

I got through the mountain of clean clothes!

I GOT THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN OF CLEAN CLOTHES!

Everything is folded and, with the exception of a few items, everything is put away. I wasn't sure I would really do this, but I did. I handled all that laundry. I resorted the places where the clothes will live. I accomplished my actual goal. WOW. I mean, for me, that's big.

WOW.

I'm so elated right now.

Towel Day

Today I folded towels and reorganized the kitchen towel basket. We'll see if it works better than it did before. It's always kind of difficult to keep that basket tidy because it's a place where the cats like to sit. Cats can disorganize any space. It's one of their key talents.

Ever since I had my last fall, my shoulder has been hurting me. My other shoulder can get achy too, mostly due to injuries connected to a previous fall. For a while now, folding towels has been really painful.

Today I tried my best to focus on things outside of the pain. I tried to concentrate on smoothing the towels and getting as even a fold as I could. I was not, admittedly, all that successful, but with time and practice and the will to do so, I think I'll get better. By the end, I was tired and I still had to take a couple of breaks, but it wasn't as bad as it had been.

Because of that, I was able to get a jump start on some of my other room tasks. I folded my socks and put them in a basket. I also folded my long undies and basketed them. They didn't get put away like the socks did, but that should happen tomorrow. Now all I have to do is fold my winter shirts and I'll have everything out of the Baskets of Doom that have been hanging over my head for a while now.

I've been frustrated for a couple of days with this process, but I have to admit that knowing I only have some shirts to fold is making me rather elated about things again. The unfolded laundry has been an issue for a while now and having it handled is going to be really nice. I mean, I even have another laundry basket of stuff in the hallway I need to put up, but that is small compared to the mountain I faced before.

I'll finish the basket tomorrow and then deal with the new one on Tuesday. I'll remove my bag of purged items on Wednesday and then start clearing out the lower drawers on my dresser. Then I'll have six smaller drawers on the other dresser. I suspect a lot of this stuff will get culled because I think much of it is broken stuff I just shoved back into place instead of dealing with it.

My guess is that once those two furniture pieces have been sorted, I may have to resituate some stuff. That's fine. I knew that kind of thing was going to happen anyway. So yeah, we're still making progress. Yay.

Slogging Along

I started the major portion of folding my clothes today. I managed to get about half of it accomplished, but I hurt and feel kind of deflated. As much as I love the look of the nicely folded things, it's difficult to make it happen with my large clothes. They don't quite work the same way. It's frustrating. However, I'm going to do my best to figure it out.

The problem with doing this the way I am, slowly, accepting my limitations, and embracing the process, is the best path for me, but the slowness of it can be frustrating.

It's okay though. The room deserves a good going over and I deserve a clean, functional room.

I think somewhere along the line, that last fact escaped me. It isn't just about 'cleaning your room/house/what have you BECAUSE you're supposed to do it' and it is a chore and hard and meh. Making a beautiful, organized, and functional space for yourself should be done because it's what you deserve.

My home should be a shelter and a sanctuary. It should have a peaceful, happy energy. My room should be comforting to me. These are things I deserve. These are things everyone deserves. The trick is, I have to make it that way for myself, not just wander around feeling guilty about how messy everything is.

Multi-Phases

Tink does not like my efforts to organize my space. She would rather I sit here and hold her. While I work, she has to sit on the chair's arm and observe (judge) my work. Sometimes she tries to find new places to sit. Most of the time, these places are exactly where I'm trying to work.

We had to go into town today so I didn't exactly have time to work on anything. I somewhat needed a break anyway. Tomorrow I'm starting on the Great Sorting of Clothes and that isn't going to be fun. It will mainly involve a lot of culling and folding.

Now Marie says you should put all the clothes you own in a big pile before you do this. I thought about that, but I don't think that's practical for me. I'm going to have to just work in groups because I don't want to tire myself out or build up more than one bag of things that need to be removed. I get why she does this. It gives people a chance to see how much they really own. But for me, that just isn't practical.

With my limited mobility, I've realized this is going to go through a lot of phases. Right now, I'm not really assuming ANYTHING is where it will end up when I'm finished. A lot of stuff may get macro-sorted into certain areas for a time, then resorted when I make better homes for them. I'm okay with that. I think it's best to stay flexible about this process.

Like a Dream

I woke up at around six this morning. When I looked out the window, the world was covered in snow. It was beautiful. I reveled in how beautiful it was, then reminded the snow it needed to melt and be on its way before I had to go outside. It did.

Speaking of going outside, the first round of purged stuff is out of my house. As a rule, I will not fill more than one bag. It keeps the house from getting too crowded with stuff and forces me to pace myself. And yes, this means things will get sorted more slowly, but that's fine.

I need to fold towels tomorrow and then try to start sorting the rest of the clothing items in my bedroom. I also need to still clean out one drawer and maybe another. Jury's out on the last one.

Honestly, that will probably occupy me until next Wednesday. But by the time I'm finished with it, things will certainly be improved.

More Goals

I tested out the new folding process. It worked out pretty well. I was tired by the time it was finished, but not as bad as I would have been otherwise. Let's be honest. There really was no 'otherwise' because I simply wasn't putting anything away. It's all been sitting in baskets. 

I only did one basket and it was full of Frequently Worn Clothes. Everything else is going to have to get sorted and even then, I still need to clean out about two drawers near me and make homes for the stuff in them (or toss that stuff out). 

Okay, right now I think the clothes situation is going to happen thusly:

1. I empty those other drawers.

2. I sort through the rest of my clothing. 

3. Clothing will go into categories. Worn Often. Worn Sometimes. Seasonal. Never Worn Toss. Ripped and Dysfunctional Toss.

4. The stuff I wear often will be relocated very near me.  Sometimes worn will be over there if there are room and back where it usually is if not. This doesn't bother me so much because I know that if it isn't worn that often, it won't be laundered that often and therefore shouldn't (in theory) be sitting in a basket forever. 

5.I'm hoping seasonal stuff can then be relocated to the other side of the room as well. I'm not sure yet.  Though, again, that should just be a matter of twice a year relocations.

6. Clearly, I'll not be working on most of this until after Wednesday because I don't need to keep building up my toss pile. Once I get that outside, I can start building it again. 

Past that, my goal is to just work on a basket by basket basis. One of the reasons for putting my clothes away gets so overwhelming is because I let the whole mess build. If I can just clear a basket as soon as it hits my room, then hopefully that won't be a problem. 

WISHLIST/FUTURE GOALS

1. Today I turned over one of the drawers and used it as a flat surface for folding. Having a flat surface makes such a massive difference in the end result. I won't always be able to do that and I kind of wish I could find a way around it. I used to have a fold-up table, but I can't remember what I did with it. I need to ask around.  It might be at my best friend's house. 

2. I need a new bed. In fact, the catalyst for organizing my room in the first place was to make it easier to get the new bed in there. But the mattress isn't my only issue where the bed is concerned. I would love to eventually get some kind of headboard/footboard situation going on. I have to keep my bed frame because it holds someone of my weight, but the room would look more complete with those other elements and I know some people use frames but then alternative kinds of headers and footers. 

3. This is way down the line when I have a lot more energy, but I would eventually also like to chalk paint all the furniture in my room to the same color. I love the way chalk paint and wax finishes look and that kind of vibe would work well in my home. 

Progress

I reorganized some of my breathing supplies last night. They have a new home in the place where my shirts used to live. I used two of the cardboard boxes supplies arrived in as drawer dividers. I have my doubts about how well those will hold up, but they'll do for now. The drawer is a bit shallow, so I had to cut down one of the boxes by a couple of inches. It was worth it though, I first tried to just put everything in there with no boxes and it was a mess. Now it at least has some order and I know where all of it is.

Okay, again, this is an obvious thing, but doing this also gave me a better sense of everything I had. I'd been using an old set of straps on my headgear all the while there was a nice new set of straps in my supplies. I was able to toss the old straps and slept better last night because of it.

I won't have time to do much in the next two days, but I'm okay with that. I'm starting to build up quite a pile of 'remove from house' stuff and it should go before I put more onto it. I think the work I do today and tomorrow will be mostly planning stuff.

Having said that, even now, with just the small bit I've done, the room feels better.

The Plan

I've been kind of sort of milling around with some reorganizing/purging of things in my room. It's a slow process. In fact, a lot of it has been the smallest, most meager bits I could manage. I wasn't even sure where I planned to go with it. I just knew something needed to change.

Then I started watching Clutterbug on Youtube. She's brilliant, honestly. It's part practical tips for organization and part psychology. A lot of her ideas are very good, like getting all your organization containers from Dollar Tree because they're far cheaper than at other places.

However, one of her comments hit me like a ton of bricks and really changed my whole mindset about organization.

WHATEVER YOU USE THE MOST, PUT THAT THE CLOSEST TO YOU. MAKE THE THINGS YOU USE EVERY DAY THE THINGS THAT ARE EASY TO GRAB.

I mean....*sputters* I just.....what? Why was I NOT doing this? That's so simple. It's so fundamental. And yet, all my most used stuff in my bedroom is like on the other side of the room. All the storage space near me is being taken up by things I rarely touch or need.

So this is the new plan. Everything is being relocated according to importance. I'm not going to group every shirt I own together. The ones I wear often will be near me. The ones I only wear at 'fancy times' will be farther away. My favorite undies will be close. The undies I keep around if I need them because the others were somehow destroyed will be farther away.

I honestly think this is going to make a huge difference. I really do.

Posters

I toyed with the idea of getting some wall art with my holiday money. It's a bit out of my range at the moment, but I do want to think about it as future goals.

The art we have up now, in poster form, is stuff all very personal to us. There are four that I would like to collect up. I want Larry Elmore's Death of Sturm, the cover to Duran Duran's Rio album (which is a Nagel), Depeche Mode's Violator cover, and one of Elric. All of these represent my childhood and it would make me happy to have them framed and on my walls.

Too Warm

It has been a weird winter. I mean, I saw a fly today. That's not something one usually sees in January. Flies, fleas, all kinds of bugs keep showing up when they should be back in Hell where they belong.

I managed to meet a couple of small goals today. I mean, seriously, seriously small, folks. But still, I met them. Yay. Tomorrow we're going shopping and then hopefully we can just have an easy, simple weekend. Neither of us is 100% yet and we need the rest.

Warmer Wednesday

I received some lip balms for Christmas and I'm still not sure if I like them. They have a kind of overly waxy taste to them. They're supposed to be kind of high end, but I'm not sure I'm a fan. They're now part of the Lip Balms I Need to Get Through pile. They came in a cute container though. I may move all the lip balms there.

It was in the 70s today. I doubt I'll be cold tonight, which is a nice twist. I honestly won't be happier when it starts to get warmer than that, but I'm good for right now. I watched more folding videos. I have no idea why I'm so obsessed with this.

Tiny Boxes

I've been watching a series on Youtube about tiny homes. I could never live in a tiny home myself, though I do love a lot of the principles behind them. I like the idea of streamlining your possessions (something I need to do again) and maximizing your storage space. I also love the idea of thinking about living spaces in unconventional ways.

After all, life doesn't have to be just a series of rectangles.

Anyway, the series is fun. I'm getting a lot out of it. Plus, a tiny home stuff pack is coming out for Sims and I'm getting some good ideas about builds I'll do for that.

Speaking of Sims, they sent out a survey today. I liked a lot of the questions they were asking. I think we may be getting some future content that delves deeper into relationship building and sim personality quirks. Glorious!

Inklings of Plans

I have two cats on me right now. I've had Tinkerbell on me for hours. She even slept with me last night. Right now she really needs a lot of comfort and reassurance. She's old and kind of retreating into kittenhood. It can be annoying, but I'm going to give her the attention she wants and savor this. She is such a sweet thing.

Winter trudges on. I have some ideas about things I'd like to change around the house, but nothing is happening until everyone feels better. In the meantime, I'm practicing some new folding techniques.

Crafters United

Australia had to ask the world's crafting communities to pause on sending donations. Why? Because the crafting communities rallied, shared patterns, addresses, advice, and encouragement to the point that they sent Australia so many nests and pouches and pockets for animals that they needed to take some time and inventory everything.

This has really been beautiful. The thing is, people have talked about how they feel they're not doing enough. People within the donation communities pointed out that there are tons of places that need crafters to donate to them. Homeless shelters, hospitals, rest homes, and local wildlife centers always need help. I think a lot of people, whatever their plans for the new year had been, shifted focus. I think a lot of them now realize how much their 'little hobby' can make a difference in the lives of others.

I have seen crafters make things so beautiful it takes my breath away. And not all of us can do that kind of work. However, all of us can do the most basic and fundamental of what it means to be a part of this. We can provide comfort, warmth, and covering. People and animals need those three things and always will.

Weather Still Strange

All day today it looked like we could have a tornado touch down at any second. The weather was just ominous. And hot. When we were at the store this morning, I had my window down. In January. The weirdest part of all is that it may snow in a day or so. Maybe. They really have no idea.

Why is it that when the weather decides to be unseasonable, it's almost always in the worst possible way? Why can't it be like, "Oh, instead of making it super hot all summer, we'll have a nice mild summer in the 80s."

Then again, I'd probably still complain that it was hot.

Strange Storm

So there was a freak storm today. It felt more like the kind of storm you get in the Spring or Fall, not in the middle of winter. Then again, this has been a strange season.

Because it stormed, the cat that sits on me was more than usually clingy and upset. That's fine though. I like being a source of comfort.

Temptation

It's been windy all day. I'm thinking about getting patterns with my other gift card, but I don't know. I've looked at so many things. This one might make a big difference though, at least in terms of helping to get rid of The Stash.

Oh I also permitted myself to LOOK at yarn, but I will not buy any. The Stash much be handled first.

Pain

My back hurt all day today. I mean, everything hurt, but my back hurt more than usual, even more than my shoulder, which was odd. I have the heating pad on it now. Hopefully, that will calm down some of the pain.

I'm guessing a lot of this is due to the tense way I kept my body for the week leading up to Christmas and the week after. I had to do a lot more stuff and it was making me nervous. Even with my anxiety meds, I'm still experiencing a lot of nervousness. I did my techniques to keep me out of a panic attack during that time. For the most part, it worked.

Tomorrow will be busy again. I need to run errands and deal with some house stuff. Maybe I'll get a good night's sleep before hand.

Belated Gifts

The stuff I got with one of my holiday gift cards came in! I now have a new little holder for crochet hooks, new stoppers for my knitting needles, and a nifty little purse for my new phone/other stuff. I'm very happy with all of them.

Today we got the bills handled and I found out some stuff that I'll be trying to do for the rest of the year. Hopefully it will go well.

I'm still thinking through the Arrangement of Things around me. There need to be some changes, I'm just not sure what those changes will be yet. Though, like I told my roommate today, until everyone is feeling better, all of that can just wait.

Quiet Sunday Reflections

The holidays are finally over. It was A LOT this year, though the awful parts of it reminded me why I am grateful for the good and quiet times. Right now, I'm holding a cat and blogging. What could be better than that?

I find that I'm avoiding Facebook and really any other type of thing where people are screaming about politics. I'll probably be doing a lot of that this year. It will be the best way to keep my sanity.

Did I mention I love this cat?

Slow Recovery

Things are getting back to normalish in my home. We went shopping today and managed to get things into the house and put away. We still have very few spoons, but perhaps more than we had yesterday.

The cats are still kind of emotional about everything that happened. They love my roommate so much and when he's away, they freak out. I can leave for days and they don't care. He's gone a few hours and they start holding up 'The End is Near' signs.

Speaking of my roommate, today is the ninth anniversary of his blog. Quite an accomplishment! Congrats, man!

New Year New Me, Kinda

So most plans for organizing are going to have to wait. No one has the spoons for that. However, I am making a few small purchases that will help make my life somewhat easier.

With one of my holiday gift cards, I'm buying an organizing zip pouch for my crocheting hooks. It comes with some stuff in it, but it's small and compact and that will make dealing with hooks easier. I also bought some stoppers from my knitting needles and HOPEFULLY they will solve the issues I've been having with stoppers (as in, they jump off the needles in moments when I do not need them to do so).

The biggest and most profound change that will happen is that I'm altering my personal day to day 'going out' system. For many years now, I've made my own necklace pouch to carry my phone/cards/loose money. I think I've been doing that for like five years now.

However, as a bigger phone will be in the future (and already kind of here sort of), I realized I needed something else. So I bought a fairly sturdy (but still cute) black minipurse to handle all my small cards/phone/keys/what have yous. It's big enough to tote around with me but still small enough to be tossed into my big purse on the 'we need the big purse' days.

I'm sure for some people this isn't that big of a change, but you have to understand that I am someone who forms weird bonds with my purses and bags. When I have to retire one, I thank it for its service, get very emotional, and then turn it into a yarn-holding bag. The little phone holders I've made over the years have become holders of other small items I needed. This will be a new thing and a new adjustment for me. A good one, I believe, but certainly an adjustment.

I'm pretty excited though!

Oh and also, the crochet hook organizer has pictures of cats on it! It's like THE MOST 'single woman in her 40s' thing ever! Bwahahaha.

New Year's Day 2020

I did not eat black-eyed peas today. This may doom me for the year, but my stomach just could not take them today. I think the NYD gods will forgive me just this once.

This is a quote from my blog this time last year:

Five years ago, I stated that I wanted my new year to be one of purging and ended up almost bleeding to death from my uterus and then had to have it removed. Ever since then, I've been careful about how I phrase things on New Year's Day.

With that in mind, I want this year to be one where I savor things. I want to really love my cats and love my art. I want to laugh and nuzzle and spin stories to entertain others. I want to make lots of good decisions that lead to good results.

I also want to get through my stash of yarn.

Yeah, I think I did mostly NONE of this. I did make some good decisions that lead to good results, but the yarn stash is still here and I didn't nuzzle or spin as many stories as I should have. I did, however, nuzzle and spin some.

So this year, what do I want to accomplish?

I want to continue the experiment that I am not discussing on the blog as of yet. I want to STILL work on that yarn stash. I want to slowly try to get my house into a cleaner, more organized, and safer state. All of this will have to happen on a 'as I can' basis. I'm going to forgive myself if only a little progress is made.

I am hoping this year is simple and easy. I'm hoping things just smoothly sail along. I'm hoping my mental state stays stable. I'm hoping I don't spend days scared.I'm so very, very tired of being scared all the time.

I will eat my black-eyed peas tomorrow.

Edit: I broke down and ate them tonight anyway. I'm SO superstitious about this.