End of November

It is now past Thanksgiving, and the end of November.  And for the first time in many years, not the first thing has been done for Christmas decorating.  In fact, I haven't even acked away fall yet.

There will most likely be nothing at all outside, as there's no way for me to do that (DH cannot be left alone, or at least I must be within hearing of him).  I just don't think I have either the energy or the ambition to do much inside.  

But at least my hosue is (relatively) clean, and I'm much closer to being organized than ever before.  So that part of my lan, at least, is a success.

Hopefully over this coming week I will find a bit of "spirit" and get things done.  And next weekend I *might* get to go to a Christmas parade (that my DGD15 will be in with her school marching band).

I can do no shopping any more - it loses it's draw for me when I just can't see much.

I can't do the outside stuff at all this year, since I must be at least within hearing of DH at all times.  And many people, instead of offering to help, tell me it's not important.  The fact that they are so unconcerned with the fact that it matters very much to me is very depressing.  So I guess they're right.

At least Thanksgiving was a success.  The house was clean and nicely decorated.  There was plenty of food for the 20 eople who were here.  I believe everyone, even DH, enjoyed the day.

3rd Week of November

I know my posting on this blog has become very eratic, even though I started it (this year at least) with the best of intentions.  Seems my life is too unpredictable these days.  I just muddle along the best I can.

However, despite my getting "off" my own Plan, things have come together fairly well.  I have given some degree of attention to every room, and a bit more to the areas most in need.  There is no room in my house I'd be embarrassed for anyone to walk into (although the back bathroom is "iffy", but that's because that's where the litter boxes are! LOL!).

I have sent many many boxes of "stuff" out the door to be donated somewhere.  I've forced myself to part with an awful lot of books -= and have more to go - because my vision has gotten so bad I can't read them.  There will be some I'll keep, in hopes that someday there will be such a thing as a person who actually has time to sit down and visit with me, and go through  (or just read aloud) some of them.  Same thing goes for notebooks.  I seem to collect them!!  I sent an entire box full .. at least 15 ... out the door.  I kept 4 or 5 big fat ones, in hopes of either getting someone to go through them with me, or being able to pass them on to someone who will appreciate them.

I also took on purging a huge amount of paperwork.  When I had sorted it down to about a quarter of what I once had (and hope I didn't throw out anything that was actually important), I had a niece help by going through what was left.  That pile is now about a quarter of what it was - much more manageable!  All of that purging allowed me to clean and organize the storage system in the closet behind my desk.  And, I no longer have piles of papers and other *stuff* on the floor!  

The outside of the house is a different story.  There are still dead plants on the porch.  The door that fell off it's one hinge (bathroom linen closet) is still on the porch.  One "bookshelf" (actually, the top section of a china hutch) that I completely emptied is on the porch.  My Halloween cat and pumpkin are still there.  Because my husband can't be left alone (I don't even like to be out of range of hearing him), I can't take those things to the barn and no longer have "help" with anything.

Today, I'm "cheating".  I'm hiring a housekeeper, just for the one day.  She will clean everything front front hall to back hall (and I will do those areas myself) and she will do an excellent job.  Then I will only have to keep up with manntenance ... I have company coming Saturday night, then a fair sized crowd (14) coming for Thanksgiving.  And then it will be time to start decorating!!

This is the first year in many years that I have waited until Thanksgiving to start Christmas but it's a very unusual year for me.  With DH's declining health plus dementia, and my own failing vision, things have gotten both more complicated and less so at the same time.  I can never go anywhere, so most of the time it's just me here .. no reason for the house to not stay clean once I do it.  But until at least January, I have to refrain from finding some other areas to purge and organize!

2nd Week November 2013

I've completely lost track of what week number it is, but it doesn't really matter.  The end result is what counts, right? )

I've actually worked, to some degree, in every room.  Some more than others; but I've not just ignored any room (as I've ended up doing in past rotations).  This week I'm mainly back in my computer room.  With my failing vision, I realize there are an awful lot of things in here there's no need to hang on to (like years worth of HGP notebooks! LOL!).    I have some nice heavy cardboard boxes that I plan (depending on weather of course) to spray paint silver and gold .. that will add bling to the open shelving and I will store the junk I just can't let go of yet.  It's all about *containing* the mess now.   
I am trying hardd to *maintain* what I've done.  The kitchen, of course, is hardest; but since I cook less and less, it's getting easier! LOL!  
Each morning I do a quick walk-through and look for anything out of place.  Some days I really don't feel like bothering, but if I push myself to keep the "public" rooms neat, it really does become a habit!

My sewing project is not likely to get done, which is a big disappointment.  But, I absolutely cannot see well enough to thread bobbins (I can wind them, but can't get the thread started on them) or to thread the machine.  I've been trying for weeks, but the closest I've come to getting "help" is someone suggested I get the nosey little girls next door to help.

It also appears I won't be getting the help I usually get with  my decorations.  The inside stuff will have to be scaled back due to DH's needs (wheelchair, clear pathways, etc).  I don't know if there will be anything outside or not.

OK, for now I am going to concentrate on Thanksgiving.  At least 4 people I was hoping would be here are not coming.  But we still should have about 15 or 16 of us, which is a fair sized crowd for this house (the house itself isn't "small" .. but most of the rooms are!).  So I'm concentrating on having the house clean and as neat as possible, and planning menu.    
I have some fun events coming up in the next few weeks also.  Next weekend we're having a visit from nieces we haven't seen in a very long time.  I'm totally looking forward to that!  The weekend after that is (1) oppening of the local annual light show and candy store (a tradition to go see the lights!) and (2) a friend and some of her family will be coming to supper and going to the lights.  Usually I go, but this year I'll stay home with DH because (3) it will be our 34th anniversary.  
My goodness!!  My ready-for-Thanksgiving  got moved up a week and a half! :)

November Table

November 2013

OK, I admit, I've completely lost track of my weekly count. However, it's the end result that counts, right? :)

It's still a few weeks until Thanksgiving, and I've at least touched on every room. 
So, I thought it would be good to do a room by room review of what's been done and what I'd still like to get done.

I started with the bedroom.  I actually managed to do more decluttering than I expected; but mostly I rearranged things.  As DH's condition changes, I make changes in the room to accomodate.  My most recent change was to put the electric wheelchair in there, sort of in a corner.  In a pinch it can be extra seating for someone visiting him.  Mostly it's in a no longer used corner and out of the way.   I got the windows and curtains cleaned.  I'm trying to keep up with routine dusting and vacuuming, which is a challenge because he spends a great deal of his time in bed now.

Next was the front hall.  In addition to a good cleaning, I purged the closets, and reorganized the shelves that hold supplies.  I plan to tackle the linen closet once more, hopefully this weekend.  I'm still working on getting my (huge) stock of decorative candles in a location that's easy to access.  I've also worked on making the hall easier to get his wheelchair through.

The hardest room to tackle was the guest room.  Since we never actually have guests - at least no overnight ones - it tended to be the junk room.  I worked very hard at getting all of the "extra stuff not just out of the room, but to find an actual home for it all.  Some of it went into donation boxes!  While I didn't do it all in the same week, I did go back and tackle a few other things.  I made more room on one large shelf unit by disposing of out of date supplies.  I cleaned out the closet.  And I cleaned out the drawers in 2 large dressers.  I moved furniture around (by getting rid of the big useless file cabinet), so the doll house has a pplace to be.  (I'd still like to sell it - but until I do, Butter has adopted one of the rooms as his own!)    Because I moved the electric wheelchair out, I had room to put a nice chair in, which also made the living room less cluttered.  I have a small octagonal table that was in the living room, but "tight".  I moved it to the guest room, which has now become a pretty little sitting room.

I never gave the front bathroom as good a cleaning as I meant to do.  But all of the cabinets and closets got purged and organized.  I also cleaned the window and changed out the curtain.  Since I clean it regularly, I'm reasonably content with that for now.

My room was also difficult to tackle.  There is a huge amount of *stuff* that needs to be gone through.  My vision has gotten so bad that it's getting more and more difficult to sort things.  It's also getting ridiculous how much *stuff* I hold on to when I know I'll never be able to use it. However, I have made progress.  There is less stuff cluttering up the floor now.  The sewing table is mostly cleared off (ready to try to sew if I ever get any help with threading bobbins and the machine).  
The room will probably always be a "work-in-progress".

I had to mostly skip the porch week.  (that's where my whole plan started to fall apart).  We've had very few nice days for working on it.  I did get a few plants inside before the cold snap.  And, my stepson got all of the cardboard that had accumulated off 2 weeks ago by burning it on one of the rare pretty days we had.  Of course, it's piled up again because when the boys put trash in the truck on Sunday afternoon, they keep skipping the cardboard. (It WILL go tomorrow!)
In theory sometime over the next couple of weeks a girlfriend is going to come help me get started on the outside Christmas decorating.  I've decided to scale way back this year.  Partly because any help I get is unreliable and eratic at best.  Also because I now have a family living next door with kids who play outside a lot.  They've pretty much taken over the center yard between our houses, so I won't try to put anything there.  And since they play soccer, the ball occasionally strays into my yard .. so I need to be careful how I put things up here too.  And - I just don't have the heart for it I've had in the past.

The back hall and laundry room were originally planned as 2 areas, but I did them all at once.  I still need to do a good cleaning; but they got a good purging and organizing done.  It's now much easier to go through the hall and to the back bathroom (which is where the litter boxes are, and where I store cat food).  This becomes more and more important as my vision fails!  

The living and dining rooms should have been next.  I am tackling one bookshelf at a time; but other than that, there's not really any purging needed.  Well, not a lot anyway, and what there is will wait and be a winter project.  I keeppp those rooms "company ready" as much as possible. I did get all of the "Halloween" items packed, only leaving out fall decorations.  The table is reset for November.

The den wasn't on my "Plan" for a few weeks, but I went on and tackled it.  Mostly all I did was rearrange furniture; but the end result is that the rooms looks much bigger and open.  Since I sleep in there, it was important to me to have as few obstacles as possible.  There's a lot of purging needed, but that's going to have to wait until winter.  I don't want any more boxes of stuff piling up at this point.

The only room left is the kitchen.  My friend has helped me purge and organize the refrigerator, the freezer, and 3 pantry cabinets.  There is one more cabinet to tackle.  All of the "dish cabinets" were done last year when I had help, and I have managed to keep them neat.  There are really only a few "hot spots" in the kitchen to tackle.

My revised goal at this point is to 
(1) continue to purge bookshelves
(2) have DSS take the 55 gallon aquarium and a large a/c unit out of the den so I can do a final room rearranging.
(3) get dead or dormant plants off porch
(4) get outside Christmas decorations in place (lights go on Thanksgiving night)
(5) begin packing up pictures and other non-fall stuff so that after Thanksgiving I'll be ready to decorate.
(6) get one last cabinet in the kitchen cleaned out
(7) give the whole house a thorough top-to-bottom cleaning
(8)IF I get the help I need, work like mad on my sewing project!