debutaunt.com

Take it easy. Take it one step at a time. Don't stop, but don't overwhelm yourself either. You can do it! Little goals.. lists.. one big one.. then one small every day (make at beginning of day taking from Big (all inclusive list of To DOs)! Only cross things off big list at before making new mini list for the day (cross off what was accomplished yesterday or this week, etc.) Yes there is a lot to do, but you can handle this! Come on! You know you can do it. Just break it up... turn in it into small chunks. Chucks that look more manageable. Chucks that will give you a sense of accomplishment as you complete them!

Hello Ms. Deb, I haven't written in a while. Life here in the Bay Area has been insane, I know I should not complain my problems are nothing compared to other things. My friend Brenda relapsed with AML and that makes me sad :o( so yeah my little issues are no biggie. Anyway, you are entitled to speak "whinese" once in a while you don't do it often. I understand about your things, I know they are replaceable but shoot we work hard for things. I know I'd have a hard time just selling all my things. You will figure it out though and it will all work out. I had a yummy salad in your honor today. Monday I go back to Weight Watchers and back on the President' Challenge, I've been lagging :o(

The only real advice I can give is shred the paperwork. Keep tax records back 7 years and anything else important - health records etc. Bank statements and all utility bills can all be gotten online. Shred it. It is cathartic. I do it once a year.

My goal for July. Lose 8 pounds. Is that realistic or should I set it for the end of August? I don't know but lose 8 pounds. We can all reach our goals if we follow Mrs. SEB's advice - one day - one task - one step at a time.

{{{{{Deb}}}}}

You may whine and thrash. Also shred and toss. Or not. Do whatever the crap you want. You will do the right thing, there's no question about that.
Onward!

Hi Deb
it sounds like your stuck, i would have a terrible time getting rid of any of my 'stuff', so i feel our pain and everyone deserves a Pity Party once in a while. so whine on and tackle the job when you feel up to it.

I like to call it venting. It helps like fresh stuff in. Did you see some steam release and the pressure lessen? If not vent some more. Vent, vent, vent its good for the soul!

Hey Deb,

Good ahead and sound off. Vent, Bitch or Whine. It's all ok.

As far a how to organize the stuff. I don't know if I'm much help. I have moved quite a few times in the last 24 years and still have two bays of the garage full of 10 years of paperwork from our Business and several more boxes of the kids stuff and who knows what else. My husband says I should sell some of it on Ebay. We have a storage unit for our tools. Which runs $$$ each month. I have a shredder that I use daily, again for our business.

Reminds me of the George Carlin routine about "Stuff" how we work to buy stuff and then our houses are overrun with stuff so we rent a storage unit to put our stuff in so we can go out and buy more stuff.

You could start with four boxes. Save, Store, Charity, Trash. When they are full, label them on all sides. Tape up the 3 and empty the 4th. and repeat until it's all packed. It's just a thought. It's hard to get jazzed up about moving when you are feeling tired and overwhelmed. But if you stay busy the time your apart from Zoe will pass sooner. Jes don't over do it. We don't want you to burn out. Sounds like you need a back rub. I remember Aunt Ikie was good at giving them.

Are you feeling any good effects from the fresh produce? I had a fresh white peach this morning and each bite tasted like summer.

Hang in there. Your cheerleaders are rootin for ya here on the sideline.

EV

I think because you've had to rely on others so much in the past few months, that they feel like they can make decisions about your "stuff" for you. Take care of what you can yourself, and live with the decisions of others when you rely on them to help.

One day at a time...

Venting = Good
Spontanious combustion = bad (and messy) ;o)

Seriously, though:
It's okay to vent. It clears the air and makes you realize you're a human being.

I love that book! :o)

Oh, and one more thing:
You
Can
Do
This!

*MWAH!*
-M_D

Hey sweetie, I remember hitting that wall myself. Keep on pushing, you will get through, and have an even better life at the end of your struggle.

Deb,

Item number one on your list -- get some decent rest.

Look at number three after number one is accomplished.

Number two? See Number One.

Hugs!

Kelli

Unhumorous? I think not. The visual of your mother grousing at the performance of her faves at Wimbeldon is quite humorous.

Take a sleeping pill and get some rest Deb. Once you are resting you'll have a whole new perspective. You are not whining though - just venting about your feelings which is good for you.
I think lists are great as well but in reverse - write in a journal at the end of each day what you've accomplished and the stuff on that other "to do" list won't seem quite as daunting.
Hugs to you and prayers that everything falls into place for you in July.

Deb - you're doing fine.
Make 3 piles. Keep, give away, sell. Keep what ever you want to keep, even if it seems stupid. I have a 10x10 storage unit of stuff I wanted to keep - cause I thought I'd be moving out of my parents house in a year. 3 years later, My husband and I know we won't be moving out. There's stuff in there I know I'm ready to get rid of, but there's stuff I still know I want to keep - stupid stuff. But it's mine and I want to keep it. You don't know what life will be like in a year - so keep what you want to keep and get rid of the rest. You can rebuild later.

It's a new life right now. You'll get there. Take it a little at a time. One room, one box at a time. If it helps, watch the show Clean Sweep on the Learning Channel - they have some great tips on sorting.
Rest first - the packing will come later. You've gotten thru the hard part. The rest is cake.

Linda

Sleep is good. Oh, and you make all those decisions yourself, and just rely on the other people to take care of things after the decision is made. Someone else can haul the trash away, drop the boxes at the charity, cart the stuff to storage and whatever.

And when you figure out the best way to sort through your stuff and make those decisions, you can write a book on it for the rest of us to follow your good advice.

Sleep is crucial. No sleep is not good for anybody. You are hardly speaking whinese. If this
is whinese you are failing.

Toto

Deb...

There's a church that sells donated items so that they can take the cash to run programs at their church to help others. It's in Bellaire. Maybe that would make you feel better about donating some of your things. It's a small modest church and the people running the store are the sweetest. I donate all my items there.

Sunshine Resale Shop
713) 665-4000
5407 Bellaire Blvd
Bellaire, TX 77401
http://www.ccschouston.com/resaleshop.html

If you do get a rental unit, get a climate controlled one. You know how the humidity can damage your stuff real quick here.

You know, when we had the floods, it just about killed me to throw my stuff away. I can recall with clarity the words "it's only stuff, it's only stuff" coming out of my mouth as I frantically (and rather hysterically, I was told later) looked around and decided in a split second what I could save and what had to be handed over to the "Water Gods". It was my rocker that I rocked all my children in, my pictures, my TV, my china and crystal that all went into the "precious" category. In my haste, I completely forgot a box of pictures of the boys that covered a span of about four years that was on the floor of my coat closet. What a loss! You know to this day, I still think about some of those shoes I didn't pick up off the floor of my closet! So, keep the things that have memories attached, things that make you say "home" in your heart when you look at them and anything you'd cry about not having. The rest sell or give away. I don't miss my old couch, dining room set or all the notes I saved from Junior High that were folded into footballs. I think about them, but I don't miss them. I kinda like being able to look back at the pictures and see how my tastes in "things" has changed over the years. The "things" aren't your life, yeah you've accummulated some stuff, but the only ones that really mean anything to you are the one's that you'd grab if there was a fire. Look at it that way and know that this is a door, you're opening it, and there's something really wonderful on the other side. It's your new life with a whole new blood type! If you need help, let me know. I'm a great sorter!

Have a happy 4th.....
Denise :)