New Year's Eve 2024

It's hard to believe, but it's New Year's Eve 2024. Tomorrow, a new year begins with many goals, aspirations, and plans. I don't make resolutions, although how different is a resolution from a goal? 

Remember, we do NOT need New Year's Day to make improvements in our lives. EVERY DAY is a new day, and if you screw up one day, you can restart the next day! 

So, consider making the Stand-up/Sit-down exercise a goal for 2025. You can start at any time, at any age, and at any ability! Yes, even if you can only do one or need help doing one, the next time will be easier. People, it's all about preserving our mobility and independence. I do not want to rely on someone else to help me live. 

Sounds harsh - I get it, but reality is brutal and unforgiving! 

As for the balancing exercise (standing on one foot), Elle suggested doing it while you brush your teeth. Perfect!!! Neither of those two exercises require any equipment or getting into gym clothes and can be easily incorporated into your day. Sit down for breakfast? Do a set of Stand up/Sit Down. Having lunch? Do the Stand Up/Sit Down before commencing. 

This time last year, I was in the throes of a horrible computer disaster—all my distribution lists and other stuff were lost! However, things are in better shape this year, and I'm much more knowledgeable about keeping them that way. 

I know I had a Virtual Retreat last New Year's Eve, but I have so much work to do and need the focused time to do it. So no Virtual Retreat today. Hopefully, I'll get my act in gear so we can do it again next year. I should mark it on my calendar right now! That's DONE!

Today is just a day of random pictures I haven't had a chance to post. Look at that Murphy! She loves to be where she can see everything! 

MOM - I can see you!

And I'm so proud of her. I was arriving at the house (by car), and I could see her in the window. This big King Shephard dog was walking (with its owner) past our house. I know the dog and the owner. The dog is a rescue, and he's more excitable than Murphy. So when he saw Murphy in the window, he lunged at the window and started barking. Typical behavior for this dog. Murphy didn't flinch! She lay there staring at the idiot dog and probably thought, "Give it up, buddy! You can't get me - I'm in the house! Now, who's a good doggy?"

She got a lot of pats for that one, but she was probably totally unaware of why. Well, she's smart; maybe she knew. I bet she knew I was sitting in the car in the street! What I love is that when I'm walking home and turn the corner at the end of the street, if she's in the window, I wave at her! That's the signal to get up! 

To be fair to the storage magazines, here's an IKEA cube cabinet that looks halfway what you would have in your house. Bins to store the messy stuff and a few spaces for art. These cube storage units are the best! The left-hand side looks wonky because that's the fold in the magazine. It's NOT an AI-generated picture!

A plausible storage option

 


Here's another idea that I really like. I would like this for my front hall. The dog stuff could go on a shelf under the bench. The bench is on wheels, and it just seems practical. It's all about evaluating what is in your space and making it work. This is why they say you should never buy storage before knowing what to put in it. I wouldn't hang the stuff up—I find that messy, and we have a closet for that. 

An option for the front hall

And when we had snow, Murphy was flat out on her tummy, enjoying the cool. 

MOM -- this snow is great for cooling me down

And that silly girl likes to sleep in the stash room. There is one window high up, but something is blocking it, so the room doesn't get much light. I don't know if she likes the dark, the peace and quiet, or what, but she loves to sleep here. 

MOM - -a little privacy, please! 

You can see her in the background! And sometimes, she sleeps around the corner of that shelf, especially if there are thunderstorms. I guess she feels safer! On the other hand, Lexi would NEVER consider the stairs, although she is starting to look at them more than in the past. You never know. She would never come into the office, but now she comes in and tucks herself into a corner. 

MOM -- please! 

I took a picture of the label of the quilt I gave Yagana. This quilt was part of the QUILTsocial quilt-a-long several years ago. Here's the link if you want to check it out. Three people (Claire, Paul, and myself made the same 12 blocks, used different fabrics, and made a quilt of them). 

The label from the quilt I gave away

OMG, you can find anything on the internet. Here is the live reveal of our quilts. It twinged just a little to let that quilt go, but seriously? It was NOT being used, and now it's got a front-row seat on a guest bed. It's in a better place. 

Don't forget, if you want a little help to motivate you to declutter, think about emailing Yagana. Samim.yagana@gmail.com She's a graduate student, and her program or her work - I don't know the details is no longer funded! So she's looking for a way to survive! I'm going to get myself in gear and hire her for an afternoon to give myself the necessary motivation, and it's also like giving yourself a present. 

You know what to do, and you may know how to do it, and you may be ready to get rid of stuff, but something gets in the way—time or whatever. By hiring someone to help, the process gets done quickly, and it's done, so you can very quickly start enjoying your new space. So, I need to look around the house and see where I can use her services to give me that boost, and then I'll contact her. 

Last night's puzzle was easy, although I had doubts when we started. DH was responsible for deciphering the crazy clue since only one person could handle it at a time. 

DH: "I see nothing." 

ME: "Hmm- it looks like this part is mostly letters, while the rest of the card is numbers. Maybe it spells something."

DH: "I don't see anything." 

ME: "What about reading it vertically?"

DH: "I tried that."

ME: "I'm sure it spells something." 

DH: "OH - I see something."

And then we got it! It is sometimes challenging for him to think outside the box (reading vertically instead of horizontally). His mind still thinks this is a dining room and should be set as such, even though we never entertain people. Sigh.....

Thanks to Ronda, I got a copy of EXIT The Book. It's an Advent Calendar, and I believe it was published this year. We will start this one when we finish the current one. So it's on the shelf, patiently waiting.  

EXIT The Book

OK—I've lost my mind. I was at the thrift store and spotted one of my favorite puzzles. I opened the box to see what it was, as the band on the box was missing. There was no picture in the box, and it's a 1,000-piece puzzle. That should be loads of fun!

A puzzle without a picture

And I've successfully completed My Virtual Mission, which was to walk the length of Africa! Now, I have to come up with something to do for next year! That's a job for tomorrow. 

My Victory Award

I have a lot of samples to make today, so I'll be working on them, and you'll see them in a couple of weeks. It's an interesting exercise that many people do not take seriously. But this is how I learn, and the learning never stops!! I have a question for you. When you prewash your fabrics, do you use detergent or soap? Or just water? Does it make a difference, I wonder? 

And on that note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day!! Happy New Year's Eve to all - stay safe, although I suspect most of you will be in bed by 9 PM. I know I will. 

Ciao!!!!

Trendtex Challenge

Stand up - sit down! Do that ten times an hour, and WOW!!! That makes a difference. It gets easier! If you can't do ten times - try ONCE an hour! Your quads will thank you! I won't say that my leg feels better because of this, but with all the extra stretching, it's so much better than it was. I have my moments, and they are really dependent on how I sit. So, I'm learning to live with it until I get some answers. 

Now, I need to catch up on other things that have happened over the last few days. Yesterday, I did not declutter, as it was a Virtual Retreat in the afternoon and writing in the morning. 

Here's a thought on the writing. We had a big discussion about AI and Chat-GPT yesterday. While they are NOT mutually exclusive, I think they are two different things, or one is a subset of the other. If you look at using computers to do research, that is NOT new. If you call that AI, so be it. I call that the power of a processor to grind through data. 

If you feed the computer enough data, it can predict things. To me, that is data crunching, not AI. AI is when the computer generates ideas, pictures, etc., although the computer can only generate from what it has in its databases. It does not (not yet, anyway) have the power to write independently. 

And that's where I have an issue with Chat-GPT. I think it's wrong to tell the computer the outline of your paragraph, essay, or book and let the computer generate the text. And if you decide to do that because writing isn't your thing, then be prepared to EDIT the darn result! 

Using an existing document as a basis for a new one is much harder than writing from scratch. Yesterday, I faced that challenge. I revamped a document I had written several years ago, which took much more time than if I had started from scratch. 

As I've mentioned, I use Grammarly to edit my blog posts, and it's becoming increasingly involved in the process. Some words and phrases suggested are NOT my style at all. Sometimes, I let the suggestion go; sometimes, I don't. It takes as long, if not longer, to edit these posts than to write them! The worst offender that Grammarly does is to change the meaning of the sentence. It likes to do that a lot, and that's NOT what I'm trying to say. I've put examples up for you in the past. 

OH -- As I was researching some information on the internet yesterday, I came across a passage that was generated by AI. That was mentioned at the beginning and end of the four paragraphs. Hmmm -- decent enough information, except that what it said in paragraph two was contradicted in paragraph three!! All it did was search for this topic online and create a decent enough article, but it wasn't correct! Does anyone check the facts? I don't think so!

I accomplished something major yesterday, but I can't share it with you. 

I ordered the Trendtex challenge from the Canadian Qulter's Association in October. This is their annual challenge - it's been going on for many years. Trendtex is their sponsor and provides five somewhat coordinated fabrics in the challenge kit. I purchased one kit, and these are the five fabrics. 

Trendtex Challenge 2025

The theme is Blooming. So, what does one do with that? I got an idea pretty much as soon as I looked at the fabric, and I used EQ8 to help with the design. I had taken it to the in-person retreat but didn't have time to work on it, which was probably good. The other day, I cut the fabric and started to sew it. It was a great project to sew during the virtual retreat. 

I will be able to finish piecing the top today. However, as I worked, I had some concerns that I wouldn't have enough black fabric, so I had to do some creative piecing to get enough to complete the design. This piece is 1" by 4" with a seam down the center! Phew—I just made it!

My final piece

This is all that is left of that fat quarter of black. This piece is about 8 inches long. 

All that remains of the black

Thankfully, I did NOT even bother to measure before I started the piece, or I would have been discouraged. I just winged it, and it worked! 

When the piece is complete, I won't have much of the five fat quarters left! Sheesh -- it took a lot of fabric to make a small piece. 

Anyway, it's not done - it needs some quilting, embellishments, labels, hanging sleeve, etc., but at least I've started and must keep going. I'm good at buying the challenges and never doing anything with them. This year will be different!

We had turkey for Christmas. We don't buy turkeys because—well, we just don't. So we bought a thigh and a breast. I cleaned off the carcass and saved the bones to make turkey stock. I know—me? That's what I said, but it seemed a shame to throw the bones out without using them to their fullest. 

That's why I went to the grocery store on Boxing Day but had to wait until the next day to get some carrots, celery, and an onion. 

Making turkey stock

When I went into my nicely organized spice drawer, it was still neat and tidy, but there was a huge mess in the back where the bags of excess spice are stored. So, while the stock boiled, I had to clean that up. DH does not see the messes he makes in the kitchen. Spills on the floor? Nope—he doesn't see those either. But he cooks, and I can follow behind and clean up the spills. 

The spice drawer

After the stock had boiled and cooled, I cleaned everything off the bones, removed the ugly bits of turkey, added more turkey, cut up more veggies, and made the soup, which I had for lunch yesterday. It was pretty tasty and a nice break from my usual soup, which comes in a can. 

I really should start making my soups as they are easy and mostly require some veggie chopping, which isn't hard. 

Oh, here's my UFO, which I'm working on. All the pieces are prepped and ready for the final sewing stage, which is a huge accomplishment! 

The state of my current UFO

Here are three interesting items I found in the storage/organization magazines that I think are ridiculous! 

See how they added this slim cabinet in the corner? Yes - it looks like such a great idea; however, what about the big white vase filled with flowers. Doesn't it seem like it's in the way? OK - that can be moved. What about the light fixture above? Did they just cram this thing in the corner for the photo? This reminds me of an AI-generated picture. It doesn't make sense. Does no one edit this stuff?

Cabinet squeezed into the corner

With all the AI-generated photos, we must teach people how to tell reality from fake. I won't say more about that today, but I have much to say! And what about pictures on IG that are so staged that they're ridiculous? 

OK - here's another example of storage in the bathroom. It looks pretty, and it looks neat. But seriously? Who wants to bend down and pick up those three baskets every time you clean the floor? That would NOT happen in my house! It might have happened before, but it's not happening now! 

Would you pick up those baskets to clean?

And here's one more. The labels on these drawers are done with chalk. How long will that stay that way in a child's room? One press against the drawer with the body or hands to close it, and POOF - the chalk label is gone! It's pretty and cute but not practical. 

Chalk labels in a kid's room?

If nothing else, the storage/organization magazines are great entertainment on what NOT to do in the storage world! 

We had a white Christmas, but except for a tiny pile of snow beside the driveway, which is fast disappearing in the above zero (Celsius temperatures) and the wind and the rain, the ground is bare! 

Don't forget throughout the day - do your stand-up/sit-down routine. Although I haven't been doing it that long, my legs already feel a difference. Do yourself a favor and PROTECT your mobility!! And protect your balance! Both are equally important to remaining independent as we age. Don't screw it up! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

The decluttering continues

Stand up, sit down!

Even though I was supposed to be at my desk, writing, I needed to get back upstairs. I wanted to continue the momentum and finish the year - well, start the new year with those rooms in order. 

This is what happened. 

While the guest room was more or less organized, some of my stuff had been moved to Studio U for the big clean-up, and some had not been put away. This was the state of the room when I walked in. 

Studio U is a bit messy

Stuff from the guest room 

These are all samples, quilts, or tote bags that must be dealt with. Some of it came from the guest room. 

More untidiness

The first thing was to open the blinds—even though it was a foggy day, let's let some light in here! 

Open the blinds!

I put all the batting and cushion forms in this closet. It still looks like a mess, but it is mainly sorted. I have pulled batting bits to use with my community project quilts. That is downstairs, and I'm happily working through the pile. As I need more, I'll raid this closet. Let's hope it'll be pretty empty by the end of 2025! The bottom line is that all the batting is together in one place, except the rolls of batting, which are in Studio B. 

The batting closet

Two large tubs in Studio U hold finished items. Good grief—what am I going to do with all of it? I need some as samples for classes, but I will never use the rest. 

A tub of finished projects

There are loads of tote bags and zippered pouches, some super cute. Look at these—they are about 2" square! 

Cube zipper pouch

I've decided to bundle some of it up and offer it to friends I see, understanding that NO ONE is allowed to take anything just because. They have to have a purpose for it, and most quilters already have piles of their own stuff. Perhaps I should load the tubs on my wagon and go up and down my street to find a home for the stuff. 

I've offered the entire two tubs (minus the few samples I need) to someone who participates in a Christmas craft fair. I think the proceeds go to their church. If that doesn't work out, I'll try to find someone who does craft fairs, and the proceeds can be donated to a food bank or something. 

I just don't want to be bothered with it! The tubs also contain zippered pouches and journal covers. 

Then, I moved the smaller quilts and samples that wouldn't fit in the tubs back to the cube shelving in the guest room. Those quilts will be donated throughout this coming year, and the samples will hopefully find a home in the empty tubs. Notice there are still FOUR empty cubes! 

Some of my stuff was moved back to the guest room

And this is what Studio U looks like now. 

A wonderful space to work

This looks much better than before. 

Neat and tidy!

Everything was put away quickly, as everything has a home! The few items on the cutting table will be donated. I just need to contact certain people to make that happen. 

A beautiful space to sew

I even woke up this morning thinking of selling my Horn cabinet, which you see in the above picture (the white sewing cabinet on the left). It's sitting in this room and not being used. I'd love to sew in that room, but the internet is practically non-existent. I could set up my travel sewing machine and sew on nice days. It's a beautiful room, and I feel bad that it isn't being used anymore. 

So, if anyone thinks they might want a new sewing table, let me know. I'd have to find a price, and it's heavy, so two people will need to move it out of the house. DH is NOT able to help at this time. 

Gosh -- it's so easy to get rid of stuff! Oh, should I say - it's so easy to let go! I'm shocking myself at what is happening. There literally won't be anything left in the house! Look out, Murphy! Look out, Lexi! Look out, DH! 

So here are some shelves in the office. The top shelf is a lot of books about decluttering and organizing. Do I need them? Maybe not, and it's almost an oxymoron at this point, but I enjoy reading them, and I'm finding a tidbit or two, so it's OK to read them. Once I'm done, they go into the recycling. 

Shelves on the bookcase in the office

By the end of 2025, I want that shelf to be empty. Here is the complete open shelving in that bookcase. It's full but neat! 

Open shelving in the office

The top shelf is filled with puzzle books and magazines. Yes, I know—how many does one need? So, if anyone is interested in some, let me know. But -- you have to use them. They cannot become clutter in your house. I believe it's mostly logic puzzles and Sudoku. I need to keep a small selection, like the equivalent of that black box, and the rest could go. Where is Yagana when I need her? 

There are three boxes on those shelves, and I'm afraid to look in them. I suspect there's a pile of junk in each. I'm not ready for the junk yet, although if I had it in one spot, Yagana could zip through it quickly. 

There are some books on the lower two shelves that I want to read. My goal is to clear much of that by the end of 2025. I'll do comparison pictures!!! I need to go HERE before I go to the library!

Good grief—I found two books people had loaned me. That's why I hate it when they insist I take their books. I can pretty much find anything at the library or online resources. No worries - these are now out and are first on the list when I need a physical book. 

Books loaned by friends

This is the open shelving on the second bookcase. It's a little bit messier and has more boxes. Who knows what is in those boxes? I'm almost afraid to open them. And all those binders? What's in the binders? 

More open shelving in the office

Oh, did you notice the empty spot on the other shelves? I have something special to put there, and hopefully, I'll organize it later today. 

Yes - I think I'll take some before pictures for New Year's Day and then compare them in one year. Let's see if I'm really making progress. I am - I'm kidding! But I want to know how much, and maybe that will be enough incentive to get the first round in this office done!!!

Speaking of progress, I made BIG progress yesterday. I did some sewing while we had a Virtual Retreat last night (we closed up just before 9 p.m.). I had done some cutting in the afternoon (more on my project tomorrow), but the design board with the pieces was NOT beside the sewing machine, and I had to get up very often to press and grab the next piece. Stand up—sit down!

But the real progress is this. 

Conquer 2024 - DONE!!!!

I did it—I walked 4,500 km this year. I won't do that again, though—I need to slow down. That was the equivalent of 12.33 km daily, which was easy on some days and challenging on others! But a stretch goal is a good thing! 

I had three days remaining to complete the job! Yesterday, all the extra steps to get to the ironing board, which is NOT close to my sewing machine, helped. Is my process inefficient? Do I care? I care more about keeping my mobility than I do about being efficient!

So all is good at my house. My leg pain has eased up - it's still there, but not nearly as intense as it was several weeks ago, and that is a blessing. I must NOT become complacent and let the investigation into the cause drop. I will continue because while I'm better, I'm not done with this. I think it was a wake-up call, and if I don't heed it, there will be much worse to deal with. The gentle stretching and stand-up/sit-down routines are all working to ease the pressure on the nerve. Whatever it takes! 

WAIT -- we have Virtual Retreat again today. We start at Noon EST. 

December 29, 2024 

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I'll see you this afternoon when I'll sew and move up and down as I complete the project. So much for the handwork project sitting by the sewing machine!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!!

A decluttering success story

Stand up - sit down. D that ten times an hour; you'll run a marathon before you know it. OK - maybe not, but it's a good start to keeping/maintaining mobility and helps prevent stiffness. 

OK—I'm not going to belabor that one today. I didn't know how to title the blog today—a Christmas miracle? But let's say something absolutely amazing happened in our house yesterday, and I'm giddy.

My daughter (M) moved out ten years ago. While her car was packed to the gills, stuff was still left in her room. Over those ten years, I've gotten her to look at some of the stuff, but it drove me mad as I knew she would never use or wear most of it again. 

It became a struggle. Eventually, I packed everything into boxes, moved it into the guest room, and took over her old room as a second sewing space. 

The boxes have been in the guest room for a long time, making it look messy. I could have thrown them away, but it wasn't my stuff. It was her job to do it. 

Then, one day, we had a conversation. She agreed to have her friend (Yagana) help her. I was to pay for M's plane ticket home to make that happen. Then, somehow, the conversation changed to having Yagana come here, and M would be on What's App, and they would do it together. Hmmm - that could work. 

And yesterday was the day!! 

Before Yagana came, I removed any finished quilts from the black shelf, I removed the clothes from the closet, as well as the boxes and stuff that was taking up half a closet. I have ZERO issues with storing the things she wants to keep until she has room to store them. 

So we went from this................................

Before

To this in seven hours. 

After

What? How did that happen? I'm stunned. I'm giddy! I'm beyond words!!!!!

Five articles of clothes were put back in the closet—no problem. No other clothes are hanging in that closet; they are special garments. Will M wear them again? Probably not, but that's not the point. The point was to separate what she wanted (at this time) from the stuff she didn't want. 

The green bins at the bottom contain things that she wants to keep. I laughed when I peeked inside. Two of them contain journals and sketch pads. Many have only a few pages used, and the rest is empty. My next goal will be to get M to do the same as I did with mine. Evaluate the pages, rip them out, recycle them, and donate the journal to the local school. 

One green box contains a few special books, including The Night Before Christmas, which I had as a child. Although it's in pretty bad shape, it's a keeper. The fourth green bin contains odds and ends. None of the boxes are full. 

She also kept this stuff in the closet. A few cushions that she bought. I have already removed the white basket because it's empty. I removed a green bin as it's stuff to send to her now. Too bad, as there was room in the box sent yesterday. The rest of the boxes on the top shelf are for me to deal with. They are all her stuff from when she was a baby. School certificates, cards, birth announcements, and all that. 

All that remains in the closet

She wanted to keep two boxes of school paperwork or artwork and review them in greater detail, and I'm perfectly OK with that. 

And this is how it started. This is the first box for donation. 

Two boxes for donation

And then the donation pile grew. 

Became five boxes for donation

At one point, I caught a glimpse—oh boy, what a massive mess there was! But you know what they say—you have to make a mess to clean a mess! Yagana had it under control, and I had no doubts about her getting the job done. It sounded like they were having a great time as they sorted. I'm not sure I would have lasted 7 hours, but she did! 

The mess to clean the mess

And now there's a pile in the top left that is garbage. 

The garbage pile begins in the top left

At the end of the day, this is garbage. She even vacuumed the room when she was done! 

Garbage

This is the giveaway pile. Sheesh! I knew it would be significant, but this is HUGE. Yagana even separated the ripped, stained clothing from what would be suitable for donation! Bless her heart!!!

The donation pile

And there were three empty boxes, which I filled with something else - wait for it. 

Three empty boxes

There were some artist canvases in the room and a lot more under the bathroom sink. I filled two boxes with brand-new canvases, not even out of the wrapping, to be donated to the local school in the new year. Some of them have been painted, but they can be repainted and reused. 

Two boxes of artist canvases

I kept some canvases, but I'm also tempted to put those in a box. Seriously? They have sat around for years, and no one has touched them. I'll contemplate that. If I need a canvas for any reason, I can easily buy one. Hmm—these might just go in the empty box! 

More canvases

What is left in the room? Not much! I moved the black shelf a bit to squeeze my moveable shelf with quilts into the corner. Then, I placed the quilt rack between the two closets. 

The room as it looks now

And there's the bed and a bookcase with more quilts. 

The other side of the room

Do you see why I'm giddy? That's the best transformation ever!!!! I cannot thank Yagana enough for all her hard work. I'm sure it wasn't easy to persuade M to give up so much stuff, but she would never use it again. I'm very proud of her for doing that, and I'm proud of both of them for the fantastic job they did. 

We are now down to a manageable amount of stuff M still has in the house. It could probably be packed into three boxes, which is very manageable. I have stuff that I need to go through, but it's all manageable. 

I don't know how many times I walked into that room last night and just looked! The only disappointment is that the smelly, delightful candle is probably in the garbage or a donation box. I miss that smell! I may try to find it, but I won't tell anyone. 

I bet Yagana was itching to get her hands on my office! But I'm about at the stage that M is with the paper. It's stuff that I personally want to go through. Yes, we could have gotten rid of some stuff, but I know how to do it and just need the time. I've done a great job plugging away and am not in a rush. Hmmm - it might be good to discuss with her, but first, I need to be better organized. Maybe she can help get rid of the junky stuff! That would be huge! Sometimes, you just need someone to help to get you started! 

That's not coming out right. I have started, but I just need to keep at it! 

I paid Yagana to do that work and gave her a large quilt for her spare bedroom in her apartment! I'm happy to find a good home for another quilt! And that rack in the room - well, hopefully, we'll start to see it deplete - that's the plan, but for the moment, I needed somewhere easy to store the excess quilts. 

Now, I feel like I need to sort the quilts further: those I want to keep, those I need for trunk shows, and the rest I don't need! I may or may not have time later today, but this is amazing. 

So here's my advice: If you are getting ready to move, it probably costs a lot less to pay Yagana to get rid of the junk BEFORE moving than to pay movers to move it! So, if you are moving and need help, let me know. Yagana would be happy to come see you. 

If you struggle to know where to start, I bet she could also help with that. She's lovely (working on a PhD in - oh gosh -- social work - I don't think that's right), but she's a bright girl and was quick and efficient. She even dusted and vacuumed as she went.

When we left for dinner, the floor was a huge mess. When we came back, Yagana had sorted all the crap into piles, and everything was neat as a pin! 

Let me know if you want to talk with her! I was impressed and will find a place to get her to help. Maybe she could tackle Studio B. ACK!!! Am I ready? 

I managed to get loads done yesterday, but my decluttering efforts paled compared to hers. Every success, even the little ones, is a success! I'll share my story tomorrow. 

How many times will I walk into the room today? About a dozen! The energy in that room has changed! I want to sort my quilts, I want to buy new sheets for the bed, I want to move the furniture. It makes me feel alive to be in that room now instead of a dead space filled with clutter! It's amazing how getting rid of unwanted things can be so freeing. I wonder how I'll feel when the office is done? 

We really need to paint that room. It's never been touched since we moved in. 

Don't forget that we have a Virtual Retreat tonight. I'm all prepped to work hard. I found some handwork that needs to be done, so that's my focus tonight. 

Saturday, December 28 - Starts at 6 PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89816483795?pwd=Mjc3M3pvVmZPdjdsQzlHS3Zhck52dz09

Meeting ID: 898 1648 3795
Passcode: 248667

Sunday, December 29 - Starts at NOON

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82983517671?pwd=ODdsa1FJenQwdFNaQWFTNGd4bEhPZz09

Meeting ID: 829 8351 7671
Passcode: 117636

On that note, I'm out of here. WAIT - stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down!

DH must feel left out of the decluttering, as I heard him say that he needs to get his stuff in order! Oh my—I can't wait until the house is clear! We'll have to downsize or keep some quilts, or the echoing will drive us mad! 

I just want to reiterate how proud I am of M for letting go and for Yagana for doing such a fantastic job!!! Love you both!!!! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!