Just found this Thread.....OK....I'm in desperate need of this. Right now my focus in on getting the flooring prepared so they can lay they linoleum in my master bedroom next week. The dogs were NOT NICE to the carpet this last winter & the 2 older dogs I lost the year before had already started to do a number on it. So I had to move most of the stuff out ( have to finish moving what wasn't moved when they came to rip out the carpet several weeks ago. The master bedroom was so horrible in just junk piled up like empty boxes & things piled on top of things & on top of the puppy pen I no longer used (which honestly is a bit heavy after having fractured my back a few years ago....I have more problems moving the more heavy things now.....older age stinks also).

But I felt so good cleaning out the one front bedroom & getting my bed moved in there & setting up a chest of drawers I never had done anything with......I actually hung up a couple of pictures in the room & it feels so cozy.....I'm NOT moving my bedroom back into the master bedroom, but making it my HUGE craft room now.....it gets sunrise on one side of the room & sunset on the other with recessed spot lights where the head of the bed would be....perfect for the craft table.....

But for the moment, my focus is the white vinegar/water wash on the spots that had soaked through the carpet & padding (not as bad as I thought it would be.....most of that is already taken care of. I just brought up the sander. For today's project......& to get the rest of the staples out........then comes the painting on of the KILZ oderless paint which I am going to put 2-3 coats on those seriously worst areas.......then they said to put baking soda all over the top of that before they put down the linoleum.....lol...I bought 8 pounds of baking soda.....I think that will be enough for a room of about 29 sq ft.

Add to the work however, I went to Lowe's yesterday to get the transitions for the doorways.....& ended up getting the unfinished wood because they didn't have the finished wood & the linoleum is wood grained. None of the laminate because if the dogs do have accidents, it goes down through the seams & then the funny pressed wood expands & one huge mess like my kitchen floor (one room at a time)

I have bags of papers around the house mostly for the recycle. One bag is for the junk mail......then there is the food boxes that get folded up....but they really end up being trash if it's not real cardboard. Living in the country & initially I couldn't afford having my own trash collected so I actually collect it for about 6 months then haul it in my truck to the dump.....which in it's own way....adds to the clutter even though the pile is in the garage.....it sometimes piles in the house before I get it out there.

Not keeping the house spotless has the negative aspect of those tiny wispy spiders that seem to grow in the floor boards.....I am always spraying or smacking them, & then the next day, there are 2.....& under my kitchen counters......I know they just grow there.....& then the tiny little spiders I know that move there from just hatching......it's a constant battle against the spiders & the ants who dang it found my pineapple upside down cake I had perched up on top of another box which was perched on top of a battery operated candle on the chest I have in my entry way. I know with more things just sitting around & bags of trash & empty boxes, it gives the spiders & bugs that many more places to hide & to breed their little ones that continue to haunt me.....but then again, I'm sure many come up from the basement which I really haven't even gotten to....but keep spraying with bug spray.

My house got out of control when I fractured my back about 3 years ago & couldn't lift more than 5 pounds for 6 months.....things piled up....& then they never got unpiled.....& piles would try to be put where the dogs couldn't get to them......so the house is a disaster....things piled on the boxes they need to be actually organized & moved into the storage area.

My tool box was left out in the dining room area for easy access to my tools...lol......well, I looked in the bottom of the tool box & found a pile of d-con that the mice moved over the winter...from the d-con tray into my tool box....guess they were saving it for a rainy day.....or they thought if I thought they were eating it, I wouldn't bother putting more out.......who knows......but that's what I get for not putting the tools back inside the tool box & keeping it closed.

There isn't a room in the house that doesn't need a huge level of cleaning & oraganizing......but I had to start with the master bedroom & am working on the nice room that I moved into as my bedroom.....slowly getting that to be liveable. Unfortunately when I moved in, I had decided to change all the closets over to those nice wire hanger set ups.....but I fired the painter (crook).....& never got around to getting the hangers put up.....so right now, all my cloths are hanging from those wreath hooks on all the upstairs doors of all the rooms..........

I could work on this house for the rest of my life & probably NOT get all the little things finished.....but at this point.....it's one room at a time & hope that all the spiders that are hanging out & breeding in the one room where I have basically thrown all the recycle & old papers that need to be filed.....don't decide to come crawling out from under the door......

It's a never ending project.....but starting with the master bedroom is the largest & best start I have made on this mess over the last few years.

Along with this, I have to keep the fields mowed & the lawn right in front of the house....so that it doesn't end up overgrown & that always means more ticks & more icky bugs that end up inside the house also when the dogs go out & bring them in.

Shoot, the other day, in my nice clean cozy bedroom, I have this little shelf thing hanging on the end of the chest of drawers....& had a roll of paper towels sitting on the top shelf....I look at the dark speck that was on the end of the paper towel roll & it was a tick. I nabbed it & took it to my little jar of alcohol that I use for killing ticks each year (keep track of how many I find each year that way).....but how in the world it got there as I hadn't even touched the roll of paper towels for several days......glad it didn't end up in my bed....but what a strange place to find it.

The joys of living in the country far outweigh any of the negatives......but it's always a challenge trying to handle it all alone when there isn't enough money to hire the work to be done & I have to do it ALL myself....sometimes I get so overwhelmed that NOTHING gets done rather than poking along little bit at a time. It really takes focus & kicking myself in the rear constantly to get anything accomplished.

Sometimes I don't even bother eating or just eat stuff I can throw in the microwave to avoid having dirty dishes.

Last fall, the hose to the kitchen sink faucet (the sprayer comes through the faucet, not next to it like some kitchen sink set ups) had been leaking for about 6 months & I had a bucket under the sink to catch the water.....but it got so bad that it was constantly overflowing before I even got many dished washed.....so I had about a month of dished piled up in the sink. After getting my master bath toilet unplugged with one of those professional augers (it just wouldn't unplug any other way so I went out & bought one as it's constantly a problem)......I had purchased the replacement parts for the kitchen but just hadn't gotten up the nerve, bravery, & ambition to make the repair until I couldn't postpone it any longer.

Yea to YouTube....I have found every fix I need on there....so with YouTube in hand & this cute little $2 tool that I bought because it was so cute.....I set about replacing the hose & the sprayer in the kitchen sink. It took me about 4 hours.....but it was fixed with NO LEAKS. I was so proud of myself. It took me several weeks to get all the dishes washed (rinsed off & put into the dish washer)......but getting that kitchen sink area cleaned was such an awesome feeling.

Repairs on top of cleaning.....seems to be the story of my life. I wouldn't trade my living alone life for going back to what I had. I would rather have it take years to get myself organized at this point than go back to what I had.....but it's definitely teaching me patience........but I definitely get to the point where I can't live like this any longer & that is the kick in the rear that gets me into action....tripping over piles of papers & climbing over sacks & boxes......what a stupid way to live IMO......& it's NOT permanent because I hate living this way & refuse to just accept it & make it my norm.

LOL. When I first moved into the last house I lived in with H in Calif....it looked like a model home with all the Victorian furniture & I decorated everything & when working had a house keeper to help keep it clean after I picked up everything so that she could get to the furniture to clean each week....it kept things organized. The pissing contest started after I lost my career & H thought I was going to be his house keeper & he would just drop things where ever.....I quit touching EVERYTHING....& it went downhill from there in that home.......here I don't even have furniture which may be part of the problem....is that there is no place to put anything that needs organized.

Definitely going through & throwing everything that isn't necessary or has a use & all papers get thrown or recycled......amazing how much of that can end up being collected over time & how it piles up....

But ORGANIZATION is starting to happen.....& the motivation & energy is building up as I see it starting to happen.

OK....so much for my novel...LOL....typical eskie post......but I definitely have a lot of WIP to deal with......12 rooms & a basement to be exact along with the garage......it's a lot for one person....but a day at a time & maybe even 1 sq ft at a time......& this too will be accomplished.