Beauty

[aprilskies]

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@just bee wrote:

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@geezerette wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

Today's the last day of May already.

Any parting words?

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@just bee 

I imagine you have a few choice ones!  Although I’m not sure they’d pass the censors.  😄

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@geezerette 

Inconvenience comes to mind.

But. again, I need to focus on the silver lining: We didn't end up like the two cars.

(I actually responded to this post this morning, then lost Internet access.  Forced to walk away from the computer and drive to the house.  Where, as I was watering the crape myrtle and Chinaberry, I slipped on some dried Chinaberries that I had swept into a pile but never picked up and I levitated before I hit the ground.  Glasses flew off, got a bloody elbow, sore all over, tore a hole in my favorite 1969 Cubs jersey -- but the good news?  Because I didn't pick up those berries, there was a big fat pillow of them when I landed so my head hit that pile instead of concrete.  No wonder those trees have been banned.)

I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

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@just bee, Dear Lord, you are having one heck of a May.  Inconvenience would not be my choice words. I admire your grace. June has to go much better for you.   Like @geezerette said, I think you need one stiff drink or something.........possibility rolled up.

I feel we all need to come over there and wrap you up in a bubble.

[aprilskies]

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@Brisky wrote:
Hello all, I have been MIA lately. My back has been hurting pretty bad. I think it's a pinched nerve in my shoulder blades. Been to doctor when I fell off ladder but I had a earlier issue from shoveling ice that obviously never healed. They did x rays in that time range and billed my insurance 10,000 dollars. We paid 1,000. Tried the wellness forum and tried Therma care shoulder pads and my pain is almost gone!
Foxxee made the suggestion and it works. I will not do yard work for awhile though.
Junk it June was actually fitting for what everybody is going through. lol, I thought it was a funny joke.😊
I will get my hefty yard and garden bags out and do my shed out doors. Going to take it easier on my back though.
I read through the thread and just bee your doing pretty good considering what has happened.
Hope all is well with you all!
Geezerette, I binge watch the Harry Potter movies approximately once per year. Love the Series.

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@Brisky, shoulder and back pain is the worse. I am glad you found something to manage the pain.  Take care of yourself and take it easy. The yard isnt going anywhere.

[just bee]

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@aprilskies wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

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@geezerette wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

Today's the last day of May already.

Any parting words?

---

@just bee 

I imagine you have a few choice ones!  Although I’m not sure they’d pass the censors.  😄

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@geezerette 

Inconvenience comes to mind.

But. again, I need to focus on the silver lining: We didn't end up like the two cars.

(I actually responded to this post this morning, then lost Internet access.  Forced to walk away from the computer and drive to the house.  Where, as I was watering the crape myrtle and Chinaberry, I slipped on some dried Chinaberries that I had swept into a pile but never picked up and I levitated before I hit the ground.  Glasses flew off, got a bloody elbow, sore all over, tore a hole in my favorite 1969 Cubs jersey -- but the good news?  Because I didn't pick up those berries, there was a big fat pillow of them when I landed so my head hit that pile instead of concrete.  No wonder those trees have been banned.)

I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

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@just bee, Dear Lord, you are having one heck of a May.  Inconvenience would not be my choice words. I admire your grace. June has to go much better for you.   Like @geezerette said, I think you need one stiff drink or something.........possibility rolled up.

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@aprilskies 

Speaking of grace, as I was going through boxes of toiletries looking for a #&$%ing Band-Aid, I saw all the fragrances and multiple bottles of pure grace and I was tempted to just take them all to the hotel.  But I didn't.  And I never found the #&$%ing Band-Aids.

Maybe years of spritzing myself with pure grace has given me some grace.  Who knows?

Gotta head back to the mines now.

[geezerette]

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@just bee wrote:

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@aprilskies wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

---

@geezerette wrote:

---

@just bee wrote:

Today's the last day of May already.

Any parting words?

---

@just bee 

I imagine you have a few choice ones!  Although I’m not sure they’d pass the censors.  😄

---

@geezerette 

Inconvenience comes to mind.

But. again, I need to focus on the silver lining: We didn't end up like the two cars.

(I actually responded to this post this morning, then lost Internet access.  Forced to walk away from the computer and drive to the house.  Where, as I was watering the crape myrtle and Chinaberry, I slipped on some dried Chinaberries that I had swept into a pile but never picked up and I levitated before I hit the ground.  Glasses flew off, got a bloody elbow, sore all over, tore a hole in my favorite 1969 Cubs jersey -- but the good news?  Because I didn't pick up those berries, there was a big fat pillow of them when I landed so my head hit that pile instead of concrete.  No wonder those trees have been banned.)

I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

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@just bee, Dear Lord, you are having one heck of a May.  Inconvenience would not be my choice words. I admire your grace. June has to go much better for you.   Like @geezerette said, I think you need one stiff drink or something.........possibility rolled up.

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@aprilskies 

Speaking of grace, as I was going through boxes of toiletries looking for a #&$%ing Band-Aid, I saw all the fragrances and multiple bottles of pure grace and I was tempted to just take them all to the hotel.  But I didn't.  And I never found the #&$%ing Band-Aids.

Maybe years of spritzing myself with pure grace has given me some grace.  Who knows?

Gotta head back to the mines now.

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@just bee 

Good grief!  I was going to tell you to just go back to bed with the WGD and cover up your head, but then I remembered you don’t have a bed. 😭

What’s that saying?  “Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did.”

You are never going to forget the year you turned 60.

[just bee]

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@River Song wrote:

@just bee ,

My Mom gave away all my Barbie dolls when I started college.  Came home during a break and they were gone! Same with stuffed animals.  I had a few Barbies (a couple with the bendable knees), a Ken doll, Skipper, Midge, the car, the fold out house.  Handmade doll clothes.  All gone.  I was miffed at the time but I don't miss them now.  You won't either.  Off they go.

I still have the Monopoly board game we played with as kids.  Well worn and missing pieces and paper money.  It's in a closet, haven't looked at in 30 years.  I need to get rid of it, come to think of it.  I enjoy board games but DH isn't a fan so I don't have anyone to play with.

I have a drawer full of scarves.  Love to look at them, actually wearing them, eh, not so much.  Mostly because it's too hot here for most of the year and just thinking about them around my neck makes me sweat.  They are a winter clothing item for me.  Keep the ones that spark joy (or good memories) and ditch the rest you know you'll never wear.  Yes, even the silk ones.

Stationary and blank cards.  I would keep office supplies if they don't smell smoky.

Knick knacks, just no.  Dust collectors.  Off they go.

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@River Song 

That's very good advice.  Something I really need right now!

[just bee]

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@River Song wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

Today's the last day of May already.

Any parting words?

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I, for one, am glad to see May in the rear view mirror.

Bring on Junk It! Junket June.

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@River Song 

Oh, I hear ya!

[just bee]

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@geezerette wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

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@River Song wrote:

After dealing with a health insurance company issue for the past week, it has finally been resolved.  I was fearing that we would lose our health insurance because payment by another party had not been made due to massive confusion on everyone's part.  After many phone calls and emails, payment has been sent today and our health insurance should still be in effect for DH's chemo infusions next week.  I think I lost a few years off of my life dealing with this fiasco, I was in such a panic.  Anyhoo, I'm having a glass of wine as I write this to try and wind down a little.

I started purging old files of useless stuff and I am also amazed at how much of this stuff has my full SSN and signatures on them.  Amazing how free we were with our SSN 30 years ago before the age of computers and identity theft.  I have a mountain of stuff that has to be shredded.

I also have some cassette tapes from 30+ years ago and no cassette player, lol.  Most of these have sentimental value because my late first husband liked to mix his own music.

As part of my HEP to not eat desserts, I've started having Costco canned sliced peaches for dessert.  They are actually packaged in clear jars in light syrup.  Sweet but not really junk food like ice cream or chocolates.  But, don't take away my glass of wine, LOL.  I need that to deal with the stress of DH's illness.

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@River Song 

Oh, don't get me started about insurance.

I found more of my college report cards in my old, saved university course catalogs.  SSN's all over 'em.  The shredder will be my best friend after we get settled into a place.

There are cassette players out there.  Still.  I am determined to keep my tapes and play them.  They may be damaged -- I won't know unless I try.

Music used to be a huge part of my life and then I just stopped listening.  But I know how therapeutic it is so it makes no sense to not listen to it.

Fruit is a good way to scratch the sugar itch.  So is wine!  I'm jealous.  I haven't had a glass of wine since the fire.  But I made the executive decision to have the wine rack restored because I plan to stock it once we get it back.

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@just bee 

@River Song 

I have yet to find a piece of fruit that tastes like a chocolate filled donut.🍩🍑

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@geezerette 

It's those dense maple bars that can act as doorstops that I like.

[just bee]

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@geezerette wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

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@aprilskies wrote:

@geezerette , you are really doing good with everything. Keep it up.

I took a bag to donate but I have to bag up the rest and take it out. Although, I am considering the Lupus foundation but they will not be in the area until the 15th.  They will even take my bed frame.  It is time to get that out too.  I bought a foundation bed thinking it would fit right into the bed frame but i was wrong. I suppose measuring would of helped.  

I decluttered and organized some paperwork and am just amazed, the more I organize the bigger mess I seem to have. I think I just need to start tossing without thinking about things too much in general.  Things just seem to multiply.  It is crazy, I feel sometimes I am not getting anywhere.   It will take forever to get through everything at the rate I am going.  I guess I am debating on whether to sell some things but I dont know if I want to go through the hassle. 

I have not purchased any skincare or mu in May.  This makes 5 months. It helps that I have tossed so much product and still am tossing the stuff that made the first cut.  So when the urge hits, I think about the waste and it keeps me from going crazy.   I will use up what I have first, well skincare that is, mu is a lost cause. 

HEP, well, you know.  Starting June, I am going to attempt to eat more clean. I am not giving up sugar but I do need to substantially reduce it.  I vowed to fit into my summer clothes this year and it is not looking good so far.

We just got one heck of a rain storm. I have never seen it rain so hard. So we have severe flooding warning until 9 30 tonight and a tornado warning until 9 30 as well. We rarely get tornado warnings in this area.  How scary is that. 

Junk it June is so fitting.

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@aprilskies 

That's what I'm experiencing right now.  I'm faced with so much stuff and I have to make so many decisions.  I found a refrigerator magnet in a pile that says something like, "Some days it feels like all I'm doing is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic."

That's exactly how I feel right now.  I'm moving things from pile to pile, from room to room.  I don't know what to do with some things so after staring at them for a few minutes I stuff them into bags and throw them away.

I look at the house and I see how long this is taking and how haphazard the process is because I have limited time to act.  If I had devoted more time to this before the fire, I wonder how much time it would have taken.

How much time was I willing to spend decluttering, sorting, organizing, washing and donating clothes, pruning collections?  Obviously not that much because I hadn't done it.

But how long?  How much of my life would have been spent on this project?  How many years did it take to create it?

In some ways I have to look at this disaster as an opportunity to deal with something I've been avoiding.  On one hand I feel like this is my punishment for procrastinating; on the other hand, I feel like it's the only way I would have acted and finally addressed all the cr@p.

I can feel my thought process changing inside my head.  It's almost as if tectonic plates are shifting.  I don't think I could have made these decisions before the fire.  I was getting close to the point where I wanted to do something and closer to the point where I knew I needed to do something, but the actual doing was not happening quickly enough.

I appreciate that I'd stopped collecting -- that helped.  But so many of the things I had collected were never used.

I don't know how much time you want to spend on this because it takes time away from something else and it's a painful reminder of unwise decisions.

Amazing how many items don't spark joy.  I'm realizing, too, that I've hung on to items that do the opposite.  They hold memories, but the memories are not happy ones.  I'm letting many of those items go.

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@just bee 

I’ve been experiencing a lot of the same feelings.  At first, I wanted to save literally EVERYTHING.  Then, little by little, I started getting rid of things to make room for my stuff—for the way I started to live my ‘alone life’.  Lately, I’ve been looking at things that have sentimental value, but little else.  And oddly, many of those things I do not enjoy.  I guess my tastes have changed, or maybe I never really liked them.  They evoke memories, but now the memories are sad ones.  And I think I’m getting to the point where I don’t want to remember those sad memories.  

Yesterday was trash day, and I tossed out a couple of sentimental items I’ve carted around for years.  At one time, they were useful.  But for years now, I’ve just moved them from place to place to get them out of my way.  But I always kept them.  I was going to continue to shuffle them but I realized I no longer want to be reminded of what I feel every time I see them.  It took an effort, but I’m glad I tossed them.

As I get more and more things out and gone from my life, the better I feel about doing that.  I can’t say that I regret ridding myself of anything I have tossed, so far, at least.  Even at this early stage of purging, the extra time I find I have and the increasing sense of satisfaction I feel is really nice.  I’m beginning to see what I wasted all these years.  Of course, that brings on a sense of guilt that I have to keep pushing down.

That’s not to say I am living in an empty house.  Far from it.  In fact, I’m buying things.  But they’re well thought out beforehand.  And the weird part is that so many of these new things have no emotional attachment, but I just like what they add to my surroundings.  I guess I’m unintentionally doing the Kondo thing: keep only things that are necessary/useful or bring enjoyment.

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@geezerette 

Yes.  Just yes.

[just bee]

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@Brisky wrote:
Hello all, I have been MIA lately. My back has been hurting pretty bad. I think it's a pinched nerve in my shoulder blades. Been to doctor when I fell off ladder but I had a earlier issue from shoveling ice that obviously never healed. They did x rays in that time range and billed my insurance 10,000 dollars. We paid 1,000. Tried the wellness forum and tried Therma care shoulder pads and my pain is almost gone!
Foxxee made the suggestion and it works. I will not do yard work for awhile though.
Junk it June was actually fitting for what everybody is going through. lol, I thought it was a funny joke.😊
I will get my hefty yard and garden bags out and do my shed out doors. Going to take it easier on my back though.
I read through the thread and just bee your doing pretty good considering what has happened.
Hope all is well with you all!
Geezerette, I binge watch the Harry Potter movies approximately once per year. Love the Series.

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@Brisky 

Falls are just so awful.  I fell all the time when I was a kid but I was flexible enough that I could bounce.  Now everything just goes crunch.  I was really scared when I felt myself falling again today.  I'm sore, but it could have been a lot worse.

You be careful.  Ladders are no place for human beings.  The only incomplete I had in college was for a theatrical lighting course.  I just couldn't climb those ladders to hang lights.  Epic fail.

Take care of your back and it will take care of you.  Don't overdo!  The weeds can wait!

You're right: Junk It June fits.

[just bee]

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@geezerette wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

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@aprilskies wrote:

---

@just bee wrote:

---

@geezerette wrote:

---

@just bee wrote:

Today's the last day of May already.

Any parting words?

---

@just bee 

I imagine you have a few choice ones!  Although I’m not sure they’d pass the censors.  😄

---

@geezerette 

Inconvenience comes to mind.

But. again, I need to focus on the silver lining: We didn't end up like the two cars.

(I actually responded to this post this morning, then lost Internet access.  Forced to walk away from the computer and drive to the house.  Where, as I was watering the crape myrtle and Chinaberry, I slipped on some dried Chinaberries that I had swept into a pile but never picked up and I levitated before I hit the ground.  Glasses flew off, got a bloody elbow, sore all over, tore a hole in my favorite 1969 Cubs jersey -- but the good news?  Because I didn't pick up those berries, there was a big fat pillow of them when I landed so my head hit that pile instead of concrete.  No wonder those trees have been banned.)

I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

---

@just bee, Dear Lord, you are having one heck of a May.  Inconvenience would not be my choice words. I admire your grace. June has to go much better for you.   Like @geezerette said, I think you need one stiff drink or something.........possibility rolled up.

---

@aprilskies 

Speaking of grace, as I was going through boxes of toiletries looking for a #&$%ing Band-Aid, I saw all the fragrances and multiple bottles of pure grace and I was tempted to just take them all to the hotel.  But I didn't.  And I never found the #&$%ing Band-Aids.

Maybe years of spritzing myself with pure grace has given me some grace.  Who knows?

Gotta head back to the mines now.

---

@just bee 

Good grief!  I was going to tell you to just go back to bed with the WGD and cover up your head, but then I remembered you don’t have a bed. 😭

What’s that saying?  “Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did.”

You are never going to forget the year you turned 60.

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@geezerette 

I'm trying to figure out if someone in the universe really hates me right now or is actually trying to help me.  If I'm being helped, I'd like to avoid any additional blood loss and injury. 

This year wasn't supposed to s*ck so I'm hoping things work out and we can look back on it as an adventure instead of the worst #&$%ing experience of our lives.

Wait... we didn't burn alive.  I have to keep reminding myself that we are still here with the dog and there are things to enjoy.

Like this here Amstel Light.