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[Snicks1]

My big purge today (really it was not a purge as I replaced with similar) was tossing 2 pair of garden gloves that had developed holes in the ends on a couple fingers. I hate getting that dirt under my nails, so I had ordered a set of 2, which came today. Out with the old, but in came the new. So, same amount, just less holes, lol.
I check daily to see if or when the donations center (also the recycling center) will re-open, so far, nada. They have both been closed since mid-March. Things are piling up around here.
It's good to see everyone is holding their own with their efforts on keeping down the clutter.

[gidgetgh]

I took about a half filled shopping bag of "treasures" to Goodwill a few days ago, along with a very small fireproof box thingy. Have no idea what was in the shopping bag.  No clue whatsoever. 

On trash day, I threw away 3 acrylic drinking glasses.  I've recently bought some new Tupperware drinking glasses that I love and these acrylic glasses had seen better days. 

This morning I threw out a small dresser scarf that I had on my nightstand. I'm not going to replace it.

I opened up another shopping bag and put 3 hand towels in it.  

With my husbands health situation, there is going to be plenty of clean out in my future. Some will be very hard. And some things won't be difficult to part with at all.  A few days ago I gathered all of his medications together. A Walgreens pretty close to us has a medication disposal bin.   

[rnmom]

@gidgetgh - I hope you don't mind me asking, and if you don't want to answer, please feel free to ignore this, but I'm wondering how is your husband's health? 

I don't want to assume, but it doesn't sound like he is doing as well as we had hoped. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

We had a big storm come thru here earlier this week again and it flipped over our outside patio table and broke the umbrella that was in it. It will have to go out to the curb today for pickup tomorrow. Unfortunately it is not salvagable. I don't think I'm going to replace it though. Hubby wants to try to build some sort of a permanent covering over our deck to protect it from the weather and give us some cover. I've been resistant to that idea, but I'm fine with it now. 

[gidgetgh]

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@rnmom wrote:

@gidgetgh - I hope you don't mind me asking, and if you don't want to answer, please feel free to ignore this, but I'm wondering how is your husband's health? 

I don't want to assume, but it doesn't sound like he is doing as well as we had hoped. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

We had a big storm come thru here earlier this week again and it flipped over our outside patio table and broke the umbrella that was in it. It will have to go out to the curb today for pickup tomorrow. Unfortunately it is not salvagable. I don't think I'm going to replace it though. Hubby wants to try to build some sort of a permanent covering over our deck to protect it from the weather and give us some cover. I've been resistant to that idea, but I'm fine with it now. 

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@rnmom - I don't mind you asking at all. I appreciate it. My husband was moved to a personal care home 10 days ago (or is it 11) and is under hospice care. It's right up the street from our house and the gratitude I feel toward the owners and staff here is endless.  My plan had been to take him home and do home health care and it became apparent right near discharge time that that wasn't an option. I called and the people here immediately said bring him here and it was just an absolute godsend for me. I moved him here for a 2 week respite stay, which I can renew.  The hospital had reached out online to nursing homes and only 1 said they'd take him, an hour from our house. That would have killed me. Seriously. Couldn't do it.  And I had no other options. And at this home, because he is under hospice care, I can be with him. And this home has had no Covid cases so far. 

He no longer is eating anything solid but he's still drinking and will eat applesauce. The dementia has really kicked in and at times he's combative but we've managed it so far.  I'm here now and he's not speaking today, at least not so far. But he knows who I am.

Accepting and preparing for my life without him is the single most traumatic thing I have ever been through in my life. Can't even fathom it. My parents raised me to be really strong, but this is so, so hard. 

I purge the most when I'm stressed and I've been really going through our house again and am just ruthless.  Not purging anything of my husbands yet of course.  In time, I'd really like to try to live a simple life, with a lot fewer possessions. Not minimalist, but with a lot less than we have now, even with my constant decluttering. I probably at some point will sell our large house  and buy something much smaller so I am starting to think in terms of what would I take with me, and what would I get rid of. 

Thanks very much for asking. 

[Snicks1]

@gidgetgh, I'm so very sorry. Many hugs to you.

[rnmom]

@gidgetgh - I am so sorry to hear that you are dealing with your husband's declining health and that he is now on hospice. I cannot even begin to imagine how hard that must be for you. I've lost both of my parents, one at age 28 and one at 40, but I cannot imagine losing my hudband or one of my children. That is something that I just cannot wrap my head around. I hope that you have some people near to you for support. 

I am happy to hear that you were able to get him into a very nice home which is close to your house though. That is very often a huge challenge, so I am glad that worked out for you. 

If  I recall correctly, you said that your hubby's health has been declining for a while, so I'm sure you've given some thought to what life will look like without him, hard as that may be. I can defininitely understand why a small place and less stuff might be in that future picture. If decluttering is theraputic for you, then by all means, do whatever makes you feel better right now. 

I don't know if we will be in our current large home after we retire, but I know for sure that if I were alone I wouldn't stay here. Only if the kids were still here to help would I stay. But if I were alone, absolutely no way. We have a big house on 30 acres with a lake. I can't even clear the snow off the driveway, hubby uses a quad with a plow on it because it's so long. So there is no way I'd stay here after he is gone.

Please feel free to share here if you feel like you would want to, we are all here to lend an ear. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. 

[Fifi1]

@gidgetgh  I just stopped by a previous post to check up on you.  You and dh are in my prayers every night.  Hugs!

[BeingKindIsEasy]

@gidgetgh  So sorry to hear about your husband.  Remember to be kind to yourself and allow others to help you.  Saying prayers and sending out positive energies for your husband, you and all that are caring for him.  Take care!

[alicedee]

@gidgetgh That is so fortunate that you were able to find a place for your dear husband so close to your house.   You have the prayers, friendship and good thoughts of all your forum pals as you go through this.  

Sometimes our mind or heart needs decluttering more than our home.  

[RedTop]

After at least 5 years of saying he was going to do it, my husband is decluttering the garage today! He filled his entire truck bed, and took the load to the landfill. Now he is pressure washing. He also has a burnable pile that will be gone after 5:00 today. Getting this done is a HUGE accomplishment for him!