Note: This post was written on Saturday, April 27, 2013, but I wanted to let it sit a while before publishing it. Two people have criticized the blog's lack of emotional content. I have been thinking about that. This post doesn't address the emotion, but I will try to do that in future posts.
I have done both well and poorly over the past week, depending on the day and my mood. I was very anxious about dealing with the tax documents.
Kitchen -- The kitchen is crazy again, because I've been using it to sort hardware from the dining room and living room. (I'll post a photo when I have time.) However, I have continued to use the stove, microwave, sink and fridge and keep them fairly orderly. For the first time in months, I'm cooking and eating most of my meals at home.
Power Room-- I have removed all alien items and disinfected the sink, counter and toilet. I haven't a clue where to put all the cleaning tools (mops, bucket, broom, steam cleaner), waste baskets and cleaning products I have been storing in there. They are sitting in the hallway.
Counselling -- I had a difficult, but helpful, session with Thomas, the hoarding specialist at the local mental health association on Thursday. He is trying to nudge me to identify the emotions that prompt my clutter. He also led me through an exercise to help me get going with the accounting stuff. I had hit a roadblock.
Tom said that he had spoken to my doctor about my concerns that my cognitive functioning isn't quite right, so my physician may check me out when I next see her. I am scheduled to see her in the next week or two.
Visit from the Occupational Therapist -- Kathy, the OT, visited on Friday. She noticed the hardware sorting station and accompanying mess in the kitchen, but she could see that I had made overall progress.
I delivered all my tax documents to the accountant! -- This is a major miracle. I used the steps Thomas and I worked out, plus a few extra. It took me all day -- after having worked at this for many other days in the past two years -- but my brain felt crippled and inept by day end.
I also picked up three gas royalty cheques that the accountant was holding for me. (She knows I tend to let them go stale, so she has the cheques going to her office instead of here. I found a stale cheque here Friday for about twelve hundred dollars -- I don't know if that has been replaced yet or not. Usually the monthly cheques are for a little more than a hundred. I'll write the drilling company a letter and send that cheque and a couple of other stale cheques I have. They usually send me a letter every now and then, asking me about the uncashed cheques.
(I know this must sound crazy. I really forget these cheques -- major absent-mindedness. I often carry them around in my purse until they are out of date -- and torn to shreds.)
Upstairs office -- I ransacked some of my piles of papers in the upstairs office in looking for more accounting papers -- and found a big stash. The office is a little crazier, but at least I got the documents out.
Basement exit and laundry room -- I swept up the mess on the floor in the laundry room and at the bottom of the stairs by the garage exit. This included sorting my shoes and putting them in pairs in plastic boxes on a small shelving unit. (Photo to come.) The huge bins I had been using there were too large for that entrance.
Backyard -- I uncovered some of my flower pots and cleaned up debris from the recent window installers in my unit. I planted more bulbs, now that it is finally spring.My brain and thinking ability were subfunctional today, too, but I got into cleaning tonight and I feel okay now.
Sleep -- I have two sleep disorders and use a CPAP machine for obstructive sleep apnea. I had been using an old machine that extremely noisy -- the newer one had been packed away for a trip. I finally got the new one working again, and the quiet was WONDERFUL. My sleep problems may be what is affecting my thinking ability and memory.
I spent more time working the hallway and exit downstairs. I have more pairs of shoes than I realized. I seem to have four almost identical pairs of black loafers. I wear my shoes for years, but I will send some of these to charity. A couple of pairs are tight. I have all my "found" shoes sorted and stored in plastic boxes stacked in a shelf by the door. That is a HUGE improvement. I am often late arriving at events for want of a matching pair of shoes.
Found -- I just found my health card and driver's license -- which had been missing for several weeks. I had thought that they were somewhere among the music, computer cables or other papers on the living room floor.
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