The Hoard............

[Hound dog]

I do believe I probably should've had someone call up the show of Hoarders for me back in say October. Because you guessed it, I'm still working on it.

It will all be gone, trust me, it's just a matter of time. Time and hours of sorting......trying to figure out what to do with things........throwing stuff out........again trying to figure out what to do with things........setting stuff aside from the enormous yard sale coming up on Labor Day weekend. Hint, anyone in the area might not want to miss it. It's not just hoarding treasures but Nichole and easy child are adding in their own things as well.......and it's well.......a ton of stuff. And it will be priced to move, at least the less valuable items. Then again if I"m forced to haul it back inside, I just might be in the mood to dicker.

Sooooo, I'm on the 3rd round of the master bedroom and the attic. Hahaha, I've as yet even managed to open the attic door and I've been at it 3 hrs. *shoot me now*

husband was an avid Star Trek fan. Travis is an avid (obsessed) Star Trek fan. Any Trekkie is gonna go bananas at our yard sale, trust me. There are vhs movies........and the series too......umm I"m going to try to make Travis part with those. And I do believe husband might have owned every Star Trek book ever written. Travis doesn't care much for the books. Good thing, cuz he would have been unhappy to find out Mom was chucking them out the door anyway. lol I've stared at those darn books in every nook and cranny of my home for 30 yrs, I'm done. These, despite their collectivity, will be going cheap, dirt cheap. I just want them outta here. There are other items such as fazers and communicators but I think Travis would smother me in my sleep if I sold those. lol

People, you simply would not believe this. I had to ban Darrin from helping me (and he's such a darn good little helper too) because he now views my home as a "pickers paradise". I guess it's small wonder when I just discovered antique (most likely valuable) cuff links and a silver money clip. Looks like I might be making a trip to the jewelers downtown to have them appraised...he offers enough, they're his. My kids don't know what they are or what they're used for........and if they did, they wouldn't use them. I don't need the clutter. I don't want to store it just because it's old and valuable. I'm storing husband's military medals until Darrin is old enough to care for them properly. They will be his simply because he thought Papa being in the military and fighting in a real war was the coolest thing in the universe.

I found my old word processor, you know the kind that takes floppy discs? Good grief, I thought that got lost in a move along the way. I haven't seen it in more than a decade! Probably still works but no clue where the cord is and it's outdated so out it goes.

I am currently on a smoke break. I'm also trying to talk myself into going back up there. Thankfully it's a nice cool day here........or that would be even harder to do.

I've decided once this is done, the whole hoard cleared out and such, I'm going through my trunk of pictures and treasures of when the kids were young.......and ALL of them (well except Travis who lives here anyway) are being given their own to take care of.

I am so very sick of both the hoard and clutter I'm about to lose my mind.

 

[Calamity Jane]

I've always thought it a good sign when we are ambitious enough to sort, clean, and get rid of stuff. It's very "cleansing" lol.
Have you thought about putting the Star Trek stuff on e-bay or Craigslist? You might get more $ for it, but if it were me, I'd probably just want to unload it fast and not worry about mailing it off to people, etc. I hope you have a very successful Labor Day yard sale. Maybe you can highlight your specialty collectibles in newpaper ads, etc. and whip up a frenzy!

 

[DDD]

Hang in there. Personally I'm hoping you get LOTS of bucks for your efforts. on the other hand I "think" I would find a part time helper who could follow instructions..like a high schooler or a stay at home Mom now that school is starting again. Hugs DDD

 

[AnnieO]

Labor Day weekend, eh? 2 weeks from this weekend? AFTER the shower? Bwahahahahahahahaha! And I get paid... The Star Trek stuff, someone else will have to buy... But when I heard about easy child and Nichole... They have BABY STUFF!

I guess I should plan on bringing husband's truck, huh...

 

[Hound dog]

Yup, you might want to bring the truck, step. LOL I know for certain Nichole's highchair is in it........you'd have to ask the girls what else they plan to toss in. I lose track just trying to keep up with my own stuff.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Step? From the sounds of it, you might need the truck... AND a trailer!

 

[AnnieO]

Got one of those too...!!!

 

[Star*]

SPOCK ears perk up............DID SOMEONE say----------LIVE LONG AND PROSPER????? ummmmmm what do you have????

Should I text you a picture of my blue STAR FLEET dress????? Hmmmmmmmm?????

I BOLDLY GO WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE...........and therefore - I get to clean a lot of mens restrooms.

 

[Hound dog]

The master bedroom is nearly finished. I just need to put clean laundry away, haul some stuff to the family room for the yard sale (I say "some stuff" hahahaaha), wash the windows and put up the new blinds, run the vacuum again........and it will be DONE.

Nearly 12 hrs solid in a single room. This is the sort of thing I"m up against. Actually 12 hrs and being done is pretty darn good. But then I did that 3 times now.......so I guess that would be like 36 hrs. One room. No one should have that much stuff. For those wondering, yes the room itself is huge. It could easily be made into two bedrooms.

Irks me that I didn't get into the attic yet, which is right off the master bedroom. But well.........there is tomorrow and I can totally finish it then.

Right now? I am totally, completely exhausted.

 

[Hound dog]

Starbie, if you want 'em, I'll pack them up and mail them to you. No joke. Now I might have to do it in spurts as shipping all of them at once the cost in weight would likely make me stroke. But I'd give them to you.

Right now with the books alone.........2 huge lawn bags full, and a box........and I haven't started on those downstairs yet. That is just star trek books. I had to resort to lawn bags because we'd have been hauling books down the stairs forever in boxes. lol

 

[Star*]

Let me know what you have - Star-trek can pay shipping.......in spurts also - NOT like warp speed.

 

[Star*]

OH and by the way - you are so inspiring - I've been working on MY house for two months - and OMG - I finally have a spare room......I have all kinds of piles of stuff storted all over the house - My Mother was.....(sigh) not amused....but I'm working on my master plan to get to OHIO.....

 

[InsaneCdn]

The master bedroom is nearly finished. I just need to put clean laundry away, haul some stuff to the family room for the yard sale (I say "some stuff" hahahaaha), wash the windows and put up the new blinds, run the vacuum again........and it will be DONE.



Read more: http://www.conductdisorders.com/forum/f10/hoard-49990/#ixzz23rxdcG00​

Lisa!
Really?
"Just"??????!

That, alone, is like a whole day's cleaning RIGHT THERE. Before you do any of the OTHER stuff.

Can you ship me about 1/2 of your energy so I can tackle some of the stuff that is driving husband crazy?

 

[Hound dog]

When I find some boxes to transfer them to, I'll make a list of titles for you. I can tell you some are based on the original series, next generation, and deep space 9. Which is pretty good for me since I've spent years trying hard not to look at them. LOL (it might have been different if he'd kept them all in one place) I don't want to keep them in the yard bags for fear they'll wind up tossed by accident anyway.

Inspiring?? Shoot........I feel like I'm bragging about how horribly dirty, cluttered, and a disaster my house has been. LOL Yet on the other hand, I have my bedroom back. Which is pretty awesome. And it only took 3 heavy bouts of cleaning to get there. (golly gee! omg ) But I'll be honest........sometimes I get started cleaning a room and it's just plain overwhelming, freaking monumental, especially when you're trying to figure out what to do with stuff and where to put it so 1. you can clean the area and 2. so it has it's own place when you're done. I've spent months just cleaning and tossing just to be able to actually do those two things.......and that is where I am now. It seems endless and sometimes I just want to say oh to heck with it, it's been there this long........

But for me a messy over cluttered house is depressing. I used to be a mega organized clean freak (not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) but you could eat off my floors) School killed the clean freak part as there was just no time for that type of cleaning. It was basically pick up and run or study or whatever. Add in an unemployed husband that is both messy and a hoarder and that is a recipe for disaster. And that is what I have.

I still have to watch Hoarders every once in a while to keep motivated. LOL

Then that rain I was so thankful for? (and I still am, and will be again when I pay the water bill) Now I have to go out and conquer the jungle again......not as bad as before but it's trying hard. Front yard has barely grown except in a few patches. It might not be this weekend when I get to it......... I can only do the upstairs when I don't have the boys because Connor naps in my room in his portable crib and I don't trust them downstairs playing while I'm cleaning. That gives me little windows in which to work, lemme tell you.

Congrats on your spare room! I swear it's awesome when you finally get a room totally done. The master bedroom for me will be the first once I top it off in the morning. Then Travis wants me to help with his room.......... But holy smokes, you'd have to see his room to know (it IS an episode of hoarders!) so I told him to give me a chance to finish the other rooms first so I can keep yanking out things for the yard sale. They're to the point where the master bedroom was.......mostly cleaned out, now is the sort it, pitch it, yard sale it, deep clean it part.

Tell you what though........... If I ever, by some miracle, date again, if the male shows even the slightest hint of hoarding traits he'll be dumped like a hot rock. omg Never again.

 

[DammitJanet]

I so badly wish I could do this stuff. I want to clean with you. My bedroom is an episode of Hoarders. Billy's room is just as bad. I try to work in the kitchen but that is just surface stuff. Tony hits a lick at a snake for the floors in the family room but there is junk in every corner and my living and family room are a wreck. I have one bedroom that is filled to the brim with junk that everyone from the family has left behind as they left.
'

 

[tiredmommy]

Lisa~ I wish I lived closer; I'd donate to your garage sale. We're unloading a ton of stuff because we're moving in October and I don't want to pack anything I won't be using in the new house. We've crammed a lot of stuff in here over the last 14 years....

 

[AnnieO]

My nesting instinct came - and went - early on. husband is not quite a hoarder, he just is too distracted to think about throwing things away. I'm able to keep a path in our bedroom by some miracle... But there are 3 baskets on top of his dresser overflowing with STUFF, 2 more on his night stand... And the bookcase is a disaster. Plus his chair in the corner. Putting stuff away doesn't come naturally to him. Though he's better than he was. And I am the same, only I like clean, too.

The desk my laptop is at... Has room for the laptop... But is piled with "stuff"... I have to clean this off...

 

[Hound dog]

Janet, I wish I lived closer to you too because I'd come and help you. I wouldn't be grossed out because I can be honest and say there have been parts of my own that had turned into health hazards. You just couldn't tell through the clutter. It hoovers when you're battling a chronic illness and trying to do this stuff. Hoovers more if there is no one to help. Nichole has helped me tons with the downstairs and yard. Travis, like it or not, had to haul heavy trash bags down stairs for me and then tote yard sale stuff to the family room. If I'd had to do all those trips with the heavy bags & stuff.....I'd not have been able to keep at it until the end. My steps are both steep and there are a lot of them. But most, has been done by myself.......and I've decided I'm not caring for growing older too darn much. Used to be I could whip through a mess like this like Nichole does and it not really phase me much. Now? Between the chronic crud and just the fact I'm not 20? I slept 9 hrs (unheard of for me) last night and had issues getting out of the bed due to various pains like the arthritis in my knees and ankles. ugh

Travis's room is a health hazard, to put it mildly. I have masks and rubber gloves for that one. I dread doing his room. But it will be spotless when we finally finish it.....and he'll be helping every darn step of the way too. Then he's going back to childhood rules concerning the cleanliness of his room. There will be nightly and weekly room inspections. If I don't, it will be that way again in short order. And it will never be that way again. I'm hoping to make it become habit for him as an adult and we can at least overcome the messy aspect of it.

Doing it alone when it's as bad as ours though, totally blows wind. I'd give my left arm for an army of folks to show up at my door and help me do what they do on tv. But I do empathize with some of the folks because when someone else helps it does make me nervous that something will get tossed that I don't want tossed. Like the high chair I've had since before kayla was born that was old when I bought it. I pulled it back into the house, much to easy child's frustration. It's not the sentimental value, the darn thing is sturdy as heck, folds up out of the darn way, and cleans up easily.....nor is it bulky like the new ones. That was why I bought it in the first place. But man, to have an army of workers to help you get it done in a day or two would be utterly wonderful. in my opinion Shoot, I could pretend to be the hoarder for that. But it hasn't been at that level in months. lol Step when you and stang saw it, that was some heavy duty rip through it put it somewhere but get it out of the way tidy up type clean. It took multiple people to get it that way. If you'd opened one wrong door............lmao.

Janet, I wonder if a family member could call the show. It would be a new angle.......a hoarder that wants to quit instead of is being forced to quit. I'm sure for a truck load of people and supplies to help you could win an Oscar. Or maybe you could see if perhaps there is some county help available or something? I can't see you being able to handle it much totally alone. You'd stop and rest as needed and 2 males would come along and undo all your hard work.

IF easy child and I make it down that way........she and sister in law go visit his grandparents in your area.......I'll find a way to get to you and while we visit and laugh, I'll help you clean up long as I can. Cuz when we first started, if it hadn't been all the laughter and joking around with Nichole.......I wouldn't totally given up. Every time I looked at a room I thought holy crud, no way can one person do all this alone.

Step, You'll have another bought of nesting closer to when the baby comes. It will be intense........and I wouldn't be surprised at how much of that clutter vanishes. Nichole had it so bad with Oliver, once she didn't have any more to do at her our house, she came over here and did mine. LOL

 

[AnnieO]

If I ever get any energy... I might have another bout of nesting. We went bowling last night and I am still feeling it... Only 2 games...

 

[DammitJanet]

Lisa I would adore that! There are two reasons I am afraid to call in county help. One I dont think they would help me because I have Tony here and he should be able to help me. They dont know about Billy and they arent going to know about Billy. As far as Im concerned, I just cant get into that whole thing. He was supposed to be gone by now. Sigh.

Two, I am deathly afraid that they would condemn my place and take me away and possibly charge everyone in here for letting me live in this. I mean I am considered a disabled adult who is not supposed to be on her feet for more than 10 to 20 minutes PER day. If I get down, it takes a crane to get me back up. Literally. I fell down my porch steps the other day and if Billy hadnt been home I dont know what I would have done. He had to come out and help pick me up because I couldnt get up on my own. Maybe I could pull myself over to my bed and hoist myself up onto it and pull myself up but it would take everything I have in me to do that and I would be down for the day. I dont get in and out of the bathtub unless someone is home to help me out. The hot water leaves me a bit faint plus its hard for me to get up out of the tub. Ask Terry, I thought they were going to have to call the fire dept to get me out of the tub in the condo we stayed at in Myrtle Beach. If Tony wasnt so strong, I probably would have but he was able to stand on both sides and literally grab me and pull me up. That was an awful experience. Looked like a nice whirlpool tub but it had no grab bars on the side to help you get out.

I am one of those people who would be there with those people from Hoarders who would say...take it, take it, take it...dont need it, dont want it...take it, take it...will never use it. I have just a few things that I want and I know where they are. I could mark them with an x. Tony on the other hand keeps bringing junk home thinking we may use it someday. He actually brought home an ancient samsonite suitcase someone left behind at the rooming house Buck is staying at. I promptly put it on freecycle but no one has claimed it...lol. Its probably 25 years old and hard sided. Who the heck wants that? And dirty to boot...lol. Im trying to get rid of junk, not bring more in. I saw it in the living room and asked him where it came from and about had seven fits.

Most of the stuff in my room is trash or clothes. I need to get a organizer in here.