My home is a mess

Buffythedebtslayer

Emm-in-a-pickle wrote: »

Hi Messies!
My poorly boiler is all better, we have running water (hot as well!) and flushing loos! I am SO relieved that I feel all shaky!
The mender man from Worcester came on time (good start!) and he reminded me of an ex-colleague, a male staff nurse we sadly lost to promotion! It wasn`t just looks, it was the quiet air of efficiency and confidence, sort of `bedside manner`. No sharp intake of breath or predictions of Doom.It took about an hour and a half, and it`s the company`s fixed rate guaranteed repair - if only we`d known about this before...

I`m really in `counting my Blessings` mode all round.
I had a lovely late shift yesterday, and also had a lovely welcome back from our senior manager, very supportive and caring. I have a clean tidy-ish bedroom, and am about to put WM on - not a backlog really as there`s only me & OH here this week.
Early shift tomorrow, and apart from getting up at 6am I`m looking forward to it.
Hope everyone`s having a good day. x

I got up to the bit where your boiler went and thought CRAP so I read on - VERY glad everything is ok now thank God and the Mender man xxxx

Buffythedebtslayer

JPS - Go to the doctors please please please.

And hugs all round generally, as I am getting that sleepy 3 o clock feeling!
xx

Buffythedebtslayer

Welcome to the thread Mummy Bobble!

MummyBobble wrote: »

OK, deep breath, here goes.

My home is beyond a mess... After a long time struggling with depression I had a huge meltdown earlier this year which, while not a good thing in itself, forced me to accept that I couldn't go on with things the way they were. Five months of meds and 18 weeks into therapy are helping and I can now recognise that the state of the house reflects my state of mind over the last few years. Blimey, no wonder it's a mess!!!

Then there's the debt, racked up over ten years as a single parent, spending money I didn't have to maintain a lifestyle for my children that I couldn't afford (that's a story for another day, though it does so some way to explaining why my house is full of so much stuff!).

Time to get a grip I think, and reading through the posts on here has helped me realise I am not alone in struggling to keep on top of it all. My children are clean, clothed and fed, we enjoy spending time together (DD15, DS12) so I know I am doing something right, it's just the rest of it that's pants!

So Plan A: Children are away with their dad this week until Sunday so I am going to sort out a Cash 4 Clothes collection (vast quantity of clothes that no longer fit, shoes, books and various other items) which will hopefully give me enough cash to be able to take them out for food (they both do a lot of sport and food seems to be their second favourite thing, they love it when we sit down together to eat). So, while not reducing the debt, clearing some stuff out and not increasing the debt either :-)

Sorry to blather on but I hope that saying I'm going to do something will make me do it!

By the way, what's all this stuff about hoovering? How often are you supposed to do that then? :-) x

My home is a mess too, welcome to the gang x. Crap every where! Cash for clothes seems a good plan. As for the rest of the house, baby steps are the way forward. please post again and let us know how you are doing
xxxxxxx

greengoblin

sonastin wrote: »

OH tells me that Henry is virtually indestructible - as long as you know what you're doing. He has a work-Henry who has been used to vacuum up all manner of nasties - brick dust, fibreglass bits, wood shavings, etc.

You can get an industrial version of a Henry called a Charlie - we have one at work - and he does everything, even liquids. Also cheaper than normal industrial hoovers

sonastin

greengoblin wrote: »

You can get an industrial version of a Henry called a Charlie - we have one at work - and he does everything, even liquids. Also cheaper than normal industrial hoovers

We (well OH) have a Charles (must be more formal in this neck of the woods!) for when OH is working in wet areas. Was invaluable when it keep raining and filling up the foundations when he was building our garage. Work-Henry is for instide his garage (now its built!) and other working areas. I keep tripping over a clean, unbattered Henry in the hallway which I think is supposed to be a house-Henry but its not something I ever use! I'm more likely to use the desk-Henrietta that OH bought me for xmas a couple of years ago. And as that's been in my desk drawer since I moved desks 18 months ago, it shows just how unlikely that is :rotfl:

Mummybobble - does that answer your question about how often you should hoover? As a kid we had a phrase of "once every preston guild" which I used to think was a bit like the "12th of never". I've had to stop saying that now I've moved in range of preston and discovered they have a guild every 20 years - way too often for hoovering! Glad to hear you've joined us. Now just make sure you keep coming back for reminders to get on and do a bit - but only a wee bit - every once in a while.

Emm - glad to hear you got the boiler fixed and water back on. One of the advantages of OH re-plumbing the whole house is that we both know exactly where all the pipes are in the house and I have a pretty good idea where the stopvalve is too. Luckily we've managed to have water the whole time we've been doing the rebuild, even if it was cold for the first couple of years (apart from electric shower and kettle)!

Buffy - I have a theory about teachers objections to kids going crazy after lunch - it isn't the kids going wild, just the teachers reaching that mid-afternoon slump! If you're still hitting the 3pm sleepiness even on holiday, my theory must be right Oh OK, maybe the kids are climbing the walls as well - but at least you don't have to deal with them just now!

As for me, well I could do with a kick up the backside to go and do something, but as I'm really not in the mood, I'd be grateful if you'll all allow me a night off But a kick up the backside later in the week will be gratefully received :rotfl:

MummyBobble

Thanks for the welcome Buffy :-)

Sonastin, I grew up in Chorley (just down the road from Preston) and "Once every Preston Guild" was an often used phrase. I use it now in Warrington and get blank looks...

Today I need to have at least a pretend tidy in the kitchen. I have a man coming to look at the boiler (not expecting good news, it's about 27 years old :eek:) but he's going to have to get to it without endangering his health. That'll keep me busy for a while.

Pile of clothes already sorted for Cash 4 Clothes and plenty more where they came from but that can wait till tomorrow.

Have a good day everyone xx

alec_eiffel

MummyBobble wrote: »

Thanks for the welcome Buffy :-)

Sonastin, I grew up in Chorley (just down the road from Preston) and "Once every Preston Guild" was an often used phrase. I use it now in Warrington and get blank looks...

Today I need to have at least a pretend tidy in the kitchen. I have a man coming to look at the boiler (not expecting good news, it's about 27 years old :eek:) but he's going to have to get to it without endangering his health. That'll keep me busy for a while.

Pile of clothes already sorted for Cash 4 Clothes and plenty more where they came from but that can wait till tomorrow.

Have a good day everyone xx

Blank looks are par for the course round there aren't they? I grew up not far from Warrington and my mum used to say "once in every Preston Guild". I don't think she's ever been to Preston, but she does like the bus station and has a vague notion that it's somewhere up near me.

Good luck with the boiler. As for everything else, do what you need to do to get through the day - laundry, washing up, surfaces so they're grime-free enough not to kill you then chip away at the junk. It does take ages (took the best part of a year for me to clear my house) but it does get done.

As I don't want to do anything today and it's like the night I'm making a curtain to cover up the washing machine - you know, fiddling while Rome burns. There's a big gap between the machine and the worktop so cold air flees through it into the kitchen. I'm classing it as winter prep when in reality it's drinking tea and sitting under a blanket. Have a good day all.

jpscloud

Hi messies, I'm glad to report that I kept my Dr appointment! She thinks I might have asthma brought on by the bronchitis, so I have an inhaler and a week of steroid tablets.

Emm whew! Thank goodness for the boiler being fixed and I've had many a moment like your "has Henry died" one hehe!

YL I'm glad your holibobs went well and you found your wayward child!

Sonastin I have a cylinder hoover for upstairs, and am rather embarrassed that I've only changed the bag once - I've had the hoover for about 8 years! I honestly couldn't remember how to do it, good job it's a simple matter.

Welcome to the messies MummyBobble! Whether your house is temporarily messy after a life blip, or whether like me you are a chronic messy, you'll always be welcome here! Hope the boiler doesn't cost you too much.

Buffy can you believe how fast the summer has gone? Illness has prevented me from doing what I wanted to but if this medication works I am going to do the spare room of doom, and be utterly ruthless. The box room (ex box room of doom) has actually stayed fairly good apart from the washing taking over a bit, which it always does.

Alec, I have learned this summer how to rest without feeling guilty. Actually, I already knew how to do that but being ill for weeks has taught me how to just say "sod it, life's too short" so budge up under that blanket and pour me a tea!

I :rotfl: at your fiddling while Rome burns... that's all I ever do really! But those little jobs add up and give a little sense of achievement so :T to you!

FW you still there? Hope you're ok!

alec_eiffel

There is always tea in the pot here jps.

Hope the inhaler and steroids do the trick.

jpscloud

Well, something's worked! I have also had some antihistamine tablets as the Dr said I could take them if I wanted to, I've had two of the steroid tablets (six per day) and two inhaler - inhales.

I can now take a deep breath and the wheezing has eased up a lot. Still coughing a bit, so taking it easy but today so far:

> three loads of washing, two dry and one in the machine

> thrown out manky old duvet that Cloud (my cat... I'm JP, she's JP's Cloud - but I don't mind being called JPS because people have got used to that! It should actually be Cloud's JPS to be honest) was sleeping on in the spare room of doom - she is lovely but is a mucky thing. How can something so pretty be so mucky?

> pulled a willow sapling out of the drainpipe top thingy that comes out of the bathroom I actually caught this one before the roots got right down the pipe!

That's it for now, and I am being sensible - sitting down between jobs and goofing about on the computer