Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Sorry to hear you're glum too @NatureLover . Hope the day improved for you. Yes tidying will I hope lead me back to decluttering. I did find the documents, they were in my backlog of filing rather than in the older boxes, but I'd been wrong about the details. Now there's a big stack of papers to file... but I tackled a bathroom shelf instead. Not sure that counts as progress, as it was more like avoidance, but it clocked up the time.

Best wishes for tomorrow. I admire your voluntary work here and with your job. I wish I had more to contribute.

Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it when you're feeling low @Dimity .

A big well done for finding the documents you needed!

I think it's fine to tackle the bathroom shelf...at least you know where the documents are now, for when you want to tackle them. I do that too, while I'm psyching myself up.

I didn't end up achieving anything yesterday, and am depressed again today after another bad night. It might be grief, I'm not sure.

I find I need to feel useful, but I can only handle little bits of work at a time. So small voluntary roles are good for me. (My shifts on Mondays and Thursdays are only 5 hours each, but even that's exhausting and I need the days in between to recover.)

I think you contribute plenty to us all here with your decluttering support and care. 💚

Thanks @NatureLover . I hope you can unwind from work tomorrow. Is there someone close you can share your grief with? I still mourn sometimes for people I lost many years ago, and have regrets...

Today was chores and straightening, and I picked up a big bag of litter while walking around the block. I'm making an effort to keep going. Tomorrow I should vacuum and try again with the filing as I have papers stacked high on a chair.

Hi @Dimity , I didn't make it to work - too depressed. I've actually spent the last 3 days in bed - at least, I got up and dressed on Sat and Sun then lay down all day, but just went back to bed on Monday.

I'm feeling a little better today and probably should try to go in to work to catch up, but the house is out of control and I need to shower and do laundry, so I think I'll stay home and take things slowly. I also need to go grocery shopping if possible. At least it's sunny.

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@Dimity wrote:

I still mourn sometimes for people I lost many years ago, and have regrets...

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I agree, I think the mourning never ends 😢

It's amazing how much litter people drop. Good for you.

I hope you have luck with your filing today... 🤞

Sorry to hear you're so sad @NatureLover ... the sharpness of the pain does ease with time, but it must still be very raw. Be gentle with yourself, sleep and meals and feeling cared for are so important.

I had an odd experience today... a neighbour I've rarely interacted with drove up to the door and asked if I'd like a lift to the shops... I was about to go there so accepted, but was surprised when she asked if I had money to help her out if she bought some stuff on special. I said OK but she ended up paying by card. I'm not sure what to think, maybe she's struggling. I missed my walk too. I hadn't even known her name until today, but we'd spoken occasionally and I'd also occasionally spoken to her late parents when they lived there many years ago.

I vacuumed today, the filing is still to come.

Thanks, @Dimity . I'm not sleeping well, even with sleeping tablets, which doesn't help.

I managed to have a shower, go out grocery shopping and do one load of laundry yesterday, so that feels better. I'm not sure if I should maybe go into work for a couple of hours today to catch up. I'll see how I feel a bit later. I'd rather be out in the sunshine today.

That is a strange experience. So your neighbour didn't actually take any money from you? That's good. What will you do if she offers you a lift again, seeing that you enjoy your walk to the shops?

Vacuuming is good and makes the house feel fresher, well done.

Hope you had a good day and saw some sunlight @NatureLover . Not sleeping well doesn't help.

I'll be reluctant to accept lifts again from my neighbour. I think (hope) she means well, but it embarrassed me.

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Hi @Dimity , yes, I spent some time outside in the sun, didn't go to work. Which means today will be super-busy at work. But I caught up on sleep last night, thankfully.

Yes, that sounds good re your neighbour. You don't want to be pressured into paying for the lift by paying for some groceries for her.

Good luck today with your tasks... 🤞

I hope you paced yourself at work @NatureLover . Sunlight during the day and a good sleep at night sounds a winning combination.

It didn't occur to me paying for groceries might be reimbursement for a lift around the corner. I'd been concerned she might not have enough to cover the night's meal. But she decided to stock up with bulk buys. Maybe I'm just grumpy.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a good day and I'll start moving forwards again after a couple of slow days.

Hi @Dimity , the sunshine this week has done me good and I'm feeling a lot brighter. The only problem is that I want to be outside instead of inside doing cleaning and sorting! 😄

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@Dimity wrote:

It didn't occur to me paying for groceries might be reimbursement for a lift around the corner. I'd been concerned she might not have enough to cover the night's meal.

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I got caught in this cycle with a neighbour during Covid. She didn't have enough money to feed her family, so I helped. But that meant she often knocked on my door for money over the next 3 years to get tea for her and her kids, plus more significant items too. She said she'd pay it all back but never did. It became a precedent as she saw me as someone with money (which I'm not - I had an inheritance back then that I was using). I recently told her the inheritance was gone, so she's stopped asking, thank goodness.

I hope you can feel some energy and motivation for your decluttering and sorting today 🤞Me too!

Sending 💚