Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Thanks for your kind words, and for reminding me that there are flu/Covid/RSV tests available now. I will ask about them at the chemist. I feel OK so far, thanks 🤞 But I might not go to work on Thursday as someone who has Covid might be planning to come in. I will see.

Sorry to hear you had 2 pressured days at the vet and the GP. Are you and your cat OK?

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@Dimity wrote:

I seem to have a lot of admin stuff to do as well.

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I think you find the admin stuff stressful? Sorry to hear. I hope it goes better than you think...

@Dimity

I hope things work out for you tomorrow @NatureLover .

I got back to decluttering papers today. I also picked up street litter which didn't help my back. The cat and I aren't 100% but muddling on. I'll have to get onto all the admin stuff and stop worrying about it.

I'm not sure if you can get the multiple virus checks in a pharmacy, I think my friend gets them at her gp.

Thank you for your message here on Weds night. I missed Thursday and Friday mornings online here due to being in a slump. Missed work too. Am back on deck today. Got bread in the breadmaker, a laundry wash on, and have been out early to the pathology clinic for my annual diabetes blood tests and ECG. That's always hard for me, so now I feel good having done it.

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@Dimity wrote:

The cat and I aren't 100% but muddling on.

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I seem to remember your cat is elderly? I hope they are OK.

Thanks for the tip about the mutiple virus tests. I'm due to go back to the GP for my blood test results so will ask then.

That's a shame that doing a good deed (picking up litter) hurt your back more. How is it now?

And how are you going with the decluttering of papers?

There are 4 huge liquid ambar trees around a small circular lawn here (very pretty), but you can imagine the mountains of leaves that fall in autumn. I'm the only one who rakes them, and have to borrow the neighbours' green bins to put them all in. Even then they don't all fit. I was planning to do it today as you can hardly see any green lawn left, but it's been raining so they will be wet. I will either do them this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do today...

@Dimity

Sounds like a productive morning @NatureLover . It's good you're out of your slump.

Yes my cat is quite old and has lost his appetite and lost a lot of weight. I've booked him into a cattery for a few days when I have my procedure.

I'm OK thanks, some pain is the new normal. I'm losing track quite a lot so not often getting much done. Today I shopped for cat supplies. Tomorrow I'd like to sort a box or two of books.

Your liquidambars must be lovely for summer shade and autumn colour, but I can imagine the piles of leaves. Good luck with the raking.

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@Dimity wrote:

Yes my cat is quite old and has lost his appetite and lost a lot of weight.

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Oh no, I'm sorry to hear this 😢 This must be an added worry for you in your troubles 😢 @Dimity

I wish you didn't have to live with pain.

Hopefully the books will prove easy sorting?

Yes, I like the summer shade of the liquidambars, not so much the raking in autumn. I will do them this morning once the sun reaches us. Also got to do quite a lot on the house today, as yesterday I didn't achieve much apart from unpacking some groceries and doing 2 lots of laundry.

@NatureLover unpacking groceries is good, better than bags. Progress!

I sorted a box of books and spent an hour in the garden, which is also progress.

I hope the germy work environment is a bit better for you tomorrow. Perhaps you could mask.

Well done on your achievements yesterday, @Dimity 👍

Yes, unpacking groceries means no bags on the floor 🙂

Yes, I will mask up if people are coughing or sneezing today.

Good luck with your trauma therapy resuming this week...

Thanks @NatureLover yes the trauma therapy continues.

Today I've been pottering doing minor tidying. As I said I've started again on the boxes. But I'm unpacking stuff I'd packed a while back and won't get anywhere unless it either finds a home or gets tossed out. The files are easier as I'm tossing more than I'm keeping. I'm still very slow but hopefully I'll pick up speed.

I'm really impressed if you're succeeding in keeping bags off the floor. Does this mean you've found a "workflow"? It can't be easy if you don't have much storage space.

Well done on starting on the boxes again, @Dimity . Also for throwing out the majority of files. How ruthless are you feeling? I hope you can either find a place for items or throw them out.

By "workflow" do you mean a habit of putting things away as soon as I bring them home? That's the plan my psychologist came up with. She wants me to do my shopping on a non-work day, so that I'll have the energy to put things away and disinfect them, which I don't on work days. This is a challenge for my agoraphobia. However it seems to be working so far, although I do have 2 bags on the floor, one of which is a chemist bag with my monthly meds, all 10 of them. Need to tackle them today.

I also bought 2 narrow tall shelving units - only 20cm wide - to fit in the only 2 places left in my house that have room. I've organised a handyman to build them, as they both have a drawer in them, but he hasn't found the time to come yet (it's been 2 weeks). I'm aiming for these 2 units to hold anything that previously I stored on the floor. I hope to get into the habit of having a clear floor if possible.

Good luck today with your organising and decluttering...

I don't feel ruthless at all @NatureLover . I'm circling gently and processing as I go. Maybe it will get easier to cull stuff but I don't feel strong enough at present. I just need to devote more time to it.

I'm very impressed with the strategy you and your psychologist have come up with but I guess it means a special trip for shopping rather than shopping on the way home, hence more agoraphobia.

And the storage units sound like a permanent solution to the chronic lack of storage. I hope the handyman can fit you in soon.

I need to rethink my storage. I boxed books and used bookshelves as open storage but want to revert somehow. I guess I'm unlikely to have time to tackle it at this stage. At the moment I'm still chipping away rather than having a clear vision of an outcome. I share your wish for a clear floor... the livingroom is far from it. I've treated it as a workspace and brought in boxes and other stuff.

I'll keep plugging on. I already have a box ready for the opshop but need more to justify a trip.