Do the apartment therapy 8-week home cure

I’m done for now. My house isn’t radically changed, but it is baby steps better. My desk is a big improvement from the crappy desk I started with, and my house is looking a little better. I will probably do the fall cure, just to tie up any of the things that I missed.

One of the things I put on my “cure list” was to keep track of when the dog in the backyard barks and hand that information over to my coöp board so they could get those guys in trouble.

Success! My board is going to write a letter to the dog’s owner and their landlord, and with any luck, I will see less of Seymour the daschund! I’m still going to keep track of him to make sure that they actually do as we’ve asked. They’ve been good lately, and it’s been really nice to not hear the dog in the backyard…

I’ve fallen off the wagon for the last two weeks—my sister stayed at my house for the first one, and then I caught up work-wise with this one.

I’m not certain where I am with the cure. I still have a big wish list of things I want that need to be deferred until I have the cash to do them. My house had devolved somewhat while my sister and I traded it back and forth, so yesterday and today I did a good cleaning and putting away. There are still some trouble spots that need work, but the house is back to its regular self. I still have stuff in the outbox, but it’s all non-clutter-clutter—I have a small bag of donations and then the robo-controller I want to run by a client and the old desk that a friend has claimed but not picked up. I think I should just make up a new list of to-dos and pick my way down them at this point…

...all set up and everything. It’s the perfect size for this little office area I have, and I really like the height. Getting the deeper desk was also a good idea. The extra six inches gives me space to pile uh… store things behind my monitor.

The PC is gone now. I gave it to a nice teacher/softball coach named Gio who will be using it to encourage her 7th graders to write… Yay! It really lightens up my outbox to have that piece gone. I still have a handful of things to find homes for, but between the PC and my donation to Housing Works, the largest chunks are gone now.

This week was all about media for me, so I feel that I did make some baby-steps progress, even if I didn’t have the dramatic sweeping change that some people had. My bf sold all six of his DVDs. I’m debating just giving mine to the library - maybe Friday? My old PC is still around - the guy flaked on me, but will pick it up in the afternoon on Monday. I still have a few things in my outbox that have no discernable out-point, like the old stock photography. I don’t know what to do with them, still.

I also got a head-start on next week’s chores when I re-arranged part of my desk area. I’ve been walking to the back to grab paper, but no more! I shuffled things around and tossed a few items, and now I have paper trays for all sorts of media in my cabinet. I don’t even have to get out of my chair. [Go Team Lazy-but-efficient!]

I did patch the holes we put in the walls when we hung the lytegem, and I hid the cord. I also got the ball rolling on this whole “getting Seymour’s owners in trouble” project - I passed my log onto one of my neighbors, who then passed it on to the president of the board. Just asking my neighbors about the dog situation seems to have worked well as a strategy - a few of them have confronted the owners in the past, and they all knew the dog’s name, which is funny since we don’t really know what that building is…

I did not get around to painting the back of the front door. It’s just not a chore I’m looking forward to and I can’t psyche myself up for it, mea culpa.

My Lytegem finally came, and my bf + I hung it on the wall last night. For such a small light, it’s actually quite bright. It’s so cute… I ordered an LED light bulb for it too—we’ll see if that helps or hurts.

My outbox is looking a little better, but I still have a bunch of stuff in there… Materials for the Arts won’t take “incomplete” computers, which means since I’m not willing to give up my only monitor, I can’t donate my computer. I put it up on Pencil [a schools charity], but who knows when it’ll find a good home. One of my goals for decluttering is to find people who will actually use the things I don’t. I don’t want to just litter and choke up the garbage with things that still have some value to someone. I don’t want to throw this up on craiglist or freecycle—I want it to help someone out.

I sorted through my remaining media yesterday. My bookshelf has a lot of breathing [and growing!] room now. I tossed old reels from other companies and found a whole pile of things I need to watch before I can decide. I also went through my magazines and tossed out everything that wasn’t nest, res, print or knitting-related. I listed a few new things on amazon yesterday, mostly DVDs.

Today I really need to work on my Outbox. It’s overgrown again… I think it’s time to take things over to Materials for the Arts, finally.

I’ve lost track of what’s on my to-do list and I’ve added so many things lately. Here’s a new one…

• figure out a better flow to my apartment + make a wishlist of the changes.
• donate my old computer and art supplies to a good cause.
• clean out my Outbox.
• get my desk area in better order.
• do a good thorough cleaning.
• go through my closet and do a few light purges.
• go through my bookcases again. [+ dust!!!]
• figure out a way to hang my curtains so that they look neater at the top.
• organise my underwear drawer.
• paint my front door. again.
• figure out how I want media to come into my house… kill my TV?
• plan out my bathroom renovation wish-list and materials.
• Get a phone that doesn’t fall off the wall.
• keep a log for 60 days of Seymour’s barking and then hand it over to my co-op board to deal with his owner’s landlord.
• Keep up with the minor purges.
• Don’t own things you don’t want or need!
• have better lighting throughout your house, especially near your bed.
• debate buying a convection microwave.
• spend less time thinking about all of this and more time actually doing it.

I solved my desk today. I finally googled 24” table legs and found a supplier online—they make all sorts of table hardware, mostly for restaurants. I bought four legs and some levellers. I’m still getting the table top from Room and Board, so I went by there and cancelled the other half of the order. The saleswoman couldn’t cancel it right away, but she’ll email me when she gets through to the supplier on Monday. The table top is coming the Tuesday after next, and the legs should arrive some time soon as well. I still want someone to make me a better base, and my mom suggested that I talk to someone in her town, instead of having it made in the city.

I also stained + varnished the moulding that I put into place yesterday. It’s a simple little detail, but it took no time and makes the kitchen look just a little nicer. When I went into that little nook, I discovered that the emergency water I kept under there had been slowly leaking. There wasn’t a massive spill, but it was still something of a mess. I cleaned it all up, and mounted some of my rechargable battery crap on the wall. I want to have emergency water for, you know, emergencies, but I guess I’ll have to do it another way. I’m thinking I’ll save two of the big jugs from Costco juice and fill those from my pitcher. I need to change it out every quarter anyway, and this way I won’t have to buy new water and carry it home.

The last thing I did today, therapy-wise, was ask my mom to send me my grandmother’s Apple Blossom place settings that are technically mine but that have really lived in a box since I was in grade school. They’re girly and southern in a way that I’m not, but right now I use a bunch of chipped bowls [that I love! They’ve been with me since my first apartment!], and I need to go through and see what I actually use for everyday. I’ve bought cups and dishes piecemeal so far, and it hasn’t worked out so well. Once I get everything together, I can sort out what I do and don’t need.