So in the old house we unfucked our bookshelves. Which was great, because when we moved a few months later we had fewer books to pack. Then we moved in and unpacked the books and thought the shelves were done.Thenwe found out the carpet was shedding like mad and setting off everyone’s allergies, so we had to take all the books off the bookshelves and install new flooring.

Carpet tiles are super cheap and super easy to vacuum, plus they don’t hold dust that much compared to other carpets. (And if one gets wet, you can lift it up and let it dry, then put it back down. Also, Team Cat Pee, if one gets peed on and smelly, you can replace the single tile that’s damaged. Just saying, if you are tired of all the linoleum. They have lots of cool designs.)

Then we sat with an invisible corner that looked something like this, because we were kind of DONE with putting books on shelves:

Pile O’ Books on a Rolling Cart

Empty shelves quickly becoming a receptacle for whatever we felt like dumping there.

So I thought, 20 minutes, just 20 minutes, I can do 20 minutes with my playlist of choice.

Books where they belong

Media shelf now more free for actual game systems…and another invisible corner to tackle when I have more energy.

I think that if I did not have some sort of system for this, and a timer, and music, those books would still have been there after New Year’s.

…I got out of the hospital a week ago, I’m using a walker, and my body is in lots of pain. I’m not saying I’m better than anyone, or that you must too because “your excuse is [BS]” or something because I can (don’t even get me started on why that is terrible). I’m just saying that given the whirlwind that is happening in my life - and how challenging it is to do housework with a walker right now - making my bed is something I can control. I’m meeting with an OT to learn how to do the rest. For now, making my bed. Yesterday I did the dishes and a drain volcano, and pretty much that’s about it except for keeping up with pet care so my dog doesn’t rebel/eat me because he is starving.

This is what my bed looks like, and yes I made that fucking kick-ass pillow case:

Why did I tie dye a pillow case and start finding myself nice sheets and get a kick-ass bed frame from freecycle instead of just having my mattress on the floor? Because I appreciate having a nice bed, because the wonderful UfYH lady taught me to.

Thank you.

I’ve been making my bed (almost) every day for the past 4-5 months or so. This past week I went to visit family, and I set a good example for the kids in the house by making my bed every day. I’d like to say that I made a good impression. Even so, it felt really good not to be a total slob in someone else’s house - and for that already to be a built-in habit, not something I had to make much of a conscious effort to do.

I also helped some with dishes when I could (although really it was hard to know where everything went and they seemed kind of picky about how they loaded the dishwasher too, but I always cleared my place at the table at the very least). I put trash/recycling/compost in the bin where it went instead of leaving it on the counter, and sometimes I put other peoples’ rubbish there, too. When the kids spilled things, like kids do, I helped clear it up.

My last day I got up early and stripped the bed, putting the dirty sheets in the laundry bin and folding the blanket at the end of the bed. I found some cleaning supplies in the bathroom and so I cleaned the toilet and wiped down the sink. I didn’t have time for the shower before my flight, but I figured that at least there weren’t any poo or toothpaste streaks on anything.

I like to think this behavior makes it more likely that I will be invited back. Thanks, UFYH, for helping me be a better houseguest!

We began cleaning the new house yesterday. It was already mostly clean in the essentials (toilets, etc.), but there are certain areas that tend to accumulate dust and grime in your house that you just don’t have time to clean when it’s piled high with boxes. The woman moving out had about 14 hours between when her last box left and closing, so we did not judge.

My mother was convinced she was going to have to repaint the inside of her closet, because it was so scuffed up. She had the paint can and the drop cloth out and was worrying about whether it would be dry before the new flooring got when I arrived to save the day.

“Hey mom, have you heard about Magic Erasers? Let me show you how they work…”

Crayon marks, dog scuffs, boot scuffs, I don’t know what was in that closet. A lot of marks. They aren’t there any more. We went through a lot of Magic Erasers the past two days on the walls throughout the house (I think 5 of the magical 8-pack I got at Home Depot).

My mother has decided she loves them, and we went out to buy more today.

\o/

I have been in the process of home-hunting, packing, and moving for several months now. Since I found out that we were going to have to move, I’ve been making a point of trying to do a little bit every day. Freecycle something we’re not taking with us. Sort through the pantry. Pack a box of the fancy dishes (who has dinner parties when they’re moving?) or books or winter clothes. Pack another box. Pack yet another fucking box. My goal is a box a day.

We have been to Goodwill at least five times, and my car has been full every time. \o/ And we have another partial load of stuff to donate as well (omg, 20 years in one house, you get so much crap).

We are three weeks away from the actual move date (give or take) and there is actually surprisingly little to do left. Yes, there are still things unpacked, but they are things that we actively need to use. Now it’s mainly sorting through the remaining boxes in the box room (maybe 10 left? we couldn’t open the door before…); culling through some papers in the office; some stuff in the garden; patching walls…

…and kicking back and relaxing until we can pack all the “need to use” stuff.

Thank you, UFYH, for the wonderfully sane move.

We have no bathroom under-the-sink cabinet, just some shelves from Target to store various supplies and things in my lovely Avocado bathroom.

They got a little bit messy…

And it was messing with my Feng shui, especially because some of the mess on there is an empty Magic Eraser box.

I swept in there and cleared it up in less than 20 minutes, AND I took out all the bathroom trash and brought in extra toilet paper.

I even had time for a VICTORY DRAIN VOLCANO!

We have gross many-legged creepy bugs in our bedroom (and office and bathroom). Sometimes my partner kills them and then is grossed out at the prospect of cleaning them up. Frankly, so I am I. While at the time (more often than not, 1 am), I have promised that we will “take care of the damn bug corpse in the morning” that rarely happens.

For years we were left with smears of odd colors on the walls with the occasional leg still attached. (Those fuckers have a lot of legs.)

A month or so ago I got brave and went at them with vinegar and water and a rag, but alas I was left withbluesmears on the walls (sans legs). So slightly less creepy, but the wall was still peppered with things like this:

And with the odd scuff and bit of dust and I don’t know what else:

I bought a 2-pack of magic erasers today, and I took down one wall of the bedroom. This is the main culprit of walls, and so I am happy but clearly I need MOAR MAGIC ERASERS.

Since I still had about 10 minutes to go on my timer, I pulled back the bed to deal with the dust trap. (Not so bad since I dealt with it about 2 weeks ago, but since my partner has asthma it has to be done regularly…I just wish our bed wasn’t so damn heavy. And yes, we could put the bed against the wall, but there are a LOT of bugs on the wall. Yes, we are moving soon.)

Dust bunnies of doom before:

After (wiped down with a damp cloth so those suckers didn’t go airborne):

Leaving a pretty scene once the floor dried (during the 10 mins break) and I put the bed back and made it in about 30 seconds:

Look! A normal wall that is not creepy to sleep beneath!

Today I was walking through the house and saw a food wrapper sitting on my housemate’s desk. Without even thinking about it - such as the usual thoughts calculating the effort it would take to get to the trash can - I swooped in, picked that sucker up, and put it in the trash where it belonged.

Unfuckers, it wasn’t even my trash. I just picked it up because it didn’t belong there and I knew it would take less than 30 seconds to put it in the trash can and that would help stop a downward spiral towards completely fucked desk.

UFYH is unfucking magic.

What’s that, things were getting unfucked and beautiful and in order…and now I have to move?

I guess this is supposed to be some life lesson in impermanence or something like that.

I don’t know exactly when I’m moving, anywhere from 1-3 months from now, probably. Decided to start early so I wasn’t up at 3 am the night before the move like certain college dorm moves I’ve had in the past. Ahem.

My SO and I pulled out the books/DVDs that I considered essential watching for the next few weeks/months (and honestly, that’s what libraries are for). The rest went in boxes or in the donate pile (not pictured, but omg it’s huge). Each box is beautifully labeled with what it contains so I can actually find my shit when I fucking move. Whenever that may be.

Unfucked the craft space today! This involved not just unfucking the craft table top (and my neighboring desk), but also unfucking all the new supplies I’d gotten from freecycle. (Note the bag of fabric to the right of the table). I also sorted through some boxes not even seen in those photos and consolidated. Put the embroidery thread in its own box instead of putting it with the regular sewing thread, etc.

Now the craft table only has current works-in-progress, so hopefully I will have space to finish them. (I even found one I basically finished last year that just needs to be ironed and sewn to its backing.) The big red bag on the left is my knitting bag.

I also unfucked my desk, which I forgot to take a before picture of. It looked really bad, but it actually only took about five minutes because I’d done it recently. I really only had to do a maintenance unfucking of moving shit from where it didn’t belong. (Papers -> trash; books -> bookshelf; etc). Now I have useable space again.

The whole process took about 2.5 20/10s. I used the rest of the time to vacuum the room, which is one of my least favorite tasks. However since the floor was a lot more clear thanks to the craft unfucking, it was a lot less onerous! Victory!