Just Plain Filthy.......or Digging Out & Taking My House Back!

With the departure of Daughter to college last Friday, I gained a new project here at Chez Sluggy.

When my kids leave home for college, I get their bedroom back.

Oh, they still get to stay in their rooms when they are home for the brief period of times between semesters and summer employment, but I get to rearrange/decorate/commandeer/refashion/repurpose  their bedroom.
This includes moving all the crap they leave behind.

No, I am NOT leaving their bedrooms as a shrine that is left undisturbed just as it was when they left home.  I plan to sell and move from this house in 3-7 years from now.  While I'm still in it, I plan to take back this room and use it.

When #1 son left home for college he didn't leave behind much for me to deal with.  He got the "cleaning bug" when he hit 14 or so, and he kept his room quite clean and tidy.  He is also not a "saver" so he regularly threw or gave away old stuff he no longer wanted/needed.
When he left home, I gathered his belongings he didn't take with him and fit them into the bedroom closet, all nice and tidy.
Then Hubs moved in his massive collection of books and it became a study.   There's a futon in the closet that #1 son can roll out for sleeping when he is home.

#1 son's sister on the other hand IS a saver.
She is such a saver that I was compelled to go on Facebook yesterday and post about it.  This is what ensued....

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Denise Arcure

Attention Holly Caroline Arcure>After cleaning out your dresser I have decided that you are NOT allowed to EVER call me a Hoarder again.

· · Tuesday at 10:55am

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  Marsha Adams, Julia Park Tracey and Pamela Webber like this.
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    Holly Caroline Arcure Chut up, mom. i needed all those things!
    

    Tuesday at 11:28am ·
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    Denise Arcure When confronted by the psychologist, that's what all the Hoarders say on those shows.lol
    

    Tuesday at 12:07pm · · 1 personLoading...
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    Sonya Mott Laughing
    

    Tuesday at 12:22pm ·

    
    And to legitimize my claim, here is a shot of her bed with everything I pulled out of ONE of her dressers. You will note that there is NO CLOTHING in this shot...
    

     

    
    

    And this doesn't include what was ON TOP of the dresser!
    
    Here is what the top of the card table she was using as a desk looked like.....
    
    

    

    
    The card table is black under all the layers of dust there.
    
    And here is what the wall behind the card table looks like......
    
    

    

    There is a mysterious black/brown stain where was once a newly painted wall 4 years ago.
    
    If you are reading this daughter, you have some cleaning and repainting to do when you come home for break.
    
    For now, the dresser I just cleaned out will be moved to in front of this wall so I don't have to look at it for the next 3 months.
    
    I have just begun to dig out in there.  There is a very long closet with crap filling it too.
    Ugh.
    
    In conjunction with the bedroom clean out I have undertaken a bathroom cabinet clean out too but more on that later.
    
    I am sorry if you are embarrassed by this post Daughter.  But after all the ribbing you do on me about being a hoarder, and all the picking on your little brother you do about his room being a pigsty you deserve at least this.
    
    Sluggy

Oh, I am Just Wicked!

Monday evening I watched Hoarders on the A&E channel.
10 pm rolls around and Hubs just shakes his head at me and leaves the family room when that show comes on.
I call it my sick guilty pleasure, watching Hoarders.  I guess it's sort of a way to remind myself weekly that "but for whatever reason, this could be me!"
The Hoarding gene or mentality or whatever you want to call it seems to run in my family.....if you've read me for long enough you know what I mean here.
It's a reminder to me of what I could be or become if I'm not vigilant.

And it's also like watching footage of a 20 car pile-up....you know it's going to gross you out but you just can't turn away. ;-)

**Before I get hate mail because I seem to be making fun of a serious "mental illness", get over yourself!
I have been in the belly of this beast so I have a slightly different perspective on the issue.
Besides, seeing the humour in stuff is what I strive for.....and it's good for your well-being and a great coping mechanism.....there are lots of people walking around with poles up their collective hineys who should try it sometime.
The world would be a much better place for it.**

At any rate, watching Hoarders and reading about hoarding is a great way to keep me motivated to DECLUTTER the House!
Yah, you Know what I'm talking about!!lol

So I'm watching the little intro part of the show on Monday.....the episode with Glen and Lisa.

Glen the pet rat lover/hoarder with avoidance issues related to the sudden death of his wife.

Lisa the cat lady/hoarder seething with passive-aggressive issues with her father.

One with 2500 Free-ranging Rats.

And one with 40+ Cats.

Do you know what my first thought was here?
.....That they should take Linda's cats over to Glen's place and take care of the rats.
Two houses cleared of their animals in one fell swoop.
And Both of them live in southern CA.....it's so DOABLE!!!

Am I an evil genius or what?


Sluggy