...And She's Back!

I got back from my trip last night.  Today, I steam cleaned the counters with a Shark steamer I grabbed from the house I helped clean out.  Not wanting to go into too much detail (even though no one knows the person, it's still a very personal topic), this house had all sorts of great cleaning tools and appliances -- that had never been used! And probably would never be used, so I was told to take what I wanted.

This was terrifying experience.  The place was 75% hoarding, 10% chronic clutter, and 15% squalor.  I understand the squalor rating should have been higher because TBG was out two weeks prior and cleaned out areas filled with mouse poop and a few snake skins.

My stay was approximately two weeks and I worked straight through all but one day.  My first assignment was  to tackle a home office that no one else felt comfortable touching as it contained a lot of computer equipment.  One other person thought he could do it, but after about a half hour, admitted he was at a total loss as to what to do.  My feeling is that you start in one corner and work your way around.  That's what I did and it took me three days!  I also set up a new office in another area of the house and finished up with three more rooms and a horrible closet.

This experience was an eye opener.  Not only because of the house I cleaned out, and the ups and downs of dealing with the health issues of the individual who lives there, but because of the lifestyle I experienced living with another relative who was kind enough to host me during this time.   While one relative (who is ill and owns the house I helped clean) depends almost entirely on the other (the one I stayed with), everyone in the house I stayed at seems to depend on the same person.  I spent a lot of time at my host house cleaning up.  The poor dear was running ragged looking after everyone so I didn't want to pipe in and suggest her own family could be looking out for themselves more.  It seems no one does any picking up after themselves, so I spent over an hour each night at the sink, then picked up clutter around the house once that was done.  I cooked more than a few meals and found that most of the time, food went to waste -- as opposed to my method of starting with a basic foundation and turning it into subsequent meals.  Food in the town was more expensive than I am used to, plus no one in the entire family seems to do any bargain hunting or price comparison. Luckily, there was an Aldi and Walmart.

Teddy stayed with me. It wasn't a bad couple of weeks for her as she likes her canine cousin and the teenagers too. I walked both dogs almost every day after I was done at the hoarding house.  The kids did play with them outside most days.  We also did a couple of nice  hikes.  The cardio/activity level was lower than what she is accustomed to, so she's put on a few pounds (also as a result of our skin adventure and the sedentary time at camp).  The backyard where we stayed was quite dirty/muddy and she was off leash for our hikes.  As a result, she got a big-time bath today, including a blow-out.  She isn't due for a clip for another couple of weeks.

At night, we slept in a cool basement together.  I was on a futon mattress on the floor (the first night on the frame killed my back!).  TBG came out for one weekend and had his own pad on the floor.  It was nice that they gave me this private area because the two of us just needed alone time after being in the middle of a situation so unlike what we live like each day.

I am glad I spent this time helping because TBG works and couldn't have done that.  I love his family and want to be part of the good times and the hard times.  Now that I've had this experience, I think it's time to do another house purge.  We are by no means over-stuffed here, but I can see that I have some of the same tendencies that our relative has.  When it comes to explaining why I chose to throw out so much stuff from that house, I'll have to admit that while it was frustrating and shocking, I also understand the desire to keep stuff.  The need to hoard is probably present in most of us.  It's just shocking when you see what it can end up with at the extreme end.

This was a long post and there was so much more that went on.  So I am just glad to be home!