Anyone who knows me knows that at times I have had a lot of trouble keeping a neat and tidy home. This is no secret. However it is the desire of my heart to have a well-organized and tidy home that exudes personality, peace and character. A home that makes a statement and introduces people to me and Lacie just by pictures on our walls and the general "feel" of our home.
I have been chipping away these past few months at decluttering. The fact, there will be no ability to organize until one declutters excess stuff. And I have a LOT of stuff. I am not officially a hoarder although sometimes it feels that way as I am going through my things and parting with many things I have accumulated. Add to that I live in a smallish, two bedroom apartment with my little granddaughter, Lacie, so I have kid clutter too.
I have had a head start in my efforts, and I plan to take that momentum and GO FOR IT!!! I am not brave enough to post before pictures yet...that would just be too revealing. But I WILL post before and afters after I get each area done. I have a vision for my home.
This month has been especially difficult on the home cleaning/organizing front. I had COVID in December. I was so blessed to have gotten through that without much more than Flu Symptoms. I have asthma that can be quite severe at times and was surprised that I made it though without too much trouble.
However I was in for a rude awakening. Soon after the COVID symptoms resolved, I began to feel quite badly. My symptoms included extreme fatigue, achy joints, a moderate to severe persistent headache, muscle tremors, brain fog, dizziness, loud, high pitched ringing in my ears, and basically a general ICK feeling. When I consulted with my doctor he diagnosed me with Post COVID Syndrome. He said doctors are now thinking about this as an Autoimmune Illness that is triggered by COVID in some people.. More and more people are having long term issues after COVID, thus are called Long Haulers.
The acute phase of COVID resolved right about New Years Day (2021). These lingering symptoms surfaced, or became more noticeable, about a week later. My doctor put my on bedrest for two weeks, then on partial bedrest AKA still "laying low", for another two weeks to see how it goes. Unfortunately they know so little about this syndrome. There are long haulers that were dx with COVID 8 months or more ago who are still having symptoms of Post COVID Symptoms. There are a lot of unknowns for me and others right now.
I am a single grandma raising an active 10 year old....so bedrest??? But I made it through the first two weeks with help from my church, who was providing us with meals about three times a week. Plus I had a couple of friends go shopping for me, providing more food that would be easier to fix than a full on meal.
How does this relate to the initial topic of this post? Well I had been on a roll with my home before I got sick with COVID, making some good progress. Then BAM, I was pretty debilitated. As of today, January 25, I am still zapped of energy, can't stand for longer than ten minutes or so without getting dizzy or weak and still have brain fog..
So I set up a different structure for achieving the same goal. I have thought about this very thoroughly and have had to change my game plan but not my trajectory. More about this in later posts.
Today is a good day. I am feeling a little more myself and more hopeful. I have been able to whittle down some large boxes (from Christmas) in my Living Room with a few more boxes to still clear. I have cleared several horizontal surfaces and wiped them down. I have done a huge brain dump and am designating days to get things done on my list. I still have loads to do and my Living Room and kitchen are still not ready for the faint of heart, but I am making progress.
My first goal is to get the Living Room and Kitchen back in shape. I should have the Living Room basically in decent shape (from a house cleaning perspective) by tonight. If I meet my goal by this afternoon and if I have any stamina left, I will work on the kitchen.
There is so much more I want to do with my home besides cleaning it. That is a start, but it is bare bones compared to what my ultimate dream is. Stay tuned!
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