Posted on 01/09/2006 6:22:49 AM PST by plain talk
A woman in Shelton, Wash., who was reported missing by her husband, was found dead under piles of clutter in their home, where she suffocated to death, according to police. Shelton Police Chief Terry Davenport said the home was so cluttered that police officers' heads touched the ceiling as they climbed over the clutter.
Authorities found the body of 62-year-old Marie Rose buried under clothes after 10 hours of searching. She reportedly suffered from a condition known as hoarding. Rose's husband believes she fell while looking for the phone in the house this week and suffocated. There were so many piles of items that the man did not realize she was dead in the home.
(Excerpt) Read more at local6.com ...
Oy. I can't imagine packing newspapers. That's outrageous. I like flow to but I think feng shui is a myth, though it sounds nice. Good luck. On a humorous note, years ago when we bought our first house, there was a counter top with two drawers directly underneath, located in the kitchen. That counter had the phone, mail, you know, the usual junk. The point was for all the papers and stuff to at least stay in one spot. Though we each had our own drawer, his, of course, was stuffed and I could never get that counter cleaned of his junk. One day I saw that he had placed some of his cr@p on the counter next to my stove because he was running out of space and I told him that there was no way he was gong to build an annex on the other counter. We both laughed at that. It's just a battle every day, that's all I can say.
***************
You got that right. One of my goals each day is just to sort and file/dispose of the mail.
I signed up for the FlyLady.net emails.
I think I'm going to read that fly lady thing just our of curiosity. I actually thought about starting a business where I organize people. I love to do it. I know what you mean about the daily mail though. We get literally pounds of mail a day; it doesn't help that we also happen to get all of one set of our parents' mail since we are handling all of their finances and affairs. It's enough to make one go postal!
It's nice to know there are so many other "victims" of this out there. Misery loves company you know.
Just read your post. That's a great idea about the bookcases you made. I'm a bibliophile as well so I have a real weakness for buying books. I love to read and I just love the comfort of being around books. Nothing ever smelled as good to me as the smell of my little town library growing up in middle America.
bump
When our *poor* welfare neighbors moved out (abandoned the place) the landlord hired another neighbor to clean out the place. They used snow shovels and just stuffed it into MANY garbage bags. UNBELIEVABLE. Along with the stench.
ROTFLOL. Or no internet connection to access FR. ARGHHHH!!!!!!
FlyLady Bump!! Now if I can only get going on MY routines!
LOL!! SO true in my house!
My husband is a pack rat and the thing that makes it bad is that every once in a while, something will break; so he goes out and rumages through the barn for about 20 mins and comes back with just the part to fix it. Something he garbage picked 20 years ago. "I knew I was saving this for some reason." Then it reinforces his disecting out electronic equipment and saving boxes of it. Grrrr!!!!
In the meantime, I need to GET OFF FR and go get something done. *sigh*
We have a trash can in the garage, and I sort the mail on the workbench; that way I can dispose of it right there and keep about 85% of it from getting into the house!
ping
I pick it up out of the box from the car and put it on the seat next to me. I don't bring it into the house without sort out the junk first, which I deposit in a trash can in the garage. Sometimes it piles up in the car for a little while, but at least it's not going anywhere. I keep a supply of grocery-plastic bags in the car under the seat.
It is more then just email reminders (which you don't have to subscribe to) and tips and such. For me, it was almost like my first AlAnon meeting when I realized that I wasn't the only one 'broken', so to speak. FlyLady helps me define what needs to be done so I can actually accomplish something without making me feel ashamed for needing the support.
I came to realize that I will never have a 'Martha Stewart' home, and cancelled my subscription to her magazine (sorry Martha!)..the pressure was just too much! This past Christmas my mom said our home was better than a 'Martha Stewart' Christmas because it was warm and welcoming.
I could be wrong, but I don't think you have to subscribe to the email reminders. I don't even open them, just read the reminder and delete. I do enjoy some of the testimonials tho.
I have found the Christmas Control Journal very helpful in meal planning, gift buying etc. I need all the help I can get!
********************
That's a good idea.
*************
I think that's an important part of it.
I am getting my kitchen clean today, and discovered that Mr. trisham had put one smaller pan inside a larger one, which had then become stuck. I struggled with it in the sink, and realized I was going to cause damage that way. So, I flung the pans outside the front door into a snowbank. 30 minutes later, I went out and shook them loose.
Consider this my "cleaning tip of the day". :)
I have never let things get THAT bad, but I have a friend who would live that way if left to his own devices.
Have fun in your kitchen. Working in mine today getting all of 2005 paperwork out and updating calendars etc before thinking about tackleing the mountain of dust on to shelf above my cabinets. ugh... if we ever build again, won't make that mistake! lol
"although it's liberating, it hurts to get rid of everything you own"
Yup it hurts. I am a Games collector but not a packrat. Also gave all my games and belongings away to schools and needy persons to take an extended trip to Europe like you did.
It was interesting. I put an ad in the paper about my games and other educational materials I had. There was even a half page write-up in the city (pop. 1 million) newspaper about my unique items.
Only one public school teacher responded. All the rest were home school parents. Make of that what you will, but it doesn't auger well as to the motivational spirit of the classroom teacher. Being a teacher myself, it kind of compounded the ache of parting with stuff I had used in the classroom for years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.