Mighty Mouse vs. the Kitchen

I've moved a few times the past couple of years. I took off a couple of days a couple of weeks ago to move and to help get the cleaning process started here at home. Oy, did we have a full day in store for us.

I took Friday off with the goal of cleaning out the upstairs and downstairs kitchens. We got off to a late start, but my mom and I managed to finally get it together enough to start upstairs.

One shelf down!

We started by emptying out a ply board pantry that had mostly boxed food/mixes and some baking pans. We had to throw all of the food away because of the rodent problem. We filled up a huge trash can just with that pantry. I also encouraged my mom (With minimal argument except- "It's a jar." "It's an antique... jar!" "It's a Jar.") to donate as much as possible that was in good enough condition to give. We filled up a container the size of the back seat of her car with those items.

Cabinet cleared off and out!

Downside to clearing the clutter?
You can see the wallpaper...

After we cleared the pantry, we took a break and dropped the box off at the Goodwill donation site. It is conveniently located just down the road. We got a bite to eat and went back to work.




There was a bag full of papers with old phone books, pages and pages of contact information, and even our old Rolodex. Clearing that out started to get a bit daunting and then my mom made a comment. "What would you do with it if I were gone?" I felt like that showed a lot of clarity concerning our situation. Without trying to be morbid, there have been times when I've thought about how the difficulty of one day losing her would be even more overwhelming knowing I'd be left with all of this stuff. With that in mind, she gave me licence to discard just about every paper I was sifting through. I had to pause, however, when I came across a graduation card written to me from my grandmother. At first I thought it was one of the last things she had ever given me (we lost her later that year), but when I looked at the envelope, I saw notes names of friends I had made that year including notes with their moms' names. The bills inside the card (yes, I managed to score ten bucks!) were from the late 80s. This card, with money intact, had been around since my kindergarten graduation! I got a little misty eyed, then got back to work.

We began clearing out the drawers and the bottom cabinets. We've not been able to use them because of the pest issue. The counters have gotten cluttered because we don't want to put anything down where the mice are. Cue the mask request.

These things were Filthy. Every drawer. Every cabinet. Truly repulsive. I don't remember how many trash bags we filled. At one point, I was tossing out big plastic jars of protein powder. We had been fostering mighty mutant mice with protein powder! Even though realistically it was pretty disturbing, I found that visual rather amusing. Anyways, there was a bit of a battle back and forth in deciding what pots were usable, give-able, or just needed to be trashed. There were a few times I offered to buy a really nice new cookware set if my mom would just toss it all. We came to a decent compromise, and will be sanitizing things soon.

We found an old library card of the girl
that lived her over 20 years ago!

Emptied and ready to be scrubbed!

So that's pretty much where we left off, the basement waits for another day. My mom scrubbed down the emptied cabinets and drawers and the room is already so much cleaner. Unfortunately, we can't put stuff in its clean and proper place because we think there's still a rodent among us. I'm afraid we won't be able to really get rid of that problem until we clean out the basement. I really think that the job we did in the kitchen is the hardest part-for the upstairs. But to look around, it almost feels like we're still at square one. But I know this is not really the case.

Thank you Mr. Trash man!

A big sign of progress already is that we were able to have someone fix some plumbing problems we were having. My wonderful uncle came over and fixed the all the faucets in the kitchen and the bathroom. I also noticed that at least one friend of my mom has offered (with expectancy) to help clean the house. Thank You! As my dad tells me, this mess didn't happen over night and it won't be fixed over night. And we're moving forward. I've also made a couple of  Mark sales. Thanks so much to you, too!.

Stay tuned for more updates. And any ideas or suggestions on how to make this project a success are welcome!

Once the Golden Girls are singing a
lullaby, it's time for bed.

Welcome to the Project!

So, here we are- the beginning of Project Help a Hoarder.
Most likely if you're visiting this site, you know me. And if you've known me for very long, there's a good chance you've met my mom and you probably have an idea about what this blog is about.

However, if none of that is accurate, or you just have a minute to kill, let me tell you about this project.
My mom has never been one to do things on a minimal scale. Whether she's talking, shopping, etc, she has had the tendency to overdo. So, as you can imagine, being compelled to shop (most frequently for gifts, or something that just reminded her of someone) has lead us to where she is now. Spend a little time watching one of those TV shows about hoarded homes, scale it back from towers of papers and deceased pets, and you have a pretty good idea of the condition of her house. To be fair, it's not all hers. There's things that belong to my dad, myself (as I have moved back home), and even items we just call "Frank's stuff" from when she helped clean out the home of an elderly friend of the family.

The past few years have been a bit tumultuous for the family. I'm sure many of you could say the same for your own. But now that some of the dust has settled, I want to take the opportunity to help my mom with this. She's been working on making herself well in her body and spirit, and it only makes sense to me that having a clean and peaceful home would help her with that process.

I'm not trying to make my mom out to be any sort of martyr. She has the same sorts of hang-ups as the rest of us. Goodness knows she and I butt heads plenty. But when you look past the mess and at her life, you can't help but see all the good she's done for other people. Years of devotion to the kids in Children's Church. Decades as a Registered Nurse. Countless hours and dollars spent any time she saw a need-be it of a friend or a stranger- she felt she could help meet. There's a good chance that if you know her, she's given you some sort of encouragement or help as you've crossed paths.

It's time she get back to enjoying the life she's been blessed with so she can get back to helping others.  Like I said earlier, the house is not in its best condition. There's not really a room in the place that hasn't been overrun with clutter. Beyond the obvious messiness, there's also been a pest problem and mold issues. We can't really address the mold and repair needs until we can actually access their locations. So, the first step is to clean house. However, this is a major job, too big of a job for an arthritic woman who is trying to work on her emotional fortitude. We have considered hiring a professional organizer, one who works with hoarders. I really think this could be a good idea, except that they do not come cheap. My mom is actively job hunting, but as she's currently on a fixed income, she has to be thrifty with her investments. And, of course, once the miracle of the clean house happens, we'll have to cover the cost of whatever repairs that need to be made. That's where me and you fine people come in.

Thus, it all boils down to me starting this blog so I can pedal cash from whoever will offer it. ;)
Actually, while I do intend on having a support button attached to this blog, I'm hoping to be able to offer goods and/or my own handiwork in exchange for support. The first way I've set up is selling cosmetics. Yes,  that's right. I am an independent sales rep for Mark, a division of Avon. Whenever you make a purchase from aforte.mymarkstore.com  , you support the cause.[Update: mark. has made some changes and I am not currently a representative.]
It's always good when good things happen to good people. I think my mom is "good people" and I'm sure you'd agree. Thank you so much for your time. Check back often to see the progress and find out how to show your support.