Wheretostart, good going on all that you have accomplished! It is a long and sometimes grueling process. Know that many of us have been here for years, in multiple houses, through divorces, deaths, sicknesses, job losses, etc. Believe me, we know and or have been where you are at..

Keep your chin up and focus on the things that will make the difference in your life. If you can't make progress in the house, then at least make a point of maintaining where you gotten yourself to. If you don't backslide, then know you have made progress! And if it's just taking a five minute study break to clear your mind, find one small task to do. Since you are feeling so overwhelmed, get a dollar store notebook and make yourself a list of the things you ARE getting done. When you get down, you can look at it and feel good about what you have done.

don't know how old daughter is, but sometimes it takes tough love and setting standards to get them to realize the realities of the situation...maybe setting standards and goals with a small reward attached, even if its dinner of her choice that you make, something you can afford that will make her feel appreciated(understand I am NOT saying you don't appreciate her, its just that sometimes when we have expectations put upon us, a moment of recognition for a job well done is nice)

good luck!

Thanks Beaglelady. Well, good news is I am back in school and in full swing. I am gone 4 days a week including clinicals. I have tons of studying and paperwork to do before the next week begins. I've made a hug dent in my bedroom, and if nothing else happens, this Friday I am suppose to tackle filing cabinets and the paper mountain in my bedroom. Just trying to get basics done is taking me a while to accomplish because I have to keep my butt glued to a chair studying. I have to study 20 chapters in each subject. I don't know what else to do, but my daughter is finally helping me more, she realizes that I can't pass my classes unless I study so now its just staying on task with everything. We will manage some how.

Wheretostart:
Do 10 minutes every other day on the paper mountain, maybe wait on the files. Good luck in school, and that your Daugter is helping you also.

We built (& designed) both our houses & our bedrooms are truly very soothing, comfy places! No clutter; the paint in the house I am in tonight is a a gray-green (hard to describe the color) & the carpet matches. It is a very soothing color.

Our bed has a duvet & the sheets are crisp--love crisp, clean sheets. I iron the pillow cases & the top 1/2 of the sheets! We have a bureau & 2 night stands & I made sure the lighting was good for reading in bed. NO TV or other electronic devices in bedroom unless I bring my tablet in to read.

Our walk-in closet has the entry through the master bathroom so no clothes are strewn around--unless I am folding laundry on the bed during the day & need to "rest" my hands!

We have French doors that open to the back porch. There are also floor to ceiling windows next to the doors so we can roll up the fabric blinds & have sunlight come in & open the door for the morning air.

I have on my night table next to the bed lovely smelling lotions & oils to put on at bedtime as the fragrance helps me relax for sleep.

Since I love to read, the bed & lighting are perfect for me to read at night before sleep & also in the morning w/coffee. Since it is about 2:00 a.m. now I'd better head into bed! My husband is on a short business trip & I get off track on my timing when he is not here to keep me in line! Because he gets up at 5:00 every morning he is good about getting to bed early.

Good night or actually, Good Morning Now!!--Suzy

I am wanting a farm and a one story ranch farm house with a full size dry basement. I think that having a dry basement would be helpful if I had a farm to store my canned goods. I also want a dry basement to store all of my coupon stockpile stuff. I want to just go through the house I am living in right now and I want to clean it out thoroughly, but I can't. Most of the items in it are not mine and no body will get rid of anything, but yet they tell me to get rid of my things. I have gotten rid of a bunch of things even some of the kids stuff that they no longer use. It's crazy to hoard up clothing that hasn't been worn since before 2001. I mean clothes rot over time. I know they may be hanging up in a closet, but if it hasn't been touched or worn in the last 6 months, then I think everything must go. I am aggravated today because I don't like how my house looks and smells and I am wanting to change but the rest of the family is not on board and I can't do it on my own. I try to ignore things, but its hard. I need another house with an entertainment room and a dry basement so I can move all of their stuff down there and then I won't have to see it everyday. I am praying for a change in my family and a change in routines. Have a blessed day.

wheretostart - (((( Hugs )))) It can't be easy when others won't deal with their stuff. I'm guessing that one of our GONer friends will come up with an idea to encourage them to do some tossing. Maybe some kind of competition you set up between them to see who can toss the most? : )

As for moving, I can tell you that there is no such thing as a perfect house, because we take ourselves and our problems with us! For now, visualize how to deal with the house you have now, and don't let discouragement cheat you. You have already made progress. Keep the dream realistic and you can work towards it.

That is so true Bushlady! If things don't improve now, how will they improve when we get a farm? My daughter says that when we get a farm, she will do the inside chores, and feed the animals, and help with the garden, but she can't do it all. Neither can I, and they now know this. It takes a team to do stuff. My son will be out of high school soon, and I've told him that once he gets out, he will have to help more, but I know he has his limits on what he can and can't do. But we will get things done.

Does everyone have their own rooms? If so, then take stuff from all over and make them put their stuff in their rooms....period. Make a clutter free zone that nothing is allowed to get piled in....say living dining and kitchen....and make a rule that if stuff is left lying about that it becomes trash can stuff.

My DB is a slob and when he was in a home with others like him, the "mom and dad" made these rules.
1. your room is cleaned every week
2. anything left out in the open areas and not picked up was designated trash if you didn't care enough to take care of it.
3. everyone was responsible for their own laundry, wash dry fold and put away.
4. everyone had a specific chore/set of chores to do that was to be maintained daily, even if it was something simple like taking out filled trash bags, putting away dog toys, wiping down counter tops or cleaning bathrooms.

By getting everyone in habits, it kept a double wide mobile home with 6 people in it, clean(and 3 of those were disabled).

No matter what limitations everyone has, you must find a way to work around them. Right now, I can do no heavy lifting. So the things I can't lift are gotten to the point that I can do and then I get help with the heavy part.

good luck....hope you are making progress.