I hope this conversation will be with endocrinologist who actually listened to you about there being something going on with you.

Yeah, it will be. Not seeing the other one again.

I'm running out of things in my apartment to organize. I'm going to have to do math soon.

oh god we're counting music? OK I'm a packrat. And please pay no attention to that pile of poetry on tape that I've never even opened.

I'm a bit sceptical about what happens when you tell a doctor you are doing all the right things but not losing weight. I get a lot of, "If that is really what you are eating you should be losing weight," without any follow-up testing to find out why I'm not.

Weight loss (or weight, in general) is mysterious hoodoo that doesn't necessarily point to good stuff or bad stuff going on. A lot of times, your body knows what weight it wants to be and doesn't like to budge from that.

Yep. "Hey, I forgot about this thing! Ooh, I may need this thing. I'll put it on the To Keep stack ..."

Not only that (but so much that as well) but "Why did I keep this? I must have had a reason? I should probably keep it until I figure out why I kept it in the first place." Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

The instruction manual for the portable dishwasher we bought says to be sure to dishwashing detergent made for a portable dishwasher so that the suds don't overflow, but my googling is turning up nothing. Does anyone have experience with this?

My washing machine has the same requirement, and detergents formulated for front-loaders generally say "high-efficiency" or sometimes just "HE" somewhere on the box. You can also probably just use regular detergent, but much less of it.

WIth our impending move we (my mom and I) have been working hard to get rid of the "but we might need it" type stuff and only keep the things that are important to us. It has been hard and we have gotten rid of a ton. I'm sure when it comes time to settle in I'll have more anxiety about the things I ditched, but right now I am ready to pitch everything and start over (if only that wasn't so expensive).

I need to do a major closet purge soon. We have a TON of baby stuff that Dylan's outgrown, and while most of it is stuff we want to keep for Future Baby #2, it most definitely does NOT need to be taking up closet space when it could be downstairs in the cellar.

I also like 43 Folders [link] , though sometimes they get a little weird with the "Must minimize EVERYTHING." He's also kind of obsessed with some book called "Getting Things Done," which I haven't looked at because this website really makes it seem like a cult. He also "invented" the "Hipster PDA," which is a bunch of 3 by 5 cards held together with a clip. He's also got at least two posts dedicated to "Moleskin hacks."

I don't think it matters how much you keep, if you have physical space for it and a way to access it. I lived in a studio a long time and I really valued the space on tabletops or in closets more than the things. Having rooms be clutter-free is relaxing and that relxation was worth getting rid of newpapers or old buttons or books I knew I was never gonna read again. If you have so much stuff that to can't get around your place, or that you can't get at the stuff itself, then it's time to think about decluttering or at least organizing it so you know what you have. Space is expensive, and a box full of crap you don't need or use taking up room in your closet is taking away space you could use well.

My washing machine has the same requirement, and detergents formulated for front-loaders generally say "high-efficiency" or sometimes just "HE" somewhere on the box. You can also probably just use regular detergent, but much less of it.

Thanks, Jessica. I'll look for the high-efficiency label. I've always used the little tablets, so I'll probably have to buy something else.

ETA: And I just realized you're talking about the washing machine, and I'm talking about the dishwasher. I can only find high efficiency detergent for the laundry.