Oh, sumi, I'm sorry. Sending much health~ma and positive vibes your direction.

Take care of yourself, sumi! All the boob-ma!

sumi, I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I know a lot of forms of breast cancer have excellent treatment outcomes, so all my good health vibes are coming your way.

The Cincinnati Hoarding guy came out to check out the scary moldy office, and I was feeling so crappy still after my vaccine shot that I stayed in bed, so I wasn't involved (I really wasn't avoid-y; I have a fever and everything, woo, immune system). Tim said the guy was very nice and that the guy also said he wouldn't even call the office "hoarding," that he would call it "extremely cluttered." And my reaction was basically, where do you draw the line on that one? When does it go from extremely cluttered into hoarding? Literally, I couldn't walk more than 2-3 feet into the room. A rose by any other name, etc.

So they're going to email Tim with an estimate to clean out the office and treat the mold, and to basically get rid of 95% of the stuff in our horrific basement and treat whatever mold they find there (it's an unfinished basement that's totally underground; it's going to have mold).

After all that happens, then we need a cleaning service to deep-clean the house, and we go from there. Though we still have too much clutter in the rest of the house, and that's going to be a problem if we don't come up with a plan for it. (Which, I guess, that plan should basically be: Get Rid Of 50% Of Your Shit.)

Tim said the guy was very nice and that the guy also said he wouldn't even call the office "hoarding," that he would call it "extremely cluttered." And my reaction was basically, where do you draw the line on that one?

Just goes to show what people said about they've always seen worse!

And I've watched enough Hoarders on TV to know that just deciding to get rid of stuff isn't a successful long-term plan.... Good luck with all of it.

Teppy, I was wondering how you were feeling. Stuff hits me harder, when I have a fever. I'm glad you are taking it easy.

So they're going to email Tim with an estimate to clean out the office and treat the mold, and to basically get rid of 95% of the stuff in our horrific basement and treat whatever mold they find there (it's an unfinished basement that's totally underground; it's going to have mold).

You'll both feel better when this part is out of the way.

Just goes to show what people said about they've always seen worse!

Well, to be 100% honest, the office is horrible, but it's not like pictures I've seen of hoarding situations. Well, I mean, it's difficult to walk in the room, and there are piles and piles of stuff, along with way too many shipping boxes (Amazon, etc) that he kept because "it's a good box!"* Is there a hoarding continuum? The office would be, like, Hoarding 101: Intro to Hoarding With Optional Mold Lab Credit.

*(I, too, know the appeal of a good box. But there are always other boxes, my dude.)

(I do have photographic evidence of the hoard in the office, because I have in fact taken pictures of the office before he even started his cursory removal of stuff, and I will never, ever, EVER show them to anyone in my life.)

kept because "it's a good box!"

I have that problem, too.

Oh Sumi, I'm sorry. All the health~ma to you.