Tis Home, Sweet Home - Only the Necessary

I haven't had time to concentrate on decorative things, nor the energy to keep the house in shape like it should be. My knees have been giving me a lot of trouble lately, so I am hobbling around at best. That means I only get the absolutely necessary things accomplished. And for me that is cleaning up after Felix the cat - scooping litter and replacing it, buying it, hauling it out with the garbage; finding something quick and easy to eat that doesn't require cooking, if possible. Nuking, yes. Washing dishes when I must, shopping when absolutely necessary, and PTL that Walmart has electric carts so that I can get around the store. Other than that, getting myself to the bathroom and to bed, etc. is all my basic routine. You would think this would be the perfect opportunity to get all my piles of paper in order, wouldn't you? But, alas, it isn't happening. I really, really need to be in the right frame of mind to sort things in order to do the job right, but my energy flags where that is concerned too. I am just a mess, don't you think?

After having all the trouble with my knees this past week, I decided it was time to spend some money on a few things that will hopefully make my life a little easier. I went online and ordered a rolling stool, similar to what you see in a doctor's office. The one I ordered had comments that said it rolled very well on carpet, and works well in small places and both those are important to me since my house is really small, and I have carpet on every single floor of the whole house. I am not crazy about that but since I rent, there isn't much I can do about it.

Right now I often have to sit on a chair at the sink to do dishes, and at the stove to cook. I do as much food prep on the kitchen table where I can also sit on a chair. But every time I have to get something from the fridge or another part of the kitchen I have to get up and move the chair, which does not slide on the carpet. So it is very frustrating. And the back of the chair is always in the wrong place so have to turn the chair around as well. The stool should solve all that.

Then I realized I can also use the stool at the sewing machine, and can swivel toward the ironing board to press, or a cutting table on the other side. I can also put the ironing board directly behind me since I won't have a chair back in the way. The stool also adjusts in height for either table or counter, so can use it as a piano stool instead of moving a chair - that is too low - from somewhere else. The piano bench I had for years is falling apart so it now holds plants in front of a window. It isn't even safe for my young grandkids to sit on, so is definitely not safe for me to sit on!

Another thing that is a real chore for me is to carry all the shopping bags into the house from the van. My garage is not attached but is very close, but I actually have started backing the van up to the patio step to unload. I then only have a few short steps to the back door. I first carry in all the freezer and fridge foods and put away. Then unload the rest of the bags onto the patio, put the van in the garage, then haul everything to the door and inside. Sometimes they sit there for the rest of the day as I am too tired to go any further.

But now, I ordered a fold-up cart to put several bags in and pull the cart to the door, so I don't have to carry the heavy bags at all.  I might also use the cart to carry things from the pantry when I cook. I have to store many of my counter top appliances in the pantry outside of the kitchen since I have so few cupboards and very little counter in the kitchen. And I keep all the baking supplies and canned goods out there as well. So I often have more than one armload of things to carry back and forth, and it does get tiresome on my bad knees. I can't wait to get the stool and cart and try them out!