Love the advice so far. This topic is near & dear to my heart. We had 800 kids books that I whittled down to 400, over 2 big batches of decluttering these past 2 years. I kept the best, and kept most of the decent ones. I kept what fit into our 2 large bookcases. I let the discards sit in stacks for a week, then I took photos for our kids to claim (on a Google Photo Album). Our 4 boys all claimed the same 4 books. They didn't care about the other 396. Our dd who homeschools took lots. What they didn't want, I offered to 2 younger beloved homeschool moms, & the rest went to our Library Book Sale (I'm on the Board). Honestly, donating to the Library is a Win-Win-Win, and you know they'll go to many good homes. I sell my dh's more valuable books ($20+) on Amazon or Ebay. Half-Price Bookstores will give you some $$. Honestly, do it in phases, & you'll gradually do the emotional process needed to declutter your surplus. Yes, it included grieving over my homeschool failures!

100% agree with all this advice. I'm 59, switched to eating a bowl of broccoli every supper. And exercising, not for weight loss, but to maintain agility & flexibility. I'm committed to do this for the rest of my life?!? Regardless of results.... This is a great group for these kinds of issues!

Great advice so far. And yes, be selective about what you pay for to get the house ready to sell. The realtor can connect you with all kinds of professionals who will help make the process easier. For us, it was a very stressful process 6 years ago, but the sale price exceeded our expectations . . . so it was worth the work in hindsight. You can hire someone to take/remove the excess stuff in the house (a liquidator). We did an Estate Sale, & then had 6 potential buyers for the house as a result of the Estate Sale. It's just hard to do it all as a Newbie.....

We would (need to) line all the walls with bookcases! Laughing that it may end up being a staging area, as you unbox things. But definitely, just wait to see how your needs unfold. (I'm truly amazed that you were able to find/buy a house so smoothly!)

Here's the 1971 Persuasion.

If you're concerned, you could put a tracker on BOTH of your phones, so you could easily find each other (at lunch, end of the day).

The 2006 one is also good--with Toby Stephens & Ruth Wilson. These adaptions are rather faithful to the book, too.

I'm just explicit about both Cmas & Bday gifts now, about a month in advance. My dh offers a wide variety, but I make it clear that I'm content with ___________. And no surprises.

Zombie Thread.

Rabbit Trail. . . since I have no idea what your specific situation is, but for $100 you can join "Take Your House Back". It's an online community hosted by The Minimal Mom, Cas from Clutterbug and Dana K White. Pretty much the best for Minimalism, Organization & Decluttering. https://www.takeyourhouseback.com/courses/take-your-house-back In my opinion, it is more powerful if you do it, to make the true evaluation (& not someone else who doesn't really know you). (My BTDT experience is that I've decluttered our whole house after all the kids moved out 3 years ago.) P.S. Dana now has (certified) Decluttering Coaches, who work in person or virtually. Link = https://declutteringcoaches.com/ Adding that renting a self-storage unit is likely the easiest solution for listing a house for sale quickly....

Thank you! Yes, the 3 dot button allowed me to block these random followers! I've been doing Duo for about 2 1/2 years, & really, really want to finish the Spanish course!

You start here with the base game. Link = https://www.amazon.com/Catan-Studios-cantan2017/dp/B00U26V4VQ/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3NJGRANMBRY94&keywords=settlers+of+catan+board+game&qid=1686415399&sprefix=settlers+of+catan%2Caps%2C589&sr=8-5 And cool people just call it "Catan". Then you get the expansion pack for the basic game here: https://www.amazon.com/Catan-Studios-CN3072-Extension-Player/dp/B00U26V9CU/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3AO13Y8J73JOX&keywords=settlers+of+catan+board+game+expansion&qid=1686415507&sprefix=settlers+of+catan+board+game+expansion%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-7

We signed an Easement Agreement. It's a friendly agreement. (Their driveway is on our property.)

As a Friend of the Library, I can't help but suggest donating your surplus books to your local library. It's a win-win-win---Easy decluttering for us, Library gains income during a Book Sale, Fellow Book-lovers find gems to bring to THEIR home.

I enjoy getting inspiration from Youtubers like: Minimal Mom & Joshua Becker (mentioned by PPs) and Dana K White has books (at the library!) & a Youtube channel, FIrst throw away *obvious* trash & donations, then: It's worth the effort (which in large part is Mental/Emotional)!

She has lots of kids (some have flown the nest), but she cooks a LOT, quickly. Long-time Youtuber, with 142K subscribers. She puts things in individual servings sometimes . . . and sometimes it's sped up. She's very optimistic, and a Christian, so she shares Bible Verses, but it's very encouraging. Her kids are mostly off-camera.

Adding: An Echo Show is a hands-free video screen. She doesn't have to touch it for someone else to call her. It's under $100. We also added photos of everyone, which the screen scrolls thru (or weather, etc, as mentioned above). It's addicting to watch the photos scroll?!?

Hoopla (a common subscription service thru public libraries) has lots of audiobooks available for borrowing. I was thinking too about having music playing in the background to settle her mind a bit. There was a recent WTM post about activities for elderly with memory loss:

Zero experience here, but those meal delivery services (like Hello Fresh) use insulated cardboard boxes for shipping. You could claim one of those, & maybe decorate the outside in pretty (or camo) vinyl.

I love Armchair Traveling, & your link reminded me that I *had* armchair traveled to the Frying Pan. Sailing La Vagabonde (Australian live-aboard sailing family husband/wife/2 toddlers) stayed there 6 months ago. This YT has a million views. 😉 It's actually an amazing experience (not super risky).

It was all being documented. 😉

My understanding is that it allows for a grieving period. And King Charles intentionally chose not to schedule it on June 2 (QE2's coronation date). I thoroughly enjoyed watching how well the Brits do ceremonies. And parades. With 4000 people in sync. Yet I still am thinking the lyrics of "My Country Tis of Thee" . . . while I'm hearing "God Save The King".

I shouldn't speak on a public forum without specific knowledge, I'm sorry! They're in Wisconsin. I think there is an RN in the building, but they just seem to ALWAYS call the family in the middle of the night. I think it's for permission to transport. This is not a nursing home. I'll just clarify - this is just anecdotal, as we are the SECOND ones on the list to get called, & we still have gotten called in the middle of the night. It also could be that Hospice put specific procedures in place, to deal with middle of the night issues.

Our parents are in locked memory care, and the staff require permission for issues that happen in the middle of the night. The CNAs now call Hospice for medical advice first, before calling my brother-in-law for permission to transport to ER. (Revised for clarity)