Seniors are having a particularly tough time with COVID-19. It’s worse in inclement weather. Now’s the time to check in on them.

This big snowstorm is a perfect example of why it is so important to check in on seniors.  

The pandemic has left many of us feeling lonely and isolated, and those feelings can grow particularly strong during a weather event that might cut us off from power and heat. 

Imagine how our older friends, relatives, and neighbors are feeling.

Check in on them.

Seniors are having a particularly tough time with COVID-19. Although they are all now eligible for the vaccine, actually getting it is proving difficult for many. 

Many are not tech savvy, and signing up to receive the vaccine can prove challenging. Lines can be long. Frustration mounts.

Senior Housing

It can be a confusing time for many living in retirement homes and assisted living communities, and while their physical needs are being met by the staff, they would really appreciate our phone calls and Zoom calls. 

They were accustomed to socializing with their peers, bingo nights, casino trips, religious services, coffee with friends, book clubs, and more, and now they are isolated in their rooms. That can lead to depression and declining health — activities kept them alert and motivated.

Even if you don’t have a loved one in a senior home, your kids or your Girl Scout troop can create cards and pictures that would brighten their day.

Neighbors

While our older neighbors may still be able to drive, getting out to the store can be a frightening experience. They want to wear masks, but they may feel uncomfortable doing so. Many seniors do not have family nearby. And it’s so cold out. 

Offering to pick up some groceries, do their garbage and recycling, or run to the drugstore for them would be so appreciated. Even bringing in the mail for those with a separate mailbox is a welcome act of kindness.

Find out their dietary restrictions, then offer to bring them a few meals.  

Enquire as to the schedule they are keeping for their medications. 

They may already have someone to shovel their walk for the big storms, but those pesky little dustings can truly wreak havoc and can keep them shut in.

According to a recent Today show article, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites research that says nearly one-fourth of adults aged 65 and older are considered to be “socially isolated” and could be at risk for cognitive decline, dementia, depression, heart disease, and other ailments.

The Today show article makes some nice points about the importance of staying in touch with our seniors. It discusses pets, exercise, mental health, and the importance of routines. You can read it in its entirety here.

Try approaching one room at a time. Or take a page out of the Marie Kondo journal and address all your books one day, housewares another.

Remember the beginning of the pandemic when organizing was de rigueur? We were all on such a roll! Then summer came around, and things got somewhat congested again. Piles grew back like weeds. To-do lists increased in length. The organization fire that was lit earlier on somehow burned out.

Now, it is overwhelming to look around the house and see the mountain of holiday decorations that need to be rehomed and the Amazon boxes that need to be refilled with purchases that just didn’t work.

While the new year is still new, recommit to streamlining and downsizing, particularly if you have made a resolution to prepare for a move later this year and want to get a jump on it.

Here are a few things to consider as you get your home ready for a downsize:

1. Don’t rush things. Going through decades of accumulation takes time. Create a calendar with a detailed timeline for your move so that you give yourself ample time for each task. Try approaching one room at a time. Or take a page out of the Marie Kondo journal and address all your books one day, housewares another.

2. Think about the space you will be moving to. Will you have a guest room? Will it double as an office or sewing/craft/exercise space? Will some of your furniture be just too large? The logistics of your new home determine which possessions make the cut.  

3. Think about things that you are saving just because they were expensive, and family items that don’t serve you. These are the hardest items to part with, but keeping them will not allow you to maximize the efficiency of your new space. Check with your kids and family members about what they might like, then take lots of photos of the rest.

4. Edit, edit, edit. This is where the services of a professional organizer really help (wink, wink). You need to figure out exactly what will work in your new space, and that means doing calculations down to place servings and sheet sets. 

5. Technology is your friend. A wall-mounted television can replace your old media console. Think wireless keyboard, laptop computers, and Alexa with a Spotify account for music. Similarly, downsize your books. 

6. Wall space and closets in your new home can be configured for maximum storage potential. 

It looks like it will be many months more until we will be out and about. Use this time to recommit to getting things in order. There is no better time than the beginning of the new year!

I can help you go through all of your treasures with a practiced, compassionate eye to determine what will work best in your new place so that it will feel like home right from day one.

Lot of mirrors photographed and cataloged, ready for an online auction.

It’s daunting to think about what is involved in getting a home ready for a move. You could be sitting on decades of accumulation — everything from unused wedding gifts, Lladros, an attic full of old holiday decorations, closets loaded with the discarded wardrobes of multiple family members, to a basement filled with neglected tools and home improvement projects.

What are you supposed to do with all that stuff?

Luckily, online auctions have increased in popularity and have the process of possession paring down to a science. 

Getting Ready for an Online Auction

We have already talked about how A Simpler Life Now can help you go through your possessions and determine what you should bring to your new home based specifically on factors like size and location. We will have determined what you should pass along to family members. And we separated out items to donate and items to discard.

Now we get to items you can sell.

We partner with MaxSold, an estate-sale company dedicated to helping homeowners sell their possessions.

In a seller-managed auction, we will operate as the seller. We are your representative; it is our responsibility to go through your items, divide them into lots that make sense, and then catalog and photograph every item.

We do this as we work. So if, for example, you have a china set that is divided up in your dining room, your kitchen, with extra pieces in storage in the garage or attic, we will make sure that the pieces of the set are reunited to be sold as a complete lot.

The process of separating out items as we are sorting through the house will save you time and money, as each item will have to be “touched” only once.

The Online Auction Sale

Most of the clients we have worked with sell more than 90 percent of their items in the online auctions. This way, the house gets emptied out more quickly and is able to go on the market sooner. 

MaxSold does all of the advertising for your items, provides bidder support and communication, and handles tech support and payment collection. Their auction platform is engineered to drive maximum sale value for your items. 

At the end of the auction, a contactless pickup will be conducted, and voila! Your house is empty in a four-hour period.

Your small collectibles and vintage treasures will add up. You will earn more than you would have made at a garage sale, without the hassle and stress of having to orchestrate that garage sale. No price haggling and no strangers walking through your home as they look over your possessions! 

Do you feel like you have spent years and years tucking away items in your basement and attic? Lots of things you saved “just in case”? While I bet some of it is pretty obscure, probably nothing you have lurking there is odder than some of the items that MaxSold has auctioned. Can you say used dentures and creepy rabbit puppets? We have sold everything from caskets to life-size mechanical clowns. An old rusted chicken plucker that was found in a barn and a collection of CPR dummies? Going, going, gone.

A Simpler Life Now will supervise the removal of all the items in your home that were sold during the auction in just a four-hour window. Sounds crazy, but it won't take long for your home to be emptied. Your treasured family possessions will have new life breathed into them as they go to happy new owners who know just what to do with them — and you walk away with your stress minimized and some money in your pocket, maybe to buy some new treasures?

Food photo created by bearfotos

Who is guilty?

You open a container in the refrigerator, unsure of what might live inside. You sniff. It doesn’t smell great, but it probably isn’t bad, so you package it back up and return it to the depths of the fridge, until you can be convinced it has gone bad, or for someone else to make the decision to toss it. 

It’s time. 

November 15 is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day

In a normal year, November 15 is a great clean-out date before the influx of food expected during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. That’s why “the holiday” was created. Even though most holiday gatherings won’t be happening [as usual] this year because of the pandemic, it’s still a great time to clean out the old.

You will probably be doing a lot of cooking and baking, because, what else do you have going on! It’s time to update your ingredients and make room for new leftovers.

Remember that Jello mold from Labor Day? Mold is an appropriate description.

How about that Cookie Confetti ice cream you bought because it was on sale but nobody really liked? Can you say “freezer burn?”

What about the meat drawer? See those ends of cheese? You keep buying new ones. Open the turkey cold cuts and they have a green shimmer. 

Your refrigerator and freezer are probably filled with old condiments, neglected Tupperware containers filled with leftovers, and other stuff that no one will ever touch.

Just because something is kept cold or frozen does not mean it will last forever.

It’s time to get to work and really clean things out. 

Do a Deep Clean

First off, to do a deep clean, you need to take everything out of the fridge. 

Everything! Resist the urge to say you will clean around the hot sauces. Unknown sticky things lurk below!

How many jars of pickles did you find? Salsa?

Get rid of anything you don’t remember, won’t use again, or seems off.

Old yogurts, jam with crumbs inside, leftover soup — out it all goes.

Just because a product has reached a “sell by” or a “use by” date does not necessarily mean that it is bad. Don’t buy items after the “sell by” date, but have some flexibility with the “use by” date. It is really just a guideline so you know if your ketchup predates the opening of Hamilton.

If it’s not a take-out disposable, resist the next urge to throw out a perfectly-good storage container just because the lasagne inside it is disgusting. Hold your breath, and scoop the offender either into the garbage disposal or into the trash. Run hot water in your sink, douse it in dish soap, and soak it. You'll be glad you have it the next time you are looking for a suitable container for leftovers.

Wipe down all the shelves. If your shelves are removable, take them out and soak them in warm soapy water. The same goes for all drawers.

If you can, pull out the fridge and vacuum behind it. 

Change out the box of Arm & Hammer.

For storage:

• Place your fish and meat on a plate before you put it in the fridge to avoid drips making a mess. Keep this on a low shelf, because drips still happen. 

• Put dairy items in the back of the fridge where it stays coldest. If your refrigerator has open vents coming up from the freezer be sure not to cover these as air flow is needed to keep items from freezing. 

• Put wrapped cheeses in a drawer. 

• Don’t put your tomatoes or onions in the fridge — tomatoes belong on the countertop and onions in the pantry. 

• Don’t wash fruits like berries until you are ready to eat them. 

For fun, change the level of your shelves — maybe this can solve a problem of too-tall seltzer bottles. 

Food photo created by freepik

Now that your fridge is all clean and tidy, make a commitment to keep it organized and current. Use up leftovers in a timely manner. Keep ketchup, mustard, pickles etc. in the same space so you don’t keep rebuying what you already have.

And if all else feels, meet me back here next November 15 and we’ll do it again.

“2020 is the perfect year,” said no one ever.

But perhaps 2020 actually was once on your horizon as “the perfect year” — the perfect year for you to make things Simpler and get to that downsized new home. 

Although this year has not been described as anybody’s perfect ANYTHING, if that move was on your to-do list, I’m here to tell you not to let the pandemic get in the way of that particular dream.

Throughout the pandemic, I have worked with many people who are finally realizing their dream and moving to a smaller, more manageable place.

Keeping Your Move Safe and Stress Free

You do have options, and putting off your move may feel right to you now. But if you are ready to move ahead, or if you have limited flexibility in being able to postpone your move, we have protocols in place that will ensure the safety of you and your family during your move and will keep it as stress free as possible. 

• All our employees and vendors will wear a mask and gloves when in your home and when handling your possessions. Coronavirus can be spread by people who are asymptomatic, so we take this very seriously.

• Safe social distancing will be adhered to at all times.

• Anti-bacterial wipes and sprays are our friend! All moving vehicles and equipment are sanitized regularly. We hire subcontractors that also maintain the highest level of cleanliness.

• We will follow all federal and local guidelines for your area, and keep up to date on information from the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.

• A lot of our conversations can be had virtually, cutting down our face-to-face contact.

• We make sure that we have abundant packing and unpacking supplies on hand to reduce the number of times we have to enter and leave your new home.

• We will sanitize as we pack, making sure to wipe down suspect areas so that when we unpack in your new home your items are already clean.

• All high-touch areas in your new home will be cleaned and sanitized.

Do let us know if you or anyone you have been with lately is ill, or has been exposed to anyone exhibiting Coronavirus symptoms or who has tested positive so that everyone involved in your move can remain symptom free and healthy.

Moving at any time is stressful. Moving during a world pandemic is even more so. But following these important procedures and protocols will allow for maximum satisfaction with minimum risk, allowing you to have A Simpler Life Now.

I’ll do the little things so you don’t have to

Perhaps you are busy homeschooling. Or Zoom meetings are weighing you down. You’re pregnant? You’re tired? You just don’t want to be bothered.

Enter, Cecilia!

The reason that you don’t want to deal with the not-really-difficult-but-oh-so-bothersome tasks of moving, doesn’t matter. The important thing is you can be assured that I will take care of all the details for you, making your move as smooth and trouble free as possible.

• I’ll buy new sippy cups and stock your new kitchen cabinets.

• I’ll measure your floor space and let you know what furniture will work in your new space.

• I’ll bring you boxes for the move, pack them up, then unpack them in your new home. Packing supplies, bubble wrap, tape, wardrobe and dish boxes. It’s all in a day’s work. 

• Pots and pans? Check.

• Closet organizers? Uh huh.

• Coffee center set up? Done.

• HomeGoods. Target. Bed Bath and Beyond. These are my playgrounds. I can navigate them quickly and efficiently, and buy you exactly what you need.

Bustle magazine reports that moving is more stressful than divorce. They say, “While you probably fully intend to prepare for your big move, the stress and anxiety that comes with finding a new home, putting things in boxes, deciding what to keep or toss, and organizing the actual move is enough to make even the most organized person want to take a nap.”

“Studies,” Bustle says, “Have consistently reported that moving is one of the most stressful life events because the amount of tiny details involved in moving to a new home makes a lot of people feel ‘hella bajiggity’.”

Well, I’m not sure that “hella bajiggity” is the technical term. 

I call it Move Management. You can call it stress-busting.

Whatever wording is used, the fact is that I know how to address every detail required to make the move to your new home seamless.  

Let’s chat, and design the plan you need to make your move easy. So you can concentrate on your kids’ algebra, your virtual Zoom background, or eating for two — anything that takes away that bajiggity feeling!

For the past three plus months, we have all “sheltered in place,” but have you heard of “aging in place”?

Aging in place — or growing older at home as opposed to aging in a retirement community — is increasing in popularity. Aging in place allows you to maintain your independence and your social connections, but it has to be done safely.

Many seniors want to stay in the home they have built over the years, and if stairs to negotiate — either to second story bedrooms or to basement laundry facilities — are not an issue, then aging in place might be a viable option for you.

Of course, with fairly simple renovations, most homes could be converted to make one-floor living accessible. A bed can be placed in a family room or den, and laundry can be put in the kitchen or garage. Grab bars in the shower, a ramp at the entrances, and easy-to-turn doorknobs are a few simple changes you can make in your home to make it easier for you to live in. 

If you think you might want to age in place, you need to plan now for help you might need down the road. Do you live alone? Is there a family member who would move in with you to help you? Is there a place for a caregiver to live?

Following are a few things for you to think about as you decide if aging in place is a better choice for you then moving to a retirement community. Either way, A Simpler Life Now can help you prepare for whichever option is right for you.

How will you address simple self-care tasks like bathing, washing your hair, and getting dressed? Caregivers are available to come into your home and assist with a range of tasks. Some might even be covered by your insurance plan.

Medical

There are special apps and pill boxes that can remind you when you have to take your medicines. You should always bring someone you trust to your doctor appointments, especially if you will be getting a lot of information on that visit like test results. That person should not be afraid to question the doctor; they are your advocate so they should speak up. Ask the doctor to put instructions in writing so you can be clear about them and refer back to them.

In case of emergency, make sure you have health proxy advanced directives and a living will signed so that your loved ones can make health decisions for you if you are unable to act on your own behalf. 

Chores

Grocery shopping and picking up prescriptions are something to consider. With everyone sheltering in place the past few months because of COVID-19, we have learned that it is actually quite doable to not go to the store. Groceries, drugs, dry cleaning, and just about everything else can be ordered online and delivered to your home. Check with your medicare plan to see if you are eligible for a walker, scooter, or wheelchair if needed.

Taking care of the home

You need to think about a housekeeper, a gardener, a handyman, and other service providers as simpler tasks grow more difficult to accomplish.

Meal preparation 

The groceries can be delivered, but what about cooking? Many of my clients cook full dinners well into their 90s and entertain too. But if you don’t want to cook every night, there are plenty of food-delivery options, as well as meal kits that get sent to the home with heat-and-serve options. Perhaps a friend or neighbor will “co-op” with you and you can share meal-preparation responsibilities. It’s also nice and social to go to a senior center, church, or synagogue to share meals with friends new and old. Many towns have organized “meals-on-wheels” food delivery services for their seniors. Your local community or senior center should have information.

Paying the bills

If you don’t have a child or other relative that can help you out, there are plenty of small businesses that specialize in helping seniors with their paperwork. Other small firms will help you negotiate the maze of healthcare and medicare forms. Start by searching for a geriatric care manager. If you don’t have it already set up, they can help you pay your bills online automatically each month.

Avoid scammers

As much as we hate to think about it, there are plenty of people out there who prey on seniors and try to scam them out of their savings. Don’t ever click on a link in an email. Be suspicious! If you receive a message from your bank or credit card company that you think you should act on, type that company name into your browser and enter their website that way as opposed to clicking on a link in an email. Never give out your passwords or social security number to anyone over the phone. Go through your bill statements to make sure that you recognize all of the charges. Watch out for any “free introductory offer” you may have signed up for that is now charging you monthly or annually. It is very easy for these charges to slip through!

Growing older at home is an option, but you just have to plan for it so that you are not caught off guard by anything that arises. There is nothing nicer than living where you are comfortable, with all of your well-loved possessions, in the place you call home. 

Give us a call at A Simpler Life Now and we can create your aging-in-place plan, and make some fixes in your home — like reducing your clutter to make your space more livable, efficient, and safe. Let’s talk about what will make aging in place a good choice for you.

Who knew that Great Aunt Bessie’s vase would garner thousands of dollars at auction while the rug you cherished all those years, conversely, brought in nothing at all. Either way, it’s done. You got it done! The boxes are packed and sorted. The most cherished items you wanted to pass along to family members have been distributed. You sold a number of items, donated so much, and filled a dumpster. You officially have downsized!

Now what?

Unpacking and Setting Up

Last time on the blog we talked about the process we use at A Simpler Life Now to get you to this point — packing everything up to make a move, perhaps after decades and decades in your old home, filled with memories, valuables, and way too much furniture. Today, in part two, we explore getting you unpacked and set up in your new home.

Once again, you will have no headache or stress when it comes to getting your new space organized just the way you like it.

I will open all the boxes, and set up everything.

I’ll probably tell you to go order the house special at your new local restaurant and to come back in a few hours to your new home. Then, like “the big reveal” on an episode of an HGTV show, you will walk in to find:

• Your spices have been organized.

• Your pantry is sorted.

• Your dishes are placed in the cabinets.

• Your clothes closets are set up by season.

• Your coffee/tea stations are waiting for the first brew.

• Your books are arranged.

• Your china cabinet looks beautiful.

• Your beds are made.

• Your bathrooms are organized.

• Your medicines are sorted.

• Your pesky clocks have all been reset.

• Your linen closet will be set up.

• Your artwork will be hung.

• Your display photos will be put out.

• All the boxes have been broken down and removed.

Do you know that it takes the average homeowner 182 days to unpack after a move! Yup . . . 182. Don’t believe me, then google it for yourself. And that’s just the average, many take much longer. The good news is that A Simpler Life Now can make sure that your project is completed in a matter of hours. 

Your new home will be ready for you in every way possible — ready to cook your first meal, have guests over for a games night, and lay your head down on your fluffed pillows for your first night in your new home.

Imagine how great it will feel to enter a place that feels like home the minute you walk in the door. 

Our experienced move management team gives you all the productivity without any of the headaches. We have taken lots of photos of your old place, so we can set it up to look like a smaller version of what you already know, or perhaps you want us to surprise you and set it up using our own trained eyes. The choice is completely yours. 

Since you have already let go of the things you don’t need in your new home, there will be much less clutter. It will be a new home filled with all of the things you love best. And you will be all set to enjoy a simpler life, now.

You never really cared for that stemware you got from your mother-in-law for your wedding — 30, 40, or 50 years ago. It has sat, unused, in your china closet next to your aunt’s gravy boat and the porcelain vase from that trip to France in the 1970s.

Now that you have decided to downsize, how do you decide what china, artwork, books, and even clothing to take to your new space?

One of the biggest parts of my business is to help people who have lived in their homes for decades sort through their many belongings to determine what they need when they move. 

Even though you may like to keep it all, downsizing does not mean jamming everything you have into less square footage; it means being mindful about what you bring, so that you can feel less encumbered and use the new space efficiently and comfortably.  

Well, how the heck do you do that?

We will divide the topic into two blog posts. This one will look at the sorting and packing process, and next time we will delve into the unpacking and setting up.

A Game Plan

On a job I did recently, the client had been in her home for 53 years. 

The first thing I did was to learn about the space she would be moving to. What is the square footage? How many kitchen cabinets? How many closets? How big? 

From there we were able to go room-by-room through her possessions  to determine exactly how much she could — and should — take, down to the number of salad plates and cereal bowls. 

The rest of the stuff that she would not be able to take was divided into several categories: donate, sell, toss. 

A Simpler Life Now will handle it all, taking all of the hassle and aggravation out of the moving process for you. 

We professionally pack up and label all of your boxes, and will either bring the items you don’t want anymore to a donation site, or will arrange for them to be picked up. We can run an online auction for you, or, if you have high-end items like sterling and artwork, we can bring in an auctioneer. We can do a complete clean out for you. 

We can arrange for a professional mover to relocate your boxes and furniture. 

Next comes the wiping down and sweeping of the house, or, if necessary, arranging for professional cleaners to come in. 

Any outside professional we recommend or secure for you has been vetted by us so that you can trust them. I have wonderful connections to companies who provide all of these services, and they have all performed consistently, efficiently, responsibly, and cost-effectively. I will oversee their involvement every step of the way so you can rest assured that your possessions are treated with the respect and care they deserve. 

Not Just for Seniors

These services are not just for seniors who are downsizing. I am happy to help organize your home so you can stay there, and live more comfortably. I can sort and pack for families who have pregnancies, small children, injuries, or are just too busy to do it all themselves. 

It’s hard to move, and even harder to downsize. I know how important your possessions are, and how much sentimental attachment you have to them. We will work through the process together so that you can have a simpler life, now.

The second part of this discussion will focus on setting up your new place.

You know that satisfying “plink” you hear when you’re sorting metal into jars? Shortly before the shutdown, I was helping one of my clients who had just leased a new car clean out her garage so that she could get the car inside. She told me that the sounds we were generating brought back memories of her childhood.  

Her parents, she said, enlisted the whole family when they attacked their annual spring cleaning chores. She was given a choice of whether she wanted to help her mom in the kitchen — that could be organizing the pantry, polishing some silver, or defrosting the freezer (aren’t we glad that this chore all but disappeared!), or she was assigned the task of helping her dad clean out the garage. She chose the garage every time. She told me how she loved the feel of the various sizes of nails, bolts, screws, and hinges and that sound they made as she helped her dad tidy up his garage workshop.

Having a neat and orderly garage feels great. There is nothing like putting your hands right on that screwdriver, old rollerblades, or Dustbuster attachment when you need it. Plus, if you are thinking about getting your house ready to sell, a garage is an area that is often overlooked. 

Often, I am asked to help clients reclaim garage space so they could finally get their car inside and protected from the elements. Some are lucky enough to have a two — or even a three — car garage, but even then it’s likely that the part that does not house a car has become filled with clutter.

Follow these simple tasks and your garage will be neat and organized.

First off, your garage (like your attic and basement) should not be a catch-all place for things you don’t want to deal with on a daily basis. If your garage has become the go-to place to store unwanted items, take the time now to decide if someone in the family could use it, or if it is worth selling or donating. If not, take it to the town dump or call a Dial-a-Truck service to remove it. This goes for old lawn mowers, sporting equipment, beach chairs and toys, outgrown bicycles, things you will never get around to fixing, snow shovels that hurt your back to use, and gym equipment. 

A good approach is to pick a beautiful day to tackle the project so you can pull everything out of the garage onto the driveway and sort it into piles. You just may be surprised about how many duplicate items you have. 

Create broad categories, like things for the beach, the car, sports equipment, tools, home improvement items, holiday items, and things for the lawn. Do you keep your garbage pails in the garage? You will need to create an area for garbage and recycling as well. 

Decide what area of the garage will be used to store each category. Use all the vertical space! Create storage areas with peg boards and hooks to hang miscellaneous items. Invest in some strong shelving for paint cans and other heavy items. Look on Pinterest for some great garage storage ideas. And who says it can’t be pretty?

Make sure you finish by sweeping, vacuuming, or using a heavier Shop-Vac for random nails and screws that may be on the floor. Then find a good place to store the Shop-Vac!

Once your garage looks the way you want it to, make a commitment not to let things pile back up. Add the garage to your annual spring cleaning list to make sure it stays in top form.