This is pretty sad.

Woman’s Body Found Under House Clutter After Four Months [link]

The 67-year-old woman, Billie Jean James, was described by her friends as a hoarder who constantly bought small items and knick-knacks from thrift stores. Her husband, Bill, and police had reportedly searched the house on several occasions, even using police dogs to help locate the woman. Apparently, the sheer volume of clutter in the house prevented even the dogs from tracking the scent of the missing woman.

It wasn’t until last Wednesday when Bill James spotted a pair of feet poking from beneath a “floor-to-ceiling pile of junk,” that he released his wife had actually been in their home the whole time.

So. Anyone up for some de-cluttering?

Shared via me in the millions on Twitter

YOUR QUESTIONS

1. Why am I living in a hotel again and is BF living with me?
2. How living at a hotel works & the cost of it (cooking, laundry, rates, mail, apartment hunting)
3. Purging my wardrobe (again) — this one is very difficult for me because I love wardrobe variety
4. General re-purging process — what did I allow to pass the test and what have I decided is not worth it any longer?
5. How to handle sentimentality — photo frames, sewing machine — would it all fit into one suitcase?

What did I allow to pass and what have I eliminated?

PASS

Rice Cooker: Still comes with me. I hate cooking rice on the stove and I eat a lot of it.

My own Iron: After the last rusty-water-on-white-top debacle, I’m bringing my own.

My hard drives: Every time I think I can leave some at home, I end up needing it. They don’t take THAT much space.

Futon/Sleeping Bag: Mostly for BF. I can sleep on a bed, but he can’t.

Tupperware: I need to bring food to work, and store it in the fridge as well.

My own towel: I need it. The hotel towels are bleached within an inch of their lives & I prefer mine

Knives, Grater, Peeler, etc: SOME places have them but if they have them, they usually suck & I prefer my things.

Soap, Dish soap, Own Toiletries: They aren’t eco-friendly and mine are. I just set their supplies aside.

2 laptops: I have a PC for work on the desk and my Mac for stellar videos & sound.

I can’t do both functions on one laptop, as the PC only works on my clients’ networks and the Mac is the only laptop that is amazing for video and sound.

FAIL

Printer: I can print things at work.

Networking hub/router: We just swap internet connections as we need it, because BF is not a web hog like I am.

Entertainment system: I find other things to do. It’s too bulky and delicate to travel with.

Extra pots & pans: I just don’t cook those meals that need extra things, or find other creative ways to do so.

Ironing Board: Seriously, some places don’t have one. But now I just call ahead & check.

IN TRIAL MODE

Immersion blender: I’m making hummus and sauces, but I need to see if I really use it a lot in 5 months.

That’s all the major stuff.

The rest, such as pots, pans, cutlery, plates, hangers and towels are already provided in the hotel.

Other than that, the internet is either wireless or with a cable, and there’s a TV provided (not that I watch much of it), as well as a telephone.

Then I just have my cellphone, camera, GPS, iPod, toiletries, makeup, clothes, shoes.

For those of you “Locavores” (people who like to buy their food as locally as possible), then this article from the New York Times might interest you.

I’m interested in trying to buy locally, watching my carbon footprint for items (I’d love to start my own garden) and trying to find delicious meat substitutes that I will love and never tire of.

That being said, only eating locally to save energy may not be as significant as your everyday activities:

The real energy hog, it turns out, is not industrial agriculture at all, but you and me.

Home preparation and storage account for 32 percent of all energy use in our food system, the largest component by far.

A single 10-mile round trip by car to the grocery store or the farmers’ market will easily eat up about 14,000 calories of fossil fuel energy.

Just running your refrigerator for a week consumes 9,000 calories of energy.

That assumes it’s one of the latest high-efficiency models; otherwise, you can double that figure.

Cooking and running dishwashers, freezers and second or third refrigerators (more than 25 percent of American households have more than one) all add major hits.

Indeed, households make up for 22 percent of all the energy expenditures in the United States.

SO….COULD YOU LIVE WITHOUT A FRIDGE?

I’ve pondered getting rid of the fridge altogether. BF and I lived without it for a month, and while it was inconvenient at times, as we like to cook in advance, it could be possible.

What we did was place the fridge on a switch and at night before sleeping, we’d move everything into the freezer and shut the entire appliance off.

Everything stayed fairly cool in the freezer (especially if you leave a large freezer block in there to help keep things cool), and nothing, save for delicate temperature-sensitive items, went bad.

SO….COULD YOU LIVE WITHOUT “COOKING”?

I suppose if I went vegan and raw, I could “live” and “cook” without cooking on a stovetop for example, but I’d need to be able to use my immersion blender and dehydrator.

That being said, I’d really miss my fluffy white rice the most.

Still, it’s an interesting thing to consider — cutting down our energy consumption when we cook and being as efficient as possible when we cook, rather than wasting energy without thinking.

We could always use smaller appliances like toaster ovens to cook our food on pans rather than heating up a whole oven and only putting in a small dish to cook or heat up.

Or a two in one: cook your food inside your rice cooker — you steam your food and make fluffy white rice at the same time.

What do you think?

Did you miss my other posts?

• Cooking for the Week: Strategies & Tips for mixing & matching
• Cooking for the Week: 10 Efficient & Time-Saving Tricks

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To round off the entire trio of posts (hmm, I seem to enjoy posting in threes), here are some great food blogs and awesome recipes.

FOOD BLOGS

• The Pioneer Woman: Her photo tutorials are great & very funny!
• Kitchen Wench
• Erin Cooks
• Closet Cooking: He is a fabulous homey food cook.
• Elle’s New England Kitchen
• Choosing Raw: Raw food may not be your regular thing, but they’re handy for lunches.
• Food Network

RECIPES

These recipes have not all been fully tested by me, but they look like good options for taking to lunch or storing for the week to eat for dinner.

MEAT-LOVERS

• Restaurant Style Mashed Potatoes & Steak :: Pioneer Woman
• Cajun Chicken Pasta :: Pioneer Woman
• Chicken and Mushrooms with Artichokes :: Pioneer Woman
• Spaghetti & Meatballs :: Pioneer Woman
• Linguine with Chicken Thighs :: Pioneer Woman
• Minestrone Bacon Soup :: Kitchen Wench
• Sausage, Tomato & Arugula Pasta :: Kitchen Wench
• Pot-stickers :: Kitchen Wench
• Brussel Sprouts & Bacon :: Kitchen Wench
• Baked Sweet & Spicy Soy Chicken :: Kitchen Wench
• Grilled Tandoori Chicken :: Closet Cooking
• Pad Thai :: Closet Cooking
• Asparagus Carbonara :: Closet Cooking
• BBQ Chicken Pizza :: Erin Cooks

VEGETARIAN

• Pasta Primavera :: Pioneer Woman
• Baked Lemon Pasta :: Pioneer Woman
• Mac & Cheese :: Pioneer Woman
• Sweet Potato & Tomato Salad :: Pioneer Woman
• Simply Smashing Potatoes :: Kitchen Wench
• Fresh Tomato Soup :: Kitchen Wench
• Pea and Mint Pesto :: Closet Cooking
• Randi’s Cucumber Salad :: Erin Cooks
• Summer Vegetable Gratin :: Erin Cooks
• Vegetable Cheddar Soup :: Erin Cooks
• Sweet Potato Chili :: Erin Cooks
• Chive Risotto Cakes :: Erin Cooks

VEGAN

• LOTS of Hummus recipes :: About.com
• Zucchini Marinara :: Choosing Raw
• Massaged Guacamole Kale Salad :: Choosing Raw
• Spicy Thai Salad :: Choosing Raw
• Conservation Burgers :: Choosing Raw
• Raw Zucchini Alfredo with Tomatoes :: Choosing Raw
• Swiss Chard Leaves with Middle Eastern Rice :: Choosing Raw
• Pan-Seared Artichoke Burger :: Elle’s New England Kitchen
• Potato and Kale Tostadas :: Elle’s New England Kitchen