Holiday Madness!

 The holidays are always a busy time for most people.  They're even busier for those who work in retail stores (so don't forget to say "thanks" to those folks!, we really appreciate it!!)  But this year is even harder than ever.  Not only do I have to take care of me, and do my job every day, I'm also taking care of Mom.  She's still living with me.  Every day off work is spent in the pursuit of finding her a home.  

She finally found one she liked, we made an offer, it was accepted, we did the inspection, the seller agreed to fix the things we found and we did the final walk thru on Saturday.  We're now waiting for the money from the sale of her home to hit the checking account so we can finalize our monies with the title company and get her moved in!  

But what I'm coming to accept is that my days off are going to be filled with running errands for mom.   With mom.  My vacation days are going to be spent doing those things that she can't do for herself.  And I'm finding that there are more of those things than ever before.  I know that this is a big change for her, and I'm trying to be patient and understanding.  But she is a worrier.  I come home from work to find her sitting on the couch with papers all around her.  There are so many things that need to be done -- find a doctor, get her an AZ ID,  insurance, utilities, post office.  Then there are errands, groceries, shopping, library trips.  

I'm trying not to be resentful,  and maybe that's the wrong word.  But it's intrusive to my own time, my own things that need doing.  Taking walks in parks, painting rocks, taking photos.  I raised my own two kids, I raised 7 others off and on thru the years (stepchildren) and I was finally at a place where I was thinking I would only have to worry about me for a few years.  *sigh*  

It's a fine line, taking care of an aging parent.  But I'm trying to work it out, work it into something that works for both her and I.   And that's all I can do --- try my best.

Hello, Mom!

 Recently, my mom decided that she needed to be closer to family.  Since we moved in many directions, she narrowed it down to two:  Nevada, near my brother, or Arizona, near me.  She decided on Arizona!   Lucky me .... ;) 

I flew up and helped her pack in September, then in October.  She decided that the packing was going so well, she didn't want to drag it all out, and November 4 we flew to Arizona.  All her stuff was packed in pods; she had worried the entire time that all her stuff wouldn't fit, so she got rid of a lot of things.  Personally, I think in the long run she will be happy she got rid of all that stuff that becomes a burden. 

So here we are, three+ weeks later.  She first worried that her house wouldn't sell.  It did within the first week of her open house.  Then she worried she wouldn't find a house here.  The first two or three weren't that great, but at the time she was worried about other things and couldn't see they could work once fixed up.  But.  Last weekend a house became on the market.  We saw it 3 days after it hit the website and she loved it.  We made an offer Saturday.  They countered on Sunday.  On Monday, it was a done deal!  

Then comes all the craziness that buying a house entails:  singing more and more papers.  Inspections.  Meetings.  And also the obvious worries on her part.  There's no shower door.  There's no rod in the closet.  There aren't any curtains.  Um. Hello mom, you get to buy all that stuff to SUIT YOU.  Whatever you want, you can get.  No.... it won't look like your old house, because all that stuff was 40+ years old!  This will be new and more modern looking, with all your familiar belongings around you.  It's going to be great --- in the end.  

In the meantime, my email and text messages are blowing up.  There are so many things to do, people who want to contact you for this or that.  Between Mom's house and my usual array of work question and answer sessions via text, I haven't had much time for anything else!  My crafts and my writing projects are on the back burner until all this gets more settled.  

Swoosh ... time flies, it's nearly Christmas, and she's going to have Christmas in her new house!

Holiday blessings to all!!