We’ve had a few weeks of Springlike weather, and today it’ll be snowing. We’re in good company, a major storm is coming through the West and Upper Midwest, so it’s also snowing (blizzard) in Colorado, where Kathleen and I will be driving with a trailer next week. But, that worry’s for another day…
It’s been a very busy few weeks here since I last posted. We’re working on getting our home on the market for sale, with both kids (soon to be) off in college, it only makes sense for us to downsize.
Gerry’s health follows a pattern, this is the third time we’ve been through this; a new treatment is started, he does pretty well on it, there’s a slow, slow decline as the drug begins to lose it’s efficacy, and when his numbers hit a certain point they begin a new therapy.
The cancer and the drugs make him very tired, exhausted. And the pain doesn’t help. The doctors can treat the cancer, but the crushed vertebrae and brittle bones and the pain they cause are a constant in Gerry’s life. So, with all of that it seems prudent to find a one-story house that’s easier and cheaper to maintain.
As I tell Gerry, “I’d rather make this choice now, than have the decision taken out of our hands in a few years.” At least this way we’ll be more in control and have more time to choose the right new house for us.
It means a LOT of work! A lot of painting, fixing small things, hiring someone to fix LARGER things, and packing, packing, packing! We can’t afford to take on two mortgages, so we’ll be showing the house while we’re living in it, which means we are trying to get the home as empty as possible, while still being livable for us!
So far we’ve packed up almost all of our books, and along with all of my fabric storage & knitted samples from the past 15 years, they’ve been stored at a facility nearby. We have a lot MORE to store there, but the place is SO easy to use (the loading dock is entirely covered, elevator, excellent staff, long opening hours) that it’s not difficult to do a few runs when possible in our station wagon!
Gerry’s mostly relegated to packing and patching plaster (nail holes, an odd crack) and shining up the copper plaque over our fireplace. He wears out pretty easily, but he keeps going, even when he’s exhausted. Max has been great, this past weekend he helped me get our living room and dining room walls painted, they look amazing!
So we wait for the weather to accommodate us so we can paint the deck and the outdoor trim on the doors, we look at homes (knowing that by the time we can get them, they’ll be snapped up by someone else!) But we can dream!
I’ve had a few big projects to finish, which coincided with a bout of bronchitis, so sitting and crocheting was about all I could manage for two weeks. I’m MORE than ready to get back to getting the house pristine, though!