Yesterday morning I was up by 5:45am. By 6:30am I had dropped off a car load of boxes at my mom’s, and by 7:50am (traffic, blech) I was at the hospital where my appointment for an upper GI with small bowel follow-through was scheduled. That took a few hours. I had the fun of stripping down to underwear, socks and two gowns (the inner one opened in the back, the outer one opened in the front), drinking nasty Barium liquid and getting a variety of scans done with a variety of machines. I also had the indignity of rolling around on one of those giant beds beneath the giant machinery while the doctor and several medical students were present. On the “bright” side, I’m pretty sure they spotted something in my upper left quadrant. The doctor kept focusing on that, pressing gently with some type of wand, and asking if it hurt, if I was in any pain, did I feel any discomfort, etc. I didn’t at the time — but this morning, and right now in fact, I am getting pain. Fun. I’m going to call my surgeon’s office after I finish writing this blog entry, since they had the results sent over to them yesterday afternoon.
Right now I’m catching up on email and various freelance work. I need to clear as much from my plate as possible. Chances are Dan and I will be going back to my mom’s house early this afternoon to figure out what else we can do. We went over there yesterday afternoon, after I made a last-minute phone call and got one of those portable storage units delivered to my mom’s driveway. Our original plan was for a uHaul and a storage unit, but between the cost of renting a uHaul twice (once this weekend for moving stuff; again next week or later this month/early in May to move everything from the storage unit to wherever my mom’s new place will be) and a large storage unit, the portable storage unit was actually a cheaper alternative. $450 for the drop-off of the portable storage unit, pick-up by 8:00am Monday morning, storage for up to one month, and then delivery to the new location.
So back to yesterday afternoon: between Dan, myself, Jason who graciously offered to come over and help pack/move, and my brothers, we got the boys’ bedrooms emptied out (with the exception of my youngest brother’s twin-sized bed, and that’s only because he’s got all of his stuff piled on top of it), along with the living room and all but the table and one chair from the kitchen.
Today we need to go back over. We’re going to need a uHaul and a storage unit after all. The uHaul — a smaller one than what we would have otherwise needed — to move my mom’s outdoor stuff (swing, grill, lawn mower, shed stuff) to our house; and to move my mom’s refrigerator, washer and dryer to a storage unit, but a small one (so maybe $50/mo instead of $150/mo). We also need to move my grandfather’s grandfather clock, but we’ll probably pack that tightly into my car (hatchback FTW!) rather than risk it rolling around in a big uHaul.
We also need to empty out our car. Ugh. In it is my mom’s 27″ television, and two big bins filled with various electronics/gaming stuff. We didn’t get home until almost 10:30pm last night, so all we brought in were the tired kids, ourselves, and Molly, my mom’s Yorkie. I originally wasn’t going to take her until tonight or tomorrow morning, but she seemed pretty spazzed out over the stress and activity, so I took pity on her and brought her here sooner. The downside is that, as I’ve bitched about before, my mom never properly housebroke or crate-trained her, so along with Molly came one of those small dog fences, which is now stretched out at the end of the kitchen, to prevent her from going anywhere else in the house.
So, today: uHaul most likely, to move the yard stuff and a deep freezer my mom no longer wants over here. Tomorrow: uHaul definitely, as the half of a dozen men that are coming from the local church to help my mom move everything out will need that additional space to put the boxes in. The portable storage unit is over half full already, and we still need to get my mom’s bedroom furniture (queen-sized bed, two dressers, computer desk, bookcase) into it. I doubt there will be room after that for all of the boxes. Plus, the uHaul is most definitely needed to get the outdoor stuff over here.
I am tired. And I hurt, heh. I woke up with a headache and sore shoulders, and now my abdominal pain is flaring. Also, I could cry at the fact that as of tomorrow night this house is going to be bursting with people. Fun!
I know you’ve talked about your mom being somewhat of a hoarder/not the best with housekeeping, are you hoping that with this new place that’s a fresh start, that she will KEEP it tidy?