This will be my second post for January 2021, a far cry from the 31 posts I made in 2020. With this post, I’ll bring you up-to-date on how I’m doing and what I’m planning, with the goal being a return to fiction writing (and solving Hannah’s and Luke’s problems) in February. Again, I don’t know if I’ll write enough to post each day, but that would be my long-term goal.
First my
health seems to be improving. I’ve been able to drop one of the new medications
and a follow-up ultrasound of my abdomen showed everything in there as being
perfectly normal. An earlier exam had indicated my gall bladder wall was
thickened. I tried looking that up, and while I have a medical background
(decades ago), most of the scientific terminology about thickened gall bladders
didn’t provide a clue as to what the problem might be.
When I
talked to my cardiologist on January 29th, he said I’m doing much
better than a lot of people who have had the same problem. He was very
impressed that I’m walking almost 75% of my hour’s walk and expect to try for
100% come tomorrow. That’s most likely because I was in such good shape when I became
ill. He is having me stop one of the medications on February 14th
and the other one on March 14th. If I don’t suffer any problems as a
result, and I don’t expect to, then I won’t have to resume either one of them.
He’s also going to order a chest CAT scan for March or April, just to make sure
that everything inside my chest that didn’t appear normal has returned to
normal. Again, I don’t expect it will show anything abnormal.
Finally,
when it comes to good health, let me just say this. If your health is good, keep
on doing whatever it is you’re doing to stay healthy. If it’s not so good, then
work with your MD to figure out how to make it better than it is. This was the
worst bad health experience I’ve ever had and I don’t want to go there ever
again. Even the almost year of breast cancer treatment didn’t knock me down the
way this did. But I also know that as I age, I just might have another or more bad
health times, but I’m going to keep on doing whatever I can to try to avoid
such a experiences.
This occurrence
also has caused me to re-evaluate other parts of my life. Before 2020 ended, I
was asking contractors for bids on restoring/replacing windows in my house. I
also scheduled a foundation firm to come and evaluate and provide a bid for
fixing the foundation and leveling the house. Since the house is paid for, I
figured BECU would be happy to provide me with a home equity loan to pay for
these improvements. I was correct about the loan, but have not completed the
necessary paperwork to make it official and don’t plan to do so.
After
spending an entire weekend by myself, and I think without a single phone
call/text, I decided the absolute best answer for me would be to sell the house
as is and find something smaller and more suited to an older person. I
considered everything I’d have to do to make the improvements and it sounded
like a lot of energy and hard work. I also came to the conclusion that the same
amount of energy and hard work would be required to move elsewhere. I do have
to admit that making that decision makes me very weepy at times. This house
holds 52 years of memories and my garden is full of plants that were given to
me by folks I love or planted in memory of folks I love. Not to mention John
and all the pets are beneath the apple tree.
I
contacted both the window and foundation companies and told them I wasn’t going
to proceed. I then contacted the real estate agent (Joe) who had come to visit
last fall. I told him I wanted to sell the house as is to a buyer who won’t
require an inspection. I told him I would give the information and bids
provided by the window and foundation companies to potential buyers and would
expect to take a hit on the selling price as a result. I’m sure Joe would
prefer to have the inspections done, but I do not want to pay for them and the
two major problems have been identified. The plan is to list the house come
April.
Perhaps I
was a bit stupid, but I found a site on the internet and filled out some
information. The enter key had barely been hit when I began to receive emails
and phone calls about an estate sale. I didn’t realize I would get such quick and
multiple responses. The estate sale wouldn’t happen until the end of March,
beginning of April if COVID allows. First, I want to have family members come
do a walk through and identify what they would like to take out of this house
for their own homes. Except for items which have a lot of meaning for me,
everything else in the house will be up for sale. The problem with items that
have meaning for me is that I can point to almost anything in the house and
tell you where I got it and/or who gave it to me. There are going to be some
hard decisions when it comes to stuff, let me tell you.
My goal
is to have this house sold and be living somewhere else by June 2021. Joe sends
me updates on what comes on the market every other day or so. So far, nothing
has grabbed me and made me want to shoot an email back, saying, “THIS IS IT.”
It’s actually fun to look at the various condos (lots of those) and small homes
(not so many) and try to picture myself living there.
The
really exciting part of this whole exercise, aside from moving to a totally new
place is buying new stuff for the new place. My living room furniture is too
large for a smaller place and I’ve lived with it for almost 50 years and
replaced the cushions three times. So, the idea of new furniture, towels,
dishes, etc., is extremely exciting. I won’t need as much stuff as I already have
here, and hopefully the estate sale will have what I don’t want flying out the
door to enhance some stranger’s life/home.
The idea
of making a new garden is also inviting although it’s not going to have all the
plants I’ve been gifted and that I’ve nurtured for who knows how many years. I
know I can most likely take starts from plants like my Great Auntie Lola’s
fuschia, but the trees and shrubs planted in memory of a loved one will most
likely have to remain. When I think of all the lilies I’ve planted, it makes me
sad, but the new owners will undoubtedly enjoy and I can purchase and plant new
ones.
Another
scary part to this life change is the fact I won’t know a soul in the new
neighborhood. Living here, I’m the third oldest person with one woman down the
street logging in at 96 and another woman up the street about 89 or so I think.
The remaining neighbors are all younger than I, some of them a lot younger with
small children. While we aren’t in and out of each other’s homes because it’s
never been that kind of neighborhood, I still know everyone and everyone knows
me. I’ll be missing that a lot when I’m
gone.
My final
concern has to do with the doggies and cat. I can make sure wherever I move
allows for pets. Taking Karma and Kaizer with me won’t be difficult, but the
cat Zooey, is another matter. I rarely see her and then it’s usually in the
rafters of the garage. She has refused to come in since K&K were brought
home. I leave the laundry room door ajar so she can come in and eat which is
how I know she’s still around…the food and water disappear. I’m not sure how I
would go about catching her up and if she’d even stay in the new place.
So, this
is what my spring is going to look like. Spiffing up the house so potential
buyers won’t think I’m a total slob; looking at potential new homes; trying not
to be too weepy about this big change; curating all the stuff that’s in this
house and who knows what else this may entail. January has flown by, at least
for me, so it seems like I’ve got a lot to get done by June. Wish me luck.