*sigh*
I'm so tired....just the thought of writing everything down makes me more tired.
Does that make sense?
As y'all know, I came to Alabama for Mike's surgery on February 24th. What y'all didn't know was that prior to the medical emergency, I had plans to move from my apartment to an awesome carriage house on March 1st.
Yep,
5 days after Mike's surgery I had to move. I had already signed the lease, given notice at my apartment.....had utilities scheduled to be switched over, movers coming.....all on on March 1st. While I was there at the hospital with Mike, I went over this situation in my mind every way I knew how. Move? Don't move? Could I get out of my lease? Did I want to get out of the new lease? How much would all of this cost me? Could I afford it? How would I do it? What about the boys (dogs)?
Oh! and I was also scheduled to start working full time for one of my clients (nanny job) on March 7th for one month and then go to 20 hours a week after that. So I had that on my mind too....how to make that work. Telling the family the situation...and while I knew they'd understand, I had JUST accepted the job with them and they had JUST let their other nanny go. Need I say "sleepless nights"? On top of being extremely concerned about Mike's health, I also had all these major life changes going on in my own life...in another city....4 1/2 hours away. So many decisions and arrangements to make!
Keep in mind that while we were waiting for the surgery to be performed, Mike and I discussed all this. He wanted me to go ahead and move. He knew I'd found the perfect place. He knew I had this job lined up. He knew he would only need me for a few weeks, etc. He didn't want me to change any of my plans.
Mike's sister offered to help with his care. Mike's daughter offered to come from Vegas for a week to help out. His son said he could come for a few days. While this was all wonderful and appreciated, I couldn't figure out a way to fill the gaps between the times they could be here.
Finally, after much mental anguish on my part...I can to the only conclusion that made sense to me: I'd have to come to Alabama for a month to provide care for Mike. I say a month, because he will see his surgeon after 4 weeks and should be permitted to travel then. So if he's not able to stay alone, he could come to Atlanta with me or to his sister's house near Birmingham.
On Friday the 26th, I started making calls, sending faxes, verifying times....all having to do with my move from the apartment to the carriage house and related to my job(s) (I had been working for two families before Mike's surgery). I would move on the first and Mike's sister would come here to bring him home from the hospital and stay two days while I made my move to the carriage house.
On Saturday the 27th Mike's best friend came to pick up a bag I'd packed for Mike (still in the hospital) , then the boys and I made the drive to Atlanta in Mike's truck. I'd never traveled with alone with the boys. They were so well behaved~thank goodness!
I made the trip in a little over 4 hours.....stopping once for gas and to let the boys out. Once in Atlanta, I went straight to Devon's house to drop off the boys. They'd stay at her house (a mile away from my apartment) while I was packing/moving. I'd come back at night to spend the nights there because I didn't want the boys to disturb anyone ( besides me! ;-) ) So Saturday and Sunday I packed. And packed. And packed some more. Ended up with about 15 good sized boxes.
Monday, March 1st the movers arrived at 1 p.m. sharp. There were three of them and they moved me in less than 2 hours. It was amazing to watch! I should tell y'all that the carriage house I've moved into is only two houses away from my former apartment. The movers brought a 26 foot truck with them. Wouldn't fit in the driveway of the house, so they ended up walking my stuff down to the house and moving what they could in the back of Mike's truck. It was pretty comical to see. I spent those 2 hours running back and forth between my apartment and the house....making sure things went where they needed to go...because....drum roll please: the carriage house is two stories! With a deck on the second floor! I'll have to do an entire post on the carriage house itself when I have the energy.
After the movers left, I collapsed for a couple of hours...then went back and started unpacking. Then that evening Devon and I went back to the house (again) and arranged all the furniture and unpacked some boxes (Thanks, Dev!).
Tuesday was a miserable day weather-wise. Still I went back and unpacked all the rest of the boxes in the upstairs living space and did some work on the old apartment in preparation for turning the key over to the property manager.
Wednesday I finally finished getting everything out of the old apartment (plants, cleaning supplies, curtain rods) and moved a big, round coffee table to the place (again: thanks, Dev!). Got all my stuff together (I'd been living in 3 places, basically) and got ready to make the trip back to Alabama Thursday morning.
I arrived back in Enterprise Thursday, March 4th. Mike's sister had been taking such good care of him. I can never thank her enough. Since Thursday, I've been here trying to catch my breath and rest a little while taking care of Mike, getting the house straightened up, doing laundry, etc.
Y'all...I'm exhausted. I forgot to mention that the entire time I was in Atlanta with the boys, Buster woke me up every few hours every night. So I never got a full nights sleep while I was there. That's tough on an old broad like me, let me tell ya!
The great news is that Mike is doing well with his recovery. I'm very proud of him and how he's handling it. He wants to get better and has a positive attitude. That makes me happy for him.
I know that things will get better for me physically. I'll get rested and start feeling like a human being again (rather than a zombie) and we'll get into a routine. Next week Mike can start taking little walks outdoors and maybe we can have some short outings.
OK.....there's more, but it's time time to fix Mike's lunch.
Besides....if you're still reading; I'm sure you're bored enough.
I miss everyone and hope you're all doing well.
Thanks so much for your supportive comments and well wishes for Mike. I truly appreciate them :)
Just wanted to give y'all a peek of what's
It's hard to tell from the bad lighting,
This is the table and chairs that I bought
