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I love it when a plan comes together
My mom died on this date (April 7th). 21 years ago. Alcoholism. We all sat bedside and watched her drown in her own blood. She took her last breath while Dad was reminiscing about their trip to her ancestor’s homeland in Ireland.
I think it was the last item on her before-I-die bucket list. A month after they returned she did her last stint in rehab. Too little, too late. Her liver and kidneys were already shutting down.
I dedicate this post to her.
So, the day before I am going to drive up and get the boys, U-haul calls. On a Sunday, mind you. While I’m chauffeuring a person I provide care for. I only answered (via my vehicle’s speakerphone) because it was a local number and I thought it might be another client or my boss or such.
“Hello, this is So-and-So from U-haul. We are going to have to cancel your rental for tomorrow because the prior customer returned it to the wrong town.”
Ok. So I’m driving, right? And the gal with me starts giggling and my brain is just on overwhelmed mode. Did I mention how much I hate talking on the phone?
So I hung up on her.
Deep breath. Turned to client.
“Ready to go see those horses?”
She claps. “Yes!”
Get home. Go to U-haul website. Eventually track down and reserve a rental one town away from the one that cancelled on me.
We are green for go.
Rosa came with me, which was a blessing because I tend to get Google Map anxiety on busy unfamiliar highway exchanges. I got to keep my eyes on the road while she guided me via said app.
About 7 hours later we were in small town, Minnesota. My dad meet us there, and Alex and Caleb had friends waiting, so we had it loaded up in no time.
After hugs and tears were exchanged, we traveled onward. My dad drove behind for a bit until we found an open food joint to grab some grub at.
He plans on coming down for a visit once we get everyone settled in.
The four of us crashed at a hotel for the night, then drove the final 5 or so hours to our house.
Home
The rain showers held off just long enough to get the u-haul unloaded. We are still settling in, but for the most part they are unpacked.
Yeah, he gets all that space to himself. Why? Once Caleb caught wind of the fact that Ella never used her room, he claimed it. She actually seemed more relieved than anything. We moved her toys into the rabbit-and-plant room, brought her clothes into mine (since she sleeps in my bed anyway), and viola! Caleb has his own room for the first time in his life.
I busted my ass off two weeks in a row working, but hopefully things will start slowing down now.
April is hard for me. Besides Mom’s passing anniversary on the 7th, we lost Remmie on the 6th (2004), and my second mother: my paternal grandma, on the 14th (2008). My first marriage was on the 9th (1994).
And my son Corbin was born on the 26th. He missed meeting my mother by 2 weeks.
In short, I’ve requested they go easy on me this month. After that first holiday weekend, my boss promised. We shall see.
Anyway, after that week of stormy weather, things started blooming.
I opened some windows, and Meeko spared no time hopping from window to window, talking to the birds outside.
But where was Figaro? The poor boy was hiding under the table. For a formal feral cat, he sure didn’t want any part of the great outdoors anymore.
When we did a return vet visit for his final booster shots, we had mentioned his occasional limp. The vet felt his limbs and stated that his left front leg had definitely had trauma at some point and she could feel either a tendon or a ligament out of place. His rear left leg is also a bit misshaped.
Without ex-rays and a referral to orthopedic specialist we wouldn’t know the full extent of his old injuries.
Poor guy. He’s only about a year old. Street life was not kind to him. Hit by a car? Attacked by a dog? Fell from a tree? We’ll never know.
For now we are taking a wait and see approach. Whatever happened has healed, and he gets around well. Putting him through surgery seems unnecessary at this point.
He was happy when it started raining again today and we shut the windows.
The first of the two couches I ordered came today. The kiddos quickly assembled it and tried it out.
The plan actually worked.
I hung up the rug-hook craft I had started at the shelter two years ago. I finished it a couple weeks before moving into our new home.
Well, I’m off to bed. Ella crashed several hours ago, so I’ll have to scoot her over. But I don’t mind. We’re finally all together.
Home at last.
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