Archive forFebruary, 2007

The saga continues

Hoagie, my step-father died this morning at about 8:30 a.m. It came as no surprise.

His daughter (Connie) is still here and tomorrow her husband and daughter are flying in and will join her. Her husband will ride back with her to her home in Alabama. They’ll leave about Friday and take Hoagie’s ashes up to Ohio where there’ll be a graveside service. Their daughter will only stay for a day.

The renovation is the pretty much complete. The carpet cleaners will be coming Wednesday. John is finishing up a few things that the workers didn’t do.

There’s a chance that it will rain tomorrow. If it doesn’t we’ll try to hide out at the pool while all the folks are here. The condo is small and with Connie and her family, the Duffy’s and us, it’ll be too hectic.

I’m fighting a rotten cold. I’ve had it about four or five days. Or maybe it’s just allergies. Whichever, I hope it’ll soon go away!!

Hoagie, had a long happy life. He was 97-years-old. He married my mother when he was 80 and she was 68! He made her very happy. His patience with her as she was developing Alzheimers was remarkable. He has begged for relief from life for many years. Today there was a lot of reflecting back on his long and successful life.

That’s what’s happening down here. When everything calms down and Connie and her family leave, we’ll still have about two weeks which we’re going to try to fully enjoy. We’ll then pack up and head home. We probably won’t be back until September.

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And still it continues…

The condo still isn’t quite finished but maybe today … or tomorrow … or next Wednesday when the carpet cleaners come through.

We’re making the best of it. Connie came back after about a week and is staying until her dad dies. We expect the end to be soon.

The weather the past few days has been perfect.

Mom was in the emergency room of the hospital all day yesterday. Nine hours without answers. Her breathing had been labored so her doctor had her go in for an “evaluation.” It was a loooooooonnnnng day. We got home about 9:30 p.m. The final word was that she isn’t active enough and her lungs don’t have a chance to fully inflate causing some problems.

The Kings Point “garage sale” was last night and will continue today. I got a set of white dishes for the condo.

Today’s plan.. visit Mom and then go to the pool. It’s been so crowded that it’s difficult to find a chair. We want to enjoy this perfect 75-80 degree weather. (So much nicer than last week’s high of about 50.)

It is paradise.

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Almost complete with the renovation

It’s hard to “catch up”.

We arrived Thursday, February 1st, at my mother’s condo in Florida. Here it is Sunday evening, the 11th,…. more than a week has passed, and so much has happened. We came down to care for Mom who has Alzheimers.

When we arrived on the 1st, we were surprised that Hoagie’s daughter , Connie, was living here at the condo where we normally stay. Hoagie is my mom’s 97 year old husband. Connie was hard at work with Carol Duffy (Hoagie’s financial advisor). They were in the midst of a major renovation of the entire condo. Connie left Friday, the 9th, after staying over a week with us.

Hoagie isn’t well at all. Connie was here to see her dad and the whole situation has been very difficult for her. While she was here, she decided to start a major remodeling project of the condo we all have been sharing.

The condo is going to be a lot more comfortable, so I sure can’t complain. We’ve all painted, stripped wall paper, washed, scrubbed, cleaned. It’s actually looking very good. We can have folks come over and we can be comfortable.

So far they’ve bought all new kitchen appliances, all new small appliances, painted everything. They have new towels, bedding, window treatments, light fixtures, and the rest of the package.

Connie’s a nice person. I like her.

Hoagie is very close to death. We know he’s not going to live long – he’s 97 and has been asking for relief from life for many years.. It was tough on Connie. I have been going to see him and over the years we’ve become very close as we shared the difficulties associated with Mom’s care. I’ll miss him.

When Hoagie’s gone. The condo will continue to be my mom’s for her lifetime, so this whole renovation project is going to benefit us.

Connie left this past Friday morning. Her brother, John, is coming to visit (provided Hoagie is still alive) on the 19th. It’s doubtful that he’ll stay here, but he’s welcome. Connie may also return, if Hoagie’s condition worsens.

We, especially my John, worked our butts off. Actually there wasn’t a lot for me to do except look lost and stay out of the way.

We missed that awful tornado that hit Florida. It was north of us by quite a distance.

After driving the 1,300 miles from Michigan to Florida, we didn’t unload our well-packed truck for over a week. Much of our stuff just stayed there, including our bird, Charlie. It wasn’t comfortable, but we are now settling in. Things look grand. The place is nearly complete and we’re pleased with the effort that everyone has expended.

We went to Rockin’ Rondevous (at the clubhouse) Thursday (the 8th) and saw Pat and Paul, Bob (our “worm king” friend), Carl, Marilyn, and a few others. These events are always fun times and we look forward to them. Some of the regular group were sick with a bug that is going around. It was a quieter than usual R.R. but we look forward to next week’s get-together.

We’re enjoying Florida citrus fruit. Carl gave us a couple dozen grapefruit and our roofmate has brought over oranges twice.

Weather’s been cool. Tomorrow should be nice (low 80’s so maybe we can get some pool time in). We’re hoping!!!

Our Florida visit hasn’t been quite what we expected, but we now have a renovated condo and it’s very very attractive and comfortable thanks to the hard work of a lot of folks. (It’s not complete, but should be in a few days.)

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Almost there

We’ve run into every kind of weather imaginable, but right now we’re in Florida (about two hours north of our destination). It’s 75 degrees and partly sunny. I still haven’t seen a palm tree, so I don’t feel as if I’m in the “South.”

When we get to the condo, we’ll quickly unpack the critical stuff and dash over to Rockin’ Rondevous about 5:00. We won’t stay late, but we’re anxious to say “hello” to all of our Florida friends, and since the next few days will be cool and rainy, we won’t be seeing them at the pool. Thursday nights at the Clubhouse are always the most fun of the week.

I might get over to see Mom between our arrival and our trip to the clubhouse, but it might take a while for her to remember me, and I don’t want the disappointment, if that doesn’t happen. Mornings are generally better for her, so I may wait until morning to visit her for the first time.

Last night we discovered a nice restaurant in Macon, GA, Logan’s Roadhouse. The food was excellent, and the atmosphere fun.

Our windshield washer problem solved itself. Apparently it was a frozen line because once we got into Georgia, where it was above freezing, it worked.

This morning the problem was heavy rain which made visibility difficult. We were glad we didn’t have to go north because reports were that they had freezing rain and sleet.

Won’t be long now.

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