Moving In

         Less than a week ago, a house went on the market in my mom's neighborhood. It's two doors down from her house. She put earnest money on it today, and I think my life will be changing.

         I didn't really anticipate that this was going to happen right now. Mom saw the inside of the house before I did. She knew the lady who lived there before. Her name was Dorothy. Dorothy passed on, but her daughter Dorothy is selling the house and moving to a condo.

         "My mother died in this room, and my husband died in this room," Dorothy added as we walked through the house. It's a big house just for her alone, and she said she thought her mom would be happy with a mother and daughter living there.

         For several years, my mom has been eyeballing the for sale signs in the neighborhood. We've gone through putting earnest money once before. She ended up backing out when she found out the plumbing needed lots of work. The homes in this neighborhood were built in the late 1950s.

         This time I don't think she will back out. It's awful hot for June, and I can't see her being able to be active enough to move her whole life, even two houses down. She'll be 83 in July. She wants to see me settled in the house I'll live in before she dies. She's told me that.

         Her health is okay, but failing. She takes 13 pills every day. She has congestive heart failure. She's having a lot of pain from little fractures in her spine. It's effected the amount of time she's able to drive to do her errands, keep up the housework (as she just let the housekeeper go), and do the bookkeeping she loves so much. She has a pain in her side that knocks her off her feet for days.

         When we've almost done this before, it's made her physically and emotionally sick. She actually said, "I want to do this now, even if I die before it's done." That's how she thinks. She wants to leave this earth knowing that she left her one little girl as well off as she possibly could. She has done so much for me.

         The grand scheme is to buy 6432 Woodview, then sell 6444 Woodview,her house. She wants to go ahead and have an estate sale now. When that much is done, then we put my house on the market, and move into the empty places she's left me. Sounds great except for the heat, and the animals.

         She has a 12-year-old female chow that is her spoiled little constant companion. "Chablis" and I get along fine, but she's a catter. I've seen her chase down cats, almost to the kill. I have two kitties, and two big dogs.

         So if "Chablis" doesn't eat "Nella," my 19-year-old kitty, she can live in my bedroom, and I'll keep the Chow out. "Emily" is about four years old, and she's used to being an outside kitty. The German Shepherd and Shepherd/Lab mix are both huge, and they're used to me letting them run in the house. "Blondie," at 89 pounds, has almost knocked me over when she's at full run. "Shadow" is only about 50 pounds, and she's a skittish kind of jumper. Grandmommy, as I call her to my pets, will have to hold on to the walls, or keep her cane handy to shoo with. "Chablis" is used to being an only dog. Animals will probably be the least of our problems.

         We each get a separate bedroom, bathroom, and living area. Mom's lived by herself for almost ten years, and I haven't had a female roommate ever, except her. I can't go into this being the kid. Mom needs me to watch over her. The real estate man recognized that at our official viewing of the house.

         So as I down a Klonapin with a cup of coffee, the real estate man is on the way to her house with the contract and offer to sign and present. With the buyer and seller just two houses apart, this could all go down before the sun sets.

Living with Mom again. . . . I think I need another cup of coffee, or something.