Countdown to Moving Day

 Yesterday, October 15, Laura came for lunch and left with artwork from her childhood, movie tapes to be digitalized,, photo albums, some books for Henry, a “vintage” blanket from my parents, and even a “vintage” dress that I wore to one of Jeff’s Math Olympiad dinners at the State Department more than 30 years ago.  I just could not put that in the Green Drop pile.  I don’t know what she will do with it! 

Then last night Jeff and Susan made another trip here to pick up two of the black bookcases to pass on to our grandchildren.  They had previously taken two other bookcases and some glassware. 

Today, Linda from Byron Home and Linda from the moving company came to do our “walkthrough.”  Many photos were taken of what needs to be packed and what will be left behind for them to dispose of.  Linda praised us for all we had done already and I felt affirmed.  I think they come into places where a lot of sorting and downsizing still needs to be done and we have done a lot.  

Linda stressed that they will make it as easy as possible to settle into our new place—with food put away, dishes unpacked and even beds made.  I think we have been told us it is best to stay out of the apartment until they are finished and then come in to okay placement of things.  I am thinking that might be my time for that piece of carrot cake I saw in the Stonebridge cafe—my reward.  I can just sit in the Stonebridge lounge with my laptop.  

October 19   I said that there was nothing on our agenda today for our big move but I was wrong.  We got an estimate from the movers and had questions about it.  Jim got information from Eboni about getting the carpets cleaned and our resposibity for that and took care of those appointments.  I agreed to a pickup service on Friday for items that we are not moving—all at an extra charge.  The money is flowing out but we don’t have much choice in much of it.  We did agree to “the works” for making things easier and so far I do believe Byron Home is coming through on that.

A happy thought is that we have friends asking us over for meals two of the nights of moving week and a friend at Stonebridge arranging a dinner for our first night there in the dining hall.  We have friends!  And for that we can be very thankful.  

October 22  Yesterday I met my friend Peggy for a chat at the Barclay Square playground as we do every week or two.  She reminded me that may be our last meeting with my being able to just walk over there.  Afterwards, I felt very melancholy about that thought.  But in an email later, she told me that her car knows the way to Stonebridge.  We will just have to put out a little more effort into our meeting.

Today Jim printed up the 40 page document we have to sign next week with Francesca.  All the rules and regulations and warnings about life at Stonebridge.  It is overwhelming and I have to tell myself others have signed and as Jim reminded me that Stonebridge or its parent company Springpoint is a business.  So we will sign even without asking an attorney to look it over.

But then tonight I fixed pork chops for supper.  I put them in the oven with broccoli and potato’s at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.  The broccoli was done before that.  The potato’s were not done when the meat was done.  The meat was dry even with BBQ sauce on it.  It was not a great meal.  And soon, our meals will be provided for us and I really do look forward to that.  

Day by Day Progress

 October 9?  I will keep a running record of what we are doing each day in preparation for this big move.  This will be of little interest to anyone but Jim and me but we will be happy to read about all we did when we are comfortably settled into our new home.

Yesterday Jim called State Farm to change our renter’s policy to the new place—and change our address.  Today he called Xfinity to arrange turning our system off here on October 29 and setting up the new one on October 30.  It actually is going to cost us less money because the basic cable package is part of our Stonebridge monthly fee. Jim said the salesperson, was quite chatty and wondered what he had taught and then asked if he had been to the Holy Land.  Well, as it turned out that it was the amusement park she had in mind, not the land of Israel!  

I went to the USPS site online to put in an address change for October 29.  Nothing is easy but eventually I made it work and did not sign up for additional services being advertised by them. I think I did not!  They did charge me $1.25 for some reason, but I turned down extended forwarding services at greater prices. 

I changed the Green Drop pick up from October 12 to October 19 so that Laura can look over anything she might want when she comes later this week and what is left I will give to them.  I tried on a dress I have not worn for years and it was too small, of course, so that goes into the giveaway pile. 

We threw out plastic leftover containers and tops that did not match.  I’m looking for a safe way to dispose of Mounjaro injectables.  

I bought an inexpensive landline phone from Amazon because our friend Pam says that is how you communicate in the community.  Stonebridge has its own phone exchange so we do not pay for that.  I bought a cart at her suggestion too—to transport groceries, etc. from the parking lot which will be quite a walk.  We will miss having a garage.  

So that is it for today.  Unless I get inspired to do more.  I wake up in the middle of the night and write things down and even emailed Laura about a plan. It will be so good to be settled in—in a few weeks.

October 10. My goal for today was to empty the drawers in our walk-in closet because the closets at Stonebridge are smaller and there won’t be drawer space there.  That meant finding room in my two dressers which are already full-one in the second bedroom is full of music and summer clothes.  But I made an effort to throw out some things and give other things to Green Drop. 

 Again, I had so many lovely scarves that I have forgotten I have.  Maybe I will dress with more care wth living with so many others around us.  I will probably forget where I have put my bathing suit and all the belts I never use and then there are all those panty hose I never wear. The top drawer in my dresser has always been where I stored my stash of chocolate—my antidepressant cure.  And that’s where I keep some of the nice things Jim has written to me for birthdays and anniversary’s.  Those can stay there!  A place for underwear and socks is less important.  

October 11 Israel Mizrahi, the Brooklyn bookseller, came at 6:10 am and left with a van full of Jim’s books.  How much did he pay Jim? It never came up, Jim said.  It’s OK.  We are both relieved to have so many books go to someone who can do something with them and not just fill a landfill. I managed to sleep through the whole process thanks to ear plugs and a sleep aid. I thought it was a night to indulge in help!  Jim set his alarm for 5;30 am so he could be ready to greet Israel.  The early time was necessary so he could return to NYC for his nephew’s bris.  He said he had ten children of his own. 

I wish I could add photos of the shelves he took and of the pile of books Jim kept for his own use—now on our bedroom floor.  

But this is a day of great progress.  Jim will not call in students to glean books, which may be a shame but this was easier and it is done!  

Jeff and Susan brought us pizza and left with the metal shelving in the garage and the smaller wooden bookcase in Jim’s study.  The metal shelving will go in their basement and Katie will take the wooden bookcase.  Plus they took some glassware and a 9X13 glass baking dish—because I don’t need two of them.  I rarely even use one!

October 12 

Amazon delivered the landline telephone and shopping cart that I ordered at Pam Wakefield’s suggestion as well as some plastic containers that we can store meds in.  We filled out our mail-in votes but will not register to vote in Somerset County until after we move.  Otherwise we didn’t do much today.  Probably there is not much to do this week until we have our two meetings with Byron Home on Wednesday and Friday.

October 13. I just emptied the closet in the yellow bedroom of all my winter things. There is an article in the NYT today about the neuroscience of decluttering and why it is so difficult.  I do not need all the warm sweaters that I own but I love every one of them.  So I will not part with them just yet.  If there isn’t room for them at Stonebridge, I may have to do so with regrets.  Others may need the warmth.  But while emptying the closet, I found a shadow silhouette and wondered who it was!  Jim!   So we saved it all these years.  Now to dump it?  That hurts.  

It is so strange to look at all the empty bookshelves in the hall.  But a relief to have all of those books gone.  

October 14  Deborah, our space planner, sent us a preliminary drawing of our new home and everything fits!  Almost everything.  We cannot take all six black bookshelves but three of them should fit in the living room along a wall.  Susan says she could pass bookshelves on to our grandchildren! The cedar chest and Jim’s favorite mission chair are in!  And even my keyboard has a place under a window in the second bedroom.  And the lovely glass table we have in our entryway will fit behind the loveseat in the living room.  And nothing looks crowded!  Hooray!

There are three closets and they are not as large as what we have now.  I am thinking the bathtub which we never use here will be my storage place for the boxes of weekly calendars and Blog2Print books I have accumulated over the years.  And maybe the toys we have saved.  

 I am very happy with Deborah’s work and happy with the way it looks.  And relieved.  

It’s still two weeks until we move and we have assigned ourselves tasks for many of those days. But we are making progress and I think I will post this and start a new entry after our “walkthrough” with the movers on Friday. 

There’s Still Time!

 Every day I go through more belongings.  I am constantly making decisions: throw it away, give it to Green Drop, or save it with the idea that I will use it again. 

I went through jewelry this morning and realized that I never wear any of it.  Why don’t I?  Maybe for the same reason I stopped wearing makeup a few years ago (except for lipstick).  Covid kept us at home.  Then it was my hip surgeries keeping us at home.  I forgot I had most of the jewelry I had accumulated over the years.  Well, I can start wearing it now—maybe as we will be dining with others much of the time at Stonebridge.  I will put out a little more effort!

I have already mentioned the many books I think I will read again.  I would have to have a few years left to do that—and not get distracted by the latest mystery from a favorite author.

And the CDs—so much beautiful music.  I need to make an effort to put one on and enjoy it.

And the piano music.  Maybe having that beautiful Steinway piano in the Stonebridge auditorium will send me to try my Bach and Debussy and Satie and even Einaude again—they will sound better than they could on the keyboard.  

Should I vow to make these changes in my life?  Maybe not just yet.  Maybe it will be enough to get moved in, unpacked, and adjusted to a new way of life.  Then I will try to amend my ways.

We Have a Move-in Date

 This morning we met with Dawn, the nurse at Stonebridge, for our assessment.  She went over our medical forms and gave us procedure and safety recommendations.  And she also evaluated us to determine our competency.  Jim told me later that he did not tell me she was going to do a memory task because he knew I would get all worried about that. 

It was quite a session with the usual questions about who was president now and who was president before and what day, month, and year it was.  But more inventive were a math question asking us to subtract numbers (take seven from 31 and then keep going) and a request to repeat the letters in a word backwards (world—dlrow).  We managed to convince Dawn that we could be “independent.” 

And now we have dates to add to the long list of to do items for October.  October 27 is our settlement meeting with Francesca when we give her our payment and sign some more forms. October 28 will be the packing day and October 29 the actual moving day and unpacking day.  We will try to schedule October 30 for our much needed WiFi and TV hookup with Xfinity.  

Jim has the Brooklyn bookseller coming this weekend to buy books we hope.  I have three more bags of books for the library donations but I will have to live a long time to reread all the books that I cannot give up.  I found the record player and will try it out tomorrow and then may have to keep those old Pat Boone and Janis Joplin records.  I went over our stack of CDs and wondered why I never listen to so many beautiful recordings. I will amend my ways.  

When I posted the subject line “Going, Going, Gone” for the movie tapes I found in a closet, both Laura and Jeff stopped me and said they would take some and consider digitalizing the record of their childhood.  I think by the time Dan came along our camera was in need of repair.  Laura is setting a time to make the trip from Gladwyne to pick up some artwork and books and whatever else I can convince her to take!

Today was a day of progress!  It will be so good to be settled in our new home.

————-October 7 Here are a few updates.  The record player works and Pat Boone sang out to me nice again.  Jim and I will have to hear Johnny Mathis and Simon and Garfunkle again too.

I thought that I had no goals today for going through stuff but when I went to put away my prescriptions in the closet, I found three bags of Covid tests—all outdated and quickly thrown out.  That was easy.  No decisions involved!  I decided that the six photo albums could be moved to Stonebridge as they are even if the only place for them is on the floor.  I can go over them at my leisure and put photos into envelopes which will take a lot less room.  And I don’t need six photos of sunsets at South Haven and as precious as they were, maybe not as many baby photos of the grandchildren.

This afternoon Debra from Byron Homes called to go over the placement of our furniture at Stonebridge. I was worried that not everything would fit in a smaller apartment, but it looks like we will be OK.  I would be so sad if my mother’s hope chest would have to go—plus it is full of memorabilia.  And Jim needs his study room chair with his armrests for his morning cup of coffee and his daily Hebrew reading.  Some things just cannot be given up!  Debra was so helpful even keeping in mind where the cable outlets were. 

At this point I think the extra we are paying to Byron Homes to facilitate this move will be worth it.  Debra will email us a plan of the apartment with everything drawn in.  

Thursday Nights with Mounjaro

 When it comes time for my weekly injection of Mounjaro, I can’t believe it has been a whole week.  I feel as if I just stuck myself 24 hours ago.  And I rebel because I didn’t want to do it again. Each time it is a bit intimidating because the procedure does not seem to take place like the instructions say.  There is no up to ten seconds between clicks—the clicks are simultaneous and then we carefully look for a little red puncture wound and the fact that the plunger is down in the apparatus.  And we do know that I push away from the table before I finish my meals and I have lost  maybe five pounds and I do have some indigestion although not bad at all.  So there are signs that it has happened and has its effects. 

When I was feeling a bit sorry for myself,  I remembered how Jim drove down Route 1 to UCA for 44 days of radiation.  He didn’t complain—at least not much.  Just when the routine got changed when there was a machine malfunction.  And all of this with Covid precautions so I really could not keep him company even when he got to ring the bell on his last day of treatment. And now five years later, he is doing well with one good follow-up test after another every six months.  

So I am doing this to get that A1C down to pre-diabetes levels again and Dr. Delacruz assures me that it will be successful.  I know it is worth avoiding diabetes to lessen the danger of heart disease and strokes.  

So that’s it for another week.  I am grateful there is a treatment that I can do and that I can afford the medication and that my husband is right here to support me through this each week.