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February 2, 2015

Home Again

Got back from the Island a few hours before the Superbowl and heavy snow. Made some progress on my mom's need for care/assisted living but more needs to be done. My sister and I bought her a new sleeper coach for the home aide that has to stay with her - mom's futon is brutal. We examined her finances and options that are available both on Long Island and Upstate. We contacted a lawyer to update her will and health care proxy. My sister is interviewing home aides and of course there was drama; can't have a family meeting without that and I expected it, but not in the form that it took.  Oh well.... you can pick your friends and you can  pick your nose, but you can't pick family.

It didn't help that I barely slept at all. I have trouble sleeping in hotel rooms as the space heater fires up every twenty minutes or so and wakes me up. Plus I was kinda wired anyway.

Sunday was mom's 87th birthday and we took her out to a nice restaurant on Saturday night. She had a good time. One of my nieces and her boyfriend made it in from Queens (Astoria) to join us. Her mother, my sister, died in 2003 and her dad remarried in 2013. He and his new wife were also there. His new wife is a doll and she reminds me a lot of my sister. It was a very nice, relaxing time. The drama queen decided to go visit his friends instead of celebrating his mother's birthday but that probably helped the evening go so well.

More work needs to be done. Mom has to stay put for three months before she can be moved so we do have a small window before a decision has to be made on where she should go. There is always a waiting list for admission so we can't dawdle. I got to admit, mom looks pretty good, considering.

I made it back to Syracuse in four and a half hours. This was the fastest trip home ever. It usually takes me almost six hours to make the drive. Leaving on Superbowl Sunday probably helped as traffic going into and leaving NYC was no problem at. The  LI Expressway wasn't a problem at all. Traffic over the Throgs Neck was light and the George Washington was almost as light. Ditto on Rte. 80. Hit a little snow just north of Scranton but it disappeared by time I reached Binghamton. Took 17.2 gallons to make the  drive, rolled into Costco and paid 35 cents a gallon less for gas than on the Island. Sweet.

2 comments:

Kid said...

Sounds like most of my trips from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh to see Mom and family.

sig94 said...

Kid - Sure is fun, iditn't it?