Full steam ahead
Things are busy here.
* The work continues in our backyard. Stan the Handyman finished destroying our back steps made of rocks, cut out the remaining trees and removed what he could of the stumps. He also measured and marked with orange paint the footprint of the deck and ramp...and purchased posts and cement.
* Betty went to see the doctor today but had a difficult time in the bio-break room. This reinforces the need to make sure she has hand-holds and a soft landing in the half-bathroom here. We will need to get a home-health advisor here to help us with that.
* I am grateful to be back at home and working...with lots of stuff to do and people breathing down my neck to get things done. I am trying not to stress out.
* The papers are signed for a new heating-cooling system for the house. I had bad dreams last night, wondering if there was a way this well-regarded company could rip me off (I paid half down already...so they had better be here in less than 3 weeks as planned!). I just get paranoid on purchases of this magnitude. In the light of day I am quite enthusiastic about the project: this is a top-of the line efficient system and put in by a responsible company (and I checked BBB, CCB, Angies List and two accreditation organizations).
* While the installation of the h-c system is in less than 3 weeks and will only take 3 days, there is a lot to be done before then. I have a lot of work to do in the basement and potentially many trips to either the waste transfer station or Goodwill, all to be done on weekends, although might try to get a day or two off toward the end of the two weeks.
* Part of this work includes getting rid of stuff already stored away on the first floor in furniture which will have to go away: a sideboard and a bar...to make way for Betty's area. So we are going to pick through all the stuff in that furniture and two other areas...and then re-store everything we want to keep in just two pieces (instead of 4).
* Need to work out the other needs of Betty before the end of the month: menus, meal preparation planning, medication schedules, on-call nursing advice, respite care and general budget matters.
* Also part of the general stuff reduction will mean cleaning up the front room which will also be important for preparation of the house for an event here Sunday afternoon, May 16.
* Need to plan for any furniture needs for Betty or for use of any furniture now being used by Betty.
* The outside area on the North side of the house needs to be cleaned up and weeded and the gate installed to clearly indicate where the heatpump exterior element can go and where it can't go.
* Need to get rid of the window air conditioner upstairs and all the old vacuum cleaners.
So, the plan is that by June 1 Betty will move in here... a house with a new back deck and wheelchair ramp and cleared out back yard...with a more open front porch...and with house-wide cooling when it gets really hot.
For June expect to do additional work in the back yard to remove blackberries and grape and keep the side path open. Also need to find a use for the rocks from the steps, tear down the redundant chain-link fence, remove all the branches and put in new sod. I believe it will also be possible to get rid of all the florescent light fixtures and dropped ceiling in the kitchen and install a new lighting fixture (which I got at a Eugene thrift store for $5).
Maybe some day I will get to finish cleaning my room. July maybe?
* The work continues in our backyard. Stan the Handyman finished destroying our back steps made of rocks, cut out the remaining trees and removed what he could of the stumps. He also measured and marked with orange paint the footprint of the deck and ramp...and purchased posts and cement.
* Betty went to see the doctor today but had a difficult time in the bio-break room. This reinforces the need to make sure she has hand-holds and a soft landing in the half-bathroom here. We will need to get a home-health advisor here to help us with that.
* I am grateful to be back at home and working...with lots of stuff to do and people breathing down my neck to get things done. I am trying not to stress out.
* The papers are signed for a new heating-cooling system for the house. I had bad dreams last night, wondering if there was a way this well-regarded company could rip me off (I paid half down already...so they had better be here in less than 3 weeks as planned!). I just get paranoid on purchases of this magnitude. In the light of day I am quite enthusiastic about the project: this is a top-of the line efficient system and put in by a responsible company (and I checked BBB, CCB, Angies List and two accreditation organizations).
* While the installation of the h-c system is in less than 3 weeks and will only take 3 days, there is a lot to be done before then. I have a lot of work to do in the basement and potentially many trips to either the waste transfer station or Goodwill, all to be done on weekends, although might try to get a day or two off toward the end of the two weeks.
* Part of this work includes getting rid of stuff already stored away on the first floor in furniture which will have to go away: a sideboard and a bar...to make way for Betty's area. So we are going to pick through all the stuff in that furniture and two other areas...and then re-store everything we want to keep in just two pieces (instead of 4).
* Need to work out the other needs of Betty before the end of the month: menus, meal preparation planning, medication schedules, on-call nursing advice, respite care and general budget matters.
* Also part of the general stuff reduction will mean cleaning up the front room which will also be important for preparation of the house for an event here Sunday afternoon, May 16.
* Need to plan for any furniture needs for Betty or for use of any furniture now being used by Betty.
* The outside area on the North side of the house needs to be cleaned up and weeded and the gate installed to clearly indicate where the heatpump exterior element can go and where it can't go.
* Need to get rid of the window air conditioner upstairs and all the old vacuum cleaners.
So, the plan is that by June 1 Betty will move in here... a house with a new back deck and wheelchair ramp and cleared out back yard...with a more open front porch...and with house-wide cooling when it gets really hot.
For June expect to do additional work in the back yard to remove blackberries and grape and keep the side path open. Also need to find a use for the rocks from the steps, tear down the redundant chain-link fence, remove all the branches and put in new sod. I believe it will also be possible to get rid of all the florescent light fixtures and dropped ceiling in the kitchen and install a new lighting fixture (which I got at a Eugene thrift store for $5).
Maybe some day I will get to finish cleaning my room. July maybe?