slowly getting back to normal

The last several weeks have been really tiring. Because of the distance, I had to get a lot done in that short time. I think a lot of things are under control now, but I know there will still be a lot to do here over the next few months. I’m a bit worried about going back to work on Monday since I am now three weeks behind and didn’t expect to be away. Things are going to be a mess for the next month.

We managed to find places for all of my mom’s things. She really had a lot of stuff and because she was so organized she found ways to store it all in her 1 bedroom condo. Sorting through her clothing alone took two days and I was able to consign some in Red Deer, give some away to family and we took the rest to Value Village (and supposedly the money from the sale of the items will go to the Canadian Diabetes Foundiation). As for furniture, Dan’s parents took a very nice metal bedframe my great-uncle used to have as well as a few other items and Dan’s sister has one of the desks. The rest didn’t find a home so it was sold in an estate sale or will be auctioned on Nov 4th. I wish I had more time to find better places for some of her things (or the space here to take them). As for the things she made, we kept three of her paintings (two of which she did herself) and my aunt and Dan’s parents have the others she made. There were also 5 afghans she crocheted and they have all found homes too. Dan and I took some of her kitchen stuff which was either much nicer than ours or had memories for me, like our gingerbread man cookie cutter. Poor Dan had to do so much lifting – I really don’t know what I would have done without him there.

When we went through her books and CDs, Dan thought it would be a good idea to make a record of her music collection. He and his dad listed all her music CDs on an account they made on the listal website (http://jbwillis.listal.com/).

We also found some baby items she must have bought for us – a baby monitor, changing pad, some maternity clothing and some CDs to help babies sleep.

We arrived last night on a Westjet flight and I was quite pleased with the service. I will definitely continue to fly Westjet in the future. When I left I had a medium-sized suitcase that was half-empty and Dan had a small one, when we came back we each had two that were filled to the brim. My larger one alone was 47 pounds and I think the combined weight was over 100. Miraculously we managed to find places for everything we brought with us. The scary thing is that there are 15 boxes of things coming by mail which we will have to deal with. At least we should have a few weeks before they arrive.

Today there was literally a mountain of laundry to do but we managed to get it all taken care of. We also planned the meals and did the grocery shopping, so things are under control. As I was putting things away today I found the Christmas present I bought for her – it was a bottle of fine sea salt soaked in Merlot and herbs that I bought in Toulouse. I think she would have liked it.

I felt some more “tickles” yesterday.