11/17/07: Stress is building

We had a big argument, in which Thanksgiving was both a cause and an effect. It ended, and we will have a nice Thanksgiving at my daughter's home, but the fight perhaps showed that we are both nervous about making so many changes in our life.

In ten days, I have been unable to get an application for the second nursing home. They claim to have mailed it twice, but it doesn't arrive. I wonder if they will be able to care for my mother properly?

We have had five new helpers in the last few weeks, which has meant a lot of work for me interviewing and training and stress for Mom, who gets anxious with new people, and with the feeling of being left out during the interview/training process. It's starting to settle down now, finally.

Aside from training helpers, we spend a lot of time trying to organize the stuff in the household, giving a lot away on freecycle and succeeding in reducing the clutter considerably. Fumiko has found an ad for a desirable job in Toronto, sent a resume, and received an encouraging response, so she is eager to get there and start living. I am glad we have a few more weeks, since the apartment is still covered with piles and boxes of stuff to be dealt with.

I got in touch with my real estate lawyer (whom I engaged some months ago for this purpose) and had him begin the sublet negotiations with my landlord, who is so far proving evasive. I also requested liquidation of one of Mom's securities, to generate cash for the (hopefully) soon-to-come nursing home. This was the final step in a chain. I didn't want to sell anything that would result in a large capital gain, and I didn't want large checks floating around in the mail. So, I set up direct deposit to Mom's bank (get form from company, trip to bank with Mom for signature guarantee, copy and mail form), and determined the cost basis for this security for taxes (call bank to request reinvestment history since 1984, then several calls to interpret and verify this information). See what an exciting life I have?

The weather is turning cold, and we are reminded that it may be much colder in Canada. However, watching the temperature ranges on Yahoo, it doesn't seem that Toronto is that much colder than New York, just a few degrees. Now, Ottawa is another story...