The final count down.

 

The ramp is finished. We are planning to move my mother in this Saturday. I have less than a week to savor my final days of living alone. While I'm savoring my solitude, I'll also be focused on the last minute efforts to get the house ready to move her stuff in. Nope, I'm not done unpacking yet. First up is to finish unpacking the tack room in the barn and turning it into a pottery space so I can move the cats to the barn, starting them out in the pottery room as the place to feed them and letting them move into the rest of the barn as they are ready. Once they are in the barn, they'll be able to go in and out of the barn through a space under the outside door. We'll call that a cat door. They can come and go as they please. My mother is allergic to cats, so they have to go out to the barn before she moves in. There are still a few boxes in the living room that have to be unpacked or moved to make room for her recliner. Her bedroom is ready for her to move in except for a mattress on the floor that will go out to the barn loft (airbnb? lol).

In the mean time I've done this:

Four chicks and 3 ducklings are currently living in that awesome bathtub (the really big one with jets that I haven't even soaked in yet) in a plastic tub. The cord that keeps their heat lamp going stretches across the bathroom in front of the toilet which will be in the way of my mother's walker, so I'll have to work that out. Why did I need to get chicks and ducklings now? Eh, I was in Tractor Supply, and the chicks and ducklings were there calling to me; and it seemed like a good idea. They shouldn't be in there for very long after she moves in, and she can't use the bathtub anyway. I have some work to do on the chicken coops to get them ready for these guys, but that gives me more reason to be outside after my mother moves in.

If you knew my mother and were anticipating her moving in with you, you'd understand why I need as many reasons to be outside as possible. Many of my friends are blessed with beautiful relationships with their parents, and I'm so happy for those of you that are. Not going to open up a therapy session here, but living with my mother isn't really something I'm looking forward to. None the less, she is my mother; and she needs supervision; and I'm all I can afford. So we'll make it work. Wish me luck!