If you would like to join me in this journey from the beginning, please start with Day One.

 

 

I am excited about our dear little condo on the first floor of the building. Already I have met several neighbors on our floor.

 

This morning I finished getting the kitchen stuff unpacked! Fortunately there is room for everything and space to spare, even though it is organized a little differently than it was at our retirement complex. I accomplished my two major goals for Wednesday: get the Internet and bed set up. On the new bed, I was finally able to get a decent night’s sleep Wednesday night and last night after sleeping on the floor for over a month.

 

 

Yesterday, I spent most of the time unpacking, online shopping, and visiting with my counselor. My counselor remarked on how long it had been since our last visit. I talked about the major events of the past few weeks, mentioned my current goals, and set an appointment to see her again in four weeks. I feel confident I can wait four weeks to see her because if a crisis arises, there is a 24-hour crisis number I can call. The generous workers that service that number have helped me through some tough times.

 

 

I still have a lot of stuff to unpack and organize. Boxes and packing materials are all over the floor. My husband has far more clothes than will fit into our closets. I had hoped he would sort through his clothes and donate what he no longer wanted to wear or could not wear, but in the hustle of getting ready for the move, we did not get that job accomplished. Maybe there will be time for that in the near future.

 

 

I ate breakfast with my husband of scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, cranberry juice, and Fiber ‘n Spice.

 

 

I am thinking over what the most important activities are for today. Mom accidentally sent me one of my brother’s boxes when she sent my things to me, so I need to send it on to him. I want to get that sent today. My husband said he would go with me to the UPS store.

 

 

I have quite a few things to unpack still, but none of them are of great urgency except maybe the computer. We need to buy one or two computer desks for our computers. There is an OfficeMax store nearby, and they have an incredibly large selection of computer desks. I measured a portion of the floor in the second bedroom where we have barely enough room for computer desks.

 

 

All of our errands yesterday were within a mile from our home, but it was still stressful getting them done. We took my brother’s package to the UPS store, and we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy shower curtains for the bathrooms and a step ladder. I had hoped to go to OfficeMax to look at computer desks, but I was too tired after repeatedly lifting the transport chair and wheeling my husband around to get that done.

 

 

Later in the evening, I called Mom to tell her that I had sent the UPS package. She talked to me about my apartment in Utah. She had given me the impression that she wanted to consider buying my portion of her house from me, but it turned out that she does not have the money, even with the life insurance money from Dad’s death. My husband was livid at both my mom and me last night and talked about sending me back to Utah. I did my best to assuage his feelings. I hope they are only temporary. I learned later in the evening as my husband talked to Jacque on the phone that he feels I am closer to my mother than I am to him.

 

That may be true historically, but I have gradually gotten closer and closer to my husband. I do not think it should be necessary to choose between my mother and husband, but life puts me in that position sometimes. I do not agree with how my mother locked up the money I have in my apartment. I think she should give me the option to sell it, but I do not have that option. She feels justified in what she has done. My husband and I have discussed this issue many times in the past. He wanted me to sue my parents for the money in the house, but I resisted doing that. I think a legal battle with my parents would only make the lawyers happy. Fortunately, my husband is not pushing me to pursue legal means now. Considering the circumstances, I do not think I have a legal case against my parents. I am just very unhappy with how they have locked up the assets I entrusted to their care many years ago.

 

 

My husband woke and got up, even though it is still in the wee hours of the morning. He was very loving towards me. We ate the rest of the apple pie together while sitting on the floor and talked. He has fallen asleep on the living room floor, so I am writing again. I was concerned about my marriage last night, but after our togetherness this morning, I feel more secure about the marriage. This morning, I found my husband’s new winter coat in a box in the second bedroom. I had checked all six wardrobe boxes, and it was not in any of them. I was getting worried that it might be lost for good as many of the boxes in the second bedroom are inaccessible right now. Then I found it.

 

Eating pie in the middle of the night is not helping my waist line, but eating together helped our marriage. We talked about what we can do for Christmas. My husband wants me to pick a favorite restaurant for the twenty-sixth. I have many to choose from in this area. My brother-in-law mentioned that there are many good restaurants near here. He used to work in this area and would like to live here himself. He saw the ad for our condo on the Internet and thought it was the best-priced real estate in our town.

 

 

I just took a short walk up and down the hallway on the first floor. I met two of my neighbors. One was a man who comes down daily from the fourth floor to get the newspaper for a very elderly gentleman who lives near him. We talked a bit. This was the third time I have seen him, once before, getting the newspaper, and once in the parking garage. The other neighbor was a lady from the first floor walking her dog. She was on her way out of the building. So I have now met people in four units on my floor and in three units from other floors.

 

I just installed the first shower curtain in the main bathroom. It looks beautiful. I like the brown and blue designer pattern we picked out, which goes well with our decor. The other shower curtain, which is identical to the first, will arrive in a few days. I will install that in the master bath.