Exile Day 2 - 2.5

Wednesday morning. We are half way through our adventure.  We really are getting the hang of things here. This house is fully equipped with all the staples, supplies, washing machine and everything else we could need.  There is no hot water this morning, but I will put Steve on that case when he wakes up. The cold shower certainly woke me up, though! (update – Steve fixed it)

We do not have internet access or television. I don’t care about the television but I do miss the internet. I can get and send email and post pictures to facebook on my phone, but nothing else.  Yesterday Maggie and I rode all over the place looking for a Starbucks so I could get some documents sent.  I did see a restaurant with free wi-fi, but I did not know what I would be walking into and Maggie is often a lot for people to handle. If one is sitting down to a full breakfast, they might not want the suction machine next to them. Starbucks is a known commodity; people are coming and going and generally not eating.  After searching for a Starbucks to the west and north, we finally found one about a mile South of here. Of course, when I told Steve he said there is one about 6 blocks to the east.  Go figure.  Today will be faster.

The mornings start cool and overcast but this sun comes out before noon. Yesterday seemed a little hotter, maybe mid 80s so we delayed heading into our backyard paradise. Even though we had Maggie in the shade on Monday, her arms and face were a little red. I did not want her in the sun too long because she’s such a delicate flower. We probably headed back there around 4:00, but we did not come back in until 7:30 or so. Maggie had specifically asked to go swimming but we needed to wait for Steve to come home. I just do not feel confident getting her in and out of the pool by myself. We have to keep her trach above the water level so a little slip could be disastrous.   She was only in the pool for a few minutes, but she had a fantastic time.

We stayed in the yard and barbecued steak that I purchased at a local butcher.  It was amazing.  As the guy was ringing up the steak, I spied some fresh Portuguese sweet bread and bought it for Steve. We also had fresh zucchini from the amazing vegetable garden in the yard. We were told to help ourselves to the veggies and we took that seriously. I told our friends/hosts that we have to come back next month because the tomatoes are not yet ripe.

Today my sister is coming to visit and we will likely have a largely repeat performance of yesterday.  Somehow, we will muddle through this horror. 

Steve stopped by our house Monday night to check on the work on the floors. The sanding is complete and the first coat applied. We asked for three coats, which should be done by tomorrow morning. They will be dry enough for us to return on Friday morning. Then I will have internet and TV, but I will have to leave the sunshine, swimming pool and vegetable garden here. Hmmmmmm.

Exile Day 1

WOW.  I did not know my body could be quite so tired. Getting out of the house with all the necessary supplies and cleaning out the entire downstairs of the house was not easy.  As we stood in the empty house waiting for the floor contractor, I silently fretted that he would not show up. I had no reason to think that other than fear.  Can you imagine? We would have been up the proverbial creek.  He did show up, right on time, and started filling my house with his equipment.

Maggie, Steve, Brisco (the dog) and I headed to the east bay to stay at a friends’ vacant, but furnished (!) house.  We drove downtown in separate cars so Steve could leave his at his office and drive across the bridge with us. I have to have another person in the car with me if we are driving very far because Maggie needs assistance.  We arrived, unloaded the car and then took Steve to the BART station so he could commute back to the City to go to work. We did not even bring Maggie into the house at first. 

Getting Maggie into this house was not as easy as I imagined it would be. There are only five steps, and then it is all one level. I knew I could not get her up five steps in the chair. I thought once I took her out of the chair getting the chair up those steps would not be a problem. Wrong. I could not get it up the stairs by myself. Steve laid out these two planks to roll the chair up. Classy, right?  I am sure my new neighbors are quite impressed with the new kids in town. 

Note -- this would NOT be done with Maggie in the chair, which would be extremely unsafe and probably impossible.  

Even using the planks, I could not do it. It was too steep of a pitch and the planks were too narrow. Finally, I took all the equipment off the back and pulled chair up backwards.  That worked but it was a very physical endeavor.  I had to  carry Maggie in (76lbs), pull all the equipment off and carry that in (50 lbs) and then hoist the chair up (105 lbs) backwards  Very hard on my decrepit shoulders. I did it twice on Monday and will likely have to do it twice every day. Maybe not, though. Once we are out, we could stay out or at least keep the chair out until dinner. We can bring Maggie in for her treatments and meds and leave the chair in the back yard.

Speaking of the back yard – it is fantastic. Amazing. Yesterday we sat under a tree near the pool and I dozed in the chair. The yard is big enough and nice enough to hold a wedding. That is where you will find me every afternoon this week. It is a bit overcast in the morning but yesterday the sun was out by noon and it was a perfect afternoon, probably high 70’s with just a hint of a breeze.

Mercifully, nurses for both shifts showed up so I got some sleep last night. If I can do that another couple of nights I will recover, and then we can move back into our house.   That might start the exhaustion all over again, but not necessarily.  Other than the basic furniture, there is no rush to get everything back together.  We can do that leisurely.

And I am into leisure.