Planning For Dad

I have a new bed bought and the new guest room all cleaned out for it.  I have the travel plans all set.  I have the never-ending kibble feeder cleaned and ready.  There are normally 4 litterboxes and I have 4 more cleaned and ready for fresh litter.  There are water bowls and a big bubbler water bowl ready to be set on the floor

The cats will only be left for 2.5 days.  Sometime this month (I do not know when - depends on Dad's rehab report at the hospital), I will be gone for 2.5 days.

Dad will be here for "X" years until he needs better help than I can give.  But the exact day is not yet known.  It won't be THIS night, or tomorrow, so I will waste off tonight with playing Risk and Scrabble online.  Because I think it will be a weird week getting Dad up here with me, and I deserve a blow-off night.

I expect to get up about 2 PM tomorrow.  LOL!

I go to pick up Dad's new bed ("firm" as he likes it) on Tuesday.   It only took an hour at a local bed store to get the best combination of bedframe, foundation and mattress that matched what he is used to (and I don't want to change what he is used to).  And it wasn't terribly expensive ($700 all told) and its hard to get a decent one less than that. He will be a bit annoyed that the headboard and footboard seem "fancy and expensive", but it was the simplest one I could find in "twin" size, so he should like that.  He's miserly, and hates any spending.  But it was the simplest one I thought he would be comfortable in. 

So I am set for him at least 2 weeks ahead of arrival.

Watching the cats adjust to Dad will be interesting.  Fortunately, he only shuffles his feet, so he won't be stepping on him.  And quite frankly, if they can't stay out of his way when he shuffles his feet along, it THEIR problem.  Seriously, if they can get stepped on by Dad shuffling his feet slowly, they deserve it.

The whole group of us 3 children are participating in getting Dad from FL to MD, each doing some part with their own abilities.  That's the good thing.

Brother Matt doesn't mind driving, Sister Susan is good at emptying old houses for sale, and I am good at planning trips, arranging to shut off services, etc.  And I'll be having Dad here which will be a lot of daily personal effort.

This will be the biggest change in my life in 30 years...