BUSY WEEKS AHEAD

21 July 2010

Have been in Ohio for nine weeks, now - helping Laura and her family. Thankfully, she has made some improvement since I've been here. She's throwing up a lot less and she hasn't needed IV fluids for over three weeks. (When I first got here she needed extra fluids about every six days.) And, she seems stronger - though not yet ready to take on all the demands of a mother with three pre-schoolers.
I've had the opportunity to take Sophia and Holly to swim lessons this summer and to see them become more comfortable in the water and begin swimming. And, yesterday, Laura and I went through some boxes of fall/winter clothes to determine what the girls need for the cooler seasons approaching.
This part of Ohio is so much cooler (and generally more overcast) than either North Carolina or Virginia. We haven't seen too many really summery days since I've been here.
Sophia is very excited (and a little nervous) about starting kindergarten in a few weeks. She and Holly are looking forward to continuing in their dance classes this fall and Lucy seems so much bigger than just a few weeks ago. Its amazing how fast they're all growing - even though I've been with them every day.
In one week I head back to Virginia. (Susy is planning to be here to help Laura part of the month of August - then we'll see whether I need to return or not.) I'll only be home a few days then Bob and I will leave for North Carolina to get our house there ready to sell. I'll be packing up lots of things to take so we can stage the house for showing. Bob has already checked on renting a U-Haul and I've been making lists of what we need to pack. We hope to have everything in place so the house is ready to show by August 7. We've arranged for the walls to be painted and the carpets to be replaced then we'll do the staging. Bob will head back to VA on the 8th and I'm staying a week after that to oversee some things. We feel optimistic that the townhome will sell quickly.
We've also learned that we have to vacate the townhome we're renting in VA at the end of our lease (Oct 30) so we have another move coming up as well. When I get back to Virginia in mid-August, I'll go ahead and start packing up stuff to prepare for that.
Lots of transitions ahead. . .
For nearly two years now I've felt a bit displaced - and have spent a good part of that time living out of a suitcase. I hope when we get settled into a new place at the end of October, we can stay there for a while.