Update #10, Everything here! It’s over! 10/19/15

It’s been more than a month since I last wrote an update.  So much has happened, and I kept thinking I would catch up, but I never did.  Here comes the past month.

We spent several days working through all the things that finally arrived from China.  After we sorted it all and began to find places for it, we had a blast remembering some of our experiences that flashed back as we set the stuff out for display.  It’s nice to have a bigger wardrobe selection to pick from also.  We had grown really tired of living out of only what we had been able to pack in our suitcases.

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Some of the art we bought and pictures we took in Hong Kong.

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Some art we bought in Russia, and pictures we’re considering pairing with them on one of our walls.

Judy’s left leg had been bothering her since April, while we were still in Beijing.  She found an orthopedist, and scheduled a visit.  He checked out the problem and sent her for an MRI.  The MRI report showed some serious issues with her knee and worn cartilage.  She never even thought the problem was her knee.  The pain had been centered in her muscles, above and below the knee.  The diagnosis was a “knee replacement”.  The surgery took place Thursday, Oct. 8.  There’s no sense wasting time.  Her rehab has gone well.  A physical therapist has been visiting, and Judy’s walking up and down the hallways of the building.   He tells her she’s making great progress, but she’s not so sure.  She’s never handled strong medicine well, and the painkillers, however good they are, have side effects she’s not fond of.

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Our estate/liquidations sale organizer found a place to put our stuff from storage and sell it.  We went to the storage warehouse Monday, Sept. 28, and sorted through it.  There were three workers opening up the 14 “vaults”, and pulling it out.  We sorted everything into two piles, “sale”, and “condo”.  It was weird looking at stuff from our 40 years of marriage, and deciding to keep it or sell it.  It took about 4 hours to complete the sort.  We left, and they loaded it into two trucks for delivery the next day.

Judy met the “condo” delivery, and I went to the estate sale site for that delivery.  Both deliveries went well.  The estate sale is scheduled for Oct 23-25.  They have a little over three weeks to unbox, sort, put together, and price all of our stuff, as well as the family’s stuff that moved out of the house where the sale is being held.  I’m glad it’s not me.

Back at the condo, we worked furiously, finding a place for everything that remained of our past.  When everything was delivered, we dumped some of it into a second storage cage.  After putting everything in the condo away, we had to reduce our two storage cages, down to one.  We were in a race against time as well – the scheduled knee surgery.  We need to finish everything before Judy is “out of commission” on Oct. 8. 

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At the same time I began my part-time duties as a mentor for 6 FWISD schools.  I’m assigned to visit each school once a week, providing help and support as needed.  Five of the schools are close, so the commute is easy.  It’ll take me a while to figure out the schedules and how to best help them.

Last week I mixed the new job with Judy’s rehab, so my days were pretty full.  This past weekend, I flew to Amarillo and judged the Region 1 UIL Marching Festival.  It was a really full day with 38 bands, scheduled every 15 minutes.

Everything is here, from China, and storage.  We have lots of projects to work through.  Judy’s knee surgery was successful and her rehab is going well.  I’ve got a part-time job that will keep me “in the game”.  Our “Trip to China” is officially completed.  Sometime soon I’m going to sit down and summarize the whole wonderful experience, but right now, it’s time for Judy’s next round of “meds”.