The fun hasn't stopped

Second week in Rochester. I got the load of clothes out of the folks house on Friday, and to the Salvation Army with Andrea's help. 17 large garbage bags of stuff. And there’s a bit more clothing to come.

Went over to visit with the folks on Saturday, and drop off some of the things from their house, that they can use. (They still had not put away the things I dropped off on Monday. So I think it’s time to stop bringing them things. We’ll put things in their storage unit and swap them out as necessary.)

Sunday, we spent some time trying to understand their finances, we think we have a good handle on that now. Greg & Andrea have been sorting through it all, Dad was in process of transferring from one bank to another when he had his stroke, so that has taken a while to resolve. G&A have been paying the bills, taking checks over for Dad to sign. They had a great start at understanding everything and getting access to some accounts.

Now there’s a list of things to do at the bank - getting access to all the accounts. Simplifying by combining a couple of accounts. And perhaps moving some money from savings to an account that makes them more income. So working that is on my plate for this week, plus working more at the house. I started finding things that should be kept or sold, instead of donated. And there is still a tremendous amount of junk to be discarded. 50 years worth of vases and baskets from flower arrangements, carefully stored and in great condition. But junk. And saved jars, and a huge amount of pots & pans. And I have still not even looked at Dad’s area in the basement. Full basement, his workbench area has grown to take a quarter of it. Piled with stuff.

Today I am picking the folks up and taking them to the optician, Mom is getting new glasses. Afterwards, Dad wants to go to the house and - here’s the big important thing - dig up 3 Gingko trees (twigs, actually) and get them in pots to take over to their apartment. I really really want to vent at them for all the crap that we’re wading through in the house, but that would not serve any good purpose. Hence, the blog!

And, Ellen wrote in an addition to my last entry, that I heartily echo - people, please get your photos in albums and label them as to place, date and who the heck these people are! I have found wads of pictures that I believe my Mom got when her Mom died in the early 80s. I don’t know who the people are, why we have their picture, where or when they were taken. So postpone the ironing or the lawn mowing and work a bit on what’s important - the family history and memories.