Hello everyone!
It has been a very long and exhausting day. I have been entirely absent from all my social media platforms today because I was helping hubby and a family friend move his friend from her old apartment at the assisted living facility where she lived into her new one within the same complex. This friend of his is an elderly woman who moved from the East Coast to Arizona, then last year moved back to the East Coast because she was lonely and missed her family, only to move back to Arizona after a few months because of lifestyle differences between her and her family. It was from this woman I got my desk as well as the painted liquor cabinet in the living room and the large dresser in the bedroom, all of which serve me well.
The facility she lives in is quite large. There are four separate buildings standing at four stories each. Each building is arranged in a square around a large courtyard which includes a pool, a mini golf course, and plenty of places to sit and relax in the shade of trees. It looks quite nice on the surface, but it really is a house of death. The residents may socialize with their neighbors and friends, take part in activities and lead otherwise pleasant lives, but they ultimately come here to die.
While every unit gets cable TV, there is notably also no WiFi, though it appeared that the residents who do have computers can get an internet connection wired into their units. If there's one thing that scares old people more than death and florescent light bulbs (as was evidenced by the overwhelming number of incandescent bulbs in the residents' porch lights and light fixtures), its computers.
Most of the day was spent moving the woman's things from her second floor apartment in one building to a fourth floor apartment in the building she used to live in when we met her (it would have been funny if it was the same unit as before, but that one was currently rented out). She had moved into that second floor apartment upon her return to the facility, but moved out this month because she was being subjected to cigarette smoke from her neighbors, something she is allergic to. The facility has a no-smoking rule and has a special area 30 feet from the entrance of the building where residents can smoke, but the woman said it doesn't stop all the residents from lighting up at home.
I helped out where I could, which was somewhat hampered because I had the baby with me. When my hubby, our friend, and the woman brought boxes into the apartment, I helped her unpack them. I took full advantage of the clean empty living room to let the baby crawl around and have a big zoot. She is getting better at crawling on all fours, but still reverts to commando crawling when she's had enough. The baby appreciated it too since there wasn't anything in the way of her path and she could crawl to her heart's content. Since she was so wired up with excitement and activity from crawling, she did not take her nap but did not get cranky from exhaustion like she normally would. The baby did get a little drowsy as dusk fell, but she did not fall asleep until we put her in the car to go home. She did entertain us during lunch with her cute laughs, smiles, and babbling. In return, the woman talked and sang nursery songs to the baby in French which she'd learned growing up on the Caribbean island of Martinique. She sang these songs to her own children and grandchildren when they were babies too.
Despite the hard work we did, there were still three heavy pieces of furniture left in the old apartment. I went with hubby and our friend back to the old apartment, only to find that the building's elevator was broken and we couldn't go up to the second floor with the dolly to get the last remaining furniture out. My hubby took it as a sign from God that this was it for any moving work. He was beginning to feel sore from physical labor and short from his methadone wearing off. We said good night and left to go home, but not before alerting a security guard about the elevator since many residents in that building are of limited mobility and need that elevator to get to their apartments on the upper floors. She let us know she'd get the override key and check it out.
Sadly, I was not able to take pictures of the baby zooting around in the living room. Despite my phone showing a 100% charge when we left, during the 30 minute drive to the facility the battery was all but completely drained. Bewildered as to the cause, I couldn't even use the camera. I suspect my charger is messed up, though my phone is over two years old. My battery could be nearing the end of its life.
This being Lent, one thing we are called to do more of during this season of penance is to do more good works. Though I wished I could have done more, I try and take advantage of whatever occasions I can to be charitable. It's good to do good deeds for someone.
Thank you for reading this post and please don't forget to share, comment, and subscribe!
It has been a very long and exhausting day. I have been entirely absent from all my social media platforms today because I was helping hubby and a family friend move his friend from her old apartment at the assisted living facility where she lived into her new one within the same complex. This friend of his is an elderly woman who moved from the East Coast to Arizona, then last year moved back to the East Coast because she was lonely and missed her family, only to move back to Arizona after a few months because of lifestyle differences between her and her family. It was from this woman I got my desk as well as the painted liquor cabinet in the living room and the large dresser in the bedroom, all of which serve me well.
 |
| My space to write and do makeup |
The facility she lives in is quite large. There are four separate buildings standing at four stories each. Each building is arranged in a square around a large courtyard which includes a pool, a mini golf course, and plenty of places to sit and relax in the shade of trees. It looks quite nice on the surface, but it really is a house of death. The residents may socialize with their neighbors and friends, take part in activities and lead otherwise pleasant lives, but they ultimately come here to die.
While every unit gets cable TV, there is notably also no WiFi, though it appeared that the residents who do have computers can get an internet connection wired into their units. If there's one thing that scares old people more than death and florescent light bulbs (as was evidenced by the overwhelming number of incandescent bulbs in the residents' porch lights and light fixtures), its computers.
 |
| A computer is a transubstantiated Terminator |
Most of the day was spent moving the woman's things from her second floor apartment in one building to a fourth floor apartment in the building she used to live in when we met her (it would have been funny if it was the same unit as before, but that one was currently rented out). She had moved into that second floor apartment upon her return to the facility, but moved out this month because she was being subjected to cigarette smoke from her neighbors, something she is allergic to. The facility has a no-smoking rule and has a special area 30 feet from the entrance of the building where residents can smoke, but the woman said it doesn't stop all the residents from lighting up at home.
I helped out where I could, which was somewhat hampered because I had the baby with me. When my hubby, our friend, and the woman brought boxes into the apartment, I helped her unpack them. I took full advantage of the clean empty living room to let the baby crawl around and have a big zoot. She is getting better at crawling on all fours, but still reverts to commando crawling when she's had enough. The baby appreciated it too since there wasn't anything in the way of her path and she could crawl to her heart's content. Since she was so wired up with excitement and activity from crawling, she did not take her nap but did not get cranky from exhaustion like she normally would. The baby did get a little drowsy as dusk fell, but she did not fall asleep until we put her in the car to go home. She did entertain us during lunch with her cute laughs, smiles, and babbling. In return, the woman talked and sang nursery songs to the baby in French which she'd learned growing up on the Caribbean island of Martinique. She sang these songs to her own children and grandchildren when they were babies too.
 |
| The painted liquor cabinet is in the background, while a future athlete hopes to impress the world |
Despite the hard work we did, there were still three heavy pieces of furniture left in the old apartment. I went with hubby and our friend back to the old apartment, only to find that the building's elevator was broken and we couldn't go up to the second floor with the dolly to get the last remaining furniture out. My hubby took it as a sign from God that this was it for any moving work. He was beginning to feel sore from physical labor and short from his methadone wearing off. We said good night and left to go home, but not before alerting a security guard about the elevator since many residents in that building are of limited mobility and need that elevator to get to their apartments on the upper floors. She let us know she'd get the override key and check it out.
Sadly, I was not able to take pictures of the baby zooting around in the living room. Despite my phone showing a 100% charge when we left, during the 30 minute drive to the facility the battery was all but completely drained. Bewildered as to the cause, I couldn't even use the camera. I suspect my charger is messed up, though my phone is over two years old. My battery could be nearing the end of its life.
This being Lent, one thing we are called to do more of during this season of penance is to do more good works. Though I wished I could have done more, I try and take advantage of whatever occasions I can to be charitable. It's good to do good deeds for someone.
Thank you for reading this post and please don't forget to share, comment, and subscribe!
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