Whew! All the odds and ends and bits and pieces have been moved and stowed
in the folks' new home. So far I have found no breakage (pretty great with
my dad's amateur packing) and only a few essential things that have
disappeared into odd boxes and not discovered yet.

I took the advice of folks here on the NG to do as much unpacking as
possible before they arrived so my dad can focus on my mom (for those new
here, we think she's in early stages of AD -- awaiting visit with competent
doc to confirm). The kitchen will be squared away by the time they arrive on
Monday afternoon. It would be sooner, but I am washing everything,
regardless of how it was packed. In recent months the household hygiene
factor had slipped, so I'm taking advantage of the chance to run everything
through the dishwasher. Their bedroom is all set up as far as linens on the
bed and all clothing put away. There are still a few decorative touches, but
I'm not so worried about that.

While we were loading up yesterday, Mom kept wandering around looking lost.
She really wasn't feeling physically well enough to help (she's three weeks
post-pacemaker implantation). I finally got Dad to take her away for a
little bit on a pretense of getting lunch for the crew. (Well, they DID get
lunch, but it wasn't a two-person job <G>.)

I took the liberty of revising her floor plan and eliminating some of the
extra tables and clutter. (She told me if everything didn't fit, to do the
best I could. her definition of "fit" and mine are very different, however.
<G>) The living area looks nice and airy and calming, without all the
pictures. We put those in an office closet "for safekeeping." There are a
bunch of boxes in front of the closet, though, so it will be a while before
they can be hung. (Yes, I *am* devious.) We'll see if the reduced clutter
helps her.

My aunt and uncle came to help, as well as two old friends from a former
church of my dad's. They were all stunned at the changes in both my parents,
which is sad, but made me feel less like the crazy, paranoid, overprotective
daughter.

However, <RANT ALERT> my brother, who had promised to help, called Wednesday
to say he could help load yesterday but not unload today because he has
decided to move this weekend as well. (There are no reasons why he could not
have moved a few days from now -- no job until July 1.) That ticked me off
enough, but when we pulled out of their driveway at 3 pm yesterday, he had
still not showed up to help. He lives three hours away, and he called at
11:30 am to say he was just then leaving. Bear in mind I live five hours
away, my aunt and uncle six hours away, and we all found it possible to be
there before 10 am. Even our two helpers from four hours away got there by
11 am. It only confirms what I suspected before -- expect no help from that
quarter!

Anyway, onto the next challenge. Thanks for being there!

Songbird