The "The Aftermath of the Move", edition.

Good Saturday morning!  The move is more or less over. Sort of. Kind of. Well. We've moved in. Cable and Internet were installed yesterday. The house was very quiet before yesterday. Lol. Except when Shawn played the video games. I watched her play Fallout for a while.  For the most past the move was fairly stress free. Here's what we've learned. 

When we called the cable company, we asked if they could lower the bill. Oh my!  Did they ever. It was lowered substantially and we got more stuff. We can talk to the remote to change channels or look for shows. And our internet capacity was doubled. And the wifi is panoramic...yes the guy had to explain it to us. 

The moving company. We used Two Men and a Truck. It was actually 3 men and a truck!  Lol. They worked their butts off. I'm amazed at how much furniture we had in the condo apartment. Anyway. The moving company was great. The price was good and the time estimate was almost spot on. The hiccups came with moving furniture out of the apartment. Only 1 elevator and it could not handle the large furniture. I did explain that when making the appointment that stairs would have to be used. And it was hot that day. 104-105 degrees. You know. Normal Las Vegas weather. When they arrived at the new house, they placed the furniture where we wanted and even put up with me having them adjust stuff. Total time to move...5 hours. 

Wayfair is evil. Sooo soo evil. In a good way. Lol.  And the products I purchased are fantastic!  Lol. It's starting to be a go to "store" for me. How did I get to Wayfair?  I asked Shawn to look for a Daybed for the 3rd bedroom/office. She came back with 2 minutes with a list of daybeds off of Wayfair. I noted it and filed it away. In the meantime, our bed frame died. Died an ugly death. My side of the bed dipped. Lol. So I needed to buy a bed. I turned to Wayfair. I ordered it. Now there were several options to the order. And yes, shipping is free...anyway. 1.  I can order the bed and we can assemble it. 2.  I can order the bed and the box will be delivered to the room, but we assemble it. Or 3. I can order the bed, have it delivered to the room and have someone come over and assmble it.  Wayfair gave me a delivery date. Well. One night after treatment I get a text that the bed was delivered...a day early...to the new house. Whoa. It was after 9pm. Brian drove to the house and sure enough the bed was there. Kinda hidden next to the front door. You'd have to see it to understand that the package really wasn't out there in the open, but still. Lol. I think it was UPS that did this. Brian put the box in the house.  He assembled it a few days later. And do I like my new bed?  I absolutley love it!!!!

And oh yes, I ordered the Daybed and a memory foam mattress for the office. It was almost timed for Shawn's arrival. Well.  The bed got here before moving day. The mattress was scheduled to arrive on moving day. Yay. Just what we needed. And arrive it did. After the move was overs Shawn and I went to pick dinner. And guess what was waiting at the front door when we returned. And yes Dad no Brian were home. UPS, what the heck?  Oh yeah. Brian assembled the day bed. I love it also. Anyway. I didn't have linen for the Daybed. We went the next day. Shawn slept on the couch. Now as I need (want) more items, I'm automatically turning to Wayfair. 

We all realized we have too much clothing. More to purge. And we have to go back to the house to just throwaway stuff.  And the kitchen. So.  Many. Spices. Lol. Canned goods come. Empty refrigerator and trash what's in there...but keep the freezer stuff. Lots of olive oils and vinegars. Yes we like to cook. And oh! Our new gas stove!  Whoo hoo!  

But you know what?  We're loving the new home. We're adjusting and having fun adjusting!  Got my new drivers license so I'm now officially a resident of Henderson!  Mail is coming to the new address. And I've even done my first dialysis treatment here. Must be home now!  Lol lol lol. 

Anyway. Thats it for today. Heading back to the condo today to clean out more stuff. On Monday I notify the cleaning lady to come and make the apartment nice and shiny.  And the Dad will get the carpet cleaned. The plan is coming together!!  Every evening we're tired, but it's ok. We're home!  And today is National Chicken Wing Day. You know what you have to do! :-D

It looks even better in person! 

The "Moving Day is Moving Day!", edition.

Good  Tuesday morning!  I'm doing treatment this morning to get it out of the way before the move. Afterwards we'll pack up the "portable" kidney machine and take it over. Tomorrow is the official moving day.  We've moved quite a bit of stuff over already. Most of the clothes, the small appliances, pots and pans, emptied kitchen cupboards ....whew.  The plan is for the movers to move furniture and a few boxes, some medical equipment...heavy stuff. 

Moving while doing home hemodialysis takes some planning and a lot of communications. When I use the machine, it's hooked up to the water system in my house to make dialysate. However, the water in the condo was tested and approved. The water in the new house needs to be tested. Until it's tested and approved we have to use pre made dialysate..in monster bags.  6-7 of them. And!  I will be unable to do nocturnal until the water has been tested and approved....because that would require a whole of bags. I know this nonsense to you, but it's something we have to plan for. We needed to go to the clinic to pick up the travel case to move my "portable" kidney. We'll leave the other part to the movers. So yeah. There's that. 

I've filled out the USPS change of address form online and it's effective today. I changed my drivers  license online with the DMV last week. Received my new license yesterday!  A few more places to notify but we're getting there. So. Tomorrow night we spend the night in our new home! 

And for a bonus, Shawn is in town!!  She has a new job in Oregon and is hanging with us for a few weeks. And she used the new house for her change of address. At least until she gets settled. In Oregon. Didn't see that coming!  And. We're going to join her on the drive to Oregon. Yay!  Planning for travel while on dialysis. Already let my nurses know. Lol. 

So my life...like everyone else's us a series of events that I need to plan for.  And let's add getting the condo ready fir our renters. Whee!  It never ends. Anyway. Have a great day. I'll be glad when the week is over! Oh yeah. 3 years ago on this day, I moved to Las Vegas. I see a theme here..........

What my kidney set up looks like now. That thing on the bottom uses the local water source to create the dialysate. 

This what I need when I travel....or move.  We have to use 6-7 of those bags. And check the travel case. 

The "Keep on Going!", edition.

Good Tuesday morning!  Remembered when I wrote these things every MWF?  Now I write..when I write!  Well first things first. Let me get the sad news out of the way. I lost 2 friends to cancer the last 2 days. One of the friends, our daughters took dancing lessons together when they were 3-4 years old at Toni's School of Dance Arts (who remembers that!!) And he took dancing lessons also. And he performed in the recital!  I was duly impressed. :-)  The second person lived across the street from me when we were kids. His family moved in a year or two after we moved in. He was about a year younger than me. Over the years, a lot of us from the neighborhood and elementary school reconnected thanks to Facebook. Roger and I reconnected. He found out I was in dialysis and I found out he was doing finishing chemotherapy. We supported each other. He got better and was moving on with life. Then this past spring the cancer returned. He always kept us updated. But then he disappeared. And I got concerned. And yesterday came the flood of entries I didn't want to see. It hurts. It makes me cry. 

So.  I can't stop. ESRD and dialysis may slow me down, but I have to keep going. I am doing everything I can to have a reasonable quality of life. And I have the support and love of my friends and family. That is much more important than I think most people realize. The love and support of friends and family help keep me strong. I am acutely aware of how much worse everything could be. Now with that be being said, I am also aware of how much I am doing...and how tired I can get!  Lol. But I can't seem to stop. And for the record, I am not unique among people with ESRD. But there are a lot of ESRD patients who have quite a difficult time, physically, mentally and financially.  We run the spectrum of what we do and what we cannot or will not do. And we are all aware that the state of our health could go bad very quickly. 

With that being said, now that the AKA Leadership conference is over, the move to the new house has gone into overdrive. No, we haven't moved into the house yet. Our target day is next Wednesday. You ask, what is taking so long?  Well, we've been over this.  We had the locks changed. Why does my house have 4 doors?  A door from the garage, a front door, and 2 back doors to the patio area.   Lol.  The gated doors had illegal locks, so the locksmith had to order new locks. Yes, all the door doors have gated doors...in a gated community. Hey. We're from Detroit. Lol.  The locksmith came back yesterday to finish installing the locks. I had a cleaning crew come in. We had to replace the garage door opener. We had to replace the gas stove. Brian had to wait for deliveries and installations while I was at the leadership conference. We also needed to fit in deep water fitness and the trainer.  And the rest of life. We also had to pick up the remotes for the gates to get into the gated community! 

Yesterday we went to deep water fitness, then we had to meet the locksmith back at the house. The parts arrived. He arrived just after 10 and was done in about 45 minutes. Then we had an alarm installed. He arrived just after noon. Lol. I need a class on how to operate the alarm. And now I have an app on my phone for tha house alarm!  Today Dad is getting the Cadillac service of carpet cleaning done. He and Brian just left. Why did Brian go?  He has to show Dad how to use the alarm!! Rofl. Oh yeah. And while we were waiting for the locksmith, Dad brought the jugs of water over. 

Tomorrow we have furniture deliveries. A sofa and rocker recliner from a local furniture store and a delivery from Wayfair. And yes, we all have been moving stuff from here to there. And! Shawn is driving fro Illinois to Oregon with a stop here. So we get a little more help!  I've planned for the movers to come next Wednesday. And Thursday we're headed to the DMV (shudder).  We will also need to contact the cable/internet company.  Dad has already made arrangements for his landline. Whew!  Did I mention I had more house now that furniture?  Lol. And we needed a new bed. Our bed has seen better days. 

Future plans?  Remove the curtains..that's immediate. Replace the blinds, add ceiling fans, replace the dining room light and the wall lights. Brian has a little plot to plant so here comes a herb garden. We have a backyard, so he'd also like a grill. But one thing at a time. Apparently when you buy a house, you get a bag o' projects!  Lol. And of course, one of the main reasons for moving..we're getting a dog!  A Westie puppy!  Whoo hoo!  

Well that's it for today. We're going to fit in a visit to the trainer. Heh. Yesterday we were tired. After dinner I fell asleep. Brian ended up taking a nap around 8 and not waking up until after 11. Oops. I let him sleep because he was tired. But. This meant I would end up skipping treatment. But!  My treatment is flexible. Hah! I'll do treatment after the trainer today. We make do, don't we?  We're all excited about moving. And we're ready to go. And!  We'll be renting the condo. How about that?  So even after we move, we still have stuff to do.  Lol. Anyway. It's cooled down because it's monsoon season. I'll explain that later. Lol.  Have a wonderful day!  

My new bed! 

The "It Was a Pink and Green Week!", edition

Good Sunday morning!  My hectic week is over. And yet, as hectic as it was for me, it must have been crazy busy for many others. My Las Vegas chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA) Theta Theta Omega Chapter(TTO) hosted the AKA semi-annual Leadeship Conference. My chapter of 130 members hosted 7000+!sorors! Of course we had help. Lol. But let me say this. The members of TTO who chaired committees did an excellent job. The national office met and planned and made many trips out here. And we got assistance from sorors in the Far Western region and other chapters around the country. 

We started signing up to volunteer for committees several months ago. I signed up for registration because I thought I'd be able to sit...knowing my stamina levels are not where I'd like them to be.  Stupid ESRD and dialysis. But there seemed there were a zillion committees!  (There were - lol). Anyway during the process I had to install a couple of apps of my phone for communication and other stuff. Technology! The conference was from Wednesday thru Saturday. The headquarter hotel was the Bellagio and the volunteers were able to register on Tuesday. 

Of course the Bellagio couldn't house all 7000+ AKAs plus assorted staff. Other hotels that turned pink and green were Aria, Vdara, Planet Holltwood, Caesars Palace, Bally's and Paris Las Vegas. That's a lot of AKAs. But remember at the boule last year there were over 20.000 of us! The Aria marquee tuned pink and green, the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign turn pink and green, the beautiful Bellagio fountains turned pink and green!  And I just revealed in all that pink and green!  

I worked registration and distribution and my intentions were good. The first day, Wednesday, I worked from 6:30 to just after 1:00. Another Soror and I passed out the goodie bags during the registration stream. There were 3 stations...registration, where we received our conference credentials, distribution, where we received our tshirt a and conference tickets and the goodie bag station..that's where I was!  We easily gave out over 1000 bags!  We enjoyed meeting and talking with sorors from all over the world, 

I crashed and burned by 1:00. My body literally failed me at that point. Brian was supposed to pick me up, but was still at the new house waiting for some deliveries. And I didn't want to have Dad navigate the strip to get me. And based on how long I had to wait on Tuesday for Brian to navigate the strip, I told Brian I'd just take a cab home. Now here's the kicker. I had to walk from the convention area at the Bellagio to the front. When you have absolutely no energy that's a hell of a long walk. When I get tired like that I get oh so focused on my destination. All I knew it was a long ass walk, but I made it and I got that cab. I have to thank my TTO sorors who saw I was in distress and assisted me. 

I was scheduled to work registration on Thursday and Brian joined me. He is a "Honey Do" and was prepared to help out as needed. (Honey do this, honey do that) The day before I noticed quite a few "Honey Dos" and some were proudly wearing their Honey Do tshirt!  Gotta get one for Brian!  Anyway. I did treatment Wednesday night. I was still pretty much wiped out. I arrived for registration duty and lasted about an hour and half on registration. :-(  Well. I tried. But even as I tried, I was upset, angry and really depressed about my inability to do more or participate more. Stupid ESRD and dialysis. By Friday, there was no need to registration as everyone who was coming had arrived. 

And then there was Saturday. The last day of the conference. Gala night!  Four locations, four concerts!! Terisa Griffin, DJ Vince Adams, Will Downing and Cameo. We had to select a concert when we registered. My choice was a no brainer. I could tell you that I've been to Will Downing concerts and Cameo concerts before and that would be a true statement. Brian and I saw Will Downing at Chene Park and had backstage passes. And I saw Cameo at an out door concert in Vriginia in 1983 (!) along with Roger and Zapp. But Brian had never been to a Cameo concert. So Cameo it was! 

We arrived at Bally's. The walk to the venue was tolerable. We were served dinner..a buffet. And a desert table that was impressive. And then we went into the concert venue. Heh. My sorors that came to see Cameo were the party starters!  Before the concert started, music was playing. The stepping started and the line of AKAs was long and loud!  And over in the corner the security guard was dancing!  And then Cameo came out!  

Lots of singing and lots of dancing. And I forgot just how loud a concert can be!  Lol. Let's just say we had a ball!! Party over here!!  

Well that's it for today. I've got more updates on the move, but the entry is long enough already!  Time for my TTO sorors to recover from a job well done.  I loved being in and being a part of all that pink and green. 

The "Random Facts About Life on Dialysis and Stuff", Edition.

Good Saturday morning. This is our 2nd stretch of excessive heat days, days over 110. Yesterday the official high was 116, but my car, which would never lie to me, indicated it was 120. Yikes!  When we returned home and got out of the car...in the covered garage, it felt as if we stepped into a furnace. I'm sure being in the direct  sun was unbearable. And yet people were walking around outside. I admit, I have an upper level of heat tolerance and I hit it yesterday. 

How is the move coming?  We are about a week from moving in. This past week we got the locks changed. The garage door guy came by and did his thing. We have a countertop stove that needs to be replaced, so a technician came by to determine want was needed, then we went and purchased the stove. Yesterday a cleaning crew came by. They were there almost 5 hours!  Yes, the seller had the house cleaned before it was officially vacated, but I wanted more.  The 2 ladies cleaned every inch of the house. When they finished it was...shiny!  And smelled good! Lol. They cleaned walls, cabinets, appliances, Windows...everything. 

Next week we have the stove installation, the alarm installation, and delivery of some new furniture. The locksmith has to return because he needed to order parts for the outdoor locks. And let's make this fun. Next week is the AKA leadership conference. I volunteered to work registration for 3 days. I also have 2 doctors appointments scheduled.  I got tired just thinking about it. We'll start moving stuff over next week. And Dad just left to start moving some of his stuff. He's excited!  I was concerned about moving him, but he's excited. And raring to go!  Lol. 

So on to dialysis random facts. I've been on dialysis since Novdmber 2012. Almost 5 years. The average life span of a dialysis patient is 5 years. Remember ..average. There are many people who've been on dialysis for decades. And some people get transplants. But yes, a lot of people die.  People on dialysis follow a strict renal diet.  Being noncompliant with the renal diet can be fatal.  Food high in potassium and phosphorous are off limits. We also have to watch our sodium intake and our fluid intake is limited..32 - 40 ounces a day. That's not a lot.  Especially in the desert. But here's a secret. Dialysis patients like ice. Lots and lots of ice!  We still have to watch the intake though. 

So you know foods high in sodium. Or do you?  Dialysis patients become masters at reading nutrition labels. High potassium foods include potatoes, oranges, tomatoes, avocado, beans, nuts, milk and some green vegeatables such as spinach and kale. Wait a minute. That's everything I like. :-(  well, not kale. Yuck. High phosphorous foods include dairy, nuts and whole grains. No whole wheat for me. 

I am supposed to eat lots of proteins, most vegetables, most fruits and carohydrates...imagine that. And there is one food that is toxic to all dialysis patients. Every single dialysis clinic I've ever gone to has a warning posted about STAR FRUIT. It will kill us. I'd never seen one before and I'm not looking for it now. There is a caveat. Once I got out of dialyzing in the center, I was/am able to have a less restrictive diet. That's because I'm dialyzing better and more often. I mentioned that earlier this year my potassium number had dropped too low....if or patients it usually too high. My dietitian directed me to eat high potassium food. Lol math at was hard to do. I'd been watching my potassium intake for years.  I had a banana  I felt guilty. Lol. 

How do I know my "numbers"?  We do a blood draw every month. Yes at home. Send the samples via FedEx to the lab and within a day or 2 I get the results via email. So I know the results before I meet with my team. The first set of results I received after doing home hemodialysis I was pleasantly surprised. I got some chocalafe to celebrate! Yeah, chocalafe is high in potassium and phosphorus.   But not only was I in range, I was on the low end!  And my dietitian was ok with it!  Whoo hoo!!!  

A large percentage of us don't urinate. Because our kidneys don't work. Some people have "residual function". They produce urine, but the urine does not flush toxins. It's just random fluid. Sometimes, like me, more and better dialysis removes all function. Once I started home hemodialysis, I stopped urinating. It's not a bad thing. Just an odd thing. Sometimes I still feel the urge, but there's nothing. After a transplant, the first thing that's looked for is pee. That means the new kidney works!  It could be immediate or sometimes it takes time for the new kidney to "wake up". 

The act of dialysis is rough on the body. Dialysis is taking 3-7 hours per session to do what our bodies do 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This shocks organs. Especially the heart. It's not unusual for people to have heart attacks and die during treatment. A lot of patients have a steady decrease of blood pressure during treatment. This happens because fluid is being removed. It can also cause mind blowing cramps. Either way, these are signs that we may pass out or as we call it crashing, soon. I experienced this with 2 weeks of starting treatment. I'd actually made it out of the clinic and then fainted in the hall. I eventually learned the telltale signs that crashing was imminent. But wait!  It can be stopped. Saline is introduced back into the body...adding fluid and sodium to raise the blood pressure. Yes, my BP has been as low as 60/40. Even now, I have chronically low blood pressure. My normal now is about 95/76. My team loves it when my systolic number climbs into 3 digits! 

Well. That's enough for now. This is a long entry. I have more random facts, but I'll do them another time. Brian went to class and Dad is checking out his new digs at the house and  I'm here by myself. Watching cooking shows!  Almost 10:30 AM and it already 106. :-[   Ugh. Have a great weekend and stay comfortable!  

The "The Reason Why", Edition.

Good Tuesday Morning!  Had an uneventful treatment last night. And that's a great thing. I feel fine this morning. Sometimes I get itchy. And when I get itchy I use benedryl. And it works but it also makes me drowsy. Ugh. For the record, I'm given benedryl for "conscious sedation" when I get the fistulagram and angioplasty. It also helps because I'm allergic to the dye. Found that out during the first time I did the procedure. Wasn't pretty. Yikes!  Had a blast during the procedure. We were talking about SpongeBob and The Smurfs. I digress. My neohrologist suggested I use Claritin. It should relieve the itching without the drowsiness and loopiness. We just keep forgetting to get the Claritin when we go to Walgreens. We're gonna get some today!!! (Famous last words - lol). 

So we bought a house. Well, we really bought a condo. A condo works for us because there are some things that the association takes care of. We're basically responsible for stuff inside the unit. So why, you ask, did we purchase a condo?  What about the condo you currently live in?  Well. The truth is, we always planned to purchase a condo. Before we moved to Las Vegas we tasked Dad to find a new condo. Our requirements were 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, single story and allowed dogs. Dad added his own requirements...gated community and 55 and over. O. K. That threw a monkey wrench in the house hunting. I actually was aware of  condo community that fit the bill, but supposedly his real estate agent drew a blank. And let's just add that the reason I knew the community existed is that a friend of my parents lived there. We went there for Thanksgiving one year!!!  But ok. I got the message. Dad wasn't ready to be uprooted at that time. And we all fit into the apartment. I switched out some furniture to make all rooms usable...my mom was old school. A living room was a living room. But I actually made it a living room. Lolololol.  Anyway. 

We were doing fine. But eventually the dialysis equipment was taking over. We all started having storage problems. Where to put lawn chairs, luggage, groceries, shoes, you name it. And the defining event was the pool and hot tub were getting repairs. And the horror!  The hot tub wasn't ready in April when Dad was ready to start up!  He was over the HOA board and to be honest they are a doozy! Dad tells me one morning that he's ready to move.  Ok. So one day at a sorority committee meeting I asked my sorors if anyone knew a realtor. Lol. Oh yeah they did. They knew several. After much debate, they settled on one. They gave me her phone number. And the realtor was contacted and they gave her my number. Guess who called me later that evening!!!  And we're off. 

She set up a system where I received lists of available properties. Easily 50 properties were sent for me to look at. In the end, we visited 5 properties. My original request was for a condo. And in our travels, Brian and I found several condo communities that fit our preferences. They were hidden gems. We let the realtor know. Properties would come up and I'd literally would have to drop everything to look at them. 

The first property was what I wanted where I wanted when we moved to Las Vegas. In Las Vegas. The price I wanted. It needed work, but hey, we watch HGTV.  Lol. What stopped us was the seller had lien that they wanted us to eat. Oh hell no!!  The next property was ok, but I was iffy on the neighborhood and "gated" was well yes and no. The third property was a single family home. We actually liked it. I was gonna install a hot tub for Dad. I digress. It was a bank owned foreclosure. We got out bidded. The fourth property was in a community similar to the first one.  The communities are called Sunrise Villas. There are nine (?) Sunrise Villa communities in the area. It was fine. We made a bid. Then.  We got the inspection report. Yikes!  It needed a new roof and there were foundation issues. Let's just say the cost of the inspection was money well spent. The bid was withdrawn. 

Well. One day I getting my manicure and pedicure and get a phone call. A unit has opened up in my original community in Henderson. Can I meet her there...now. Lol. Well I'm sort of across town, but I say give us 30 minutes.  And in 30 minutes we're there. I need to add we always had issues trying to enter the security codes into the gates, but we made it. We got to the property after getting lost in the subdivision. Anyway. First thing we see is a back porch and then a two car garage. We did the walk through. It was what I expected and more. And you should have see all of us looking up at the roof and checking out the foundation.  lol. And yes.  There is a pool and a hot tub. Actually 2 of them. And the hot tub is in good walking distance for Dad. 

We made a bid. Bid accepted. Got the inspection. Inspection passed. Got the mortgage. Got the appraisal. Wired money to escrow. Asked buyer to pay for a few minor repairs. Go to title company on Wednesday. Got the keys on Friday. Buyer has the unit cleaned. We just bought a house!!!  Did we get the space we needed?  Oh yeah. The kitchen is larger. We now have a breakfast nook and a formal dining room. A living room, of course. 3 bedrooms. Yay! But wait, there's more!  We have a den!! And 2 full bathrooms and a powder room. Lol. We have space alright. We now have more rooms than furniture!!  

We're excited and kinda overwhelmed. But we're doing what we need to do to move. And I need to really give a shout out to my real estate agent, my Soror, China Frazier. She was on it all the time. And she knows people!  Locksmith, moved, etc. She was with us and kept us informed the entire time.

 Well, that's it for today.  You know I have more stories about this journey, but I'm going to stop for now. Last night we had fresh cabbage, corn on the cob and cornbread. Yum!  But tonight is the broiled  shrimp boil. Yum!  Happy Fourth of July, ne safe and have fun!!

Lol. This. Fingers tried to cramp! :-D

The "What Was I Thinking!!", edition.

Good Saturday morning!  Had a good run last night and even went with Dad and Brian to the weekly Saturday Morning casino trek. I hadn't been in a few weeks. Why, you ask?  Well let's start with Brian convinced  me to take a drawing class...on Saturday morning...at 9:00 AM. That meant I'd do treatment Friday night. Finish about 5:00 AM,  then head out to the casino around 6:30.  Stay for an hour and get back in time to head off to the three hour drawing class. Well something had to give. And as much as I'd like to pass on my dialysis treatment, that's not the one to give up!!!  So it was the casino visit.  So what was different about today?  No class due to the holiday weekend!!  Well I shouldn't sound that excited. I actually like the class. Lol. But I can't do everything. And can I live with that. 

So now that we've established that I can't do everything, I decided it was time to move. Lol. As of yesterday we are now the proud owners of a new, single story townhouse. You know, as I wired that down payment, I asked myself, what am I thinking?  Brian and Dad convinced me it was a good thing! So you want to know how I got here don't you?  In a nutshell we outgrew the apartment. It was probably ok until I started home hemodialysis. We are overrun by supplies.  In closets, behind furniture....it just keeps on coming. And if Shawn comes to visit, she gets to sleep in the living room...no privacy.  So......

In April I asked some of my sorority sisters if they could recommend a real estate agent. Of course they could!  They could recommend several. Lol. They decided on one and gave me her contact information.  And she was given my contact information. We talked within the week and we were off and running. Yes, I had a preference of what and where I wanted.  She put me on a "drip" and I immediately started receiving listings via email. 

I selected some homes and we looked at them. There eventually were 4 homes that I was interested in. The first was in a condo community I'd liked for quite some time. It needed work, but I was willing to get it done. ( I watch way too much HGTV ). Unfortunately a lien was on the house and the seller wanted the buyer to pay for it. WTF?  Lol. No. This one was out!  The second was a single family home. We were outbid. Boo. The third selection was also in a condo community, but alas, it failed inspection, including needing the roof replaced...not repaired, replaced. Ugh. No thanks. You'd think I'd have house hunter fatigue, but I didn't. 

A few weeks ago, while in the middle of a manicure, the agent calls and says a unit has opened up in the original condo community I wanted. And yes this is an all together different community. This one is in Henderson. The others were all in Las Vegas.  We raced from the salon and met her at the condo.  It was what I wanted and more!  We made an offer and it was accepted!  It passed inspection!  The appraisal was good. A few things needed to be addressed and the seller agreed to pay for it. And yesterday, we got the keys to our new castle! 

Lol. Now the fun begins. The house was cleaned, but I am having it cleaned again. The locksmith will be there Monday. Did I mention it was a gated community?  Did I mention Dad selected his bedroom? We're moving from a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment to 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a den (!), a 2 car garage and more. Whoa... There are some things we need to address immediately. Like a new stove. Other things we'll get to. But we're ll excited. But what did I get myself into? I now have more house than furniture....

On the dialysis front, I have to schedule the moving within my dialysis schedule. In addition, the dialysis nurses have to inspect the new house and the water has to be tested. Sometimes when I think about all that has to be done I get overwhelmed. But Dad and Brian say everything will be fine. And!!  Shawn will out here soon to help, so I think it will be alright!  And finally the real reason we moved.  We all want a dog!!!! And we can have up to 3 pets in this community. Yay!  And yes, Dad still has the hot tub!  No I'm not getting three dogs....right now. ;-)  

That's pretty much for today.  You see now that after all of my regular activities and house hunting, I've been tired, so forgive me for being lax with the blog.  Lol. And until we get settled in, I will still be lax. Have a great holiday. We're going to do a sheet pan shrimp boil for July 4th. Whoo hoo!  

Front. No inside pics yet. It's empty. I should have taken a photo of the jetted tub!  :-D

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