Easter update from the Mitten

Last updated on: April 18, 2017 at 8:52 pm by Jane the Actuary

Easter update from the Mitten 2017-04-18T20:52:46-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here’s just a bit of a catch-up; as you might have guessed from my lack of posting, I was away over the weekend, specifically, at my parents’ in Michigan. (Note to readers: my parents do not read this blog, nor, to the best of my knowledge, do any relatives, and, since I blog under the name “Jane the Actuary” rather than my own last name, I feel comfortable that I’m not indirectly disclosing their identity and invading their privacy.)

To be honest, it was tiring.

We got there Friday at lunchtime, having left super early to avoid the Chicago rush hour. The good news: there was virtually no moldy food in the fridge. The bad news: there was virtually nothing in the fridge at all. So we went off to Noodle & Co. for lunch, then came back, and, well, my husband started sorting through the accumulated mail to find the necessary tax forms, and I started cleaning the bathrooms — which, to be sure, was a suitably Good Friday activity, being penitential and all, but was not exactly what I had planned on — along with additional time spent on the kitchen, piles of papers on the kitchen table, and various other projects.

To be sure, it wasn’t all cleaning. We went to church Friday evening, grocery-shopped Saturday morning and went with the youngest to a local science museum and planetarium Saturday afternoon, while my husband and older boys went on a long hike in their ongoing Philmont (Scout Ranch) conditioning efforts. Saturday night we played a game of UNO, and Sunday we had a nice though simple Easter Dinner before packing up while supervising the kids following Grandma’s instructions on where to put the freshly-folded laundry, then heading home.

So all those thoughtful posts about Easter by my fellow Patheos bloggers — yeah, I missed that. Maybe they all missed that, too, and their posts were all written in advance, but I was irritated that Easter just didn’t feel very Eastery.

The good news was that my husband was able to find all the tax documents, so their taxes are done for another year. And Dad also voiced a feeling of being ready to start at least looking at some sort of “senior housing,” in part because his older brother has now done so. Mom, unfortunately, is another story.

Part of the trouble is that it’s not so easy to figure out a way to “try out” senior housing living. There is one CCRC around us that offers a 90-day trial, but only with the smaller units that they’d find “too small.” Maybe there are other places that are more purely rentals, where they could sign a short-term or month-to-month contract? Maybe even a “regular” rental (e.g., an apartment in a suburban “downtown” area) would help them get a feel for how much they would really miss not being in “their home.” Conceivably in such a case they could pay the rent for a couple months without selling their existing house; perhaps for a longer term they could rent out their home, though this would require a lot more work than even selling it — that is, they’d have to downsize and discard or place in storage much of their belongings in any case, but if they sold their home we could all decide together whether to remodel or sell as-is, whereas if they rented it out it’d require a major overhaul to find tenants (bathroom remodel, new flooring, remove the wallpaper, etc.).

So we’re still stuck.

Oh, and we’re watching the weather forecast for a planned Cub Scout campout this weekend that we may cancel on account of the forecast unseasonably-cold weather.

And how ’bout that GA-06 special election, eh?

How was your Easter?

Uncategorized

Easter

family

Previous Post

April 13, 2017

So, the dairy industry has a point, actually

Next Post

April 19, 2017 Dysfunctional Japan, again: school bullying

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the strongest man in the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses Goliath David Samson