Life Is Too Complicated

I know I shouldn't be complaining, considering all the trouble my fellow citizens on the East Coast are having due to Hurricane Sally.  (I guess I am, though.  Sorry.)

My life has been so complicated this week that my head is spinning.  I have been trying to help my mom with paperwork and legal matters resulting from David's death.  Also have been trying to keep her company from a distance because she gets so lonely in the house by herself.  My sister and I have been driving back and forth from our homes to Mom's, about an hour and a half away, bringing her down here to visit then back to catch up with things at home.  To complicate things, my sister has to work five days this week, so she is unavailable.

My sister Anne usually works only one day a week, Friday.  That is the day I pick up my three nieces from school.  They go to two separate schools which are across town from each other, and they all get out at 3:00.  So I go nineteen miles from my house to the youngest niece's school, then rush across town to get the oldest niece and get her to gymnastics practice.  Then I go back to that school at 4:30 to get the middle niece.  She is on the academic team and has practice until 4:30 on Fridays.  Then I get them something to eat, take them to their house, then drive back home.  Yesterday, I clocked the mileage from these routine trips:  70 miles!

Well, this week Anne has to work all five days to cover for her boss, who is on vacation.  That means I have to pick up the three girls every  day.  They each have different after-school activities at different times each day of the week.  So I have to keep straight who has to go where and when.  Her husband is unavailable to help this week because he is in Belize on a fishing trip.

Mom wants to be at my sister's house for Trick or Treat tonight so she can see the girls in their costumes.  So I am driving up to Dayton to pick her up, then pick up the girls from their schools and take the oldest one to gymnastics.  Tomorrow morning, I will drive Mom home in time to meet with a man from the cemetery to arrange for David's grave marker at 10:30 a.m.  She is grateful for my help and I am happy to help her.  She wants to sell her house to David's sons, but doesn't want to move to an assisted living place or an apartment because she doesn't want to spend the money.  My sister said Mom could come and live with her, but her husband says she has to clean out the basement first so he can put a kitchen in.  Mom wants to live three months a year with each daughter, but my husband and I don't have enough bedrooms, another sister lives four hours away, and another lives in a tiny, cramped condo.

I want to get everyone settled, have my oldest niece get her driver's license next year, and move to Hawaii.  I told them they can all come and visit.