Highway Robbery!

I am becoming appalled at the rising cost of absolutely everything!  

This morning my mother called with what I thought was the fabulous news that a bachelor suite is coming available for her to move into as of April 1st.  My husband and I grabbed our calendar, preparing to slate in a trip to her city the last week of March to get her moved and settled, old things gotten rid of, new more size appropriate furniture for the teeny tiny 369 square feet of space.  Then Mom dropped the rest of the information on us and the conundrum it is posing for her: the cost of the bachelor suites has risen by 500 dollars per month over what it would have been had she been able to move into one before the end of last year.  Short version: instead of saving 900 dollars a month by making the move, she will only save 400 dollars a month.  What a slap in the face.

We spec'd out the approximate cost of calling in the fellow who hauls away all the furniture and dishes and small appliances she would be getting rid of, the cost of the replacment furniture and some other associated costs and at this point it appears that she will have to live in the new suite for at least a year before she will actually be saving any money at all, after the stress of the move, the downsizing into very cramped quarters etc. My mother is 92 years old and not in the best of health any more. She said she doesn't want to just take the easy way out by not moving, but it seems a bit lame all the way around to do so.

She has to render her decision four days from now.  She has seen the suite and the woman in there right now has a full sized refrigerator, rather than the usual bar sized mini-fridge in the studios.  She wants to leave the full sized refrigerator behind, which appeals to my mother.  However the shock of the huge raise in rent that has come in has made Mom think twice about the sense of making the move.

She will talk to Dad about it today and tomorrow and she will let us know her decision by the end of the week.

Personally I think it is ridiculous to put herself through all the hassle of a move into such an overpriced, cramped cell of a suite to only start saving money a year from now. She is so comfortable where she is now. Although Dad has lived longer than expected by a couple of months all ready, he isn't going to live forever and neither is she.  If Dad dies before she does there is no reason financially for her to move and if she dies before he does, well then why hasten her demise by making the next year more stressful than it needs to be.  The mercy of living in Canada is that if they run out of money while either of them are still alive, they will not be out in the streets. They will be in a government facility that may be less than ideal, but they will be housed and fed.  Who knows? A miracle could still happen either for them to remain in good care homes, or for us so that we can ensure they are taken care of properly.  God is still God.  Jehovah Jireh! His grace (in whatever form it takes) is sufficient for us all.

And so we pray and wait for the end of this week. 

I spent my afternoon on the phone with my cell phone provider discovering why my cell phone expenses were through the roof for January and February.  I am on a pre-paid plan and use my cell phone rather rarely, so the amount of money taken out of my carefully built up account at the end of February was shocking to me.  However, I was able to contact an amazing representative named Theodore who checked into my account and went over it with me day by day for the entire two months.  What a fabulous fellow, so respectful, in no hurry, clear in his explanations.  It was a treat to talk to him and find out what happened.  Now I know. All is well.  I have to change a couple of things I am doing when I make calls from other provinces on holidays and family trips due to a rise in cost of some of the charges as of January of this year.  I am glad I got off my lazy butt, checked my fear of not asking the right questions and looking like and ignorant fool, made the call and got things straightened out on my own instead of deferring to my husband to do it for me.  A couple of times lately I have wimped out of things and realized I am turning into my mother, who let Dad do all that sort of "straightening out" stuff for her because she hates the possibility of confrontations or of having to admit she still doesn't "get it" when talking to representatives of various agencies over the phone.  At the age of 92 she has to learn how to seek out information and solve her own problems and it is a bumpy learning curve for her, as bright as she still is mentally.  I have to avoid that trap of relying on my husband to do my digging and confronting when necessary, tempting as it is these days.  

Our day began with sunshine and the hope of a melting of all the ice that formed yesterday in the freezing rain and sleet, but this afternoon the dark clouds rolled in and there are snow flurries once again, mixed with the occasional bit of rain.  My dear husband is now having a nap so that he will feel up to driving back out to his parish early this evening for the first of the ecumenical Lenten Bible studies there.  At least he isn't leading this one.  He just has to show up. I hope he can get away home again before the wet highway and city streets begin to freeze up for the night.

Chicken for dinner tonight!  YAY! SaveOn had some excellent free range chicken available a couple of days ago, so I bought a small pack.  Yum!  We will have carrots and rice with it, maybe some Greek seasoning or else a mustard and soy sauce mixture on the chicken.  I have some good salad veggies. It will be a simple but filling meal.

A couple of days from now we are taking a couple from my church out for Indian food at DarBar.  They will enjoy the lunch platters there I think.  They have hosted us at their sumptuous home twice now. I can't bear to have them over here, trying to balance themselves to walk across the accummulated ice on the back lawn, attempting to get to our back door in the dark without falling down and breaking bones.  Also, she is a fabulous, FABULOUS cook, rather like my husband's sister and I don't want to submit her to my lame attempts until we are much better friends!  It is a great excuse to get out of here for a meal and have a change of scenery after being stuck inside so much for the past week.