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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Des Moines, IA

What a week we had last week. We took another load of boxes out to the condo and decided to call the complex manager to get the key to the mailbox. First, we tried to find his office but that didn’t happen so I called him and explained what I wanted, he listened and said he needed to call the condo owner. I didn’t like the sound of that but there was nothing I could do so I said ok. A couple hours later the owner called me and said he couldn’t lease the condo to me, the association had a limit of how many condo’s could be leased at one time and they were at that limit. This isn’t what I wanted to hear, so now into panic mode, we have to be out of the camper by Wednesday the 7th because it is going to an RV dealer to get the washer repaired and winterized for storage.

So, here are Thursday, November 1st, and no place to live and tomorrow Sarah is having a port put in for the chemo treatments, we have to be at the hospital at 5 am. I get on the computer and begin searching, I call a few places but the problem is twofold, most complexes won’t lease for less than 6 months and I would have to rent or buy furniture. I would buy furniture but then I would have to rent a truck to take it to Omaha to put in the townhouse. It does get a bit frustrating.

Friday we are at the hospital bright and early. Sarah’s surgery doesn’t take place until seven but you have to be there early for all of the preliminary preps etc. When she goes into surgery I head for the cafeteria, Cynthia calls and we meet up and go get breakfast. Hospital cafeterias must be the same all over, they aren’t expensive and the food is good but it isn’t somewhere you would go eat if you had another choice.

Sarah’s surgery went off without a hitch and we were able to leave about ten. I took Sarah home and she slept most of the day, which was good because I was on the phone looking for a place to live. We met some folks from Des Moines last year while working in Mesa. Bob & Judy Van Cleave, they have a home here and in a prior conversation offered to rent us their house, so I called them and set up a time on Sunday to meet their daughter at the house and take a look. Their house is on the east side of Des Moines and would be inconvenient for Sarah and Cynthia to get together, but I would deal with it. However, I still had hopes of finding something closer to the hospital and Cynthia’s.

Our friends Orren & Norma sent me an email with the phone number of an apartment building downtown Des Moines that had a couple of furnished apartments and would lease for three months or longer. I called them and visited with Connie about what they had etc. Sarah and I decided we would go look at it tomorrow.

Saturday morning I called the apartment complex and said we would like to look at what was available. We toured the apartments available, a studio and a one bedroom. The studio is a bit bigger than the camper but is just one big room, with a queen bed and to chairs, a cabinet with a TV in it and drawers on the bottom, a table and two chairs and a full kitchen, fully stocked with pots, pans and dishes, a bathroom and lots of closet space. The one bedroom was very cramped and even though it had a couch, it was too small. We opted for the studio, all utilities, cable TV and internet, we don’t have that much to put in there but we should fit. The building has a community room with library and computers and a big screen TV, there is also a nice exercise room, so we said we wanted it. Not so fast cowboy, first we have to fill out an application, $35 each, and then we have to see if we are approved. So we did all of that and left. About four in the afternoon, we receive a call saying everything looks good but they are waiting for a criminal background check on us from South Dakota.

It is now Monday, November 5th and the only person I have heard from today is Pat Boone, the singer, and I thought he was dead, to tell us we should vote for Mitt Romney. I did call the manager this morning and she said she had no news but to call this afternoon about one thirty. So we are back in the waiting mode again.

Today is election day, Hooray no more political commercials. We also heard from the apartment complex saying we are approved for the apartment. We spent the afternoon moving our things from the condo to the apartment, then it was out to the camper to get the food out of the fridge and some our clothes. I also dumped the tanks of all water etc. in preparation of taking the camper to the RV dealer to winterize it before storage.

Thursday Sarah has an echogram on her heart and Friday afternoon she has her first chemo treatment. Hopefully it won’t make her to sick.

Even though many won’t agree, Dreams Do Come True.

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