Calling in the calvary

As many of you know, my mother's condo was hit by a car a few weeks ago. The update on that front, is that there is no update. We're still dealing with the insurance companies. Luckily Mom has been staying in a nice air-conditioned hotel for most of the duration, at the insurance company's expense. But mind you, she didn't check-in without a fight. The stubborn woman wanted to make the best of it and get herself more settled/unpacked. Let's review what the weather has been like down here, shall we? Unseasonably warm? Check. Triple digits? Check. Record highs? Check. It's a good thing I'm the bitchy daughter ;) I said pack a bag or else!

What many of you don't know is that the accident occurred just before my mom's last day as our office manager. Due to frustrations on both sides, we agreed the position wasn't working out. We're so grateful for her efforts and couldn't have opened the office without her. But, the time had definitely time for us all to move on. Faced with unemployment and a mostly unpacked condo that has a giant hole in it, Mom kinda lost her marbles. For real. I'm happy to say that she's sought treatment and seems to be doing a bit better, but I think it might be a long road to recovery. I have a sneaking suspicion that's she's been quite depressed for some time now and has basically been teetering on the edge. The wreck at her condo pushed her over that edge. Considering that Mallory is basically due any day now, I couldn't afford to take this week off, and I felt like this week in particular (Mom's first week without a job) was important for her to have some moral support. Enter my sister Julie, a.k.a the calvary.

Julie has been such a big help! I'm SO glad she was able to fly down here on a moment's notice. She got mom's resume and cover letters cleaned up and helped my mom apply for 7 positions. They've also gone through the process for getting my mother's teaching certificate transferred and applied for unemployment benefits. Julie also went through my mother's bills with her and got superfluous charges (like identity theft protection) removed, saving her what looks like about $50 a month combined. And not only that, she's loaded and unloaded the dishwasher & gone grocery shopping. A girl could get used to have Jules around, I tell you what ;) She's really lightened things up ... such a funny seester.

But the really funny thing is that my belly freaks her out. I guess at 24, being single and fancy free, a gigantic pregnant belly might have freaked me out too ;) And let's be honest here, she's not seeing the best of pregnancy - the final weeks are brutal. Julie didn't anticipate how firm my belly would feel, or how crazy the baby's movements would look/feel. I was chasing her around the house the other night singing jaws music and pointing my bare belly at her. Julie was screaming, trying to dodge me and made a dash for the bathroom, where she locked herself in. I could not stop laughing!

She's been hilarious about working out and eating healthy too. For some reason she decided to be uber good while she was staying with us. She's been getting up early and running on the treadmill, making herself a protein shake for breakfast, and a salad for lunch. Her comments about how much she hates running/exercising are killing me!

Gosh, there are SO many classic, Julie quotes from this week. I just wish my pregnancy brain could remember some of them right now. I'm afraid they've been lost forever...