To MFASRF: Yesterday it was official.
    Mom said, "I think it's about time we think about going up to Prescott for awhile."
    So, it is, again, okay for us to own that house. I imagine we'll get there some time within the first two weeks of May.
    I have to tell you, her proactive PCP has managed her into "blood sugar control". It's wonderful. Even though I stopped obsessively monitoring her blood sugar a while back, I don't have to any longer. In fact, sometimes she even should eat sugar. Bringing her blood sugar under control has really leveled out her appetite. We have Cobb Salads (my version), once a week, sometimes twice. One way or another we have vegetables which she eats willingly at every meal. I often pickle a lot of lightly steamed vegetables, cool them and serve those, which she loves. She is not a candy addict anymore. She doesn't even ask to buy it. She appreciates a well turned sweet, much more than me, but she is making interesting choices in sweets, now.
    Income tax, although blessedly easy, was also torturous. I now know exactly how much we lost. We are getting back a sizeable refund, some of which is being dumped into our checking account, some of which is being used to pay my mother's estimated income taxes through September of this year. We changed her entire portfolio from high/mid cap mutuals out of which dividends were being deducted every month (which has entailed, for the last year or so, the sale of stock instead of the liquidation of dividends) to an annuity, which took effect this month. Because that involved sale of stocks performing poorly we will no doubt have a light tax year this year. It has, occasionally, occurred to me that one of the houses is going to have to go and, unfortunately for Mom, financially the Mesa house would be the logical choice to sell since it's not real estate and will always depreciate. But, right now, I'm not considering that. MA has complimented me over and over this year for my tax savvy last year. Now that I know more, though, I see that I merely patched things up. I didn't have control of much. I didn't start understanding my mother's stock portfolio until it was too late. I have a better understanding of it now, but it is primarily intuitive. I can carry on a meaningful conversation with MFA and even attempt creative input. He is very realistic, he has told my mother twice this year, "Frankly, I didn't expect you to live this long. Believe me, your money will outlive you in a conservative annuity. You don't need to gamble anymore." My mother may be slipping, but she still keeps her ear to the financial ground. I make the final decisions, now, but she still signs the documents.
- posted by gail rae @ 09:06   email...this post