In this update:
- Goodbye Lake Nona, Hello DeLeon Springs!
- Ralf's Next Battle
- Brutal Move – Never Again!
- First-time homeowners' lesson: expect the unexpected
- Diamond Ball and Hanging Out with Friends
Goodbye Lake Nona, Hello DeLeon Springs!
Saying goodbye to Lake Nona has been… weird (for me, anyways). I called that area my home for over five years, and despite the never-ending road construction, mind-blowing growth in the construction of homes and apartment complexes, and horrendous traffic, it was harder to move away than I imagined. I guess the fact that I still have to commute to Lake Nona for work a couple days per pay period makes the disassociation process more tricky. And having to get used to a commute of more than one hour each way (as opposed to ten minutes) didn’t help at all. But now that some time has passed, I am finally starting to feel more “at home”, and I am getting used to the drive. It is beautiful here; I love listening to the wide selection of birds and the wild peacocks that are close by. And for Ralf, this has been a dream come true: being able to bicycle out the back door and be in the woods in less than five minutes.
Ralf's Next Battle
It is the end of March, and we just had our follow up with Moffitt regarding the status of Ralf's condition. In hindsight, I am so glad that we didn't look at the tumor marker results or the CT scan report beforehand. As it turns out, Ralf's cancer is active again, filling his abdomen with fluid, which actually explains his most recent symptoms of heartburn and gastric issues. However, in a kind of weird way, we are both relieved that his issues are related to his 'good old cancer', rather than a new type. When Dr. Dessureault explained to us the results and what it means, it was nevertheless a viscous blow: chemo therapy. Tumor markers went from 8.3 to 24 since late fall of 2022, and imaging confirmed the increased activity of the peritoneal cancer. Ralf is now being referred to a medical oncologist at Moffitt; then we need to see what the next steps will be. The purpose of chemo therapy will be palliative, not curative, but we are very hopeful that it will ease Ralf's current symptoms and slow down the progression of the disease. Ralf is terrified of chemo but ready to take on this beast once again. Cancer is an asshole!
With that being said, the painful move from Lake Nona to DeLeon Springs was so worth it by changing to a much more therapeutic environment and access to nature.
Brutal Move – Never Again!
I admit, I underestimated the stress, anxiety, and physical demands of the actual move. I mean, I knew it would suck, but this experience was borderline traumatizing. Last time we moved, Ralf wasn’t sick and haven’t had this brutal surgery yet. But this time, the demands and stress of moving (over an hour away) into a new home that also still needed (needs) a lot of work was pushing us to our very limits – physically and mentally! We ended up renting a Uhaul truck twice – a nightmare all on its own. But we made it through… somehow. We are so lucky though that we have our wonderful friends Brian and Kim supporting us along the way – including homemade dinner at the end of the moving day.
First-time homeowners' lesson: expect the unexpected
We are not just first-time homeowners, we bought a house that was built in 1926. It has been well maintained and updated (including electric and septic), which was a prerequisite for us to consider purchasing such an old home. This house has so much character and charm, we fell in love immediately. It also comes with half an acre with lots of privacy and native habitat. I found an old picture of the house online when it was new, which is so cool! This is truly a piece of Florida history – unique in its own kind.
However, there are apparently many lessons to be learned when moving into a new house – regardless of its age. There is much to consider, from picking out appliances to getting all your utilities activated and set up. One thing we learned is that just because vendors like Lowe's and Ikea give you a delivery date and time doesn’t mean that it will happen. And just because you bought a new fridge doesn’t mean it comes with all components (such as a rubber gasket), nor will it be installed by those third party delivery companies that all these stores apparently started to use. We also had to educate ourselves about maintaining a septic system and well, which led to us getting a new pressure tank and filtration system. All my life I have been on city water, so this is a whole new experience. Having no water bill is a plus, though. Lesson number two: whenever you have to get something done, it will cost an average $2K. There are some things that really needed to be taken care off, such as tree trimming, the pressure tank/filtration system, A/C check and maintenance, termite bond, and a kitchen remodel (which is still a work in progress). We also need to get a permit for a new driveway (eventually) since the previous owner (a real estate company) had the new septic tank and drain field placed right into the original driveway... Can’t drive on that, so we need to put the driveway on the other side of the property. Baby-steps though…Our savings are shrinking at an alarming rate, so that will have to wait. But I was told that being “home poor” for a while is to be expected.
The kitchen remodel is an ongoing beast and had many curve balls already. We ended up buying all the cabinets from IKEA, with the help of one of their kitchen design experts. It was rather tricky to get accurate measurements, and some of the layout was predetermined by outlets and water lines. So we decided on the kitchen style and had everything ordered to be delivered the following week Friday. We were still between Lake Nona and DeLeon Springs, so this constant back and forth was very stressful, especially for Ralf who can't spring into action right away in the morning. Since our old kitchen was going to be torn out that week, it was perfect timing. Or so we thought... to make a long story short: the delivery company that was selected in the IKEA system informed us the day before the scheduled delivery that they don't service our area because they are in Jacksonville. They got the merchandise from IKEA but it was sitting in their warehouse, to be returned to the Jacksonville IKEA store a week later... say, what...? I am not sure how many hours I spent on the phone the following days, trying to figure out what happened and how we are going to get this damn kitchen delivered. In the end, the IKEA Orlando store manager got involved, and the entire kitchen got reordered, to be delivered for sure that time, on the next Friday. Awesome. Our old kitchen was reduced to pile of trash, sitting in our backyard, so we were camping out in the dining area where our fridge was now plugged in. It really sucks not having a kitchen or even a sink.
So, it's Tuesday of the week where our cabinets were supposed to be delivered. We were halfway across town, running errands, when I received a phone call:
Some guy: "Hi, we are here!"
Me (confused): "Ok, who are you and what do you mean by 'here'?"
Some guy: "We are at your house to deliver the IKEA kitchen!"
Me (even more confused): "But the delivery was supposed to be on Friday, we are not even home! Why didn't you call ahead?"
Some guy: "Well, we are here!"
Awesome. Thank goodness our handyman was working on the demolition of the old kitchen, so he was able to manage the delivery, but that was NOT the plan. But hey, we got our kitchen!
Then I get an email from IKEA: good news, your kitchen will be delivered on Friday. Wait, what??? First we had no kitchen, now we get two??? Turns out the delivery company realized that they DO service our area after all and had the original order delivered, while the second order was also being prepared to get shipped to us. What a mess... the second order was then cancelled, so after much delay, we ended up with the original kitchen cabinets.
The initial plan was to assemble all the cabinets ourselves (to save some money) but we ended up having our handyman handle that instead (for sanity reasons alone). We were so worn out already, we didn't have it in us to tackle the assembly of an entire cabinet array on top of everything else. Turns out, our handyman and his partner were much more efficient than we could have ever been...
Meanwhile, we had to deal with other issues and tasks at hand, including the evaluation of our plumbing, getting a new pressure tank and filtration system installed, buying a new mattress (in a box), installing the washer and dryer (thanks again, Brian!), and having the electrician take down a chandelier in the dining room that was trying to assassinate me. That sucker was hanging from the ceiling right in the middle, and it was just low enough to align its pointy iron tip with my forehead - which I hit full force TWICE within five minutes. I ended up taping the empty Swiffer box to it to prevent repeated insult to my poor head, so that chandelier had to go!
When you move from one place to another, it unfortunately feels like trading one chaos for another for a while. So when we finally got all of our stuff out of the Lake Nona home, we kind of had to "park" a lot in various places in the new home. Especially since kitchen wasn't done yet, and the bonus-room-turned-gym/laundry needed rubber mats before we could arrange the workout equipment, it has been a mess. But, for the very first time, it was ours.
We weren't completely of the "assemble your IKEA furniture hook" just yet. I guess they didn't make those giant walk-in closets back in the 1920s, so we needed a second dresser for our clothes. So we bought a second Nordli dresser unit, which was actually delivered with our original kitchen order. It took as half a day just putting that together, I can't even imagine an entire kitchen!!!
We are on a limited budget, so our projects were listed by priority (need to do now vs. must wait). The trimming of the trees and other necessary landscaping items that needed to be done were not really on top of the list. However, when I looked out one Sunday morning, I saw pretty large limb that must have broken off during the night and nearly missed the house/AC unit. So now tree-trimming moved to the top of the list of priorities, so we got an estimate and scheduled the yard work asap.
Speaking of landscaping: we decided to plant/maintain natural Florida habitats, based on what's already there and the type of soil and light conditions we have to work with. We also needed to decide what to plant on the drain field, since it's not to be used as a driveway anymore. The borders are now made out of railroad ties, and we bought six plants from a local nursery, which we were told would make a great "surface cover". I was crouching down to place each plant where Ralf had dug up a little hole. I find gardening pretty theraputic, I must say. Ralf put some of the leafs that I had raked before back over the plants to keep moisture in, then watered our final project. That is when I stepped back and took a look: "hmmmmm, sweetheart, we didn't think this through all the way...." The way we arranged our first addition of "let's plant some things" makes it look like as if we just buried a body. I guess we don't need a "No Trespassing" sign, as this may make people think twice about stepping into our yard.
Oh well, that should blend in once we plant more wildflowers, etc. But until then, we shall water our "grave" daily to make sure the plants will thrive.
Looking back over the past couple of months, I must say that I am so grateful to our awesome realtor(s) Maureen Kemp and Lisa Koenig. Even long after we closed on the house, their referrals to local contractors and handymen were priceless. In fact, every single person she recommended and we worked with so far are long-time locals and neighbors. It's like joining a tight-knit community where people take pride in their work, which is not a given in today's time. We even got a dozen freshly laid eggs from DJ, who had picked up the rubble from the back yard. A "Welcome to the Neighborhood" gift - how sweet is that?
Soon, our handyman will continue to finish our kitchen project, and we need quite a few more things done on other projects. However, as we are approaching "house-poor" status, some things may need to wait.
Diamond Ball and Hanging Out with Friends
Two great events happened during these stressful times. First, Ralf and I attended the Society for Simulation in Healthcare's annual Diamond Ball - a fancy event that took place at the Hyatt hotel by the convention center. I got free tickets because I became a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE) in 2022, and I am so happy that Ralf felt well enough to go! He still looks smoking hot in his tux!
I also spend a day with Michaela, who travelled from Germany to visit her son, who currently is a Disney cast member at the German Biergarten in EPCOT. In fact, her son is in the same international program that Michaela and I both completed (she in the late 1980s, me in 2000). That was a nice break from all the stress, and I just love going to EPCOT. I never really go anymore, especially since the admission prices are insane, but her son was able to sign us in for free. Yay!
April will bring a couple anniversaries, but Ralf's pending treatment and the fear of how that may look like is always in the background. But I am very hopeful that Moffitt will once again come through and provide the best possible care for his rare condition.