Woo! Nana's moving!

Awesome news- Nana is moving to Bothell!! In April!  I am thrilled!

Let's all take a moment to brag on Mom for helping Nana manage her finances and negotiating a great entry price for her to move to Bothell.  Nana's big move is tied to a lot of big and small decisions, so it was really helpful that she and mom had been keeping a nice worksheet of all her expenditures for the last year, so it was pretty apparent what would work for Nana.  But the awesome part came as we were getting ready to finalize these things.  All three of us were sitting down the the gal at the Chateau, and Mom says very evenly, "I'm responsible for keeping Nana in good financial shape, and I just need to know that she is getting this apartment at the best price she can."  And the gal said, sure, I understand, would you rather pay $100 less for the apartment?  "...Yes. That will work for us."

I'm not sure how, but I've got to try this tactic soon.

The apartment Nana picked is a spacious studio that looks towards the slough with a view dominated by greenspace.  The Chateau Bothell Landing is a great community full of mostly active and interesting folks, which has a fun calender of activities and yummy menu.  They are also quickly accessible to her church AND reading room, to the senior center, to the Library (where Nana already has a library card and hopes to work with the Friends of the Library).  Although the Chateau would drive her to any of these places, she has walked back and forth between most of them plenty of times already.  The community isn't far off the highway, which makes it feel not distant for many of the regional cousins and friends who are looking forward to seeing her more often.  I'm pleased with her decision, since I think will open up a lot of great opportunities for Nana in her retirement (not the least of which is me getting to hang out with her).

Nana has a very busy month ahead of her, packing up her things in Spokane, and getting ready to head West.  We've got teams of cousins on both sides of the mountains poised to help pack, load the truck, unload the truck, toast the arriving matriach and generally enjoy having Nana living in the West.  In the meantime, Nana has plenty more small choices to make (what to pack, what to leave, what awesome activities to do first when she arrives....), and I am sure she would appreciate some encouraging phone calls over the next month as she tries to work through downsizing and getting ready to sell her house.

For those who might be around, we are planning a "Welcome Home" party in late April, which will include lots of family and smiles (although I'll be lobbying for cookies as well).  Let me know if you'd be interested to attend, so I can loop you into the emails.