Contract on Mom's house

Great news!

We got a contract on my Mom's house. Two weeks after it was listed.

Of course the initial thought is "we priced it too low", and, maybe it was. But, it wasn't priced so low that any of us thought the price was wrong, so we are all happy to have the sale underway.

The closing will be in 60 days (our request) so we have a little bit of time to get everything out of the house.

Now, the other really good news is my brother M has signed a contract on a house. It was a house sold by HUD, and he got it for a really good price. It's in fairly good condition, mainly needs cosmetic work. It has a huge 2 plus car garage, which in mind mind was the best thing about the property. It will allow him to have a place to store all the stuff he loves to drag home. I just hope the property doesn't turn into "Sanford and Sons".

I am trying to steer him into the idea that he could sell this house in a couple of years and maybe double his money, so perhaps that will be an incentive to keep it looking nice.

Anyway, it's a way to tie up the money he will received from Mom's estate. We all feared that he would just go out and "blow it", and then not have anything to show for it. He's done it before, and it's not uncommon behavior for someone who is bi-polar.

So he is excited, I am excited, and life is pretty good.

Except for a phone call from one of my friends.

More on that later.

I am furious!!!!

I am so mad I am "spitting nails". I really shouldn't be, but it's like that mothering instinct to protect her children.

My brother came today to help take care of mom. It's really nice as he has been the most helpful of all of my siblings, but.... he has some mental issues, so sometimes it's difficult to have him around.

He has been moving my mom for 2 years now. Maybe I should have trained him better, maybe I should have been watching him closer. You just get tired and glad there is some else to help out.

Long story short, this morning as I was cooking her breakfast I asked him to set her up in bed.

He did, then told me he was going outside to work. I thought he made a pretty hasty exit.

No wonder, when I took her breakfast, glaring at me was big gash on the back of her hand, about 3/4 inch wide and almost 2 inches long. It's superficial, just the skin pulled back. I immediately confronted my brother about what happened.

Apparently, my mother got her left hand under her when she was sitting up. This is not unusual, as it is basically paralyzed. So, he pulled it out from under her. Apparently not very gently.

I immediately called the hospice office and asked if the nurse could come to bandage it. A nurse in their office phoned back, told me to take a swab and gently pull the skin back over the wound area. I asked if I should put any ointment on it, they said no, just some water if needed.

I did it - the skin was pretty much in place anyway, but had already started to dry a little.

The nurse will come sometime today, but that means that I will need to stick around, rather than taking the day off.

And, I can't trust my brother anymore to move her.

I don't know, maybe when I calm down I can again review with him how to move her. I keep telling my brother to be gentle.

They throw her around like she is a rag doll.

I don't know who I am more mad at, myself or my brother.

This sucks.