No Kidding: 8:33 P.M. last evening our residential coordinator emailed that installation of the cable Wi-Fi system failed yesterday due to antiquated wiring. Hey, that sounds like me, antiquated wiring and some fraying around the edges. Her staff requires Internet access immediately upon move-in and it wasn’t certain that cable rescheduling with re-wiring is possible prior to August 1. The ABD IT department is in charge here. “I don’t want to delay the move in date.” What? Delay? She figures that her staff can use wireless IT cards and I figure, if they can, the girls can too. Our daughter is fairly wired to her laptop and they all have cell phones.

But The Holy Television: The only thing missing is television access. The coordinator queries “What are your thoughts on how that would impact the girls?  Answer: “No idea about the apartment mate but for our daughter, as long as she gets an IT card, fine.”

We Got Some Glitches: Fifty percent productive yesterday. Not too bad. Library card in her wallet but non-drivers license failed, no mail yet in her name at her new address. I query of the DMV lady “Can I send her cards, would that suffice?” Yes. Two pieces of mail. So I am sending her a postcard of a Picasso mother and child piece and a notecard of a painting by her Aunt of an Italian villa, signing them “Welcome to Your New Home, Mom.” Not enough time to order that People Magazine subscription that will be a house gift.

Tracking Furniture Delivery Today: The tracker site anticipates an 11:49 delivery. Can they be more specific?

Dumbfounded By The Funding Here: I was in denial, and my husband as well, as to the costs of our daughter’s new home. Magical thinking played a big part in my cluelessness. I guess that I thought I would patchwork together odds and ends of furnishings from home, intending to just shift bedrooms from here to there, and totally delusional, figured some costs would be paid for by allocations from the state. HA! But a freshly renovated apartment, the somewhat new bride feeling to the whole operation, and the other mother’s purchase of a sparkling bedroom set for her daughter, made all that frugality evaporate in the air like the bubbles blown by five-year-olds at a birthday party. That describes it best, juvenile thinking. And now we are broke.

Back To Tracking: I must go to the furniture site and track delivery. Naturally as earning money goes hand in hand with setting up this costly new life, I have scheduled work today through late evening and fingers crossed, the delivery man will be on my side of the scheduling plan. Fingers crossed!

Oops: Already pushed back to, wait, from 11:48, then 12:38, now it is 12:41 within minutes. At this rate of change, I will have to cancel my first appointment. No!

©Jill Edelman, M.S.W., L.C.S.W. 2011