Sunday:
We visited mum this weekend, and the most important thing that came of that is that she suggested she lives with us in the near future - that when Tim gets a job in Sydney and we sell our house here she would also sell her house and we would pool the money. She isn't keen on going to a nursing home. Obviously there are pros and cons to this and it needs a lot of thinking about. And it's still contingent on Tim finding a job there, which he has already been trying to do for a couple of years without success as there are not many jobs at his level.
She is doing really well at the moment but of course the treatment she is receiving is only palliative. She is 72 and she has cancer, and might get a lot more frail quite soon.
It's a bit stressful and we need some time to think about it.
Sydney is a bit cooler than here in Canberra but a lot more humid as it is on the coast. I was really knocked around by the humidity and felt quite exhausted and ill with it part of the time we were there. Glad to be home under proper air conditioning, even if it is unbearable outside. I grew up in Sydney but after 13 years in Canberra I'm out of the habit. I have a bit more padding these days too.
I spent part of the hours in the car each way memorising the first 40 elements in the periodic table. It will be handy, and is also a good mental exercise. I'll keep adding more.
It's important to be careful about taking on something like a chronically ill or terminal parent. My mother has MS, and there has been talk about this should anything ever happen to my dad. One of the things I learned was to NOT pool your money or property in any way. In the US, any joint holdings can be seized for any large bills or debts due. I'm not sure how it is there, but here even if her % was only 10% of the money for the house, they could take the entire house in her name for the debts and such. There are other legal issues too, so just be careful!
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