Yep... I slept a lot last night. Got up at 9am, and had a coffee, relaxed a bit, then had a look around my house.

I puttered. There are piles of stuff and file boxes and baskets and storage boxes. Just tons of stuff that I don't know what to do with.
I had all the papers out because of having to search for legal stuff a few months ago ... didn't have the gumption to put them away (don't know where "away"  is supposed to be).
I have a gajillion houseplants that need transplanting.
A whole basket full of hangers to put the clean laundry on, but have not done laundry since early in the week previous to last Monday.
I have a counter full of stuff that should be in the fridge, but there's no room (I seriously HATE this fridge, it is impossible to put things into and impossible to find things that are in there).
I have 3 medium-sized baskets of AVON demos and stuff to look through to figure out what I should keep and what should go to the women's shelter.
I have a fundraiser for Breast Cancer to make a couple of baskets for the silent auction (and I am going to go to it, and enjoy myself and have a drink or two.
I have 2 boxes of other stuff to donate to the women's shelter ... stuff that is new that came with freecycle items, and 2 reps have dropped of their excess stuff.
I have at least 45 plants to plant this week, or they'll die.
I have a ton of avon samples to organize and put away --- they were organized until I made the 200 packages for the last fundraiser... then my organization of it went to hell.

I also am going to sit down with a "Family Care Specialist"  at the funeral home, and s/he will have every single form I will need to fill out in order to apply for any and all benefits --- there is a widow's pension, an orphan's benefit, and probably a few others. S/he will walk me through those and have the correct forms and all the right places to send them. I am amazed at the level of service provided by the funeral home. Seriously. This "after care" is included free of extra charge with the funeral. So I am definitely going to use it. We had life insurance on our mortgage ... so I need to go to the bank with the death certificate; that will mean that the house and the trailer wil be paid off. I already contacted my lawyer to ask her to pass my file to someone in wills and estates, and that lawyer called me the other day real quick --- basically to tell me that I am NOT to talk to or sign any papers regarding any of Bruce's outstanding debts. Very cool that she advised that immediately.

Bruce's birth mom and sister came for the afternoon today. We sat and talked, and Emma went to the neighbor's house behind us to play in the sprinkler (it was really hot today!), which meant she was not around for the conversation (good and bad thing, as a lot of the convo was about the end of alcoholism, their experiences with the dad, other family stuff). They fly back to Ontario tomorrow afternoon ... so Emma is going to skip school tomorrow, and we are going to pack a picnic --- I got to bring home all the leftovers from the  caterer yesterday, so I have muffins and cookies and a it of coffee cake, cheese, and a huge fruit platter (my fridge is SO FULL!!). We are going to spend the morning over where they are staying so that the sister/aunt to Emma can have some one-on-one time with her.

I have had an immediate bond with these women... before they walked in yesterday, even. I mean, when they entered the chapel, I was up at the front putting pictures out, and when I heard someone walk into the chapel, I turned around ... and just dropped everything in my hands on the floor and walked very quickly over to them. There was hugs and tears, and just ... acceptance. I could really feel the love from them. They said later that they were really nervous that they'd be resented or unliked. But really, by the time the reception was over, all of Bruce's sisters and brother and both moms were hugging goodbye. I was so glad that the family accepted them so well. When Sally and I were planning it all, she was surprised that I had wanted to include them --- I said, they MUST be included; Bruce was just tickled pink when they found him last year, thrilled. So, I am glad that I insisted.

We're having a quiet evening now. Emma has been officially played out --- she fell asleep about 10 minutes ago. I have watered all the houseplants as well as refilled the self-watering glass globe thingy in one. I have printed off all the comments here and at facebook just to have. I am going to get some sort of nice wooden box for Emma to put her special things in and photos as a memory box, and include the rest sealed in an envelope for whene she is older so she knows that she was in so many people's thoughts through the rough times.

I am going to have a little bit of food and lay down for a bit. It is going to take a while to get my schedule back on track.
Thank you again for all the love, hugs, vibes and thoughts you're sending our way.