![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Surviving the paper storm
Feb. 18th, 2016 09:58 amA friend asked me yesterday if I have grieved yet. I don't think so. T suspects it will take until after the estate is not taking up multiple hours of my every day for me to get the space and time to do so. A month from now? Two months?
We got home from Albuquerque late late Saturday night. Unpacked the truck, went to bed. Sunday we tried to spend time together doing Valentine's Day stuff... but it worked out to be just a really really quiet day at home. Which, given our recent travel, was what we both needed.
Since then I've been working every day (as I do on weekdays) and spending multiple hours each day on errands (opening an estate account, checking G's mail), phone calls, emails, scanning documents, and the neverending boxes of filing.
We brought back THREE MORE BOXES to add to the SIX BOXES of files that we brough back in January. I think now that I am going to be able to consolidate it all into 2 file boxes. Yes, that would be shredding and recycling page by slow page SEVEN BOXES OF FILES down to just the two minumum necessary ones. *beat head on desk* I'm convinced that from the time that G moved into this house (2008), he never donated, burned or shredded anything. He kept EVERYTHING. Old clothes. Old papers. Unwanted pictures. Broken coffee makers. Blender parts. EVERYTHING. He kept everything because he had the storage space to do so, and it was easier (for him) to shove it into another building and ignore it. And he kept things from multiple moves for reasons I cannot imagine. G kept an insane amount of really boring military paperwork. And ALL of it has his social security number on it. Every stupid tiny little scrap of paper! Gah! All must be shredded.
My friend S came by on Tuesday night. She brought cheese and chocolate and spent 3.5 hours shredding. Yes, that is 3.5 HOURS of shredding spread between two shredders. It was lovely to be able to just do the sorting while she shredded. Friend points!
Files don't seem so urgent... Except that the boxes are taking up a tremendous amount of space in our living room. And we have a house guest coming. Tomorrow. Ack! He needs someplace to sleep. And perhaps someplace to put his suitcase (crazy thought!).
I've handed G's house officially over to the estate seller (yay!) and the real estate agent after that (yay!). We will likely have to make another trip to Albuquerque in coming months to sign paperwork and/or pick up the Airstream. I really hope that this is the start of an easier downhill to this process from now.
We got home from Albuquerque late late Saturday night. Unpacked the truck, went to bed. Sunday we tried to spend time together doing Valentine's Day stuff... but it worked out to be just a really really quiet day at home. Which, given our recent travel, was what we both needed.
Since then I've been working every day (as I do on weekdays) and spending multiple hours each day on errands (opening an estate account, checking G's mail), phone calls, emails, scanning documents, and the neverending boxes of filing.
We brought back THREE MORE BOXES to add to the SIX BOXES of files that we brough back in January. I think now that I am going to be able to consolidate it all into 2 file boxes. Yes, that would be shredding and recycling page by slow page SEVEN BOXES OF FILES down to just the two minumum necessary ones. *beat head on desk* I'm convinced that from the time that G moved into this house (2008), he never donated, burned or shredded anything. He kept EVERYTHING. Old clothes. Old papers. Unwanted pictures. Broken coffee makers. Blender parts. EVERYTHING. He kept everything because he had the storage space to do so, and it was easier (for him) to shove it into another building and ignore it. And he kept things from multiple moves for reasons I cannot imagine. G kept an insane amount of really boring military paperwork. And ALL of it has his social security number on it. Every stupid tiny little scrap of paper! Gah! All must be shredded.
My friend S came by on Tuesday night. She brought cheese and chocolate and spent 3.5 hours shredding. Yes, that is 3.5 HOURS of shredding spread between two shredders. It was lovely to be able to just do the sorting while she shredded. Friend points!
Files don't seem so urgent... Except that the boxes are taking up a tremendous amount of space in our living room. And we have a house guest coming. Tomorrow. Ack! He needs someplace to sleep. And perhaps someplace to put his suitcase (crazy thought!).
I've handed G's house officially over to the estate seller (yay!) and the real estate agent after that (yay!). We will likely have to make another trip to Albuquerque in coming months to sign paperwork and/or pick up the Airstream. I really hope that this is the start of an easier downhill to this process from now.
