Good news on the horizon!

The special envelope finally arrived and is on its way to the Social Security office. Once it is verified... my legal evidence of marriage to Randy... I will be awarded my widows benefits with back pay.

Yay! 

I also made a decision on my living arrangements and instead of staying in the cabin for another month, I’m going to move in with my daughter and her family. 

It’s not ideal. Bears MIL lives there too. Though, Sue Bob and I get along well. I like my privacy. What I don’t like is driving n hour each way to my home... just to check my mail or visit the doc. 

Nor do I care for paying $1,000 rent on the cabin on top of my regular home related expenses. I am rented here until the 10th. 

I can deal with the people I love for a month or so. I’ll still have a 30 minute drive to my house. That’s not awful. I actually spend a lot of time spying on my house. I crave seeing progress. As if I can hurry it along by staring at it. Serve Pro can watch me watching them. 

I’m not concerned about the remodeling as much as the clean up crew. The Bear and her man both work for my contractor. 

The plan is once Serve Pro is out, they will start with my master bedroom and master bathroom. It was the least smoke damaged part of the house. It needs new flooring and paint. Once that’s done, I can move back in, using it like a little apartment.

Both of my husbands were wood workers and I’m no stranger to construction noise. I’ll be snug as a bug. 

 

 A Rare Treat! Mama Janes

 

Mama Janes is my favorite restaurant. Open from 6:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.  The menus is breakfast and lunch fare. The food is excellent and the plates are as full as they can be. Home style cooking at its best! 

The theme is motorcycle inspired. The customers and staff are local and regular. Think “Cheers” but instead of beer, an endless pot of fresh coffee. No fru-fru, just a cup of Joe. 

When we shut the door on my partially burned house and completed the removal of everything that wouldn’t fall out if you turned it upside down and shook it, a good awful task, it was a big relief. Finally, the toxic cleaners would start cleaning. They showed up and it’s now a project in motion. YAY! 

The woman on the left is Orinda, my son, Nick’s fiancé. That of course is Nick. These two hauled away the last of the debris with the help of Bear. 

We celebrated by going to Mama Janes for a real sit down lunch with an actual waitress. COVID rules allow for outdoor dining. Outdoor in this case was an army tent. The tables are plenty far apart and the tent windows and doors are open. It was both weird and comfortable. The food, as always, was great. It’s been a year or more since I have dined out. I had the eggs Benedict. We all left with to go boxes, because no one can eat that much food in one sitting. 

Remember what it was like when restaurants were crowded, noisy and your food didn’t come in a to go box? Yep. Its close enough to that to feel like we had regained some normalcy. Is that a word? Ha! 

In the meantime I continue to struggle with waiting on the government to finalize my widows benefits, waiting for death certificates, etc.  Once I can produce a death certificate, we have death insurance to pay off a $5,000 loan. My dad always had death insurance on our house and loans when I was growing up. Smart man, my father. If you are buying your home and don’t have it, I’d advise getting it. It saves your spouse or yourself should tragic circumstances occur from a lot of stress. 

I hope soon to have less bummer subjects! 

COVID-19 is serious business! Wear a mask, get the shot. Do it.