crowdog66

This morning Terri and I went out for breakfast, and then she drove me to my mother's apartment complex, where we did the final walkthrough of her apartment with the building manager. Then I turned in the keys. It was one of the most solemn moments of my life to date.

I have now left that part of her completely behind. Another aspect of her death has unfolded.

On a totally different note...

Mystery cat takes regular bus to the shops.

Bus drivers have nicknamed a white cat Macavity after it has started using the No 331 several mornings a week.

The feline, which has a purple collar, gets onto the busy Walsall to Wolverhampton bus at the same stop most mornings - he then jumps off at the next stop 400m down the road, near a fish and chip shop.

Click the link for more info and pictures of the cat in question.

Who says evolution is a myth? If cats are riding buses, whatever's next?

Yesterday:

The movers actually did NOT screw us over. The entire thing cost only $225 (taxes included), plus a $20 tip.

After we got home, I collapsed into bed and had the first really good sleep I've had in several days. It was just such a relief to have it over.

Today:

bodi_kat picked me up this morning and together we went to my mom's place, where she helped me clean out the kitchen and used her minivan to transport a shitload of stuff back to my apartment. The building manager remarked to me that someone was coming to look at the apartment this afternoon, although they hadn't shown up when bodi_kat and I left at about 2 pm. I also submitted a 3-day ad to the Winnipeg Free Press, as follows:

SUB Unicity 1 BR $709 balc, ac, dishw, wtw carp, wrkout rm/sauna in complex. (phone number)

Ah, the steps you have to go to to save space when three lines cost $14/day.

There's almost nothing left at the apartment except a microwave, a couple of pictures, and all the stuff that's going to Goodwill.

Tonight:

I'll be meeting with Brian and the bride to go over a handfasting ceremony I agreed to co-run on Saturday. *headdesk* WHY did I agree to take it on? It means that if anyone wants to see the apartment on Saturday, George will have to go down to my mom's place and take care of it. *headdesk* Not to mention how I'm going to be feeling emotionally in a few days, and the ceremony is taking place one hour out of town. *headdesk, headdesk, headdesk*

Tomorrow:

Must make some more phone calls, including to my mother's bank and to the company managing her school pension plan. Also to the pet insurance company Mina is enrolled with to have to policy transferred into my name (which is already on the policy, so it should be a fairly painless procedure).

Also must visit the endocrinologist tomorrow. More on that after it happens.

Just so my local LJ Friends know, my mother's service is on June 20th -- next Wednesday, not the Wednesday just past. We got a rather puzzled call from George's family, who showed up at Riverview, yes, yesterday afternoon. D'oh.

Here's a link to her obituary at the Winnipeg Free Press:

http://www.passagesmb.com/obituary_details.cfm?ObitID=121011

Today we went down to pick up her ashes from Cropo's Funeral Chapel, a journey that pretty much exhausted me (at least they provided a lovely red velvet bag with gold ties to keep the urn in). Afterwards we stopped at the nearby A&W for a burger and a root beer, and discovered that that particular A&W believes that "large drink" means "over a litre and a half of root beer served in an ice-cold frosted mug". Yikes. Neither of us could finish our portions.

The next stop was Don's Photo to get an enlargement of a photo for the memorial table at the service, but along the way we ended up stopping at Bison Books and doing a little shopping. After Don's Photo, we detoured to Thai Express in Portage Place so I could get some pad thai -- and found out, to my horror, that they have started putting tofu in everything they serve. And I didn't find it out the easy way, by being told before ordering. Oh, no. I found out by finding big chunks of tofu in my (supposedly) chicken pad thai.

*shudder*

Some days it's the little things that get you.

On the subject of "big things", we just got a call from my mother's landlord stating that they'll also be charging us for the month of July since we did not actually tell them my mother was dying prior to the end of May.

*waves goodbye to $692, unless they manage to sublet the place in the next two weeks, in which case they'll charge us only $40*

According to George there are a bunch more messages on the answering machine, but I already feel like a giant punching bag and I'm not sure how many more hits I can take.