Monday Mutterings

OK not mutterings but a full blown moan - so don't say I didn't warn you in advance.

The weekend was OK, well as OK as it could be in the circumstances. Saturday we got my pots planted with bulbs and some winter bedding plants and did some general tidying up in the garden, as well as a few other jobs, and I got some more stitching on ET done in the evening.
Thanks for all the encouragement, here's how she looks now:
Sunday we had a trip over to Doncaster to my DSis's and went out for dinner. Afterwards we went to see our DBro to see how he was doing (coping: not a lot else you can do when you're in limbo, waiting for tests/results) and to fill in some more forms for Dad's bank (yes, more forms....) and DBro faxed them back for us. It was good to see Erin and Fin as well - every time we see them they've grown even more. :0)

Today is D-Day for my DBro, as he is having the camera investigation of his insides done. Fingers crossed all they find is healthy guts! I'm hoping he will feel up to phoning tonight.

It does seem like it's just one thing after another at the minute though, as I've had to phone Dad's bank and the Crematorium to chase things up today and neither of them helped my stress levels any. >:-(
Dad's bank haven't got a good track record with us as we've been through the complaints procedure with them once already, so I rang up today just to confirm that they'd received the faxed forms OK - yes, they'd got them alright but they didn't have any record of ever having received the Grant of Probate...... this is despite this same woman telling me a copy had been faxed through to her last time I phoned, which I reminded her of. After making it clear that, as far as I was concerned, we (the Executors) had already supplied everything that was required to various departments of their bank - including yet another copy of my Mum's death certificate as this hadn't been forwarded to the relevant departments back in 2003 - it was up to her to sort this latest mess out, as we had had enough. I left her sorting it out.
Then a phone call to the Crem in Doncaster to find out why we hadn't heard from them about the memorial plaque being ready, even though it's looooong past the 10 weeks wait they quoted. Only, I got the jobsworth at the other end, didn't I? Despite the fact that it's my parents plaque, the money has long gone from my sister's account and it was an enquiry as to non-contact from them the guy started quoting "Data Protection Act" and similar baloney at me because my sister sent the cheque and everything is addressed to her. As I told him, that was because the money for it went through her account - I was phoning because my DSis works and was unable to phone in the daytime when they are there, which is why it hadn't been chased up before now, and why she had asked me to do it on her behalf. It's a good job he got the message because I was about ready for tearing off somebody's head by this point.......

I've calmed down a bit now: the woman from the bank has phoned back and the "missing" Grant of Probate has miraculously re-appeared. The words: booze-up, brewery, organisation and lack of, spring to mind - I will be so glad when this cheque has arrived and we can finally kiss that damned bank goodbye!!!
A much nicer fella from the Crem has phoned back too: they've tried contacting the plaque makers but haven't been able to get hold of anyone. They'll be contacting them again to find out why there's been such a delay and will get back to me, hopefully tomorrow. There's only one place left on the monument and that's been reserved for our Mum and Dad's memorial plaque but I'll be a whole lot happier when it's actually in place.

My friend Alex came for her regular Monday visit this afternoon and we've had a coffee and a good natter, so I'm feeling a bit more chilled now........ amazing how putting the world to rights with a friend does you the power of good. A bit of stitching tonight and normal service will be resumed once again. ;0)