Guilty Normalcy

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The photos in this post may be disturbing. Furthermore, clicking on the photos will bring up a huge file. Do so only at your own peril.

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Life is returning to normal. Not really, but I try to pretend it is. I get up. I eat. I put in my training...at least as best I can. I go to bed. But the task in front of my siblings and I is daunting, to say the least.

Mother left a will. It was understood by all the siblings (one boy, three girls), that the middle sister was the executor. Except the only will we have found is 15 years old and named her long deceased sister as the executor with the baby sister as the back up. Oh, Lordy! While Mom named some items, specifically, that were to be left to certain individuals, it by no means covers all of her assets. All she says is that the rest of her estate, such as it is, should be divided equally, whatever that means, between her living children (this is another story and one filled with much consternation--I'll leave my family squabblings out of here...for now).

I've already mentioned how my mother was a hoarder. But in the last year or two, it got really bad. I needed her consent to be able to do anything (regarding cleaning up), and as much as I tried, was unable to obtain it. She kept insisting on being allowed to give it a shot herself. However, she had gotten to the point where she didn't even throw out the garbage. What trash she had would rest on counters or on the floor. We found a bag of groceries with eggs that had never been put in the refrigerator.

Here are a couple of "before" pictures of the kitchen. And here is one where you can almost see the floor. My husband is doing what he can to soak the floor prior to scrubbing it. All of us are wearing these tyvek suits and gloves to protect our bodies and clothing from the foulness.

What disturbs me more, though, is that my sisters, at least so far, seem more concerned with cleaning up the mess of her house, than they do with submitting her obituary or even planning her memorial.

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We have made much progress since the above post with the clearing out of my mother's home. The carpet, at least the worst parts of it, have been ripped up. Some parts of the sub-flooring will require replacing.

I'll be having a huge garage sale. Wanna come? Mom had this habit (goes with the hoarding) of buying things brand new because she could get a good deal on them, not because she needed them. Or she would have some thought of giving an item to one of her kids and/or grandkids and then it just never happened. My sisters aren't interested in most of the stuff and they aren't interested in setting up the sale, so that will be left to me. They have told me I can keep whatever proceeds I get from it. If it's a lot of money, I'll split it with them as they are entitled to a quarter of the estate, just like I am. And "a lot of money" is a relative term. I will take into account how much time I invested in the project as that is not an inexpensive commodity in itself, especially since I still need to train.

And training. That is something I've almost given up on this week. I was doing okay the week just after my mom passed away, but I'm not doing so good this week. I'm just grateful it's a "rest" week, which means reduced volume if not reduced intensity. Fortunately, it is still early in the season, and I have plenty of time to get back to "normal," whatever that is.

So, just a few more pictures for your amusement (it's a little like watching a train wreck--while it makes you ill, you can't help but watch).

I have one of the 20 yard dumpster that is almost full.
And pictures of inside the house as we box things up and move them around, trying to decide what to do with them.
One of my lovely daughter (isn't she beautiful?) as she is cleaning the bathroom and smiled in spite of not being too thrilled with her mother taking her picture just then.
And then there is a picture of the freezer that was discovered frozen solidly shut. It took 3 days of sitting outside, unplugged, to become unfrozen around the edges. But look at it inside. I think my mother must have been very afraid of "running out" of something or of possibly "going hungry." I don't know what made her think she had to do this. I believe she was a very sick, sick woman and I can only be grateful that she is no longer suffering.