I’d say I’ve been as busy as a beaver, but I avoid trite phrases like a plague.  Ahem.

That said, I have been hustling to complete my work as executor of mom and dad’s estate before I depart for Korea next week.  They didn’t leave a large estate but it has been a pain the ass to deal with regardless.  I closed the savings account out yesterday and mailed checks to my brothers.  I’ve been getting forms notarized and “medallion stamped” in a complicated process to get ownership of several small stock funds transferred.  We had an auction house handle all the household goods but things sold for a tiny fraction of their value.  Ah well.

Still to come is an auction for my mother’s doll collection.  She had several hundred and by the book they should bring a pretty penny.  Unfortunately, no one pays book value and in this economy people just aren’t spending money for vintage dolls.  I feel bad about that, because mom always thought she had made a wise investment with her collecting hobby.  I take some solace in the fact that folks are getting bargains and mom always loved a bargain.

Monday I will visit my probate attorney and sign the “final accounting” papers for the estate.  I guess it turns out to be true that there is a final accounting at the end of our time on earth.

I also met with a CPA today to get my personal tax situation squared away before I fly.  Uncle Sam has traditionally  given me a good rogering at tax time.  This year South Carolina is poised to bite me in the ass real hard as well.

Anyway, things are what they are I suppose.  Once I’m in Korea I’ll  be able to think about something else for awhile.