Soooooo, this death thing still sucks.....

I do not know how anyone who is living on Social Security only could survive being erroneously declared dead!  I am fortunate in that I have the means to continue to live and pay bills and buy food and medicine without the benefit of any payment from Social Security since being declared deceased.  But my patience is wearing thin... very, very thin.

I have dealt with Candace in Alabama, twice.  She indicated that the "technicians" were working on the solution to my payments not being made.  I was going to give them to the end of this past week, but in the middle of it all, I got a call from David at the local SSA office in Fairbanks.  We played phone tag and he finally left a message that he thought he had found the reason and for me not to worry.

We finally spoke and he had found out that while Social Security and Medicare had gotten back on the living bandwagon, Treasury had flagged the payments and they never even reached my bank.  He thought he had rectified it all and that I would see a double payment being made either Thursday night or Friday night.  I am here to tell you that there still must be a problem as I have seen no deposit into my account and there is nothing pending for Monday, either!!!  Needless to say, I will be calling David on Monday morning.  But at least I now have a single contact to call and he can handle the rest.  He told me they are calling me Lazarus, as I keep being risen from the dead!!!  I really and truly hope that none of you have to experience this.  It is awful.

I have been getting a raft of paperwork from my investments.  I am now needing to prove to them all that I am living.  I have already had to get one of the forms notarized.  David is going to be sending out a letter from the Fairbanks office that I will be able to send to those who require forms being filled out.  The next thing is dealing with the notations on my credit reporting agencies.  This is a nightmare.  I have even had to ask my new eye doctor to resubmit the medical claim to Medicare as it was denied because the "service occurred after the date of my death".

But, life goes on.  I did a lot of shopping this week.  I needed to get a couple of things from Home Depot.  While there, I found LARGE ornaments for decorating.  I got 5 and have hung them, along with two beautiful fake Poinsettias and then a string of LED lights wrapped in red/gold tinsel garland.  Nothing outlandish and will go nicely with the decorations I brought from Parkesburg that I have not found yet.... next year.  I did hang the folded Christmas Tree we made last year at Sew Much Love and I have a couple of lanterns on the dining room table and the living room table.  Looks festive.  Pictures below.

I found the Nutcracker themed Nutcrackers at Fred Meyers.  I got the Prince/King and the Mouse King.  I did so enjoy seeing a live production of the Nutcracker last weekend.  So I am adding some of that story into my decorations.

Here is the other end of the decoration with the Mouse King,  I love having a table to decorate.  My old table was always full of junk.  I am trying very hard not to pile stuff on this one.

Here is the full decoration on the front of the house.  The ornaments and garland in the window and the tree hanging on the wall.

This is the coffee table in the living room.  I have not yet found all of the books and stuff that goes inside the table.  And I have not found my container of table runners.  I have Christmas ones, but they are in the container that is still in the boxes in the garage.

This is a closeup of just the window.  It was taken during the precious little bit of sunlight that we can get every day.  You can see the winter wonderland view that I have out of my window.  The tall pine trees are black spruce and you see them everywhere as one drives along in Alaska.  The snow stays on the branches until the wind knocks it off.  It is really a lovely view and it is quite calming for me.  You feel God's wondrous hand in all of this land that surrounds me.  It is a very similar feeling to the view that I had on the deck at Fancy Gap.

I am having to leave my car out in the bitter cold for a few days.  Thursday night I had taken the dogs out for their final walk before bed.  I have been going out the front, through the garage doors as it is easier to get in and out that way.  But when I got back inside and pushed the button to close the door, nothing happened.  I put the dogs in, grabbed my step stool and went back into the garage.  We knew the doors and openers were old and would need to be replaced in time.... well, the time on the door I use is up!!!  So, I moved my car outside as I did not want it stuck inside.  Then I got up on the ladder and unplugged the unit, counted to 10 and plugged it back in.  I pressed the remote once.... nothing.  Then a second time and the door finally closed.  It has not been open since.  Luckily I was able to find a company who will be able to make arrangements to replace the door and the opener this coming Tuesday.  We will get the other door replaced in the spring.  Always something when you own a home!

Thankfully, I made the winterizing alterations on the Caddy so I can plug her in for an hour or so before I have to go anywhere and the engine and oil be be heated up and the battery charged so I can get her started in this cold weather.  She will be able to go back into her heated garage on Tuesday.

Rob and Kate are here as I type.  We are dining here and then going to a play.  "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" is in one of the local theaters.  It is amazing the amount of live productions in this area.  I am loving it.

So, that brings you up to date.  I did meet with the sewing Ladies on Friday.  I took my crocheting.  I now have the dates for the next couple of months in my calendar.  It is nice to do something other than unpacking!!  I am, however, now concentrating on my craft/sewing room.  Exciting!!!