tips for finalising an estate

so now that the estate is completely finalised and done - here are my hot tips in case we (or anyone else) has to do it again.

1. the fastest way to find out what financial things need to be cancelled, is to locate the most recent bank statement you can and start going through looking for regular payments. these could be: mortgage payments, health insurance, regular donations, phone bills, electrical bills, an item that's being paid off over time... (like certegy ezipay etc) and wages. Notify all these places that the person has passed away. Each will need to be attended to, including the work place which will need to pay out any unpaid wages or holidays.

2. contact superannuation, life insurance etc and make claims. even if you find paperwork from 1991, call every single one, you never know what there is to be found and it's only a phone call!

3. in the case of a rental, begin selling any unwanted items online, while boxing/ bagging items to be donated. book a charity collection or roadside rubbish collection as far as possible in advance as they book out quickly and don't have a lot of availability. try not to throw anything away. be mindful of the wasteful world we live in and try not to add to it!

4. hold a garage sale as a final thing. anything left after this time can be donated (ie. tools/ hardware etc went to our local mens shed, a lot items were given away on our local buy nothing/ free pages, clothing and homewares were collected by good sammys wa)

5. if by the end of it you've had enough, hire a cleaner. just do what you can. i had spent weeks sorting and organising, and by the end of it didn't have it in me to clean. we hired a cleaner and flagged down a local gardener doing his mowing run.

6. if you know the person moving into the house next, ask them if they want anything. we left the trampoline - and they bought some cupboards and the fridge from us.

most of all - ask for help! some of the forms were absolutely beyond me and i just couldn't make head or tail of them. instead of putting things off, call the company and ask for help! i spent an hour on the phone to one of the insurance companies as one of their staff members talked me through how to complete their forms, line by line. if you know someone who is a certified witness to sign off on documents - ask for help! plus you never know who is, it turned out our childrens school principal is one! if your siblings or friends have skills that can help with anything - ask them too! i am forever being asked about paperwork from others now and i am happy to help. our experience can help others in their time of need. 

i hope this helps future me, or someone else i know sometime, as it's a lot of work to get through.

anxiety is normal

i have never been more comforted in my life than when i read this quote. simply for the fact that someone else posted it and first of all it was a reminder that anxiety is normal and i am not alone. i have crippling anxiety and a worldwide pandemic and uncertainty has certainly not helped the situation. there have been so many days when i have stressed and worried and sobbed over things that are out of my control and have triggered me but this made me feel so much better about it all. the fact that the gospel of jesus christ will remain unchanged is the most important thing of all and as we have been told time and time again, if we are prepared, we need not fear. i need to continue to simply do my best - and let the lord do the rest. 

 

pinnaroo plaque proofs

after months of sorting the estate for dougs parents, this is our final piece to completion, the plaque for their grave at pinnaroo. i can still hear the fury in doug's mums voice when she realised that the cemetery stephen was buried at didn't have stone headstones, instead simple metal plaques set into the grass. she was so annoyed as the samoans love their headstones. i very calmly told her we could dig him up and have him moved to a different cemetery with headstones, to which i was met with further disgust and "of course not. what is wrong with you." okay, well here are the plaque options. doug was cracking up. she came quickly to the realisation that he was buried in a lovely place and left it alone after that.

today we received our proof of what will be going on the grave, which was approved and sent off. now begins the process of waiting for the cemetery to have the plaque manufactured and set in the grave when it is received. who knows how long that will take, but we are alll done with the estate and not a minute too soon. so much stress, so little time. i guess they really can now, rest in  peace. ❤

 

baby shower banoffee

my amazing beautician is heading off on maternity leave and i am going to be left devastated as i don't only love her skills, i love her for who she is. we are born just a few days apart and share so many loves in life... we constantly joke about our overachieving ways, the fact that we allow everyone to treat us like crap and then smile and keep going and our inability to let anyone help us with anything. so imagine my delight when she allowed me to make a banoffee pie for her baby shower! i was so thrilled - and even more so when i saw pics of it proudly on display in her photo album from the day. rach i love you to pieces and will be counting the days until you're back on board! until then i'll just spam you with terrible harry potter and anxiety memes. hahaha! ❤

 

mini olympian

i am not a sport person at all. but i've been trying to encourage the kids to get into the olympics so they can cheer for our country and feel a sense of pride while the games are on. the tv may have been on a little too much during the past few days as they get through the swimming (cause that and the gymnastics are my favourite) and all of a sudden alex appeared from his room with his bathing suit on. no reason other than the fact he keeps seeing people on the tv with them on - and he told me proudly, look! i go swimming! oh my word. he is the cutest. maybe we will have an olympic swimmer of our own one day. 

 

a gift for baby willow

i finally finished something really special - a hand stitched willow tree for my friend melinda's sweet baby willow. she was born with trisomy 18 and they aren't sure on how much time they have with her, so i wanted to make something that they can treasure for always if she is called home.

i searched on pinterest until i found a picture i was happy with...

traced it onto linen (while wanting to tear my eyes out... it was a lot harder than i thought it would be)

and got stitching... originally the plan was to have it done as a gift for her baby blessing, but considering i started it that morning - and severely underestimated just how long it was going to take... it was not finished for quite some time after that.

after much time and then much more time of careful stitching...

and the addition of her name stitched at the bottom...

it was ready!

my amazing mum framed it up for me

and it looked absolutely perfect and i was so so proud of it! 

and when i gave it to mel, she loved it just as much and now it's on permanent display at their house. i love knowing there's a little piece of my heart in their home.

jeans mending hack

these are my absolute favourite jeans. i love the way they fit, i love the length, i love the tears in them and i wear them pretty much every thing about them. except the fact that over use and my chunky thighs have lead them to wear through in the crotch area. my mother has forcibly thrown out the last 4 pairs of jeans i've done this to as i always wear my favourites to death. but this time i decided to try and save them with a hack i saw from tiktok on facebook watch.

simply sew back and forth, back and forth on the worn area to create a firm patch from your stitches. no pattern required, just sew until they aren't see through anymore! haha. i went to town on both sides and once i was happy with their strength and my needle needed changing, i gave up. and what do you know? they are totally wearable again. take that mum! 

#lifehack