Kay's Monday

Didn't sleep as well last night as I did the night before, but still got maybe 6 hours. I had some weird dreams, but can't really remember much about them. Ben was in one of them, but I could not see him all that well. I've been told that when you dream about your deceased loved one that they had come to visit you. Got up and headed over to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Don't buy much to eat any more. Ben and I used to make a month trek to the nearest Winco Foods Store and stock up for a month on non-perishables. He loved our grocery shopping day each month. When I got home, I decided to call Social Security and see if I could apply for the Widow's Benefit from Ben's account. I did most of it on the phone and it was very easy and the people I spoke with were all very nice. The only thing I have to do it take the original copy of our marriage license over to our local SS office so they can fax it to the guy in Salinas, CA who is handling my request. I'm actually going to get about $200 more per month on Ben's account than I thought. It's more than he was getting when he was working part time. They told me the first check will come in mid-July. I will also get a one-time lump sum of $255 which is what the call a "burial fund". Maybe back in the 1940's when Social Security was created $255 would pay for a burial, but sure won't cut it today. But anything will help. At the end of the year, I will apply for my own Social Security benefits because mine is several hundred dollars more than Ben's is. After taking care of that phone call, I headed over to Don Cuco's Mexican Restaurant just up the street from my home to meet with my friends Judy Holdt, Judy Arbogast and Sandi Owens. We had a very nice lunch and they let me talk about Ben as much as I wanted too. I find that it really helps to talk about him. WE were there for about 2 hours. When I got home, I decided to call AT&T to have Ben's name taken off of our home phone account and have mine put on it as the sole customer. Also called our insurance agent who handles our homeowner's insurance, earthquake insurance and car insurance to find out what I needed for them. They said I need to wait for a copy of the death certificate and then make an appointment to come over to their office to take Ben off and put me as the insured. Before he was the insured and I was an addition person on the policy. So slowly but surely I am getting some of the things done and out of the way. I have an appointment with my attorney on July 12th to discuss my estate plan, agents, wishes, etc. I will also find out at that time what they can help me with on getting Ben's name off of things like our house, our vehicles, our bank accounts, our investments, property taxes, etc. So I'm back home alone, on the computer with my many online friends and family keeping me company. I have the TV on for "background support". It is getting warm here in SoCal today. It's about 95° right now. I was hoping that we'd have a cool summer. I'm kind of glad that Ben will not have to face another hot summer outside delivering auto parts. He could not tolerate the heat very well and the older I get, neither can I.