Bits & pieces here & there

So, my little funyuns, from the last entry it would seem as if there's nothing left to tell. The estate is closed with probate, the house is sold, everyone can go on their merry way. But what I've found is that bits and pieces still trickle in. Even now, I am not certain that I've seen the last of Things That Need To Be Done. For your personal edification, a list!

• Since all the utilities at the house were in my name, the final bills didn't finish coming in until February.
  
• Still having to deal with renewals to subscriptions that had been already canceled. What, don't these people put notes in their customer service systems anymore?? Sent a terse and annoyed note to Decent Housekeeping when they claimed that my mother had requested renewal in October 2009 (may I remind you that she passed 12/2008?) and where was their money?
• The IRS. While my mother's estate was way under the cutoff for having to file estate taxes, I still have to file my mother's personal taxes for the tax year 2008. Tip: make sure you keep all tax forms that will arrive as you sell property and adjust/close out financial products. Do as I say and not as I have done: get an accountant as soon as you can. I got murdered on my own taxes for 2008 due to the disbursement of some of my mother's financial products and if I'd had an accountant in pocket before any of that happened, I'm pretty certain that I'd have been able to avoid the worst of it.
• Depending on the if you donate and to whom, there may be follow-up contact. I just got a call today from the folks who got the car to let me know it'd been sold and now they're sending me a 1098 for my 2009 taxes. Since the car was deeded to me in probate, the tax implication is mine.
• Occasional updates on the house renovation, purely my own doing as I'm excited to see what they've done with it; all reports say it's fantastic and I'll be getting pictures at some point.
  

So that's it for the time being. As illustrated by the above list, I don't doubt that this is completely over just because it's done in court, not by a long shot. After a year of potholes, speed bumps and snares, I can't help but hold my breath thinking that something or someone else is going to come flailing out of the sky to drop some fresh new hell on my head, but until that happens, I'll keep my head down and step lively on.