Legalese

Is it possible to have too many pictures of sunflowers? I say no.

I just woke from the weirdest dream. Somehow Dave and I were going to get married -- and of course we already are, so maybe this was taking place in the past. But I suddenly realized in the dream that I was already married, to a friend from college, and then realized I was also married to a former boyfriend. So I had not one but two husbands already! This was not a good feeling. I felt literally sick at the thought of all the paperwork and legalese I would have to endure to get me out of this fix before I could marry the person I really wanted. And then, thank goodness, I woke up married to the right person after all.

Dreams are so strange. I have noticed that on nights when I don't have a glass of wine or two with dinner, my dreams are more vivid. Or maybe I just remember them better. I didn't drink at all yesterday (given the pub outing the day before), and I think that contributed to my weird dream state. Maybe my REM sleep is better when I'm completely sober.

My dread of legalese may stem from the fact that I'm still wrestling with my stepmother's estate. Remember how I had to get some bank documents notarized a few weeks ago in order to get the bank to release the money I'm entitled to as a beneficiary of her accounts? Well, I submitted the forms and waited, and waited, and waited. I finally called the bank on Tuesday and asked what's up, and they said the notary stamp by itself was not sufficient -- I also needed an apostille (basically a certificate verifying the identity of the notary, as I understand it). So I'm getting that now, but I felt like saying (sarcastically), "Well, thanks for contacting me and telling me that!" My siblings and I have a theory that the bank is making this as difficult as possible so they can hold onto her money as long as possible.

I also called our own bank over a £45 transaction on our account from June that neither Dave nor I recognize. I got them to tell me a little more about it and we still don't recognize it, so I think I'm going to dispute it. It's on Dave's card, which may get cancelled but c'est la vie. I'm surprised it took me this long to notice it but with all our traveling and other excitement this summer I plead distraction. It's from a company called Avori, and there appear to be three such firms -- one focusing on foot and skin care, one on bedding, and one on hair care devices -- and neither of us have any memory or evidence of purchasing anything there. Dave even e-mailed the most likely Avori and they said they have no record of a transaction from him. So that's weird.

It's also weird that there's been no suspicious activity since on our accounts. You would think a scammer, having gotten away with one transaction, would pull more. But that doesn't appear to have happened. I do think it's possible that Dave ordered something online, possibly from a retailer who trades under a different name, and then forgot about it. There's just no way to know for sure.

In the afternoon I took the dog to the cemetery, where we found this mysterious backbone lying in the grass. Finding bones in a cemetery is always disconcerting, but this is clearly from an animal of some type. Of course Bailey promptly tried to roll on top of it and I pulled her back at the last minute, which is why she's rolling off to the side in the photo above. Google tells me the bones are from an ungulate like a sheep or deer. What either would be doing in Hampstead Cemetery is anybody's guess.

We passed this truck on our walk home. Someone didn't plan their lettering very well, did they?

And on Tuesday night, when I was at the concert, Dave sent me this hilarious picture of Bailey crashed out on our couch. She clearly wasn't anxious about my absence!