Too much to do! Too little time!

How do people who constantly live under stress survive that way? This is insane. I'm usually so laid back I don't experience the pressure-cooker effect very often.

The witness portion of the courtroom this morning went all right, a bit surreal but nothing too complicated. The initial verdict however is hard, as my friend lost custody of her girls at least until the divorce proceedings are further along and the girls, whom I had with me in the hall, immediately burst into tears screaming they didn't want to go with him and hated him.
Hard, hard, hard...

Lots of tears later, I got home to pack, answer innumerable phone calls, write obituaries for Oregon and Hawaii, notify more relatives, track down details for the obits, find a picture for said obit to send to local papers, make flight reservations, etc... I'll head out first thing tomorrow a.m., still don't know where I'll stay when I get there. At least we did find a probate lawyer person and have kept his store from turning into an instant 'garage sale'.

On the good side (there has to be one somewhere), we have a good home for my dad's dog and the local aquarium shop has taken care of his tropical fish tanks. All living things are cared for. The entire town loved him, and they are all rallying around to help us and want to hold a big party for him up in the polo fields where he died.

Thanks for everyone's condolances and support - next phase of the adventure begins.