I got home late last night, around 9:00. It was a late work night, followed by a few errands. (Sidenote: I’m traveling to NYC to meet with fashion editors next week for work – I’m a little stressed about what to wear, and of course, couldn’t find ANYTHING while shopping last night. Funny how you can never find what you want when you HAVE to find it.)

Came home, phone chat with a friend, went through the mail. There it was… an envelope from our life insurance company. I picked it up. I set it down. I picked it up. I set it down again. Then I opened it.

It’s weird, holding a check with that many numbers, knowing that the only reason you have it is because someone is dead. Then I realized that the amount wasn’t right. It wasn’t enough, not the amount of his policy.

I went to the safe, pulled the paperwork, but quickly realized that I don’t have any of his life insurance papers, only mine. I gave him all his papers when he picked up his stuff in November. I don’t have anything verifying that this wasn’t the right amount. Damn.

I went back to my notes, from when I originally called the life insurance company to make the claim. Sure enough, there’s a number written there. Yes, the check amount was wrong. Heart. Sinking. WTF?

I spent all morning talking to the company through which we have life insurance (which, it turns out is not the company who sends the checks – huh, probably should have known that). They have notes saying the second part of the claim is being investigated and requires doctor verification – and didn’t I read the letter that was sent at the end of last month?

What letter? I didn’t get a letter. The woman read it to me and faxed a copy, but the company didn’t have the forms that were referenced in the letter. And, of course, there’s no way to reach the OTHER company today because they’re moving offices. No phones, no email, nothing.

Sidenote: Really? There are jobs in which an office move means no one works? Where are their Blackberries or iPhones? Where are their wifi connections and work-from-home laptops? How do I get a job there? (Kidding, not sure I want a job at a company that obviously operates in the stone age…or do I, as I sit in the office at 7:15 p.m. on a Friday?)

So, I’ll wait. All weekend. To find out what the heck is going on. And how it can get resolved. In the meantime, I need to figure out what I’m doing with this check. Why haven’t I called a financial planner yet? Another thing for the to-do list.