What do you do when you are stuck in snow and ice? - You make your will

And the saga of Michigan's "January in April" continues... ice storm yesterday, more of it today. Plenty of freeway closings today due to accidents, plus school cancelations, and overall frustrations galore. We had to go and pick up Remy's stuff as well as Ziggy's meds - which meant going a whopping 4 mph in our four-wheel drive truck.

What to do with all the indoor time? Well, JP and I finally ran out of excuses why we couldn't do our will. Nobody wants to face his or her mortality, but with nine (!) dependents and no family in the US it is especially crucial to have a will. Our trip to Europe is coming up, and who knows, between the flights, German Autobahn, French kamikaze drivers in Paris, and crazy people in any country carrying out attacks there is a very real risk.

Some years back I had attended a workshop geared towards horse owners, and it was an eye opener. For example, you need to put money in trust so the monthly expenses will get paid. The lawyer gave plenty of examples where people left a lump sum to a relative in the hope the person will care of the animals - only for the person to turn around, gave the animals to a kill shelter and kept the money (of course!).

We were able to get through it without killing each other (good thing as we had to finalize the will first) and I have to say I am very relieved that it's done. All that's left is for the lawyer to put it in 'lawyerese*' (and charge big bucks for it) and hopefully all of our critters will be well taken care of.

Note to the Europeans who hope to inherit from the "Rich Americans" (hah!): Better not count on it - Critters only :-)

*A satirical term used to connote the idea that lawyers frequently speak and write in such a way that is difficult, if not impossible, for laypeople to interpret.