Well the government is going to start giving out rebate checks in May. I just glanced at it, but I think I'll get close to $1200.

I under-paid the Feds and I owe $1770. I'll have to reconcile my W4s. I think I messed up because my kid turned 17 and I lost his child credit. Oh well live and learn.

I claim 0 on my State and will get almost all that I paid out back, plus enough to cover the Feds and I'll have a small amount left over.

I applied for the Pell Grant this year. Every year they deny my oldest daughter because I have to file with her. Well I completed the forms and it looks like I was approved. I still have to verify information. Nothing asked for her income on the form, so I'll take her tax forms with me. It doesn't seem right that her income is not counted. I'm thinking I did something wrong. I'll verify everything before I take any money. The last thing I need is to owe someone else money.

All bills are paid so far this month. So far so good.

Next month I start paying on the car that was wrecked.

I didn't know it then, but the moment my Pop died, I started a new chapter of my life. It is titled "Death and the Other Parent".

The chapter starts with survivor's benefits. Mom got to keep my Pop's check, but hers stopped. You get to keep the bigger check. Mom's income was cut by almost a 3rd. She now has $1057 per month to live on. Not enough to cover her bills, rent and food.

Then there is the helplessness factor. Mom no longer cooks for herself. She expects my brother to cook for her - which he dutifully does - then she complains non-stop about it.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that - my brother started taking total advantage of Mom. He lives with her or I should say "off her" as he does not contribute to anything. He paid $300 rent each month before Pop died. Mom complains to all of us about this, yet does not want anyone to step in and talk to the brother. After all "he pays $400 per month child support". When I explained that he makes MORE money then me and my MONTHLY EXPENSES are $3700 per month - it didn't seem to phase her at all. I've already been paying $50 per month to the MOM fund which is to cover her funeral, durable medi-cal equipment, gasoline for the doctor's trips, etc. (My other brother keeps this fund. It used to be the Pop fund.) Then last month I gave her $400 to cover her for the remainder of the month. Which, by the way, is something I just couldn't afford to do.

The end of the chapter closes with the question every adult child dreads hearing: "How much are you willing to step in and take control of the other parent's world with or without their blessing?".

There are two last chapters to this book. Neither has been written yet. The titles are: "Bringing Mom Home" and "The Brother Who Finally Grew Up".

I'll let you know how it ends.