Stressed? Less.

But not as much as I'd like. Had another good, productive day at work yesterday. All but one of my to-do's done. SemperFi's mail read, worked and filed. Mellow's mail read and my half of it worked. Attorney B's mail read but not worked or filed. Just a good close examination to make sure there were no hot potatoes. One file closed and three more that I will close today.

Last night I spoke with my sister-in-law, who has one of the two remaining pieces of paperwork we need to file for the estate and has been lugging it in her purse for a week. She has been even busier at her work than I; she's the president of her company, a woman of impeccable integrity, and will get the document to my attorney shortly.

And then I will focus my energies on securing that last piece. One of my friends posted a Will Rogers quote: Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you can find a rock.

I loathe confrontation. And I loathe dealing with passive aggressive people. (I thought I was done with that when the children were grown and I no longer had to co-parent with the children's father.) And I loathe feeling lied-to. And I think I have been patient just about long enough.

I fired a warning shot over the bow earlier this week. And unless the Spirit tells me otherwise, the next time I take aim there will be metaphorical rock salt pointed at somebody's derrière.

It has been an interesting process to ponder this. Sometimes we are supposed to be patient and wait for Heaven to fight our battles. Sometimes we have to roll up our sleeves and work it out. I try to follow Brigham Young's counsel to work as if it all depended on me and pray as if it all depended on the Lord.

I listened to the part of the Book of Ether earlier this week when the brother of Jared was building the barges. He got specific instructions on how to put them together. When he brought up the question of how to light them inside, the Lord told him to figure it out.

So in my situation am I supposed to be patient? (See above.) Because if I am supposed to do the heavy lifting, I want to do it in a way that strengthens the family. I want to have a peaceful relationship with this individual. And I would also like to move forward financially. Which is hard when my calls and emails are not returned.

Stonewalling is one of the most hateful things we do as imperfect human beings.

Two weeks from tomorrow all the individuals on both sides of the family who are (theoretically or actually) temple-worthy will gather at the temple for my sealing to Beloved. I would like to have this settled before then. I do not want to be harboring resentment against one of my family members.

Oh how I wish I could counsel with somebody's mama. I want to be good to her child. But I also want to pinch his head off.

Beware the anger of a quiet ma'am.