Sorry for the Delay...

At one end of my dining room table, I have a growing stack of papers, currently about three inches tall. This pile is made up of all manner of forms and bills and receipts - all gathered over the last three or so months. All of this, of course, has to do with Sam and my blindly stumbling through the ongoing SSI process (also known as, "my life").

I continue to accumulate all of this stuff because I don’t know for sure all of what I’m supposed to be claiming - and worse, I don’t understand how I’m supposed to be recording all of this. What qualifies? How do I record this stuff? Beats me.

The few times I’ve been able to ask someone if I’m going about this the right way, I get a response along the lines of, “I think that’s ok.” This is not the kind of response that instills me with confidence.

But things are looking up. The other day, I got a form from SSI which, as Sam’s representative, I have to fill out. In some ways, this is almost a relief. The fact that this showed up right now tells me that I need to be tracking (or, attempting to track) his expenses by the fiscal year, as opposed to the calendar year. It also gives me some broad categories that I can begin dividing my pile into - thus making several smaller piles. This, at least, is progress.

Among other things, I need to declare that I’m spending money in Sam’s best interest. I don’t have any problem with this. What I do have a problem with is determining whether or not I am spending the money correctly.

I need to give dollar breakouts for different categories. Some things, like food, housing and clothing are easy enough to figure out - especially when you have a three inch pile of receipts to back it up. Other things though, are a little vague to me - especially something called, “Personal Comfort Items”. I’ve tried looking up the definition of "Personal Comfort Items" several times and other than finding a few, very specific examples, any information I've come across is either extremely vague or it conflicts with something else (surprise!).

The entire time I've been dealing with this, a scene from an old movie keeps playing out in my head...
  
The lost and clueless explorer makes his way slowly through the jungle. "Which way?" he wonders. "Which way?"
With each tentative step, something unseen moves quickly through the nearby brush. 
He stops - and the rustling stops.
Standing as still as possible, he contemplates his next move - and he listens.
Nothing. Nothing but the sound of his heart, pounding in his chest.
He takes another step - and the rustling begins again. 
Somewhere, off in the distance, a monkey screams. 
Step by agonizing step, he makes his way deeper and deeper beneath the increasingly dark canopy.
Up ahead, unseen through the dense fauna, scattered leaves cover the ground - leaves which conceal a pit below. 
Inside the pit is …what? Poison tipped sticks? Snakes? Or… something worse.

That’s pretty much what this is like. Except, my pit isn’t covered with leaves. It’s covered with forms and receipts.

And, the monkeys - there's no screaming monkeys. Yet.