Much has happened over this past week and curiously, I simply haven't felt like blogging about it. After having received the news of finally, finally securing a job, my mind has been in a whirl and my emotions have been swinging around enough to make my mind look like it's been sitting still.
- Friday evening, my sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and Paul, as well as their three children, Aaron, Luke and Jess drove up from Chicago to spend the weekend. Friday evening, we drank wine, ate munchies, ordered pizza, exchanged stories, and toasted ME on the occasion of my new job. Jess, Luke and Aaron also surprised their parents with the news of an informal 30th anniversary party.
- Saturday was a day of errands, scurrying around buying cards (belated graduation for Jess, anniversary for Ruth & Paul, Father's Day for Dad, belated birthday card for Joanne) and small gifts, such as they were. While I now have a job, I still don't have any money coming in right now and it felt very odd to allow myself the freedom to spend money. What a curious feeling!
- Ruth & Paul's party began at 5, but I arrived at John & Kari's lovely home in DeWitt around 4. Ruth, in particular, felt a bit discombobulated at not being involved in party and food preparations -- she was told to "get out of the kitchen." Well!
Aaron, Luke and Jess did a great job of putting the party together. I know it's something they're unaccustomed to, but they did a bang-up job! John & Kari are gracious hosts and put everyone at their ease.
It was enjoyable to see people whom I hadn't seen for quite a while. S and I visited with Ruth's good friend, Anne, a retired attorney now living in Birmingham, Michigan. It felt good to be open about our relationship with her. Paul's dad, Roy, was giving away as well as selling copies of his new book, a first volume (of many) on preaching guides based on the church year. If you're not Lutheran, don't worry if you don't understand. It's all very detailed and parochial. Roy was understandably proud of his efforts.
Luke and his Aunt Mary finally had their drinking time! We worked on three bottles of wine through the evening. We did have some help killing off the old soldiers, but I took precautions to drink loads of water and a piece of bread when I got home. - Sunday morning I was moving slow, but drove into town to meet Aaron at his grandparents' home to pick up some large terra cotta pots that nobody seemed to want and had been languishing there. Aaron did the heavy lifting while I stood by.
Shortly later, everyone else joined us after finishing the church service they had attended. We all said our round of good-byes and I left.
S and I prepared to head up north to attend Dobie's visitation. We took a brief nap, showered, dressed, loaded up the car and the dog and left about 4. We arrived there after six and paid our respects at the funeral home. Surprisingly, mutual friends of ours, Michelle and Sue, had also driven up for the visitation -- people we haven't seen since December -- so we got to visit and catch up with them as well.
We finished the day by arriving at the home of S's sister, Michelle, and her husband, Jim, to spend the night. I showered, said my good-nights and crashed. S and Michelle sat up and visited for a while. - Monday morning, S and I dressed, left Cisco with Michelle, and headed back down US-27 to attend the funeral. Kevin made some absolutely delicious Bloody Mary's for us to drink later in the day ... but we all got a pre-funeral taste of their spicy, vodka-infused lusciousness!
The funeral was well-attended and many people recounted loving memories of Dobie. As I had feared, there was an incident regarding who constituted family when it came time for seating the family. Thankfully, there were enough people who recognize Joanne as Jeanne's partner and also recognize her significant contributions over these past months, that Joanne sat in the first row, right next to Jeanne through the service -- as she should have. - We finished up the day by driving back north to change our clothes, visit with Michelle for about an hour, pack up the dog and head back downstate. We first visited our home in the pines, switched bags and clothes and cars, and then drove the second leg of the journey back here to our pied-a-terre in the city. Whew! Such a lot of driving!
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