Today was a pretty quiet day. Sarah had gone back to LA the night before, and Rose had stayed the night but left early in the morning to take Ron to the airport. My dad started going through paperwork and decided to show me the trust. I really should have looked at this stuff before, but I guess this was a good time. It was good to know that they had set up power of attorney for both Chuck and I, and to understand the difference to there being 3 inheritors, 2 trustees, and 1 executor (me). I also didn't realize they had put all their stuff into a trust, and what that meant.
The one thing my dad is undecided about is some property he has in the California Valley. He seems to think it is going to create problems being co-owned, but I really don't want him to sell it right now in this market, so hopefully I got through to him on that. We also found it on Mapquest. I haven't been there since I was about preschool age, so that was kindof cool. I didn't really even know where it was it was, except vaguely that it is in the Central California area.
Also, while going through the papers he has together with the trust, I found his Army discharge stuff. I never knew he had a medical discharge and asked about it. Apparently he ended up leaving due to back problems. I had no idea! It seems weird because my dad is the most fit and strong person I have ever known. He has had back problems in his older years, and now I guess I know why.... When I asked him about it, he said he started having alot of pain and went for tests. Turns out they found out his bottom vertebrae is cartilage instead of bone! Why have I never known this. I can't believe he never had more problems! He was even a star gymnast in high school and was fine. Weird.
And then there is the stuff.... My mom has more stuff that you can imagine. I never for a minute thought about changing anything in the main part of the house, but the garage and sewing room are both filled with stuff that was either in her consignment space and brought back when they downsized, or purchased at a garage sale and never taken to the store. And stuff like boxes of blank greeting cards she collected and never used. So I talked to my dad about working on certain categories of stuff while I was there. Like frames and vases. There must have been at least 20 each of those two things just in the sewing room. He kept going back and forth and finally said he didn't want anybody coming to the house. OK.
So I organized a couple things I thought he would never notice. I rounded up all the miscellaneous sewing supplies I found all over the house and gave those to Rose. She said she had a friend who could use them. Then I got all the greeting cards together. Rose went though and got the thank yous and blank stuff out, and then I took the computer out to the motorhome to put ad on Craigslist with my cell number for the rest. (I can sometimes steal a connection from the neighbor out there). A really nice woman picked them up this morning. I told her I was helping my dad and it was hard with no Internet. She told me to give her a call any time if I needed help or that I could come to her place to get online. Total stranger.... Just the kind of thing I would expect to find from somebody back in Oregon.
So it got me thinking. Of course there are nice people everywhere. We just noticed so many more when we came to Oregon. I just don't remember thinking that very often when I lived in CA. But the weird thing is, I notice it so much more when I come back now. Even drivers. The question is, was it always about the same and I am just thinking about it now, or is there a difference? I started developing this idea that I have become so accustomed to the wonderful people in Oregon, that maybe I continue to draw them to me when I am elsewhere. Ever since tapping into the Portland way of life, I have seemed to encounter more nice people whereever I go. Coincidence? Who knows?
Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
CA Thursday - Funeral Day :(
This is a hard day to write about, but I think it is still important to journal it. I knew the start was going to be the hardest. My mom was very clear that she did not want a viewing, but my dad really wanted to see her. My brother adamantly did NOT, so I thought I should go with him. I pretty much think about the body like an empty shell at this point, but I wanted to support my dad. So they set it up for us to have a short private time with her. Ron came in this morning, and his mom picked him up at the airport. They got there just shortly before we headed out. He is only able to stay until tomorrow morning since he got an interview, but I am glad he is here for today.
On the way over to the funeral home, my dad started saying he didn't know if he wanted to see her! He was kindof acting like he just assumed I wanted to. (I hadn't said anything either way.) I wasn't sure what to say, because my brother had told me before I got there it seemed really important to him, and he has been all over the place with other stuff. Then he started talking about how I at least need to go check on her because he has heard stories about them putting the wrong body in the coffin or the wrong outfit on. I thought this was a totally crazy thing to be thinking of, but it is a horrible "what if". And I guess it is bound to happen at some point, even if it is one in a million. Then he said he was afraid he would break down, and I told him that is what he is supposed to do.
While walking in, I said something about hoping he would not regret it if he didn't go in, and he said right away that he wanted to. The weird thing is, I started crying the moment I walked in the room, and I totally wasn't expecting to do that. I think it was partly because she just looked SO old. She looked exactly like her mom had at the end in the hospital right before she died. I couldn't help but wonder if that was actually what she looked like or if it was because it was a few days after her death. I didn't want to ask my dad.... The other thing I noticed was she had large noticeable cancers on her neck. Those were not there just in February when we were here. My brother had made some comments about how this was a blessing because she was getting to a place where she had stuff that was going to show since the doctors had pretty much said they were done treating her. For better or worse, my mom was a vain woman, and indeed it would have bothered her. She was a knockout beauty in her youth and had a hard time with getting old.
We stayed in the chapel for awhile, until my dad said he was ready to go. I think he was glad he went in. Then we had a little bit of time at the house before it was time to head to the cemetery. The service had quite a good turnout. There were some relatives and friends there from Northern California and other far off places. It was great to see some of them I haven't seen in a long time. Josh and Katie were there with Sarah, and even Katie's mom came. We were hoping to meet last time I was in CA. This was kindof a weird way to meet, but it was nice that she came. Orion stayed with Josh almost the whole time. I thought he would want to run around on the grass, but he was happy with Josh holding him. Again, thank God for Josh!
The one thing my mom had always asked for was for Sarah to sing at her funeral. She even knew the exact song. She was pretty shaken up, though, and didn't think she could do it. She had printed out a bunch of the lyrics, though, so she could pass them out to folks, so I said I would just read them. Not your average funeral song! I think maybe this is my mom's idea of paradise:
On the way over to the funeral home, my dad started saying he didn't know if he wanted to see her! He was kindof acting like he just assumed I wanted to. (I hadn't said anything either way.) I wasn't sure what to say, because my brother had told me before I got there it seemed really important to him, and he has been all over the place with other stuff. Then he started talking about how I at least need to go check on her because he has heard stories about them putting the wrong body in the coffin or the wrong outfit on. I thought this was a totally crazy thing to be thinking of, but it is a horrible "what if". And I guess it is bound to happen at some point, even if it is one in a million. Then he said he was afraid he would break down, and I told him that is what he is supposed to do.
While walking in, I said something about hoping he would not regret it if he didn't go in, and he said right away that he wanted to. The weird thing is, I started crying the moment I walked in the room, and I totally wasn't expecting to do that. I think it was partly because she just looked SO old. She looked exactly like her mom had at the end in the hospital right before she died. I couldn't help but wonder if that was actually what she looked like or if it was because it was a few days after her death. I didn't want to ask my dad.... The other thing I noticed was she had large noticeable cancers on her neck. Those were not there just in February when we were here. My brother had made some comments about how this was a blessing because she was getting to a place where she had stuff that was going to show since the doctors had pretty much said they were done treating her. For better or worse, my mom was a vain woman, and indeed it would have bothered her. She was a knockout beauty in her youth and had a hard time with getting old.
We stayed in the chapel for awhile, until my dad said he was ready to go. I think he was glad he went in. Then we had a little bit of time at the house before it was time to head to the cemetery. The service had quite a good turnout. There were some relatives and friends there from Northern California and other far off places. It was great to see some of them I haven't seen in a long time. Josh and Katie were there with Sarah, and even Katie's mom came. We were hoping to meet last time I was in CA. This was kindof a weird way to meet, but it was nice that she came. Orion stayed with Josh almost the whole time. I thought he would want to run around on the grass, but he was happy with Josh holding him. Again, thank God for Josh!
The one thing my mom had always asked for was for Sarah to sing at her funeral. She even knew the exact song. She was pretty shaken up, though, and didn't think she could do it. She had printed out a bunch of the lyrics, though, so she could pass them out to folks, so I said I would just read them. Not your average funeral song! I think maybe this is my mom's idea of paradise:
Big Rock Candy Mountain
|  |
| One evening as the sun went down and the jungle fire was burning *************** So you can see she didn't want it to be a really sad affair. In that spirit, we were off to one of her favorite Mexican restaurants after the service. I think she would have liked it that we all gathered around Mex and Margaritas in her memory. :) I got a chance to talk to a few folks and catch up, while Josh was being his usual patient self as Orion stuck his fingers in his food and created all manner of other mischief. It still felt like a long day by the time we got home. We were all tired and pretty much just flaked out the rest of the day. I didn't really feel like taking pictures, although I suppose it would have been nice at the restaurant, but Ron did take this one of the coffin detail:  The one thing my dad did talk about was how much she loved red roses, so I was glad he spoke up as I probably would have picked pink. |
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
CA Wednesday
The obituary came out today.... My dad had such a strong reaction to it. First he kindof laughed. I think it was because her picture looked so nice. I wanted to choose an old timey one, but we ended up picking one from about 20 years ago that she looked really nice in. The next thing I knew, he was crying. Then he shoved the whole paper at me and told me to take it away. :( Then about 15 minutes later, he wanted it back. Then he just kept holding on to it and finally cut it out and taped it to the wall in his office. I guess this is all normal, but it is just hard to see him like this. :(
Monday, May 5, 2008
Sad Monday
This morning we had the oh so cheerful business of the official meeting at the funeral home.
My brother had mentioned they already went in, so I thought some of the arrangements had been made. But I guess all they did was look at a few coffins, and for some reason, my dad really wanted me to make alot of the decisions. :( Thank goodness there were several things he spoke up on, because I really didn't want to do it all and there were some things I wouldn't even have known. It did fall totally to me to pick the poem for the little folder they hand out at the service. My brother said he never even looks at them. At least his girlfriend liked what I picked, so I felt I wasn't all alone in the decision. And I was relieved everybody agreed about some of the details like not wanting to have pallbearers and not wanting to stay for the actual burial.
I will say, the people at the funeral home were amazingly helpful. Maybe they all do everything for you, but I really felt these folks went above and beyond. They took care of entering and paying for the obituary, obtaining and paying the minister and even setting up the reception.
My dad really didn't want people in the house, so we decided to go to a restaurant near the cemetary called Las Toros. It is a place we have used for all kinds of family functions, including my dad's surprise 70th birthday party. We used to eat there all the time when we lived in Chatsworth. The guy helping us called the restaurant to set up the time and even pulled up buffet menus online for us to choose from.
One thing I got to thinking about was if my dad was sure if my mom wanted me to have her ring. What if she wanted to be buried with it? So I asked him, and he said she had actually taken it off in the hospital and told him to give it to me. She has been in and out of the hospital several times, so I can't help but think she knew it was her time. This doesn't really go with his story that made it sound like she seemed fine during the night, but I guess that is just where his head was. :(
Then we had the task of getting home and calling people to let them know when the funeral would be (Thursday). At least we have a few people in our family that our good at keeping track of people and were willing to spread the news.
One of the positives that has come out of this so far was getting to talk to my niece, Tessi. The last time I saw her, she was pregnant and I totally inundated her with information! She was already on her way to planning a natural birth and all sorts of other cool stuff, so I had to make sure she was tanked up with resources haha. I had gotten a little secondhand news of her, but this was the first time I had talked to her in ages. It turns out she is in the process of applying to be a La Leche League leader! And she said she has gotten really involved with her local Attachment Parenting group and the homeschooling community. Yay! A soul sister in my family.
I got over to the dollar store to buy Orion several things in the afternoon. I don't know why I shop there since the stuff is so cheap and breaks so easily, but at least I was able to get a bunch of stuff.
We saw these foam swords and shields just as we were leaving and had to add them to the lot.
Josh occupying Orion for ages. TGFJ
Another positive so far has been getting to spend time with Sarah. And she has been so amazingly helpful. She has come in and checked the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen both days. And they are really helpful with Orion and wanting to do things to help me rest. They even are saying they want to come make dinner on Wednesday.
My brother had mentioned they already went in, so I thought some of the arrangements had been made. But I guess all they did was look at a few coffins, and for some reason, my dad really wanted me to make alot of the decisions. :( Thank goodness there were several things he spoke up on, because I really didn't want to do it all and there were some things I wouldn't even have known. It did fall totally to me to pick the poem for the little folder they hand out at the service. My brother said he never even looks at them. At least his girlfriend liked what I picked, so I felt I wasn't all alone in the decision. And I was relieved everybody agreed about some of the details like not wanting to have pallbearers and not wanting to stay for the actual burial.
I will say, the people at the funeral home were amazingly helpful. Maybe they all do everything for you, but I really felt these folks went above and beyond. They took care of entering and paying for the obituary, obtaining and paying the minister and even setting up the reception.
My dad really didn't want people in the house, so we decided to go to a restaurant near the cemetary called Las Toros. It is a place we have used for all kinds of family functions, including my dad's surprise 70th birthday party. We used to eat there all the time when we lived in Chatsworth. The guy helping us called the restaurant to set up the time and even pulled up buffet menus online for us to choose from.
One thing I got to thinking about was if my dad was sure if my mom wanted me to have her ring. What if she wanted to be buried with it? So I asked him, and he said she had actually taken it off in the hospital and told him to give it to me. She has been in and out of the hospital several times, so I can't help but think she knew it was her time. This doesn't really go with his story that made it sound like she seemed fine during the night, but I guess that is just where his head was. :(
Then we had the task of getting home and calling people to let them know when the funeral would be (Thursday). At least we have a few people in our family that our good at keeping track of people and were willing to spread the news.
One of the positives that has come out of this so far was getting to talk to my niece, Tessi. The last time I saw her, she was pregnant and I totally inundated her with information! She was already on her way to planning a natural birth and all sorts of other cool stuff, so I had to make sure she was tanked up with resources haha. I had gotten a little secondhand news of her, but this was the first time I had talked to her in ages. It turns out she is in the process of applying to be a La Leche League leader! And she said she has gotten really involved with her local Attachment Parenting group and the homeschooling community. Yay! A soul sister in my family.
I got over to the dollar store to buy Orion several things in the afternoon. I don't know why I shop there since the stuff is so cheap and breaks so easily, but at least I was able to get a bunch of stuff.
We saw these foam swords and shields just as we were leaving and had to add them to the lot.
Josh occupying Orion for ages. TGFJ
Another positive so far has been getting to spend time with Sarah. And she has been so amazingly helpful. She has come in and checked the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen both days. And they are really helpful with Orion and wanting to do things to help me rest. They even are saying they want to come make dinner on Wednesday.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
In California
We got to CA without too much stress. Portland had something new at the airport, or at least it didn't get mentioned to us last time. There were some really friendly people at the security check who directed us to a family line. And then the people in that line were really friendly, patient, helpful, etc. We ended up with an extra easy time of it because they let Ron come in with us. I told them at the desk my back really hurt and I needed help, and they just gave him a pass. BUT, it also turned out his license had expired yesterday! So he had to go to the other crazy thorough line. No big deal because he took the two things I was carrying on. Orion and I breezed right through and went to the gate to get our seats together. By the time we got back, Ron was almost done. And by the time we walked to the terminal, it was time to get on the plane. We couldn't have had better timing!
The flight was pretty good, although we sure had some grouchy flight attendants. And they put us in the front row which meant we had to put our stuff above and I couldn't get my tray out because it came out of the armrest and my belly was too big! Also, Orion seemed to have a shorter attention span than last time. I wonder if it had something to do with having the DS AND the DVD player. Last time, he was perfectly happy to watch Little Einsteins, but this time he kept wanting to go back and forth between the two.
Orion said something really cute and funny on the flight. I saw a little plane fairly close to ours during our ascent and pointed it out to him. He asked, "Do big planes make little planes?" Haha, funny boy.
Getting the luggage was a bit tricky as Orion started running around amidst the passengers, and I couldn't follow him very well. Rose and Jim had missed their turn and weren't there yet, so I figured I would just gather everything up and be stuck at the carousel until they got there.
But some nice man offered to help me take everything out to the curb. Yay for nice strangers!
They really are everywhere you go if you are open to help I am finding.
I knew the rest of the day was going to be really hard and was just hoping for the best with Orion. My brother was there when I got to Simi. I am glad they have been able to be with him so much. The first thing my dad did was come up to me with my mom's wedding ring and wanted me to wear it. :( He was crying of course, and I have a really hard time not crying when other people are crying. Not that there is anything wrong with crying, but I was wondering if it would freak Orion out. The funny thing was, I totally expected him to start asking questions about my mom, but he never did. I know Ron talked to him at home about death, so I am wondering if it actually sunk in at some level. He did go right to the closet where she had some toys for him last time and asked, "Where are Grandma's toys?" I told him we took them all home last time, and that was pretty much the end of him talking about her for the day.
Sarah came up in the afternoon. I think she was afraid to get here before I did. She has been really emotional and probably figured it would be even harder at the house. But she headed right up with Katie and Josh when she heard we had landed. Her Grandpa sure was glad to see her.
I wasn't in the mood for taking many pictures, but thought I should try to snap a few while I am here. This was about par for the course for the day. I will start saying, "Thank God for Josh" again now like I kept saying last time!
Here is my poor Dad trying to write an obituary. I think I will be taking this task over. That is a big magnifying glass at his right side. He doesn't see well to read let alone write.
The first night here was a bit rough. Sarah didn't feel like sleeping here and went back to LA.
My dad asked us to sleep in their bed, which I wasn't thrilled about, but also didn't want to hurt his feelings. To be honest, I was really glad Orion said he didn't want to. He is used to sleeping in a different room when he is here, so that made it easier to tell my dad we were going to stick with that one. And sure enough, the monsters reappeared. So it wasn't just the woods being scary. I guess it has more to do with being away from home. He has always been such a good little traveler, but maybe this just goes with his age... or everything else going on. He did say one really funny thing. The room we usually sleep in is like a storage room. It contains all my mom's sewing and craft stuff, as well as all sorts of stuff that was destined for her antique booth. There is all manner of crazy junk in there. For some reason, there was an oversized troll doll standing on a stool near the foot of the pull out bed. It was clearly a boy and had gray hair. Orion said, "That's Grandpa when he was a boy!" You kindof have to see it to get how funny it is, but I don't think I am going to have room to bring it home.
The flight was pretty good, although we sure had some grouchy flight attendants. And they put us in the front row which meant we had to put our stuff above and I couldn't get my tray out because it came out of the armrest and my belly was too big! Also, Orion seemed to have a shorter attention span than last time. I wonder if it had something to do with having the DS AND the DVD player. Last time, he was perfectly happy to watch Little Einsteins, but this time he kept wanting to go back and forth between the two.
Orion said something really cute and funny on the flight. I saw a little plane fairly close to ours during our ascent and pointed it out to him. He asked, "Do big planes make little planes?" Haha, funny boy.
Getting the luggage was a bit tricky as Orion started running around amidst the passengers, and I couldn't follow him very well. Rose and Jim had missed their turn and weren't there yet, so I figured I would just gather everything up and be stuck at the carousel until they got there.
But some nice man offered to help me take everything out to the curb. Yay for nice strangers!
They really are everywhere you go if you are open to help I am finding.
I knew the rest of the day was going to be really hard and was just hoping for the best with Orion. My brother was there when I got to Simi. I am glad they have been able to be with him so much. The first thing my dad did was come up to me with my mom's wedding ring and wanted me to wear it. :( He was crying of course, and I have a really hard time not crying when other people are crying. Not that there is anything wrong with crying, but I was wondering if it would freak Orion out. The funny thing was, I totally expected him to start asking questions about my mom, but he never did. I know Ron talked to him at home about death, so I am wondering if it actually sunk in at some level. He did go right to the closet where she had some toys for him last time and asked, "Where are Grandma's toys?" I told him we took them all home last time, and that was pretty much the end of him talking about her for the day.
Sarah came up in the afternoon. I think she was afraid to get here before I did. She has been really emotional and probably figured it would be even harder at the house. But she headed right up with Katie and Josh when she heard we had landed. Her Grandpa sure was glad to see her.
I wasn't in the mood for taking many pictures, but thought I should try to snap a few while I am here. This was about par for the course for the day. I will start saying, "Thank God for Josh" again now like I kept saying last time!
Here is my poor Dad trying to write an obituary. I think I will be taking this task over. That is a big magnifying glass at his right side. He doesn't see well to read let alone write.
The first night here was a bit rough. Sarah didn't feel like sleeping here and went back to LA.
My dad asked us to sleep in their bed, which I wasn't thrilled about, but also didn't want to hurt his feelings. To be honest, I was really glad Orion said he didn't want to. He is used to sleeping in a different room when he is here, so that made it easier to tell my dad we were going to stick with that one. And sure enough, the monsters reappeared. So it wasn't just the woods being scary. I guess it has more to do with being away from home. He has always been such a good little traveler, but maybe this just goes with his age... or everything else going on. He did say one really funny thing. The room we usually sleep in is like a storage room. It contains all my mom's sewing and craft stuff, as well as all sorts of stuff that was destined for her antique booth. There is all manner of crazy junk in there. For some reason, there was an oversized troll doll standing on a stool near the foot of the pull out bed. It was clearly a boy and had gray hair. Orion said, "That's Grandpa when he was a boy!" You kindof have to see it to get how funny it is, but I don't think I am going to have room to bring it home.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
What a day, what a day
I don't even know where to start. How do you describe a day that is your husband's birthday and you get a call the same morning that your mom just died? The crazy things was, she went to the hospital the day before, and my dad didn't even call me! He had it in his head I am about to give birth any time and didn't want to freak me out. Same goes for the fact he didn't call right when it happened, which was around 3 in the morning. So we got a call from Ron's mom before we heard from my Dad! I called him right away and got the details. I am writing out the story here so I will be able to remember it well. If you are somebody reading this who is not interested in all the sadness, just skip the next paragraph.
Some time in the late afternoon of Friday, my mom got up to go to the bathroom and had a major blood pressure drop. Her head fell over when she was sitting, so my dad rushed over to shake her and call her name. She wasn't responding, so the nurse called 911. (She was given a full time hospice nurse just recently.) It is weird how this sticks in my memory so vividly, but I remember my dad chuckling as he told the story a couple times. I guess it made me feel like he was doing OK. He did this when he mentioned they sent multiple ambulences over. I am guessing he meant something more like more than one thing with a siren, but not really sure. So she went to emergency and they worked for a long time with drugs to get her stable, which happened around 9pm. She was conscious and seemed fine at this point I guess. They put her in a regular room and brought my dad a huge chair he could sleep in (that was the other thing he chuckled about - he called it the "executive chair"). He said they watched some TV and he sat with her until she fell asleep. Then he went to sleep but woke up around 3am. Everything still looked fine, so he went to tell the nurses he was going to run home. He got to worrying he hadn't even shut the door to the house when he ran out. The house is very close to the hospital. He was probably only gone about 15 minutes, but her heart suddenly failed in that time, and that is when she passed. I know my dad feels terrible it happened that way, but I really think she may have chosen it. She always talked about not wanting people to see her a certain way and wanting to be alone at the end, so I truly think this is what she wanted.
At least we didn't have any major birthday plans to cancel. We were playing it by ear anyway depending on the weather. I had bought some picnic food we hoped to take out some place, but that was about it. The rest of the day seems surreal now. The first thing I had to do was decide what dates I would go to California and get online for tickets. Then I started slowly packing some things. I had started Ron's cake the day before, so I was determined to do at least that much for his birthday. The crazy thing was how fast the day went. It was like I was in some kind of time warp. It was into the afternoon before I knew it, and of course my back went out after sitting on the bed and twisting around folding and organizing clothes. But I somehow hobbled through finishing Ron's cake, and then I sat down to frost and decorate it.
I doubt I would have even taken a picture, but Ron had promised his peeps on the Atkins forum that he would show it to them after going on about it the first time I made it.
This year's theme was Superman as you can see. The day I finally made it to the party store, there was really not much choice in anything Ron would like for things that had cake toppers, so I decided to buy some toys to put on top. It worked out fairly well I think.
Orion patiently waiting. If you look closely, you an see he already has frosting smears around his mouth from licking the bowl.
Getting through to Sarah was a whole story on its own. Her cell phone is not working, so I usually get ahold of her through her boyfriend or best friend. I couldn't get either of them, but left a message for her to call me. I didn't hear from her, so I finally decided to send a text to her boyfriend's phone. I really didn't want to tell her that way, but she hasn't been great about returning calls in the past, even if I say it is important. She got back to me in the afternoon and was so hysterical she couldn't even talk. :( I think that is going to be harder for me than my own reaction. She had to call me back when she calmed down a little and said she will meet me in Simi tomorrow.
So I made it through the day somehow. Time has a funny way of marching on no matter what life throws at us. The next couple weeks should be interesting to say the least.
I doubt I would have even taken a picture, but Ron had promised his peeps on the Atkins forum that he would show it to them after going on about it the first time I made it.
This year's theme was Superman as you can see. The day I finally made it to the party store, there was really not much choice in anything Ron would like for things that had cake toppers, so I decided to buy some toys to put on top. It worked out fairly well I think.
Orion patiently waiting. If you look closely, you an see he already has frosting smears around his mouth from licking the bowl.
Getting through to Sarah was a whole story on its own. Her cell phone is not working, so I usually get ahold of her through her boyfriend or best friend. I couldn't get either of them, but left a message for her to call me. I didn't hear from her, so I finally decided to send a text to her boyfriend's phone. I really didn't want to tell her that way, but she hasn't been great about returning calls in the past, even if I say it is important. She got back to me in the afternoon and was so hysterical she couldn't even talk. :( I think that is going to be harder for me than my own reaction. She had to call me back when she calmed down a little and said she will meet me in Simi tomorrow.
So I made it through the day somehow. Time has a funny way of marching on no matter what life throws at us. The next couple weeks should be interesting to say the least.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Ron's Observation
Just realized I didn't mention Ron lost his job this week! Great timing, huh? Apparently they are reorganizing and let about 7 people go. Funny enough, they are splitting his job into 2 jobs. So he works 80 plus hours, but they figure they can get 2 lower paid people? Not sure how that works, but whatever.
The nice thing is, he got to go see Orion at gymnastics today, and of course he noticed something I never have. It is interesting when this happens because it just goes to show I am not looking at things with fresh eyes. At the beginning of class, there are a couple groups combined for the warm ups, so it is a bunch of kids and they always start with something that involves alot of running around. Today the teachers were throwing stuff out, and the kids would go and collect it and bring back. Every time he brought something back, he would say something to the teacher. Ron noticed he was the only kid who was talking to them. It got me to thinking about how he is used to being around adults who respect children and interact with them. I was glad to feel like it is something he felt natural doing. I also wondered if the other children were just less outgoing or if they are not used to interacting with adults in the same way.
Then the Orion comments continued during the more still parts of the warm up.... And continued... and continued... LOL. Ron said, "Good thing we are planning to homeschool, because he would drive some public school teacher crazy!"
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