Filed under: Uncategorized
My oldest sister surprised me by sending a Thanksgiving flower arrangement to me the other day. When I accepted them from the delivery person, the first thing I noticed is that they smelled like smoke. Gee, isn’t that just what everyone wants? Let me sniff that rose – oh, it stinks like smoke. Then I opened up the card to see who it was from. Here is what the card read, “Please remember that this is not worth crying about. It wasn’t worth having. It’s ok to cry.” Say what? Obviously what she told them to write was along the lines of anything that was worth having is worth crying about. I have no idea what they were thinking with what they wrote. Did they not even read it? They wrote it wasn’t worth crying about and then that it’s ok to cry? This was all with regards to my uncle’s death which made it worse that they couldn’t get it right. I will say, it was a lovely arrangement in a cornocopia basket. But then, as though they hadn’t messed up enough, they called and said they delivered the wrong flowers and they were coming back to get them!? Are they serious? Unless the flowers that I was supposed to get were a lot nicer than what they delivered, shouldn’t they just let them be? Make another arrangement for the person who was to receive these, don’t call and tell me you are coming to get them. How unprofessional. So, the guy comes back and trades arrangements with me. The new one is very similar but probably had fewer expensive flowers and more cheaper flowers, but the basic arrangement was very similar. It was still lovely, but even the delivery guy said he couldn’t tell the difference. Despite being satisfied with the actual arrangement itself, I will never order flowers from that florist. Smokey flowers with an ill written card that they had to then come and take back just isn’t what I look for in a florist.
Filed under: family
The past week has been draining to say the least. We left on Wednesday morning and went to southern Illinois to see some friends and break the drive up. The next day, we drove the rest of the way to Iowa, stopping in Galesburg, IL to have some spinach bisque and ice cream crepes at The Landmark. When Boxman worked in Galesburg after college, it was our favorite restaraunt. The waitress thought we were crazy when we let Buster order just an ice cream crepe for dinner. Eventually we made it to Center Point. The next two days were spent visiting with family, going to the visitation, and then the funeral. I found myself mourning not just for my uncle, but also for my grandfather who died 21 years ago. I also cried for my dad who was too stoic to shed tears, and for my grandma who couldn’t go to the funeral nor really come to believe that she had outlived another son. I cried for my cousins who will undoubtedly pick up the phone to call their dad countless times in the coming months and years only to realize he won’t be on the other end. And I cried for the loss of the family farm – the land cared for by my uncle, grandpa, and great grandpa that might not be in the family much longer. But through all my tears, I found hugs from aunts, uncles, and cousins whom I see too infrequently. After the service, some of the first people to come give me a hug were cousins of my dad that I hadn’t seen for many years and wouldn’t have known had they not been introduced to me the night before. Yet there they were with hugs and stories about my dad and uncle to share. It was nice to know that despite the distance and time between us, family is still family. Even my sisters managed to find peace with each other for a few days if not longer.
Filed under: family
I had started a post earlier today continuing our Disney World trip. I have to interupt the joy for sad news. My dad called me tonight to tell my that my Uncle Clyde died. I knew he had lung cancer, but I just wasn’t prepared for it yet. And before you go assuming he must have been a smoker, he wasn’t. What he was, was a farmer who worked with lots of chemicals. I’m guessing that’s what killed him. Although I feel very sad over my loss, I feel even sadder for my cousins, my grandma, and my dad. My cousins have lost their father, something that I just can’t even fathom dealing with. My uncle never had the opportunity to see them married or hold grandkids in his arms. My grandma, has lost her youngest son. Her middle son was killed in a car crash when he was young and she often remarked how a parent wasn’t supposed to outlive her child. She mentioned earlier this year that she wasn’t going to be around for her next birthday. I do believe this just might kill her. And I can’t imagine what my dad must be feeling either. He was the oldest of 3 boys but has had to watch both of his younger brothers die too early.
Here’s to you Uncle Clyde – may you be enjoying the green fields of heaven.
I would appreciate prayers for all of his family, and safe travels for family that will be traveling to Iowa for the funeral.
Filed under: Vacation
Yes, I’m 41 years old and had never been to Disney World before last month. Never. The kids had begged to go, but I didn’t feel like we had the money to go. As Doodle’s 13th birthday was approaching, Boxman and I decided that perhaps we should just plan the trip and go before the kids get too old. I know, you are never too old for WDW, but I think they were at a great age for it now. So, back in February, I booked a vacation for us. We thought it would be fun to surprise them with the trip at the last minute, so we didn’t tell them about it. I didn’t realize that booking the trip was just the beginning of the planning. On one of my message boards, people were talking of all the planning they were doing and making reservations for dinner, etc. I didn’t realize there was so much planning necessary and I started freaking out. We only had three months before our trip and I hadn’t even thought about where we would eat!?! I bought a book and started reading at which point I became even more overwhelmed. I had no idea what the kids would want to do there – we had to tell them so they could give us their opinions too. For Boxman’s birthday in August, I wrapped up the book I bought and gave it to him. He already knew about it so it became a fun way to tell the kids about the trip. Doodles looked less than thrilled about it! We had been talking about going on a vacation and she had her heart set on a cruise, not Disney World. As the time got closer, she got more excited. We left very early on a Saturday morning. Fortunately, the kids are great travelers so we were able to save the $1500 that plane tickets would have cost for all 4 of us and we drove to Orlando. We arrived around 9pm at the All-Star Music resort.
They insisted on trying out the piano and guitar shaped pools.
The resort had different themed areas.
Doodles had a little more energy to get out after spending all day in the car.
Here they are all excited and ready to go – we had to leave early to go check in at the Beach Club and get our park tickets. I had tried to get another night added on to our stay at the Beach Club, but declined when they told me it was going to cost $480 for one night there. Yikes.
The Beach Club.
Filed under: Vacation
I mentioned that I had a series of firsts that occurred for me recently, and then I left you hanging. So, the first first, was planning a family vacation that was nothing more than a family vacation. We did not even travel in the same direction that we have any family members. Yes, we have taken vacations that weren’t solely to see family members, but they were always planned around family. This trip was planned without the intention of seeing anyone we knew. That’s not to say that we didn’t see any family members – when my brother and sister-in-law heard about our plans, they decided to meet up with us there for part of our trip.
Okay, I was going to leave you hanging again, but I will spill the beans – we went to Disney World! I’ll include some pictures and details in the next post.
Filed under: politics
The past ten days have been filled with many firsts for me, which I’ll be writing about when I can get some pictures uploaded. Today was another first for me – I voted for a third party candidate for president. Boy did it feel good to do it too! I can’t say it was something that I ever thought I would do – I used to be in the camp that would consider it a wasted vote. This election’s candidates made me feel like I had no other choice. Perhaps if I lived in a different state, my choice might have been different. I tell you, it’s rather liberating to vote for someone that you actually agree with on the issues rather than voting the lesser of two evils. I know that the candidate I voted for doesn’t have a chance at winning, but it was the best way for me to make my voice heard in this election. I just wish more people would do the same and maybe this country could get back to the principles this country was founded on.
