Well, it has been over a week since my last post. I indicated last Friday that I knew the holiday week was going to be extremely busy, but I had no idea what kind of week I was in for.
Saturday--Erik and I woke up to the phone ringing at 6 am Saturday morning. It was Erik's dad Jim calling to tell us that Sue's (Erik's stepmother) mother Betty had passed away. It was completely unexpected. Jim and Sue had been with her and her husband just a few hours before. She had been in a lot of pain due to a surgery for arthritis, but she had checked into a pain management center and was doing really well. It was very sad. Sue's family is fairly large and so Erik and I spent much of Saturday cooking food for them. Sue is always there for us so it was the least we could do.
Monday--I went to work on Monday. Peter, one of my managing editors, was on vacation so I backed him up. However, it was a totally unproductive day otherwise. It doesn't seem very smart to make people work the day before a holiday that is on a Tuesday. Oh well, what can you do?
Tuesday--Erik went and visited his dad on Tuesday. Jim had been very sick since Sunday, but since there has been a lot of stuff going around, we didn't think much about it. The 4th just didn't feel right this year. We did the usual barbeque at Grandma Bonnie's house. I found out that my dear friend from elementary through high school, Jenny Ward's mother Helen died of cancer last Monday. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend her service because I had already missed work. Helen was a great lady who always treated me so well. I will always remember her for her sense of humor. I remember one time when Jenny and I decided that it would be a good idea to put down pillows and blankets on the floor and launch ourselves off the top of her bunk bed. We were on the second level and directly over Helen, who was watching t.v. I remember her running up the stairs after about the fifth loud "booom!" and saying, "What in God's name do you think you are doing?" We couldn't really hide what we were doing so in the most nonchalant way we could, we explained that we were jumping off the bunk beds. "Well, you're going to come through the floor so stop it." Then, she went downstairs, but I think she was laughing. She was always like that. Helen will truly be missed.
Wednesday--We got home from work and had planned on going to Betty's visitation. However, there was a message from Sue asking us to call her. As it turned out, Jim had appendicitis and they thought his appendix had burst so he had to have an emergency appendectomy on Wednesday night. He came through the surgery unbelievably well and his appendix had not ruptured. As bad as our week was, Sue's week was much worse.
Thursday--We went to Betty's funeral on Thursday at the First Southern Baptist Church in Topeka. I have never been to a Southern Baptist funeral (or anything for that matter), but I can honestly say it is not an experience that I want to repeat. The preacher was like a used car salesman and it seemed that his whole agenda was getting money for their missionaries to convert hethens. I despise missionaries, regardless of the faith, and to be subjected to this crap at someone's funeral seems wrong. Oh well, as it says in "Al-Kafiroon" in the Qur'an, "To you your religion to me my religion. (In Arabic, "A deen kum aletheen adeen"). The service felt like it went on forever, especially with a 17-month old who burst out into a rendition of "Ba ba black sheep" during the first prayer. Finally, we left and visited Jim for a while. I was so exhausted that I didn't go back to work. I went to Dog Days on Thursday night and felt much better. I love working out! It is so hard, but so worth it, especially when you are only doing it for yourself. In high school and junior high, I despised sports. I've come to realize it is because I got tired of people screaming, yelling, and pressuring me to be good at sports that I genuinely sucked at. No wonder I ended up with generalized anxiety disorder and depression. Now that there is no pressure I really enjoy them.
Saturday--Finally, on a good note, Erik and I had a date last night. For Father's Day, I took him to a Royals game. They played the Toronto Blue Jays. It was Buck night so hotdogs, small sodas, and peanuts were a dollar. Since it was a gift, I splurged and bought him good seats and had Mom and Grandma Genny watch Noah. I had never been to a Royals game before. In fact, the only professional sport that I had ever seen was the Blackhawks vs. the Bruins when I lived in Chicago. I saw K-State play football a number of times when I was in junior high. I went with my junior high boyfriend Jarod and his family. If it wasn't for them, I never could have went because there is no way in hell my parents would have taken five kids to any sports event. It was then that I realized that I really enjoyed this sort of thing. Anyways, once again I digress. I really had a wonderful time. The Royals lost and we didn't get any donuts because they only got 8 hits, but it was fun. It was the perfect way to end a really crappy week.
This was a really boring post, but it was incredibly therapeutic for me. Thanks for listening! Next time, Somalia and North Korea...
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