Holidays
How'd you spend the 4th?
I volunteered to work, actually, because I thought Tim would have to work (he didn't), and I got 16 hours of holiday time for doing it. It was just me and a relief worker covering the admin's desk, so I worked on some freelance proofreading, and got some satisfaction at being paid triple for sitting at my desk.
Then I got some clearance things at the Gap, and went home to die from heat exhaustion. Seriously, it was too hot even to get up from the bed, put on my swim suit, and walk twenty feet to the pool.
In the evening, Tim and I organized and packed things in preparation for the move, until we decided it would be more enjoyable to pack while high, which, wouldn't you know it? killed our productivity in approximately thirty seconds. We ended the evening sitting on the floor listening to Zepplin, planning videos that would go along with the music.
So no fireworks or anything!
How about you?
I volunteered to work, actually, because I thought Tim would have to work (he didn't), and I got 16 hours of holiday time for doing it. It was just me and a relief worker covering the admin's desk, so I worked on some freelance proofreading, and got some satisfaction at being paid triple for sitting at my desk.
Then I got some clearance things at the Gap, and went home to die from heat exhaustion. Seriously, it was too hot even to get up from the bed, put on my swim suit, and walk twenty feet to the pool.
In the evening, Tim and I organized and packed things in preparation for the move, until we decided it would be more enjoyable to pack while high, which, wouldn't you know it? killed our productivity in approximately thirty seconds. We ended the evening sitting on the floor listening to Zepplin, planning videos that would go along with the music.
So no fireworks or anything!
How about you?
posted by LE at 6:55 AM
3 Comments:
We mostly spent the weekend shooting off fireworks. Sunday we had our 4th dinner. Potato salad, ribs, etc. His dad called and invited himself over probably because Vicki had to work, but then called to say he wasn't going to come. Which I didn't mind because I didn't want to spend 3 hours watching him watch tv. He invited us over on Monday night, but we didn't go. He called us at almost 6.30 pm. We had already had a long day going to see cars and out to lunch with my mom, steve and all of us, jennifer, marc, and all of hers, and suzanne and rachael. Nope sorry plus where would Ian have hidden from the fireworks. I think that this annoyed Steve, 1 for him to call so late and 2 he could have come over the day before. Other than that it was mostly uninteresting.
we went home to marion... dave and dad went fishing in the morning while i went shopping with mom and Aunt Janet. We made it a point to go to the "big flea market" in peabody, which really only turned out to be an extremely bad junk sale. So we went to hillsboro and did some shopping there...
then home to marion to make a couple of cakes for the big cookout that the entire family was putting together for Nana and all of the residents at the Alzheimers Unit in Goessel...
For those of you that might remember my nana, dorothy varenhorst, she used to be sharp as a tack. She ran Van's department store for 50 years on her own, was ALWAYS busy and independent, and loves her family very much. But within the last 3 years, her health has declined to the point where she sometimes knows us and then doesn't, spends most of her time in a chair, has to be fed, taken to the bathroom and have her teeth brushed by other people. She can't hear a word we say and most of the time we can't understand a word that she says. It's been REALLY hard to watch her go through this. I wasn't very close to her while i was growing up, but we became VERY close a few years before all of this started.
Anyway, she actually recognized me *sometimes she thinks i'm her mother* on the 4th; most of the family showed up, too... about 25 people! she seemed to recognise a lot of them, and even dave! she actually SAID his name out loud and clearly... i was so happy to see her in such good spirits that it brought tears to my eyes. Her smile is the most beautiful thing i've ever seen.
and then, like the flip of a switch, she began crying uncontrollably. i don't know if she thought she heard someone say something, if all of the family around her was too much, or if her mind jumped back to a memory, but she seemed to think that someone had just died. It was absolutely heart-wrenching... i've NEVER seen her like that. Aunt Janet and Dad tried to console her, but nothing helped. She just didn't understand. They had to take her back to her room to get her to calm down and when she came back out, she seemed drained.
alzheimer's is a horrible disease... it makes it rough for EVERYONE.
after dinner, i got her to smile a little bit and then she was obviously tired.
so we all left, went over to aunt janet's for dessert, shot off some fireworks and drove back home to Eudora. So, it was a good July 4th... but very emotional.
I'm so sorry about your grandmother, Catie. I kept in touch with her through Janet when we were teaching and living in Marion and saw her occasionally. My grandfather went through mild Alzheimer's right before he passed away, and it was so scary and sad for everyone. However, it's good to hear that she was surrounded by friends and family on the 4th! Doesn't make it any easier, but it must help in some way we can't always see.
We were in Marion on 3rd and 4th, but mainly just at my parents' house. I hadn't seen them since February, so I was eager to be home for a few days. We just relaxed, checked out my parents' new camper (!!), hung out on the farm, grilled food, drove out into the pasture at night to watch fireworks all around the horizon.
We were in Topeka over the weekend, but that is another story involving how I don't gel with my in-laws or their idea of fun....
*Why is it that we sometimes learn to play a certain role in family situations even if we hate that role and it's a role that isn't even us? I just have this weird tendency to go into stuck-up-bitch mode around inlaws and I hate that I do it!*
Now we are back in house shifting, finally moving all furniture this weekend. The cats moved yesterday -- I thought I had lost Mileena after she disappeared into a closet for a few hours to deal with new territory! We have already painted two rooms and have three to go! I can't wait to post some pics. I sent new address through our group email, btw.
Hope you are all well!!
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