short road trip

the kids and i are heading out on a short road trip to my hometown for my grandmother's funeral tomorrow. we'll do robotics today (since we all missed it last week) and then we'll head out. i'm kind of looking forward to seeing so much family and i'm grateful my spouse is ironing all the funeral clothes. my teen is stressing over a research paper rough draft he has due tuesday, and it's stressing me out a little, too. but i guess it'd be unreasonable to think we'd be stress free, what with life happening and all...so it's all good.

peace

ps--and i did buy the indigo girls tickets (thanks, mama jess!)...dh said he'd like to go see them (i forgot i went without him the last time...) so we splurged...cd comes out tuesday. yep, it's all good.

good byes

my grandmother buried her sister today. well, she didn't exactly dig the hole or anything, but she went through all the rituals, ceremonies, services, and hymns. i've never seen her cry like that before. i'm sure she cried hard when my grandfather died thirty-four years ago, but since that was, like, a few months after i was born...i don't really remember it.

my grandmother is eighty-five years old. and she is quite spry for an eighty-five year old, let me tell you. her sister was eighty-eight and not really as spry, but still very stern and german and tough, which my grandmother is, too. they used to speak german to each other...we could never tell if it was habit or because they were saying great interesting things they didn't want us to hear. whichever it was, she never taught us any german.

anyway...we said good bye to my great aunt today. (and the minister that spoke at her services...i don't know what was up with him...but he pretty much shut the door on my aunt velma today...no living in the memories and hearts of those who loved her, no living legacy of her love shared...nothing...just the pain of good bye and trust in the lord to take her home...but then we prayed that jesus would recognize her as one of his lambs and, i mean really, how much can you trust a deity that you have to ask to recognize one of his children?...i don't know....it was really kind of weird but different strokes, different folks, etc, i suppose...) i told my grandmother i loved her. and even though i'm rarely around her, i really do. i didn't know her sister very well, to be honest. but i ached deeply for her loss as i felt my grandmother tremble at it. and i admit, i was glad my own sister was there to share the experience.

i was going to add some more quotes from the book i was reading. i finished it last night. but i can do that tomorrow. tonight is also my spouse and my anniversary. with the way things have been lately, it'd been kind of easy to just let it go...but i'm smarter than that. we won't do anything huge, but we will share it and at the least be aware. at the least...sometimes that's the biggest thing lacking...awareness. but i'm working on it.
peace

funny

lots of things in life are funny. some make you laugh out loud, like eddie izzard or david sedaris (right julie?...hehe). some make you laugh inside...in a place you can't exactly reach, but it's laughing nonetheless. and some make you laugh even though it isn't funny...a sour, not so great part of you laughs because what happens isn't funny...yet that part laughs because, well, it's sour...and not so great, you know?

this weekend had all those kinds of funny. and maybe a few more.

--i had such a good time looking at paintings done two centuries ago. i had an even better time watching my kids enjoying it way more than they thought they would.

--i did not enjoy putting my friend carol's number into my cell phone and then leaving my cell phone at home where, you know, i COULDN'T call her...

--i enjoyed eating lebanese food, meeting my friend's soon-to-be-in-laws (who were wonderful), and visiting with friends.

--i did not so much enjoy the interactions with my spouse this weekend...

--i enjoyed chatting with a friend online, and crying as she said kind things that, because i am so visual, touched me in ways spoken words never could...(it was a good kind of crying, i promise)

i guess i just have a well-rounded, funny kind of life.

i get to attend a funeral tuesday...woo-hoo. i'm feeling kind of like a funeral whore this summer...i dunno.

peace

ps--speaking of funny...here's a robert earl keen song i really like. it's called the buckin' song, and there's a video of him singing it on you tube, but you can't really hear the words, and frankly, the words are what make it funny. so here's a video of someone doing a cover...