he died while Katie & I were on the way to the hospital to visit Friday morning. We had a mini wake in his room with Mom, Brenda, John, Lisa, Max, Logan, and Aunt Mary, complete with ice water and snacks provided by hospital, then went to lunch at Lakeside, then to the mortuary for arrangements. He wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered on the farm. there will be a memorial service.
it was my weekend to work, and I made it through. it wasn't fun, but got it done. have the next 3 days off. baby Ian's shower is Saturday. Dad will never get to be a great grandpa, even though he always was a 'great' grandpa. I know it was for the best and I didn't want him to suffer but I miss having a dad, although I am 48 years old with 2 grown children and a teenager. you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
he got to work up till last week, he was never one for being idle. that man taped his fingers back on with electrical tape when he about sliced them off working and milked on crutches and with the flu. he was tough. and hard headed. he always had time to read to grandkids or challenge them to a game of checkers or take them for a tractor ride. he loved his family, his farm, and his cows. building fence and cutting wood were his hobbies.
Katie made the calls for me, bless her heart.
she went to Chase's Sat. nite, I came home and crashed on couch watching the Ghost Adventures Villisca Axe Murder House episode.
blew off the GS nut sale, saw the reminder and had to hustle to get the word out to turn orders in, the girls came thru like champs, got it all online, and will deliver to Chillicothe tomorrow after I make bank deposit. and when was the absolute positively must be done deadline? tomorrow, of course....
my sisters put me in charge of ordering the Dad and Grandpa arrangements.
took Katie to school, then came home and tried to watch Ghost Adventures, ended up just going back to bed. got up, made lunch, went with kevin to do liscence plate stuff, then to P/T conferences.
losing one Weds. off a month....trying to save weekends off...but definitely get my next 2 days off and my baby week off. supposedly 5-6 weeks before we get anyone....I am tired of it.
we went to see Dad. Katie was a lot stronger than I was. Kevin reminded me of the long ago trip to the former Wrights Memorial Hospital where Grandma Grace whipped her nightgown up to show us her cast on her broken leg and flashed us all....
I got the gist from several text messages, then my mom called. it's not good. a hospital stay, maybe hospice, counting days. I cried.
Kevin's therapy is done. Katie worked on an FFA fundraiser picking up sticks after school, then needed Twizzlers for an ag project tomorrow. coal pitch dark by 7p.m. now. and we jammied up right after we got home! watched Catfish and Glee. her pill is making her feel pueky and her piercings hurt.
came home from work, put dogs out, did chores, changed clothes, threw on makeup, then we picked up Viv and headed to KC.....Koren had supper waiting for us, God Bless Her. Kevin checked us into hotel on way to her house, we had a delicious supper and hung out awhile, then left the girls and headed to our hotel for alone time....Kevin booked one with a king size bed and a whirlpool in the room...it was nice.
met up with them again Sat. am, had breakfast at Big Biscuit, then off to Ren Fest. We had the tickets, and we got put in another parking lot, so they had to wait at their gate for their tickets....but it was all perfect after that little snafu. I was enchanted....fairies, pirates, wolves, Spiderman, ladies in waiting, princesses, lords, knights, trolls, elfs, maidens, kings, jesters, gypsies, wizards, witches....we bought cinnamon almonds and a huge turkey leg....Kevin bought me a beautiful metal rose...which reminded me of our alone time on our anniversary last year....so sweet!
then met them at Rally House where Kevin bought a new Poe jersey, then to the mall for Katie to get 2 cartilage piercings. we left them and Koren helped her shop for a barnwarming outfit, Kevin took me to Victoria's Secret to buy a real bra. Wow....I have boobs again! we ate supper at Hereford House, then back for another night at our fabulous hotel.
Sunday we got up, packed, checked out, had breakfast at Sonic, bought earplugs at Target, which I left in the car, but they were handing out earplugs at the game, so all was good. got caught in stadium traffic on I-70, but got into our seats in time for kickoff. fantastic seats! I felt like we really belonged, we knew where our gate was, we knew the chants, First Down, Third Down....I felt like a REAL fan. and we won! 6 and 0, baby! undefeated season! and we got the Loudest Stadium back...we were part of the Guinness Book of World Records event. Kevin met Derek Thomas's son in the Hall of Fame.
got out of the stadium in record time, met them at Texas Road House for supper, then headed for home.
it was just fabulous, all planned by Kevin.
