That was a very long day

I'll be brief because I'm exhausted.

I sat with Martha until 8:30 - when the act of sitting with someone drugged up on morphine became overly dull. (yes, I have no heart.) Her other roommate came in and wanted to go to bed, so I figured it was the right time to excuse myself.

Frank and Barbara - Martha's friends welcomed me into their home with hot tea and friendly conversation. I went to bed early (10) and read for a bit. My cell phone rang at 1:45 with the news that Martha had died. While it was expected, and actually timed pretty well, the middle of the night phone call will mess with your sleep. It took me a few hours to settle back in to fitful sleep.

I was pleased with the news that my dad came through his surgery with flying colors (did I mention that on top of everything, pops was admitted to the hospital with an extreme case of anemia? STRESS.) They did a "thing" and think they've fixed the issue. Whew. However, due to his health crisis and my poor mom trying to hold it together I didn't drop the dime on Martha's end-status. (As much as I yell at the parents for holding stuff back, I see now where it may be the kind thing to do - sometimes.)

So - up at 7 phone calls into the Cremation people and luckily they were able to squeeze me in at 9:15. That took about an hour - not at all horrific. If you're going to die in Whatcom County I recommend the Whatcom Cremation Society! very efficient, very kind, and none of that fake condolence crap.

I'm stupid...(and clearly incapable of keeping it short) and let it slip that my dad was next of kin, so I couldn't sign any of the paperwork. Oh, they took my money but Dad had to sign the *%*)_ papers to authorize the cremation. That was a hassle.

I called mom, she was in a state about getting to pick up dad, and then had the most surprising reaction to the news of Martha's death. She cried! I guess I'm the only cold fish in the family. We had to go through some hoops to find a fax machine and worked that out.

After paying for the cremation, I headed to the nursing home to pick up the last of Martha's stuff. For someone who just spend 8 straight weeks in the hospital she had a lot of stuff. It's rolling around in the trunk of my car and maybe I'll get to it tomorrow. Here's why:

Foolishly I checked my work e-mail and saw a meeting invitation from my boss' boss and noted that it was important. Important enough that I high-tailed it (is that how it's spelled.. hi-tailed? whatever) it back to Seattle for a 1 hour meeting. I felt gross having not showered and in the same pants from yesterday - but this was an important meeting.

Unfortunately, it resulted in a HUGE deliverable (aka 24 page report) that needed to be written and delivered tomorrow. I know the difference between optional and not, and my manager and the Quarterback had BETTER be on the money about reviewing it and doing something with it tomorrow. I spent almost 9 straight hours getting it written, validating data and making it pretty - if they don't "do" anything with it tomorrow there will be some serious WORDS about boundaries and commitments.

So, I'm finally home (30 minutes ago,) I'm too tired to sleep, the cat is PISSED and I haven't talked to my family since 10 am this morning. I may not be an emotional wreck over Martha but I am very sad and the fire drill at work had better be either appreciated or required... hopefully both.