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| flowers for the urn |
It took a bit to work out when to have the
service for John, but the day finally came and a modest amount of family and
new friends gathered for a service at St. Anthony's in Renton. Then, virtually
everyone came back to our house for a gathering.
Thankfully, the air
cleared up a bit and we were able to use the deck as well as the main floor for
the event. We served a casual lunch and thankfully didn't have too much
left over.
It was lovely having a
house full of people, visiting with the extended family was very nice and I
thought Susie did great.
Everyone stayed a few hours, and we had our house back around 3, a quick clean
up and Jason and I melted into the couch around 4:30. Sweet Lucy seemed
eager to spend time with us and was very chatty until it was bed time. Jason
might have been in the mood for some quiet time, but we know that this kid
won't always want to hang out, so we listened to stories, watched them practice
their clarinet, and helped with homework.
All in all, it really
worked out well and felt like a fitting goodbye to John. It was
dignified, and still fun. The inurnment for the urn hasn't been scheduled, so
he's still with us.
The family sent an incredible flower arrangement for the church, so he's
hanging out in our main room.
CALAMITY
Jas & I took Wednesday off to prepare for
the service and after party. The required trip to Costco was on the
agenda, as well as prepping the house for the well-timed housekeepers. He
and I went to breakfast while the housekeepers were in the house, then came
back to move the tables around, set up the deck and clear space for the
incoming sandwiches and party food for the next day.
I was at the sink
washing my hands or something and the entire nozzle of the sprayer broke off in
my hand which caused a HUGE mess. Water was everywhere, the cupboards, my face,
shirt, and the floor. Ok, add a faucet to the Costco list.
Thankfully, replacing the faucet didn't take too long but it certainly wasn't
on the list of things Jason wanted to do before the funeral for his dad.
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| because we needed a project |
During
the post funeral party there was some chaos going on. It seems that
when you have a house full of people, everything else happens at the same
time. Thursday is trash pickup day, but we were thankful that it was just
compost and that was taken care of before we left for the service, but during
the party not only did the lawn guys come but the monthly visit from the pest
control guy as well.
Additionally, we learned a very unfortunate lesson.
Small, diapered kids with lots of energy will slide down the stairs on
their bum regardless of the state of a diaper. A "full"
diaper cannot withstand the bum slide and pooh will squish up and out the top
of said diaper and leave a trail of residue or "resipooh."
Cousin Anton showed his deep family connection and not only jumped into
action to clean the stairs, but did so in a way that made the Stanley Steamer
people look like hacks. Our stairs haven't been this clean in quite
a while.
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| something fun |
