Tough day...

Hi there...

Just wanted to drop a line since I have not for a while. I am not up to writing much today but, just touching base. Today is my Mom's b-day so it is a tough one for me. I never imagined not have the oppportunity to say Happy Birthday to her in-person. I know I can still say it to her but, it is just not the same. I feel that Birthdays are special and important so I guess that is why it is hard. I miss her so very much it hurts. Okay, I must go before I lose it here at my desk. I can hear her saying come on now, pull it together. I know she is always here with me, Blain, Dad, and GM and all of us. Blain and I talked last night and we realize we need to talk about her more...it makes us feel like she is still alive with us. It does help when we talk especially because we feel the same way.

I received a beautiful flower arrangement just a few minutes ago from Crissy and Elena. It is so pretty...again, thank you for thinking of me C & E.

I know Mom is with me all the time giving me strength and love. But, what I wouldn't do for a hug and conversation? Okay, moving on.

Not too much else new here. We are laying low this labor day weekend. Probably do something with Dad/GM on Labor day Monday. Our garage door came unhinged this am while we were trying to leave early for the gym. Kirk tried to repair but, no go. So, repairman will be coming this afternoon. Hopefully it is an easy fix. Fingers crossed.

Well, talk to you later. TTFN.
love, krame

Howdy

I haven't posted in a while so here are the latest happenings. Sean and I has a great weekend. We got haircuts! I only got a trim but got finished before Sean! How funny is that! :P
Work is really stressful right now. Busy busy--can't complain though I like my co-workers.

Sean is not feeling well today so he is working at home. I hate seeing him sick.
Other than that, I have an ultrasound scheduled for Sat--checking my ovary where my cyst was. Not nervous about it.

Other than that, nothing is really new.

Ladies Night

I need some advice. We have Ladies Night scheduled for tomorrow evening. Now, as you are aware, there is a tropical storm coming directly our way. I have usually been open on hurricane days because the kids are out of school and it usually is good money. Our students only went back Monday and now they are off today and tomorrow. Tomorrow is susposed to be the worst of it, especially in the evening. I have 18 people signed up for Ladies night and I want to have those numbers here, but then again, I don't want to let the people down that still would come. Should I reschedule or try and have it anyway?

Low Key

I have ALOT to chat about - but we'll start with this weekend's wedding...

This weekend, we traveled down to Gainesville to see Erica Gyllstrom get married. I'm not sure if any of you remember her - she was the Crew captain that followed me. One year younger and a VERY good rower.

Anyway, her wedding was GORGEOUS - we're talking about a reception at the Natural History Museum - with full access to the Butterfly Rainforest, servers walking around with appetizers, open bar & the UF Mascot making an appearance - all of this was BEFORE the sit down dinner featuring two fancy carving stations (does that still make it sit down?)..

Right, so the evening before the wedding, the groom's family hosted a Sonny's BBQ catered dinner. We got to mingle with all of Erica's friends and family and catch up with each other. At our table, was mostly rowers with a few of Erica's close friends from high school - all of whom were getting along very well with us - joking and waxing sarcastic.

At one point, one of the girls sits down at the table, looks at me and says, "Gosh, your baby is so low key, what's his name?" We all laugh and the conversation moves forward.

Well the next day, we're having breakfast with the bride and I'm carrying on about Loki and the girl stops me and says, "you never did tell me his name." I just stopped. I mean, REALLY? LOL... So, I told her and she was hysterical. She had no idea. It is pretty funny. He is a pretty chill little dude.

What a weekend!

This is what we have been up to:

Thursday: Left our house about 9:30am, headed north. Made a few stops, tried to find fast food places that had playgrounds so Reagan could burn off some energy. Stopped in Kentucky about 10:30pm, got a hotel and slept!

Friday: Got up and out the door by 9am, then we realized that our GPS was still on Eastern time zone and we were really an hour ahead of schedule. Got to the hotel in St. Louis about 11:30am and put Reagan down for nap. Woke up from nap and went to Illinois for the viewing.

Now, I have only been to 5 funerals in my life.

• My 1st was my Grandfather's and it was at Arlington National, so a totally unique experience.


• The 2nd, unfortunately, was my dad's, so it was a blur through all my tears.


• The 3rd was Mike's mom and they had a viewing and a Catholic Mass. But, it wasn't like we were related to her, so we were just visitors. I didn't really know her, I was just there to support my sister.


• Then, unfortunately, there were Paula's and Aunt Jackie's. Very similar to each other, but different from the other's. I knew them well and I grieved for them and their family because I was truly sad and because of the love I have for their families.

Then there is this one. I know Brian is upset, I know Jeanette is upset, but I didn't know Grandma. I knew stories of her and lately the stories have been stressing out Jeanette because of the Alzheimer's and a stroke. The viewing was really long and they had an open casket, which was a 1st for me. We (Carol, Sarah, Beth, and a few of Carol's family members) went to the funeral home and saw my dad, but no one else did. It was just us saying goodbye. So, there is a lot of family at the viewing, I mean EVERYONE. We leave to get the kids something to eat and then we come back and there is more family there and all in all it was HOURS of just people standing around and talking. It started at 3 and I think we left at 8, but who knows what time Jeanette left. The next morning there was another viewing, but we didn't have to be there till 9am. Then, they put her in the hearse and we all drove in a processional through town and through another town and past the house she used to live in and then up to the Church. This driving probably took almost an hour. Then there was a mass. This is where it gets funny (yes, funny in a funeral story). Reagan was on her best behavior, but it because very clear that Brian and I need to take her to Church on a more regular basis. She was bored, aren't most children? So I gave her a snack and that worked for a little while. Then, as the Priest comes up to pat her on the head (bless her maybe?) she says straight to his face, "I pooped." Then she proceeds to say it over and over again and louder and louder. Finally, I take her out of the church and we go outside. I check her diaper, no poop. I am utterly embarrassed and Reagan is now wanting to run free in the cemetery. Give me a break! We go back in, just as the service is over. We walk outside to the grave site. Again, this is kinda a 1st for me. At Arlington, we were at the grave site, but it was just WAY different. At my dad's, just the very immediate family went to the grave site and if I remember, it was the next day (don't quote me on that). Anyway, now we are standing outside at the grave site and Reagan wants to run free, we keep her contained and then it is over. Everyone goes into the little banquet house and there is a feast. We all eat and be merry. Vivian convinces Brian to stay overnight and leave the next morning. We were originally going to leave straight after the reception and drive as far as we could, then drive the rest of the way on Sunday.

Sunday: Get up at 4am, ouch. Leave the hotel by 5:15am and drive all day. We make it home at 10pm, unload the car (thank you Brian) put Reagan to bed and go to bed ourselves.

Monday: 8am came way too quickly for me and I know when Brian's alarm went off at 5:30am, he was hurting. Back to work and I have to admit, for once, my staff did a good job this weekend.

All in all a very different experience for me. I am saddened by the fact that Jeanette now has no living parents and Brian is without any Grandparents. I guess I am so lucky to have 4 families, plenty of parents and Grandparents to go around. It's just so different how families react to death and the rituals that we follow. I have decided that I do not want a viewing and an open casket. That is the last memory your family will have and I just want them to remember me alive. I also don't think I want to be burried in a casket and in the ground. I think I would like to be cremated, but I'm not sure. If I am burried in the ground, I don't see the point of buying a casket, because then they still put you in a concrete box to be burried. Why waste the money on a fancy casket, a pine box will be just fine, thank you. This post has gone on long enough, look for pictures to be posted to Reagan's site sometime tonight or tomorrow. Love to all.

The Storyless Story

There isn't much to tell at this time, guess I'm just saying hi. I've been getting called into work more and more which is good. It does however make my website fall by the wayside which is not good. So I work on that at night and at ungodly hours of the morning before most of the world even thinks of getting up. :-) But I love both jobs so I'm happy.

Elena and I have joined the Y and we're enjoying it so far. It's really fun to watch EJ try to roll out of bed after a tough workout the day before, hee hee! I also went to court on Wednesday and talked myself out of my "Failure to Yield" ticket. Here was my closing line that really won the judge over. Sir I work for the United States Postal Service right here in Tavares and if there is one thing I do cautiously it's drive. I wouldn't waste your time here if I were guilty." Good, right? Insufficient evidence to convict...DISMISSED!!!! Music to my ears. Saved myself $123.50

If anyone needs representation for anything I can be made available. Now I have to really start getting ready for my parents anniversary dinner which includes putting our old home movies on DVD(currently on VHS). So I stopped by the only local place that does it after lunch with Krame on Wed and dropped them off. Only to pick them up again 30 seconds later. I didn't like the guys attitude when he was ringing me up but I needed the tapes done. But I walked out to my car, pulled out of the parking lot turned right back around and went back in and asked for a refund. He did nothing to earn my business and so he lost it.

Now I have to go and buy a VHS to DVD converter and do the tapes myself. Just as well cause now I can do ALL of their tapes. As Kramer would say, PUNK!!

So that's my story for now. Oh yes also this week my transmission did something that cost $400, our fridge decided to pee all over the floor for approximately 14 hours and the irrigation system became possessed and would not stop watering the lawn. That was all on Monday. All in a day's work. Talk with everyone soon.

This is what it boils down to

As we are driving home from Sea World, I began to think.....And this is what I came up with. My goal in life right now could be broken down into 1 thing, making Reagan happy. Brian and I have driven down to Sea World 2 weekends in a row to see this child grin from ear to ear. And, we would do it the next two weekends and probably every weekend thereafter if we didn't have things planned. The look on her face when she sees these characters in person, is just breathtaking.

• Today, we started out really early, even for her. We woke her up at 7:15, got ready and were out the door by 7:45. At 8:30 we are sitting down to eat and what do we hear, "Sunny days, chasing the clouds away" and here comes Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Zoe and Tully. Reagan was on cloud nine and truth be told, we could have left then and she would have been happy for the whole day. But, they finished singing and each character came to each table and gave everyone very equal yet plentiful face time. Reagan was of course mesmerized by Cookie and Elmo, she really liked Zoe's dress and she was so-so interested in Bert and Ernie (but aren't we all). Then they did another song and dance (mesmerized) and then we could all go up to take a family picture with Big Bird and Elmo. I have to admit, I was a little star struck seeing Big Bird so close, he was always my fav. After that, back to our tables and more face time with each character, except Big Bird but I tried to hide my disappointment. Then we finished eating and as we are leaving the staff suggest that we take a box of cereal for the road, for later, for Reagan. I mean how sweet was that?!?!? Now it is time for the Elmo and Abby show. Yes, we could have skipped it all together, but it was starting and we were right there, so why not? We got the same seats as last weekend and when Cookie started up the stairs, he went right to Reagan, like he (or she) remembered. Reagan of course remembered and was beaming. Then, we did the meet and greet after and Reagan hugged Elmo, no Abby this time but it was fine. The rest of the day we went to shows and saw whales and dolphins and sharks and other fish, but nothing made her smile like those characters.

Now I wonder how we are going to top that, and what are we going to do this weekend to make her smile. Yes, Loki will be here and he will be so cute and she will get lots of extra attention from KK, Kirk (whom she has now added to her prayers all on her own, how sweet is that), Howie, Whitebread, Crissy and Elena (wow that's a lot when you have to type it out) but will she ever be as happy as she was this morning? As a mom, I think I have found my new drug, seeing your child in pure joy. I wish I could bottle it and see it everyday, but I guess glances of it on video and photos will have to do the trick till the next time we can make her day. I think I have now written the longest post on here, sorry to keep rambling on about my child. I am turning into Kathie Lee Gifford. I just love that little monkey and her little face and her little smile and her little laugh. Nuf said, Peace out