shopping as a family

Dad made Nathan huckleberry pancakes. Dad made me egg and toast. Good Dad.

I called Barnes & Nobel and it turns out that they DID have issues of Bitch Magazine in stock. The ones that have my illustration in them. I am legit published. So awesome. And my peer, classmate, friend Jenn Hayes is in the issue as well. Go girls! We go. And you should go buy the issue. Because I'm in it.

So the whole family hopped in the new Prius and went into town. Ma bought three issues. Good ma. We went to World Market and got sweets. Yummy sweets. And some hard cider, because ma likes it. And this time she didn't try to foist the asking of the cider onto me.

Then we headed to Costco. I got my precious fruit leathers. Nothing beats those. Also got clams and crab and drinks and more fizzy drinks and other Costco things. We got hot dogs after, and mom gnoshed on ours instead of buying her own. After Costco we went to Trader Joe's and got treats and a bottle of wine and more treats!

At home, diner was rice, salad, bread, and panko crumbed chicken. We watched Portlandia and popped open the Bordeaux. After dinner, we played Tetris and all of Nathan's moves were made to block me. Mom won.

Then we watched Indiana Jones. Well, as I write this we are watching Indiana Jones. Mom went to bed. Dad will probably go to bed soon. Then Nate and I will probably watch more Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.

Memorial for Grandpa Joe

Today was the memorial for grandpa Joe. Nathan was flying up from California, so it was my assignment to pick him up at the airport. This required a 5:45am alarm clock, followed by leaving the house at 7:20ish instead of 7:30. I got caught up in some traffic, as today was also the memorial for an officer who was killed in the line of duty. There was a procession on the freeway of sorts. I arrived at the airport at around 9ish. So about thirty minutes late to pick Nathan up, but that gave him a chance to eat in the airport. We swung by Jack in the Box and I got a sandiwich and a much needed caffeinated beverage. We sat and chatted. When Nathan looked up the directions to the church for the memorial, it ended up that it was only seven minutes away. It was 10am and the memorial didn't start till 1pm. So we drove down to the Des Moines waterfront and sat in the car and played on our laptops. Totally normal behavior for two adults in their twenties to be doing early on a weekday afternoon.

At noon, we were the first to arrive at the church. But Burt and Banetta (?) arrived shortly after. Then Ma, Pa, and Grandma. Then it was a steady stream of distant family relations. Cousin Annie. Joyce, Dick, Scotty. More Moerhles. Rolfe and Alison. Hans. Lots and lots of people that we largely unfamiliar. Alicia and Phoebe couldn't make it due to Phoebs being sick. Nathan agreed to do the second reading in her place, and I switched to doing the first and longer reading. Everyone seated and the priest did his thing. We sang, and Nathan and I were comrades in tone deafness. I saw we, I mean everyone attending. No one would ask either of us two to sing solo. I must thank the PNCA thesis oral process for giving me the strength to speak publicly. It is a big fear for a fair number of people, but not I. I'm not the best at it, but I don't mind doing it.

I do not know the Catholic traditions, and thus did not know when to speak in unison, what prayers to say, and so on. But that was okay. It was about half Catholic, half not, so it balanced out. The priest did the body of Christ thing.

Dad's eulogy was very good. Emotional, moving, and very much true to Grandpa.

After the service, we moved into the hall below and had snacks and drinks. A slideshow of scanned photos played. We all chatted with one another. Scotty recalled many tales of grandpa. I drank tea and chatted with distant relatives. All was good, and the flowers were plentiful.

At 4pm, things were packed up. Flowers into Joyce's truck. Scottie got some cookies. Grandma went back into the Prius to be delivered back to Mats Mats. Nathan and I returned to Seabeck. We raced Ma and Pa and Grandma a bit, but soon lost them. Ha ha!

I stoked a fire, Nathan showed me games, we ate soup and bread, we hot tubbed, I stoked the fire further, we watched stuff online, talked about future living arrangements, and all was good. Ma and Pa didn't get home till 10ish.

leap day, bonus!

Remember when I said I would accomplish something? Hhaha. The snow was still around, five inches of it, but it wasn't hazardous. It should melt pretty quick. I stayed inside. Ate food. Went on the Internet. Read Habibi. Tomorrow is Grandpa's memorial. I have to get up early and pick up Nathan from the airport. Early. Fahhh. Big day.

go away snow, we don't like you

Really, Washington? Snow? Again? And four inches! Stop it. Just seriously...stop. And four inches? Who can sled in that? That sucks! It is just an inconvenient amount of snow. Now the streets will be icy, but nothing will be cancelled. Totally lame.

Anyway. I spent the afternoon working on a pamphlet for Grandpa's memorial. It took a lot of Microsoft Word jiggery pokery, but I did it. Part of it required positioning the text off the page itself, so that it would show up when it printed. I dunno. It was odd. But it worked! I even did an insert that was the obituary. It featured a young photo of grandpa, while the outside had a recent photo. It looks quite nice, though the ink started to run out in the printer. So the photo is black and white, instead of color. Still, it looks good. I used some of my left over thesis paper to print it, so it is thicker than regular printer paper, which is nice.

So I did that, and that was good. I also spent a while in front of the fireplace keeping warm. Didn't venture out into the snow. It was dark by the time it was really accumulating. Mom got home safely, so that was good.

Lunch was hot dog sandwiches, and dinner was salmon burger. Mmm. Ma and pa watched The Flinstones. I watched Nordic television. I hope the snow melts soon.

What will I accomplish tomorrow?

bismillah

Did a bunch of driving today. Well I sat in the back seat while dad drove. I started reading Habibi, which is simply wonderful. The art is beautiful. The story layers are...just unbelievable. It is so well conceived, and I'm just starting! It really does the comic thing so well. Couldn't be done in any other medium, and I love art like that.

We picked up Grandpa's ashes in Sequim, then swung by the cafe that Celia works at. Had a delicious lunch with lots of tasty treats. Dad and I shared a tuna sandwich and there were pastries galore. Celia spoiled us. We swung by a lavender store and picked up a present for Joyce. Ahh lavender stores. They are so smelly in a good way.

Stopped by Mats Mats for a little bit as well. Grandma seemed in better spirits, and her health had improved since the last visit as well, which is always good. We gave Joyce her present, and there was some sorting out of the memorial arrangements.

I wonder how I could spice up my blog. A joke? What's the difference between a well dressed man and a tired dog?

...

...

...

One wears a suit, the other just pants!

Anyway, back at home, I did the Internet thing and Dad made me a hot dog sandwich. It was quite good. Well, I put the mustard and ketchup on myself. I'm a big girl.

I think there are some tasks that need accomplishing tomorrow. Suddenly, Tuesday has arrived.

err uhh

Didn't get a whole lot done today. Got absorbed in the Oscars.

Still, had my tea and breakfast. Watched stuff. Stoked the fire. Watched the Oscars. Sad Gary Oldman didn't get the win, glad Plummer and The Artist did. Made popcorn. Wore my new trousers.

Yup. That about sums it up.