A New Maid!

Yeeeeep. Me and Shani are moving up in the world! We're hiring a MAID!

Okay, so it's only my little sister, Carolyn, and she's only coming once a week, and she's willing to do it for a measly $5 ... BUT I STILL FEEL AFFLUENT!

I also feel slightly guilty that I, a woman, can't keep my own house clean. XD

But I'm okay with that. Because last time Shani was involved in a NHCC play, the house got SOOO messy. Because we couldn't stay *quite* on top of things - we were just too busy! So things got messier, and messier, and dirtier and dirtier ... and it stressed us out so much, there wasn't a CHANCE of getting it done so ...

When I found out she would be doing a play again, I said to myself there and then, "We're gonna need help!"

So Carolyn will come help us! She will vacuum, sweep the floor, and make sure the dishes and countertops are clean once a week. This should help us keep it tidier and cleaner. Because it has to be tidy enough for her to do her job, and those are the things that seem to slip through the cracks and never get done ...

I'm excited.

I've also been really, really busy. Gah.

Okay, backing up to FRIDAY, the funeral!

It was an adventure. Firstly, I found out early that morning via text with my brother that any practicing of music would have to be done before 1:30, which was when I was planning to arrive. Shani and I had already discussed how she could take care of her responsibilities, we could get tires and still get there in time.

Then, Mom dropped by around 8:30, and said that the funeral home was 30 minutes farther away than I had planned for.

AAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH! And I couldn't hurry anything up, because at that point, it was too late. So I had my nice time buffer go pfft into the wild blue yonder.

I dropped Shani off at school, and went to Les Schwab. You may be wondering why I hadn't gotten tires earlier, or why I didn't wait till after the trip. I didn't get tires earlier, because Shannon's tax return had come in the day before. I didn't wait until after the trip, because our tires have been illegally bald since January. We've been driving on prayer.

I got our tires, and it took forever. I was so stressed out. Our car sat in the lot, and sat in the lot. Finally, they moved it in to work on! I was so excited! Then it just sat there, up on the rig, tire-less, for a long, long, anxious time. Shani was done at school, and she said she'd start walking toward the tire shop so I wouldnt' have to pick her up.

Finally, the tires were done, I got in the car, zipped to Freddy's, got gas, and picked up Shani. It was 11:20, and we were deep in West Eugene.

I drove really, really fast.

Mom was telling everybody I drove 110 mph, but that's silly. I'm pretty sure our little Toyota Tercel would burst into flames and explode at that speed.

I did average 80mph the whole way down. I prayed that God wouldn't let any cops see us, while simultaneously wondering if that was ethical. Shani joked, "Oh Lord, shield me from the eyes of authority as I break the rules!" Heh.

We screeched in to the funeral at 1:58. Whoo hoo! But no practice time.

It was an interesting experience. I'm going to go ahead and be pretty honest about what I felt during the funeral.

Grandma's casket was in there. I was surprised at that, because she had been dead for two weeks, and while I'm sure this is irreverent, I couldn't help thinking, "Surely by now she stinketh?" (One of the best verses in the KJV). There weren't a lot of people there. That made me sad. Because I couldn't help thinking how lonely it must have been.

I was really surprised at the morose atmosphere. I walked in, and I was really happy. I know, it sounds terrible, but I'm glad Grandma is dead. She has been miserable for the past 8 months or so, so miserable, that everybody else is miserable for her. Now she was in heaven! No pain, no heartache, just joy, joy, JOY! I understand that people needed to grieve (like I said, I grieved and cried back in August, so I was just happy), but ... I dunno.

I've been to more funerals the past couple years at my church, and ... the atmosphere is light. There are tears, of course, but there is a LOT of smiles, and laughter, and it is a joyous occasion, sprinkled with tears.

This funeral was not that. People kept saying "We don't grieve without hope," or "We have joy," but it sure didn't feel like it to me! Maybe because the casket was RIGHT THERE. Maybe because it was in a funeral home, surrounded by graves. I dunno. But I felt uncomfortable and out of place.

My brother Peter cried, and cried, and cried. I'm not really sure why he cried so much, but it worried me. *worry* I was impressed with my Aunts. They were not inconsolable, as I anticipated, so that was nice. I got to sit by Aunt J, and pat her knee. I was glad that my cousin David kinda took her under his arm, and was kind to her. That was good.

My Uncle Aaron led the service. I have mixed feelings about sharing this, but I will anyway. I was really angry that he didn't let everybody talk as much as they needed. I was really angry. He said there was to be an "open mic" time, but after Aunt Lisa & Aunt J shared, it was obvious he intended to go on with the service. Peter interrupted and shared, and so did David, and then I did, and then Jason. But it felt really uncomfortable, and I felt like I had to rush through what I had to say, because it was obvious Uncle Aaron wanted to continue on with things.

I don't know if it was because we were on a time schedule from the funeral home, or what, but it made me mad. I think particularly because he talked a lot. If we were on a time schedule, couldn't he have just shortened what he had to say, so everybody else could say what they needed to say to grieve?

*sigh* I always feel so conflicted at myself when I'm angry with someone for railroading over other people's needs. Because I wonder what of their needs I'm ignoring, or if I am misunderstanding the situation as a whole.

But I'm still angry.

Anyway, then they opened the casket, and a bunch of us left the room. I see no point in staring at a body that is no longer Grandma and saying "goodbye." Grandma's not there. It doesn't make any sense to me. o_O; But it's important to some people, so I'm glad they did it, I guess.

I was also glad, because I really, really, really needed to go to the bathroom. So I took that opportunity, thank you very much, in the little closet of a bathroom they had at the funeral home. Closet bathrooms always make me feel claustrophobic.

Then we carried her out to the gravesite, (and by "we" I mean the pall bearers. Are they called pall bearers?) and Uncle Aaron had another sermon. Then we prayed and said Amen, and I started singing.

As we were watching the casket outside, and Uncle Aaron was preaching again, I felt like I knew that we needed to sing something when we were done. Music is very important to that side of the family, it's how they connect and express their emotions. So I started running through some songs in my head, asking the Lord to give me wisdom as to which would help express the emotions best. I decided on "Sweet By and By," because it talks about heaven, how wonderful it is there, and that we'll see each other again.

We ended with singing Amazing Grace, arms around each other, standing around the coffin, which I think helped some of us more than any of the words said at the funeral.

Then we shlepped off to the dinner at the Black Bear Restaurant.

Shani and I couldn't help being amused at the concept of a memorial dinner at a Bear-themed restaurant ... It took FOREVER for people to get theeeeeeere. *whimper* And we were soooo hungry. The original plan (before the loss of an hour of time, and the extra-long tiring of the car) was to stop for lunch on the way down. Obviously, that was overturned, so it was the first food Shani had eaten all day, and breakfast (toast) was HOURS ago for me! (It was close to 4pm). We were sooooo impatient! Gosh, everybody just needed to hurry up and get there. =_=

Anyway, it was good food, what I ate of it. I'm vegetarian now (mostly), so ... I ate mashed potatoes, cornbread (SERIOUSLY DELICIOUS CORNBREAD), and their "salad." I commented to Shani that their salad was not really a salad, as it had the typical nutrition of restaurant salads. Iceberg lettuce, carrot shavings, and a cucumber or so. She pointed out that this one had cherry tomatoes, where I replied, "Popping a few cherry tomatoes onto a salad does not make it magically nutritious, and in any case, I don't like cherry tomatoes. Your tomato argument is invalid."

There were cooked veggies there, but I can't STAND cooked veggies! THEY ARE ICK. And this happened to be zucchini, and a yellow squash. Double ick.

Cornbread was delicious though.

We finally left and went home. Everybody else stayed the night. It took a LOT longer to get home, ha ha!

The next morning, we shlepped around a bit, and then IT GOT SO BUSY, ZOMC. SO BUSY.

We had a lot of craigslist stuff to pick up, and Shani was taking Nathan (her brother) out to Off the Waffle, and I was gonna watch Ewan. So we did all that, and I went to the store, and got a cookie mix for Ewan and I to make together. He EVENTUALLY enjoyed this. Heh. Then it got crazy.

Brian & Kevin came over with the Peet's truck to pick up an armoire that Shani had craigslisted. We're using it for all our craft stuff, and now that it is in, it's perfectly wonderful. Meanwhile, I was supposed to zip over and pick up a bike rack and a dish set. Well, Ewan got picked up a bit late, and I can't help chatting with my sister-in-law Amy, she's just that awesome. Then, I couldnt' find my KEYS. (I finally found them, under the couch cushions.) So I got in teh car, realized we were out of gas, went to get gas, remembered that my new key for the car doesn't work for the GAS CAP, frantically texted Shani, and she said to come home they were almost there anyway.

So we traded jobs. She headed off to get the bike rack and dishes, and I helped the boys carry the armoire upstairs. We ended up taking it all to bits first, because we live in a second floor apartment, with rather twisty bits in the stairs, and this thing was HEAVY. I unscrewed all the doors, and we carried it up piece by piece. Then, I dumped (literally! Shani TOLD me too!) All the stuff in the green desk (which was trying to do a good job as a sewing desk, but failing miserably) onto the floor, carried that down to the truck (it was going back with the Peets), and proceeded to reconstruct the armoire where the desk had stood.

Shani, meanwhile, was HOPELESSLY LOST IN LORAINE, TRYING TO FIND THE BIKE RACK. She drove all over - ALL over, and after an hour and a half of calling the lady, and texting Shani, they finally met up in a church parking lot, and teh exchange was made. I felt SO BAD. But now I can bike places, and Shani can come pick me up in the car, and my bike will go on the back! This is a good thing. ^_^

She was all pooped out, so came back home, I got in the car, and drove out to River Road without mishap, and got our new dishes. They're still wrapped up in the rubbermaid tub, BUT THEY'RE HERE. It's a 78 piece vintage china set from Japan. There are not words to describe my happinesses. <3

I came back home, picking up a Dutch Bros smoothie for my pooped out love, and taco bell for me (I was hungry). Brian & Nathan stayed over to hang out, (Brian going back to NY the next day). We watched Rapunzel while Shani puttered around putting the craft things away. She was amused at how literally I followed her directions. :3 I"m good at directions. :D

We finally tottered to bed after saying goodbye to Brian & Nathan (and playing Mario Kart) late. The next day was church, and we went in, and church was good. (It always is). Then we got to have lunch with Bill and Debbie, our pastor and his wife! It was great fun. We got to talk about some things in our lives that needed some wisdom and Bible input, and we got it. ^_^ Bill said, "Hey, anytime. I have an expense account, and if I don't use it, I lose it, so y'know ..." heh. I love our pastor.

Then we headed towards home, because we still had busyness to do, and wanted to rest. But, we called my mommy, to find out how she was doing, and she was having a hard time. So we zipped over, threw her in the car (I'm still surprised we managed THAT), and took her out to the coffee house. We got her coffee and a treat. For some reason, she chose chili. O_o; But to each their own. WE chatted awhile, and then she felt better, so we took her home.

Then we zipped home, picked up all the amazing coupons we had that EXPIRED on teh 3 (augh!), and went shopping. Shani had a very succesful trip! I did not. lol. But that's okay, that's how it happens sometimes. ^_^ She got 2 pairs of shoes, we got socks (to get up to the purchase price for the coupon deal), she got some jeans at Kohl's, I DIDN'T get jeans at Lane Bryant, wasting my amazing coupon, but they didn't have any I really wanted. I did get a cool belt for $9. We got Jamba Juice (coupons again), and finally got some Papa John's on the way home.

There's currently no food at home, and we were both too tired too get ingredients AND cook. So pizza it was. It had been years since we got Papa John's, not since Kim & Alice in their apartment. It was bittersweet. Good memories. ^_^

And then it was the week! My goodness. It has certainly been crazy. No sign of it letting up anytime soon either.

Anyway, I better pop off and make some lunch. I want to do a bit of tidying before our maid arrives, so there's plenty of floor TO vacuum. And I definitely want a nap today. Definitely. I'm quite tired.

Ta~