Life Viewed Through an Amber Focus

So we made pizza for dinner tonight.  We make it from scratch and add our own herbs to the plain tomato sauce to make our pizza sauce.  One of the herbs I use is thyme.  Well, I had four containers of it, three opened and one unopened.  There wasn't enough of any of the open ones to use, but the three of them together were just enough without opening the fourth bottle.  So as we were putting it on the sauce I was naming the types of thyme:  silver posey thyme, English thyme, and French thyme.  My nine year old pipes up, "So does that make this a Thyme Lord Pizza?"  The three of us then died laughing while my mother looked at us all as if we were from a different planet.  Some days I wonder that, too. *grins*

It has been such a trying weekend.  The second funeral today was lovely, short and sweet.  Which was a Godsend considering it was 95 degrees outside.  Duane's cemetery plot was under the shade of a gorgeous, huge old maple tree, so thank heavens it was in the shade.  I was one of the few people who got a chair, seeing as I still have pneumonia and shouldn't even be up out of bed.  Felt like I was going to faint a couple of times.  I want this illness to be over.  Pneumonia twice in one year is two times too many, even if it is only the walking kind this time.  Makes me think I can do more than I can.

I came home after the funeral and the kids and Chris went to the reception.  I finally talked Chris into getting an air conditioner for the house yesterday.  It's making a huge difference, but it's still hot in all the bedrooms.  I think we need one small one in the master bedroom and then one in one of the other three bedrooms.  I am moving the air through the house with turbo fans, but it's not enough.

I'm not writing right now.  I'm just taking some time off for a few days to try to really sleep and heal.  The kids go to my mother's tomorrow for four days and I think it is much needed for everyone.  They are driving me and Chris insane and I think we are pretty much returning the favor.  I have to be careful not to try to do too much while they are gone.  I will want to, because there is so much to do around here that is easier to do kidless.  And I know me.  I'll try to do it.

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who sent condolences on the deaths of my aunt and grandfather-in-law.  They are greatly appreciated.  I don't have the energy to answer them individually, but know that I am very grateful for all your kindnesses.

Off now to waste time in bed on Facebook.  The evil of which I finally caved into last week to keep in touch with family over funeral arrangements.  And now I have two farms, a restaurant, and a pirate ship.  Facebook is an evil timewaster, but the games are fun.

My aunt finally died a week and a half later after being giving two days to live.  She died yesterday morning.  The funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

Duane's funeral was postponed from today until Monday because two of his great grandchildren are away on vacation with their dad right now and couldn't be reached.  It'll be a closed casket because of that.  The best if buried by date is being pushed to the max there.  On the bright side I didn't have to go to a funeral today.  But I get to go to two over the course of 3 days.  Sighs.  People in my family can stop dying now, please?  Okay, thanks.

Also my summer cold is walking pneumonia.  This is the second time I've had that blasted thing this year. *grumbles*

I am writing, just not with any sort of consistency.

My mind is very scattered so I'm not really able to focus on any one thing for very long, but this is how I've spent my writing week. 
I have written:

  693 words on the next chapter of A Sky Without Zeppelins
1003 words on the next chapter of You're What?
1627 words on The Boundaries of Temptation in the Crossing Boundaries series
2000 words on the Hearts in Time Summer Adventure ficathon fic - prompt:  Elephant in the TARDIS
Nothing yet on the Time in Flux ficathon fic, but I'm thinking about it - rewrite of Aliens of London with sexxin
beta'd ch. 4 of Victoria's Eight and Rose story:  http://jeprdyfrndly.livejournal.com/3487.html  It's so good and adventury.  Go read and give her all your lovely comments.  She's had a hell of a week with the bridal salon losing her wedding gown for 2 days.  They did find it though.

...but I knew it was coming.  Chris' grandfather died at 2:30 this morning.  We were out late last night at his parent's house and then when we got home there was a message on the machine saying that Duane had the death rattle going on and when that happens they expect death within 24 hours.  So we put the kids to bed and then Chris headed over to the nursing home to meet up with his dad, aunt and cousin.  He died a couple hours later.  Chris is doing fairly well.  I think being able to say good-bye was good.  I'm not sure if it's hit him yet or if we were just so prepared for this moment that he's already done his grieving.

The funeral is tentatively planned for Thursday.  Chris' sister is in Texas right now for a work convention and comes home on Wednesday and her children are off with their father at Disneyland.  The decision was made not to tell SIL until she gets home.  I think she's going to be mightily ticked off when she finds out no one told her.  I know that they think it's better because she can't do anything anyway and she'd just fall to pieces (because she does) with no one there to support her.  I know coming home early would be detrimental to her career and I get all their logical, rational reasons for waiting, but I still think, as close as she was to her grandfather that they should tell her.  As usual, I don't get any say in these matters.

We are telling the kids tonight.  Tobias had a birthday party to go to for his best friend and we didn't want to wreck the day for him.  They had it at a bowling alley and he played 112 game.  It had bumpers but Jake's mom said that T never even touched the bumpers.  We don't play with bumpers when we go.  Pretty good for a nine year old.  He got two strikes and one spare.  And life goes on, that I can be proud of my kid like that on the day his great grandfather dies.  Grief is weird.

My mother called me last night to tell me that it is unlikely that her sister will survive the week, probably won't make it until Thursday.  The congestive heart failure has barely improved with the medication and now she's got kidney failure that dialysis is not an option for or not working for because of some kind of complication with her diabetes.  Mom spent a long time talking to the doctors and in the end signed a DNR, or do not resuscitate order.

( Read more... )