(no subject)
spent wednesday night eating my anxiety about getting an apartment. do you realize that i've gained 25 pounds in the past year? egads.
had an impromptu sushi dinner with laine on thursday night, as i just found out she is leaving today to go do her thing. after miyako, we stopped by that other place to have a smoke for old time's sake.
friday morning, my grandfather passed away. we weren't close; in fact, he was fairly estranged from everyone, but we all stilled cared about him. NOT my dad's favorite person, but even he tried to be nice to him. i guess without all of the stunts, tall tales and disappearing acts that the his dad pulled, its no wonder my Dad busted his ass to make something of himself and always put family first. I think he tried hard not to be anything like his own dad. viewing is tomorrow; service is monday at the v.a. cemetary.
laid down every dime i had to for security deposits and first month's rent on a little apartment on w. alabama. old complex, not much of a kitchen, but i like the people, the location, that it has tile floor and closet space, and that it will fit the king bed. hopefully, i will sign the lease this afternoon and get keys. i'm going to slowly move boxes and smaller things first. do a little each day after work, and try to knock out as much as i can by myself. i'll have to recruit some boys to move the heavy stuff once i figure out what all i can reasonably fit in there.
this morning we all met at cheryl's storage and cleaned out the first unit. most of it was camping, fishing, and boating gear, some tools, etc. brannon and justin split most of that. me, all i wanted was my dad Dudley Doright figurines. i did take some u.s. flags for the cemetary and a gas can for my truck. the rest of what i brought home with me is 3 boxes full of commendations, research papers, resumes, photos, certificates, badges, momentos, newspaper articles, etc. of my dad. brannon and i plan to go through it together one day to sort it all out. i'd like to put together a scrapbook. i found so many photo id cards...between the lodge, various community organizations and the 90 gazillion police organizations. i had to laugh...he was a member of the afro-american police org, as well as the NAACP! go dad!
after we finished at the storage, i stopped by the cemetery to talk to dad, tell him about his dad, the apartment, the storage, etc. i know its weird, but i really do talk to him. anyway, the bronze foot marker was gone. just gone. i was SO upset. the funeral home is looking into it; they think maybe it was sent in for repairs, but don't know why no one called us to let us know. Dad's had 4 badges (one for each city - houston, pueblo, tyler and dp), both the marine and mason insignia's, and the quote about 'i have finished the race'. that last part is what i had put on there.
after the cemetery, i stopped by the police station to see if i could donate most of (i'm keeping the psych-related) my dad's textbooks to them. i don't want to just through them out. what's out of date they should put in the front lobby, underneath all of my dad's police hats and cars (dad collected police hats from other countries / departments - there's an english bobby hat!) I also offered to bring the vast assortment of police-related coffee cups up there. the dispatcher said they would love that. she also said that she has pictures she took at some memorial event before Dad died, and that she had wanted to give them to us before but thought it might be inappropriate during the service. she's going to e-mail them to me.
and now i'm home. cheryl asked me to clean out her drawers, keep whatever i wanted, and bag the rest up for charity. i've already raided her workout clothes; now i've scored on pj's. had to clean out Dad's pj drawer, too, along with his clutter drawer. again, badges, pins, commemorative watches, publicity photos, etc. more to sort through with brannon.
i think i need a quick nap before we go back for storage #2. i've been crying on and off all day, and my little head hurts. its weird how the timing of all of this is. it's all coming full circle. ebb and flow...gotta just go with it, huh.
had an impromptu sushi dinner with laine on thursday night, as i just found out she is leaving today to go do her thing. after miyako, we stopped by that other place to have a smoke for old time's sake.
friday morning, my grandfather passed away. we weren't close; in fact, he was fairly estranged from everyone, but we all stilled cared about him. NOT my dad's favorite person, but even he tried to be nice to him. i guess without all of the stunts, tall tales and disappearing acts that the his dad pulled, its no wonder my Dad busted his ass to make something of himself and always put family first. I think he tried hard not to be anything like his own dad. viewing is tomorrow; service is monday at the v.a. cemetary.
laid down every dime i had to for security deposits and first month's rent on a little apartment on w. alabama. old complex, not much of a kitchen, but i like the people, the location, that it has tile floor and closet space, and that it will fit the king bed. hopefully, i will sign the lease this afternoon and get keys. i'm going to slowly move boxes and smaller things first. do a little each day after work, and try to knock out as much as i can by myself. i'll have to recruit some boys to move the heavy stuff once i figure out what all i can reasonably fit in there.
this morning we all met at cheryl's storage and cleaned out the first unit. most of it was camping, fishing, and boating gear, some tools, etc. brannon and justin split most of that. me, all i wanted was my dad Dudley Doright figurines. i did take some u.s. flags for the cemetary and a gas can for my truck. the rest of what i brought home with me is 3 boxes full of commendations, research papers, resumes, photos, certificates, badges, momentos, newspaper articles, etc. of my dad. brannon and i plan to go through it together one day to sort it all out. i'd like to put together a scrapbook. i found so many photo id cards...between the lodge, various community organizations and the 90 gazillion police organizations. i had to laugh...he was a member of the afro-american police org, as well as the NAACP! go dad!
after we finished at the storage, i stopped by the cemetery to talk to dad, tell him about his dad, the apartment, the storage, etc. i know its weird, but i really do talk to him. anyway, the bronze foot marker was gone. just gone. i was SO upset. the funeral home is looking into it; they think maybe it was sent in for repairs, but don't know why no one called us to let us know. Dad's had 4 badges (one for each city - houston, pueblo, tyler and dp), both the marine and mason insignia's, and the quote about 'i have finished the race'. that last part is what i had put on there.
after the cemetery, i stopped by the police station to see if i could donate most of (i'm keeping the psych-related) my dad's textbooks to them. i don't want to just through them out. what's out of date they should put in the front lobby, underneath all of my dad's police hats and cars (dad collected police hats from other countries / departments - there's an english bobby hat!) I also offered to bring the vast assortment of police-related coffee cups up there. the dispatcher said they would love that. she also said that she has pictures she took at some memorial event before Dad died, and that she had wanted to give them to us before but thought it might be inappropriate during the service. she's going to e-mail them to me.
and now i'm home. cheryl asked me to clean out her drawers, keep whatever i wanted, and bag the rest up for charity. i've already raided her workout clothes; now i've scored on pj's. had to clean out Dad's pj drawer, too, along with his clutter drawer. again, badges, pins, commemorative watches, publicity photos, etc. more to sort through with brannon.
i think i need a quick nap before we go back for storage #2. i've been crying on and off all day, and my little head hurts. its weird how the timing of all of this is. it's all coming full circle. ebb and flow...gotta just go with it, huh.