Top Ten Things I'm Looking Forward To:
10. Sleeping in Matt's and my bed two days in a row
9. Switching back to non-waterproof mascara
8. Going an entire week without eating fast food
7. Taking a closer look at the shawl sneezer222 sent
6. Not always having to keep the cell phone close at hand
5. Writing thank-you notes (Honest. I like writing them.)
4. Checking e-mail and LJ every day
3. Exercising
2. Not having to clean house for another week1
And the number one thing I'm looking forward to...
1. March. By which time I'll have all the estate stuff dealt with.
1 Thanks to one of my aunts who let Merry Maids into my house and stayed while they cleaned for two hours, so I could be at the hospice facility. She's currently my favorite person ever.
Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. I might reply to some of the comments, but probably not all--but I did read all of them, and I'm very, very grateful.
The visitation was Friday, and it went well. There was an open casket, which I always find kind of ghoulish, but in this case it was wonderful to see her looking so peaceful after the agony of her last few days; it really helped. We had a few minutes to ourselves with her at first, then her siblings all went in. Things got very amusing when one of my aunts decided that the flower arrangement my uncles and aunts had ordered was not up to snuff--and, considering what they spent on it, she had a very good point. She pulled out all the lilies and put them in hot water to open, and she called the florist and told him he'd better get over there and fix it tout de suite. He filled it in more, and it did look much, much better... but what an adventure, and all before the official visitation started.
Matt's mother was civil, thank heavens. Matt's parents and one of his brothers and his wife stayed the whole time, which was completely unnecessary, but I appreciated the thought. They said it was nice getting to know my family better. Matt's other brother and his wife flew in from South Carolina, which was incredibly sweet. During the afternoon a lot of friends from my mom's apartment complex came, and they all had nice things to say. The evening was mostly relatives, and a few of her other friends. I do tend to like visitations, because once the initial shock and unhappiness dies down, they turn into a family reunion, more or less.
Yesterday was the funeral, which also went well. Everyone seemed to think it was a nice service. Matt cried when his brother sang a solo (and sang it very well); I sniffled during the sermon when the pastor talked about my dad's death and continued sniffling off and on through the rest of it. The cemetery portion was mercifully short--it was darn cold. There seemed to be a point at the end when all my relatives realized that I'm now parentless; everyone suddenly got very solicitous.
Afterwards we went to the church my mom grew up in (she transferred to another church exactly a year before she died, and that's where the funeral was) for lunch. I always find the traditional Lutheran church basement lunch to be kind of ridiculous, because it's so predictable and it's foods that one never eats in real life, but I have to admit it's comforting to sit around and talk for a while. One of my uncles decided to go out and get a camera, because he realized that it was the first time in at least ten years that every single one of my first cousins was in the same room. So we had an orgy of picture-taking, which was fun, except that it kept me from saying goodbye to a bunch of non-relatives, so I'll be writing some apologetic thank-you notes. Anyway.
After that we went back to my mom's apartment for a while, along with my brother- and sister-in-law from South Carolina, and my cousin from Atlanta and his wife. We drank some wine and talked for a while, and it was a great way to wind down. It was great to have a chance to see all of them, even if it was a sad occasion. Then we came home and slept in our own bed. Yay.
Today we've pretty much been taking it easy. Tomorrow I need to start cleaning out my mom's apartment, but I'm hoping I won't have to be down there every day. And things might start getting back to normal, mostly, anyway.
9. Switching back to non-waterproof mascara
8. Going an entire week without eating fast food
7. Taking a closer look at the shawl sneezer222 sent
6. Not always having to keep the cell phone close at hand
5. Writing thank-you notes (Honest. I like writing them.)
4. Checking e-mail and LJ every day
3. Exercising
2. Not having to clean house for another week1
And the number one thing I'm looking forward to...
1. March. By which time I'll have all the estate stuff dealt with.
1 Thanks to one of my aunts who let Merry Maids into my house and stayed while they cleaned for two hours, so I could be at the hospice facility. She's currently my favorite person ever.
Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. I might reply to some of the comments, but probably not all--but I did read all of them, and I'm very, very grateful.
The visitation was Friday, and it went well. There was an open casket, which I always find kind of ghoulish, but in this case it was wonderful to see her looking so peaceful after the agony of her last few days; it really helped. We had a few minutes to ourselves with her at first, then her siblings all went in. Things got very amusing when one of my aunts decided that the flower arrangement my uncles and aunts had ordered was not up to snuff--and, considering what they spent on it, she had a very good point. She pulled out all the lilies and put them in hot water to open, and she called the florist and told him he'd better get over there and fix it tout de suite. He filled it in more, and it did look much, much better... but what an adventure, and all before the official visitation started.
Matt's mother was civil, thank heavens. Matt's parents and one of his brothers and his wife stayed the whole time, which was completely unnecessary, but I appreciated the thought. They said it was nice getting to know my family better. Matt's other brother and his wife flew in from South Carolina, which was incredibly sweet. During the afternoon a lot of friends from my mom's apartment complex came, and they all had nice things to say. The evening was mostly relatives, and a few of her other friends. I do tend to like visitations, because once the initial shock and unhappiness dies down, they turn into a family reunion, more or less.
Yesterday was the funeral, which also went well. Everyone seemed to think it was a nice service. Matt cried when his brother sang a solo (and sang it very well); I sniffled during the sermon when the pastor talked about my dad's death and continued sniffling off and on through the rest of it. The cemetery portion was mercifully short--it was darn cold. There seemed to be a point at the end when all my relatives realized that I'm now parentless; everyone suddenly got very solicitous.
Afterwards we went to the church my mom grew up in (she transferred to another church exactly a year before she died, and that's where the funeral was) for lunch. I always find the traditional Lutheran church basement lunch to be kind of ridiculous, because it's so predictable and it's foods that one never eats in real life, but I have to admit it's comforting to sit around and talk for a while. One of my uncles decided to go out and get a camera, because he realized that it was the first time in at least ten years that every single one of my first cousins was in the same room. So we had an orgy of picture-taking, which was fun, except that it kept me from saying goodbye to a bunch of non-relatives, so I'll be writing some apologetic thank-you notes. Anyway.
After that we went back to my mom's apartment for a while, along with my brother- and sister-in-law from South Carolina, and my cousin from Atlanta and his wife. We drank some wine and talked for a while, and it was a great way to wind down. It was great to have a chance to see all of them, even if it was a sad occasion. Then we came home and slept in our own bed. Yay.
Today we've pretty much been taking it easy. Tomorrow I need to start cleaning out my mom's apartment, but I'm hoping I won't have to be down there every day. And things might start getting back to normal, mostly, anyway.