…or something like that. I’m exhausted and shutting down for the night; we’ve been packing up for the trip to Sioux Falls tonight, and leaving around 9 in the morning.  The memorial service is 1-4 on Saturday afternoon, and we’ll be seeing friends and family beforehand and coming back next Monday.

And yes, I’ll peek in from time to time in the ( Read more... )

Connie, my mother-in-law, died tonight at 11:28 pm, Central Time, here at our home in Lisle.  Susan, Meredith and I were all with her at the time.

She had been sliding downhill breathing-wise for the last couple of days, and was having a lot of trouble tonight; the oxygen machine was having problems as well, and it finally got fixed shortly before ( Read more... )

MERE is performing at her Lisle Junior High concert tonight; we’re going, of course.  She has been working on her flute and her new baby, a piccolo (think small, higher-pitched flute and remember what Yankee Doodle sounds like).  (sound example)  She was working on the material on and off all summer and steadily since then…all sorts of patriotic ( Read more... )

CONNIE: Her 70th birthday was last Thursday, and she’s had visits that day and since by her sister Marlyce, nurses from hospice, our Minister Rev. Kitty, and my BIL Doug, who stopped by for Saturday and Sunday to see his mom as a break from his long-distance truck job.  There’s been a steady flow of cards, notes, flowers and calls from others, and ( Read more... )

The real underlying news is that Connie’s condition has been really going downhill since Doug and his family left; Tuesday night (actually, about 3 am Wednesday) Connie started having pains, a racing heart rate and other troubles; Susan quickly decided that whatever was going on was way serious, and called up an ambulance - which took her to nearby ( Read more... )

Taking a brief break from chores to post; I have to empty out my old yearbooks and my collection of Point Of Divergences from the basement closet to somewhere in the bookcases…which is going to be a real PITA, but it has to be done.  Using the space for storage of board games, extra towels and blankets for the downstairs…and seeing how much more ( Read more... )

On Saturday afternoon, we’ll be going off to the airport to pick up / greet Meredith’s twin sister Meredith Ellen for a week-long visit - leaving next Saturday.  I know that Sissy (the term the twins use between them for talking about the Other One) wants to watch Mere perform, skating-wise, and she’s going out to the rink to watch a couple of ( Read more... )

Susan has been busy over the last week or so overseeing a room switch - Connie is moving into Mere’s room (which has earwig problems in the spring) and Mere in Connie’s room (which is also warmer in the winter). This has necessitated a lot of Digging Through Built-Up Stuff, so a lot of stuff is being donated or trashed. And a lot of thing Long ( Read more... )

Due to allergies in the family to fresh Christmas trees, we’ve been resigned this year to the idea of having to get an artificial tree…I hate the idea, but it’s far better than having people miserable until the tree gets chucked out of the house.   Mere and I went off yesterday to check out a tree sale at Sears, and we had serious problems having a ( Read more... )

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