Bereavement Leave, Snow and Butterflies
My grandmother's memorial's been set for May 6th, a Saturday... so I spent most of the morning on the phone with my dad, my brother, and Shasta coordinating how we're going to get there. My brother Christian and I finally decided we're taking a red-eye flight on Saturday morning, renting a car for the day to get to the service, and then taking another red-eye home. That way we don't have to worry about trying to spend the night in my grandparents' overcrowded house or the cost of a hotel. We also don't have to spend a massive amount of time with our extended family, who we do love and are looking forward to seeing... but, at the same time, we haven't seen most of these folks since we were like, four years old, and we don't know them very well. Also the red-eye flights are less expensive. :P
Anyway, we bought our tickets over the phone at the same time to make sure we'd be on the same flight. We're not sure if our brother Caleb will be able to come, as he's preparing to go to Afghanistan and has drill that weekend, which his bosses are very unlikely to let him get out of even for a death in the family...
As it turns out, I get bereavement leave at work, so I don't have to use my vacation/sick time. I could take 32 hours if I wanted to, but I decided just to take the Friday beforehand off, mostly because I need to make sure I get in enough sewing that weekend and since Saturday will be booked I'll still have two full days to get work done.
Whew...
In other news, it snowed last night, much to Shasta's general disappointment. :P Our whole neighborhood was treated to a good 3 inches of fresh snow, which means she'll probably be out shoveling this morning. Orion seemed fascinated, though. He sat at the window all evening meowing at the falling snowflakes... hehe.
So, in an attempt to cheer myself up with warmer fuzzier images, here at last is a selection of photos from Layne's visit at the beginning of the month, when we went to the butterfly pavilion. :)
Anyway, we bought our tickets over the phone at the same time to make sure we'd be on the same flight. We're not sure if our brother Caleb will be able to come, as he's preparing to go to Afghanistan and has drill that weekend, which his bosses are very unlikely to let him get out of even for a death in the family...
As it turns out, I get bereavement leave at work, so I don't have to use my vacation/sick time. I could take 32 hours if I wanted to, but I decided just to take the Friday beforehand off, mostly because I need to make sure I get in enough sewing that weekend and since Saturday will be booked I'll still have two full days to get work done.
Whew...
In other news, it snowed last night, much to Shasta's general disappointment. :P Our whole neighborhood was treated to a good 3 inches of fresh snow, which means she'll probably be out shoveling this morning. Orion seemed fascinated, though. He sat at the window all evening meowing at the falling snowflakes... hehe.
So, in an attempt to cheer myself up with warmer fuzzier images, here at last is a selection of photos from Layne's visit at the beginning of the month, when we went to the butterfly pavilion. :)