I have not blogged in 10 days. These past 10 days have been some of THE busiest I’ve had in a year. Here’s the scoop on what’s going on:
- May 16-18 Doug and I were partners with another couple to organize a portion of the elementary school’s Country Fair. If you know us, you would not be surprised to learn that it’s the "Adult Games" area which is the Blackjack, Little Reno, Wine Wheel and the Texas Hold ‘Em games. Another family (our first friends up here in Sacramento) had the lock on that area for over 15 years. They turned it over to us (sort of like inheriting something!) after the event last May so this was our first year in charge of that area. So cool! We get to keep it until Michael leaves the school which is 4 more years. As we have to perform service hours at our Catholic school, this is huge and gives us a nice cushion since this area takes a lot of man (or woman) hours.
- In the meantime, on the SAME weekend, I was sort of co-chairing a benefit for Sacramento Child Advocates (www.SacChildAdv.org) for about 250. We netted about $60k. Before my partner and me, last year, they netted under $20k. Yes, we worked our tails off! That was the #1 focus of my time since late January. But now it’s over……
- Kirsten graduated from high school last night (see photo & post above). SO fun, so exciting but we had SO many events related to it. Four events just in the last 48 hours. Last night we got home just before 11 PM from her graduation, we simply HAD to watch the American Idol finale (hooray for David Cook who we all fell in love with – I voted 34 times!), went to bed at 12:45 AM then up at 5:30 AM to be at Kirsten’s school at 6 AM to pick her up from her Grad Night event (a water park with mini golf, hypnotist, etc…). She came home by 6:45 AM and slept until 3 PM!
- Kirsten flies to Amsterdam to meet Matt this Sunday at 8:50 AM out of San Francisco (100 miles from us). Lots of "things to do" and things to buy and "do you need this or that?" and me running to a store to be sure it’s covered. I think I’m done then Matt emails and asks "can you have Kirsten bring me a new toothbrush and deodorant?" What – they don’t have those things in Europe? He also asked for one of the khaki shorts we have in his closet as he has patched the ones he took when he left for Europe in February and they are apparently patched with lime green thread and sort of hobo-esque. Lots of ventilation from how he describes them!
- I’m so nervous about Kirsten forgetting something, I have her passport sitting out "just in case". Mama mia! She is taking 24 days worth of clothes and shoving it into 1 framed backpack to wear. Got her some Birkenstocks rather than the "cute" sandals she wanted to walk in (I said one day of that and you’ll have blisters for the other 23 days so forget the "cute" sandals and let’s buy "less than cute" Birkenstocks!), she will carry her belongings on her back and we hope she can still walk by the time she gets back if she takes too much. The plus is that Kirsten has gone to a summer camp since she was 7 so she knows how to consolidate. The minus is that she is a fashion maven so her ability to be a light packer is fighting with the vein in her that forces her to have awesome coordinates and a very strong fashion sense. I think the camping sense will win since her space is limited! Matt was so funny when he told me she HAD to bring her things in one backpack because if she brings a traditional rolling suitcase, he just figured he’d end up being her valet through Europe and rolling it for her. Forget that! Four years of Catholic high school at $30k total has paid off once again – smart boy! See, we are getting our money’s worth, LOL! If nothing else, he has the brains to avoid being a man-servant to his sister!
- Next Friday we drive 400 miles (yes, at $4 per gallon, gulp) to one of our dearest friends (she’s like a sister) family funerals who lost her mother and 32-year old brother within the past month or so. My God her story is heart-wrenching. Doug and I both met her (Diane) in law school. She knew us both but we didn’t know one another. I think she helped put us together but not in the blind-date sense but in that we were both her friends but from different new friend groups. Diane was our common bond. So whether she deserves it or not, I say that Diane is responsible for our meeting in 1984. Anyway, we all graduated from law school in 1987 and in 1989 Diane’s dad, who worked for the FBI, was murdered (case still unsolved). Fast forward to this year (with her 2nd wonderful husband and with a house full of 5 kids), last Christmas she learned that her baby brother (who I met in law school when he was 9) and was then 31 at the time of going to the doctor, found out he had cancer. Totally out of the blue. Felt a lump on his neck at Thanksgiving. Had it checked out at Christmas and was told it was cancer and without treatment it was terminal and he had weeks to live. Oh my God. Brother Scott flew to UCLA for a 2nd opinion, was told it may not be that bad, had surgery then treatment but it came back fast. He declined further treatment and decided to die naturally, etc… Meanwhile he and their mom lived together in Vegas and mom was in a wheelchair. So wheelchair-bound mom and terminally ill son are caring for one another. Huge gathering at Easter to fulfill Scott’s wish to be a family together has them taking up a whole floor at a swanky Vegas hotel with family flying in from all over the US. Diane, her hubby and 5 kids fly back to Sacramento. She turns her cell phone on when she gets to the airport here at home to find a frantic message from her bro (it’s only a 90 minute flight at most) saying he was taking their mom to dialysis when she collapsed in the car. Remember, he is terminally ill driving invalid mom to the dialysis center a mile from home. He swerves into a fire station, they try to revive her, they can’t and she dies. Diane flies back to Vegas, takes care of what needs to be taken care of and moves Scott to California near her. He rents a house, they furnish it, he is happy as a clam then he dies holding Diane’s hand on May 5. In the middle of ALL that, 2 days before brother dies, Diane’s hubby, a reservist, is shipped to Afghanistan until September. No, I am not making this up. Soooo……… on May 30 we drive south about 400 miles to spend the weekend at the funeral for Diane’s mom and bro where they bury their ashes with their dad. Please pray for her!
- On May 30 as well, my second-half during college Penne who is also Matt’s godmother (I am her first born’s godmother too) and the matron of honor at our wedding is having surgery for breast cancer. As luck would have it, she’s halfway to So Cal so on the way home we take an alternate route to say hello to her after her surgery. Scary stuff but I know she’ll be OK. Penne is one incredibly awesome and tough cookie!
Those are just the big things going on in our family this May. In a family of six, there are always lots more and, seriously, I’ve only touched on the important events! I’ve been here and there but not on my blog or with my SU customers. Every now and then I sort of, poof, disappear… I’m back… almost! Once Kir leaves for Europe this Sunday, I "only" have 2 kids at home til June 17 when Matt and Kir come home. We have a big bash on June 22 to welcome them home. Parties are my "thang" so that’s easy. What will I do with all my free time in early June? Stamp, I hope!
Family is calling to start a movie together. This "together time" is so precious so I shall sign off. I think we’re watching the original Indiana Jones movie (we have all of them taped on DVR) to get us ready for the new one.
Matt is in Poland right now and I think he saw it there today. I asked my cousin’s son if they dub American films and he said there was a riot years ago when Polish theaters tried to do that because the Poles wanted to hear the sound of the famous American movie stars voices such as Harrison Ford’s. Cool! I am still waiting to hear from Matt to see how they handled this movie.
Ciao… off to the home theater… Doug’s now yellling!
P.S. Here I am on Monday night with Kirsten at a special dinner for all 9 of the girls who studied Italian for all 4 years.
