The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. I'm glad that it's slowing down (at least for another month or so).
Two weeks ago, I flew to Reno for my father's memorial service. I was shocked when I got there; the smoke from the fires was so thick. It was like being in a scene from Blade Runner. It was really wonderful to see C. - we've missed each other terribly the past month we've been apart. And I'm glad I could be there for my mom, who is overall doing well, but has moments of sadness (I would too if I had lost my partner of nearly 50 years).
Spent the first couple days preparing and gathering things for the memorial service, which went really, really well. The room we had chosen wasn't nearly big enough, and there was lots of overflow into the other room that we didn't plan for. It was extremely eclectic, and we gave away several of my dad's books as gifts. My brother did a great job with the eulogy, better than I would have done. You can read all about it
here. Got tons of compliements on my dance performance - apparently the white flags looked like angel wings, and the effect was pretty good. I'm interested to see the video that Seester shot. I saw many friends of the family I hadn't seen in years. People are definitely aging, and many I didn't recognize. The out-of-town friends came back to the house for some snacks and drinks, and we got a chance to catch up.
The next morning C. and I drove over the mountains to enjoy a few days in Nevada City and on the Yuba River. We got to hang out with the Iguana Lady and her daughter and granddaughter, saw amazing paintings, strolled in the garden, snacked and drank. The River was gorgeous, the water temperature just perfect. I got kissed by a water snake on Monday, which scared the hell out of me, but was ultimately a lucky thing. More and more people are discovering this special spot, though, and I was saddened to see that people don't think past themselves and leave all sorts of human effluvia in their wake. Apparently people can't put two and two together and realize that they need to clean up after themselves so everyone can enjoy a beautiful natural environment. The only real downer on the trip was a lovely little UTI that had me doubled over in pain on Wednesday night. Seester joined us on Wednesday morning, and we went to a couple of street fairs. All in all, a great visit, and exactly what I wanted for my summer vacation.
We drove back to Reno on Friday, spent a quiet evening with the family, and I flew out on Saturday afternoon. C. wanted to come home with me, but alas, that won't be happening for another 6 weeks or so. He actually bought ANOTHER vehicle, and will be driving it back (it's gonna be his new work truck, an Isuzu Trooper that gets much better mileage than his beast.)
My 2-hour layover at LAX was made fun by a visit with two of my grrlyfriends who are living in LA, E. and H. H. is an Internet friend, and we had never met face to face, and it was superfantastic to see E., who is doing really well these days. The three of us had fun gossiping and catching up at
Encounter, the chi-chi restaurant that graces the Jetson tower in the middle of the airport. My flight was late leaving, and I ended up not getting home until about 1:30 in the morning.
Sunday I was completely wiped out, and did little besides going to see the new
Dark Knight movie. It was pretty kick-ass, and Heath Ledger definitely played the second scariest villain of all time (after Javier Bardem in
No Country for Old Men). I also watched the season opener of
Project Runway. I haven't seen enough of it to know who I like or to get a good feel for their styles. We'll see how it goes after tomorrow evening.
Last night, I had to drive to Houston to see
Todd Rundgren since I missed him in Austin on Saturday. He was excellent, charming and witty as always, and his new album is sounding pretty damn good. My friend was catching a ride home with me, and she wanted to try to get backstage, but Im not a fan of doing the groupie thing and was tired, so I finally got her to leave. Didn't get home until 3 in the morning, and slept like crap. Today was really hellish at work.
There was an uber-exciting email in my inbox when I got home last night: my secret angel friend dropped a ticket in my lap for
The Company Picnic! This means I get to go and see my friends and be with my husband (who is working for the Man pre-event) and put pictures of my father in the Temple for burning. It's been four years; it will be interesting to see how things have changed. I am definitely in better physical shape than I've ever been, so I feel good about it. Need to procure plane tickets posthaste! I hadn't planned on doing any traveling until October when C. and I head to Mendocino for C&S, but sometimes you gotta take the curve balls life throws you. My boss wasn't thrilled, but he will survive without me for a couple of days.
At the moment, I'm bone tired, but am forcing myself to stay up late enough to sleep through the evening. The rest of the week is shaping up to be fairly quiet: swimming, a birthday party, roller derby, kung fu training, work and sleep. I'm sure my husband will be planning and scheming like mad for our next adventure, and I will indulge him. But at least I don't have to drive long distances or get on an airplane for a month or so.
Signing off now - will try to update more than just my daily twits!
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blah
exhausted
nostalgic