family-oriented weekend
Monday, Jun. 27, 2005, 8:46 PM

I did intend to post Friday, but by the time I'd run errands, coped with a very upset fourteen-year-old who needed his auntie very badly, and finally made long-overdue contact with my parents, I was beat. I was ignoring far more immediate and pressing issues than this diary.

The reason Nephew was so upset? His maternal Grandfather was stricken with a massive coronary, and died--while driving. The car left the road, rolled over at least once, and hit a tree. Nephew was there when the sheriff's deputy came to notify his mother.
After getting the horrible news, Nephew went to his room, and A.) punched a large hole in the wall, B.) played "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" on his guitar, and C.) called his aunt. (Niece? She jumped on her bike and rode the hell out of it. )

I stayed on the phone with him for quite a while, just talking and listening. This is the whole point of my relationship with the Nephew and the Niece. They need me, they have me. The whole thing (Nephew and talking to Mom) wore me put and depressed me, though...I just couldn't get up the gumption to write.

Friday being my 21 hour day, I slept till about 7:15 on Saturday, then got up and walked the dog. I was outside watering the flowers and planning my cleaning routine when the phone rang at 8:15. It was (former) sis-in-law. She had to spend the day making the funeral arrangements--could Spouse and I take the kids and keep them busy, so she could get things done without worrying about them?

Well, of course. This kind of situation is not for obsessing about your filthy house, and piles of laundry, and the fact that you have not had one day in the last six weeks where you could just slow down a little. This is when you have the opportunity to be the kind of person you admire. So I told her to drop them off whenever was convenient.

Then I hung up, and frantically picked up the worst of the house messes I could get to in a short time, shaved, brushed, bathed, and dressed so I could be ready when they got here. And woke Spouse to tell him the situation.

Since he had to work Saturday from eleven to ??:??, it was up to me to keep the kids occupied. We went down to the diner and had breakfast--took two cars, and Uncle Spouse left for work from the restaurant. After the kids and I ate (three wonderful words: fresh blueberry pancake!) we went down to the small farmer's market by the lake. We got some fabbo strawberries for us, and some gourmet organic dog treats for Raji. The kids were pretty subdued and didn't really know what they wanted to do, so I took them up to Racine to Barnes and Noble. We browsed around for quite awhile, but didn't find anything we wanted to buy.

We did have a good laugh over the "Bunny Suicides" books. Am I a horrible Aunt to let the kids look at such morbid humor when they just lost their grandpa? Nah. They got their appreciation of dark humor a long time ago, and not exclusively from me. And they needed to laugh.
We also got chuckles from "Weird Wisconsin", and had a good time going through the young readers section, where they took an inventory of how many of the books I'd read. Nephew was pleased to find out the large number of books we had in common. And that we seemed to like and dislike the same ones. I'll let you in on a little secret:--Auntie was pretty darn pleased as well.

After wandering around the bookstore for about an hour, we left empty-handed and headed back to K-town to check out the movies. We got to the big theater at one, and after some discussion, decided to se "Madagascar". Nephew had already seen it and wanted to go again; Niece really wanted to, and Me? I didn't really care.

Well, it was nearly an hour till the next showing, so we got our tickets and then ran back to the house to walk the dog, (and Auntie grabbed the chance of a smoke), and had a snack. Then we popped back to the theater. Wow--I really wasn't expecting it to be so enjoyable. Inane, innocuous, cute, yes. And it was all of that. But I really liked it--particularly the penguins. And Alex the Lion (voice of Ben Stiller) striking Zoolander�s �Blue Steel� gaze for a photo.

When we left the theater. Niece called her mom, and I talked to her about the kids. She sounded absolutely wiped out. I suggested she leave them with us overnight, and catch her breath. It sounded like she was relieved to do so.

We came home, kicked around a little, and I did some of the most pressing chores and ordered some dinner delivered. When Spouse got home about 7, he ate the pasta I'd ordered, and then he and Niece went out and played with the motorcycle while I cleaned up and Nephew watched my Greg the Bunny DVDs. Spouse built a small fire in the pit, and we all sat out for a while, relaxing, having strawberries and ice cream, and enjoying the effects of the cool front that had passed though.

I got them togged out in some makeshift sleepwear, and washed their clothes, because Uncle had announced that we were all going to Polishfest in Milwaukee on Sunday. As soon as I could get that load in the dryer, I crashed myself--at midnight.

I went with a darker brown tone this time, for better grey coverage and for a more reasonable shade after it fades. The lighter color goes a little too blonde for me after a while. I really like it. Hydrience #36 "Suntan", light golden brown. Which on me is almost a chestnut.

I had coffee, but skipped the pancakes and bacon. It just didn't sound good to me. After everyone else ate, they went back to sleep! Me, well, once I'm up, I'm up.
I took the dog for her Sunday walk, then finished my coffee in the yard, with the Sunday paper. Then I came in and got showered, roused the rest of the squad, and sent then to the showers too.

Yeah, the wicked witch of Gurnee came. Thank god, she and JR drove themselves. But even so, she was stuck to me like glue, and just annoyed the ever-loving fuck out of me all afternoon. She's a nasty old bitch, and even her grandchildren dislike her.

She was moderately well-behaved, I'll admit--not that it means anything. She can kiss your cheek and stab your back at the same time. But it made for a long day, I can tell you.

And he was quite lavish with the compliments for me yesterday. He made me feel great with all his praise for my weight loss. Really made the day more bearable, too. He and I have always had a similar sense of humor, and laugh a lot together. I don't see enough of him these days, and I miss him.

When Spouse and I first got married, the two youngest brothers spent a lot of time at our place, escaping their mom and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and my cooking. I always likened it to marrying a guy with two teenage sons from a previous marriage. I've given him a place to live when he was kicked out of his apartment, nursed him when he was sick, chauffeured him all over the county, bought him booze, let him use my car to learn to drive, and cooked vegetarian for him (during one particular phase of his early twenties). JR always seemed to appreciate me, and value my contribution to the family. Certainly more so than his mom ever did. I really do love him like a brother. Or a stepson.

I also seem to have torn through about 350 simoleans in two days.