"You have to admit, she is rather mannish"

If only I could get rid of the nasty virus, and keep the sexy man voice. It's kind of fun blowing people away with it, being laughed at on the phone and hitting the low notes with Elvis, but enough's enough. 

Brother Car... in my bishopric, on the phone: "Sister Nat, you sound.... awesome."

WHY people????

"My Favorite Things" is not a Christmas song. I cannot stress this enough. Whoever thought it would make a good Christmas song should be taken out and mocked repeatedly. 

Meanwhile, there's always this (thanks Carrot Jello:)

Sick Again

Now that the funeral and graveside services are over, my body is pooped. I could feel it coming on over the last few days, but now I have the same virus that I had last month before Thanksgiving. (I'm not giving thanks that it came back.)

My cutie husband is "young lady"-ing me and making me stay in bed. Bless his heart - I really don't know what we would do without him.  

Dad's Memorial Service

I'd never watched a graveside service with full military honors for a veteran before. When Gran died, two months after the War on Terror began (October 2001), no military personnel were available to give him a salute or play Taps for him. This time was really, really cool, and poignant. Dad would have liked it.

Two Air Force servicemen were there to meet Dad's casket at the little shelter in the cemetery; they performed the flag folding ceremony and handed the flag to Neenaw (something we five children agreed she would like).

After the cemetery spokesman said a few words, he invited us to speak, but we were all too overwhelmed, I think - and had had the opportunity to share memories and thoughts at Dad's funeral two days before. So we were all perfectly silent as we looked at that beautiful casket one more time and bid Dad "see you later."

Dad was buried in the same national cemetery that his father, maternal grandparents, and grandaunt Rozila and granduncle Kenneth were buried. We actually watched as the cemetery personnel lowered his casket into the ground. I felt oddly peaceful, like, yep. This is what you do with a loved one's body after he leaves it behind. It was the last thing we could do for him, and it felt right to do it.

Afterward we walked a little ways up to Gran's grave. From his resting place, we're able to look just down the hill, and there's Dad's spot. "Just like in Brookings," Uncle John and Ernie both noted, alluding to the time during my childhood when we all lived on the same property together.

Then, we all went out to Sweet Tomatoes in Portland and enjoyed lots of great healthy-ish food, and bid each other safe travels. It was a hard, but very good day.

Till we meet again, Dad.

Travel Report

On our way home from Tri Cities. Dining in The Dalles, at the Dairy Queen. I think the staff thinks we're nuts. 

Dad's funeral

Some of Dad's beautiful grandchildren

This is your brain on "funeral"

My brain woke me up thinking of silly alternative names for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!. What??

"How Can You Possibly Think That's Butter?"
"Whoa, That's Not Butter, Is It?"
"Dude, Where's My Butter?"

Yeah, I have no idea. 

LATER: Melanie and I spent a good part of the evening hanging out in Kiley's room, playing Mad Libs. No one is better at playing Mad Libs than my sister. The end. 

Hard.

Spent a very tender day with the family - morning in the Columbia River temple with John and Karen, a nice lunch at Sterling's in Richland with them, Neenaw, BC and Ernie, then visited my dad at the funeral home.

He looked so weird. I made sure to take a good look at his hands to make sure it was really him. Everything still feels so unreal. His face was almost unrecognizable, but his hands looked the same. His left middle finger was still broken. I touched his hands and face and hair and shoulders. It's still just so surreal that he is gone. Even standing there looking at his body, it's completely hard to believe.

Uncle John dressed Dad in his burial clothes. Beyond just looking terrible and dead, he looked very nice. I feel for Uncle John - what a terrible thing to have to do. 

Hello again, Tri Cities...

...how sucky to have to be here, especially for this terrible occasion of my dad's funeral. No offense.

How nice, though, that I was able to enjoy a quiet (though kind of lonely) train ride from home to Pasco (with a bag of Sandy P's cookies in tow for trip snacks), and be met there by BC, John and Karen, and Neenaw.

And it's so nice of BC and Tawnee and Kiley and Zane to let me stay with them this week. I love them. If nothing else, it's great to see them again and have the chance to spend some good time together.

Well. I ALMOST had to throw a fit.

My father's funeral will be held on Saturday, December 13, at 3:00 PM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 515 South Union Street, Kennewick, Washington. (NOT the Olympia building)

FINALLY a time and place, and best of all, a place for our enormous extended family to have dinner together. I appreciate the good angels who have helped this happen. 




Later: Sandy P of Sandy P Cookie Fame brought me some of her Famous Cookies to take on the train tomorrow. I LOVE HER. So grateful for my family, and my ward family. Feeling very blessed.

Fitting

For the joy of human love
Brother, sister, parent, child
Friends on earth and friends above
For all loving thoughts and mild -

Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise 

STUPID TRI CITIES WARD CHRISTMAS PARTIES

Having a most interesting(?) time planning Dad's funeral in Tri Cities, with almost every ward we talk to having their Christmas party next Saturday. Both Richland buildings are out. Poop! Will we end up out in Burbank??

Please no Burbank. 

My dad moved out of the area a couple years ago, so he can't lay claim to any ward in Tri Cities. We're having it in the afternoon so people can travel that day if they need to. One bishop said we could, but we'd have to be out by 4:00.   

By this afternoon, things were starting to come together. I have found a lovely angel named Bobbie C in Kennewick East stake, and then one of the Richland bishops just called with another option. I'm feeling "helped".

Breakfast and Mourning

Today Ernie texted me and asked if I have eggs - "I have bacon and hash browns." I said yes, and invited him over. We made breakfast (I also made biscuits) and we ate with Brennan and Bella and watched Gone With The Wind together. It was nice to be together and have some family around after yesterday's sad news.

For My Dad

1961 - Senior picture

My dad and my brother Jeremy left eastern Washington this morning to visit my sister Melanie in Montana. They stopped for a break at a truck stop in Post Falls, Idaho, and used the restroom. Jeremy told Dad he would wait out in the restaurant area for him and left the restroom. As he waited, he noticed men running into the restroom. My dad had collapsed and passed away. Two retired paramedics happened to be in the truck stop and with Jeremy's help, did what they could, but they were unable to revive him.

I was standing in line with Brennan at the Social Security office downtown when I got the call from my sister Melanie. I was worrying about my other kids' school day ending and hoping I would be home by the time Harrison walked home, and be able to pick up Rosalind on time at her school. I was busily arranging and texting and calling the kids and their schools to leave messages, when I had a text from Melanie about our brother BC calling me. I told her he hadn't, so she called and gave me the news.

Obviously we were completely blindsided by this. Dad had been in bad health but hadn't seen a doctor or taken any medication for any of his medical conditions for several years - he was just that way. He was only 71 years old.

Dad, we love and miss you.

I could eat Thanksgiving leftovers FOREVER

How could you not? Hello, MOIST MAKER!!!

Happy Tykey Day*

We had a lovely Thanksgiving Day. Ernie came over from Ptown and joined me in the kitchen immediately. It was fun spending the day with him. We were laughing because he was texting me yesterday, asking if he could bring anything, and I asked if he wanted to bring a veggie tray. He texted back, "I was going to bring over andouille stuffed squash with peppers and onions, but yeah, I can do a veggie tray." Haha! Yeah right. I ended up making the veggie tray. 

This year I decided to make tomato aspic for dinner - the S family fancy dinner favorite! It was a Thanksgiving dinner staple at Neenaw and Gran's house and kind of a rite of passage, when you were finally old (and brave) enough to try the aspic. Gran made it and we always joked about it, till we tried it...mmmmm. Earlier in the week I asked on FB if anyone would care to share our aspic, since I knew it would go to waste at our house, and though most people "yucked" it, Chrisie G was kind enough to accept some. We took her little bowl of it over to their house this morning.

For appetizers we had the veggie tray, a pickle/olive tray, and a fruit and cheese tray with crackers. By dinnertime we were all stuffed, but we had the usual turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, Ernie's squash, corn, glazed broccoli amandine (oooh fancy), refrigerator rolls (totally a disaster like last time, I just dumped the dough in a cookie sheet and baked one big roll that we cut up and NO one could leave it alone), cranberry sauce (I forgot it in the fridge), and ASPIC! No one would touch it but Bella, Ernie and me, but you know what, it's tradition, so there.

We spent the rest of the day playing board and video games and watching TV and movies. Very relaxing. Ernie ended up spending the night on the couch, he was so tired.

I'm thankful for my wonderful family and all their goofy traditions this year. :)

*Gran always called turkey "tykey". He also called maple syrup "maple serple"

Slugs are really, really sticky.

And you can quote me.

I came home from practicing at Deanna S's house for this song we're doing in Sacrament meeting on November 30, and when I walked up the front steps, I saw this nasty old slug trying to make its way into my house. Yeah right! So I picked it up and tossed it into the garden. And then, DANG, my fingers felt like I'd just Krazy glued them together. It wasn't just sticky, it was persistent! Wring those things out, you could make some nice glue.

Days for Girls Meeting

Maybe "meeting" isn't the right word. :) I was still sick as a dog with the fun lung virus and was coughing and weak and tired. Fortunately only Kristin G and Ariana L showed up, each separately. We talked and made plans for a get together in January. Here's the stuff we collected (which I am super excited about):

From Barbara P

From me :)

From Ariana

All the stuff

Some other ladies from my ward are interested in doing this too, so hopefully we can get a little group together and really pounce on this.

After meeting Ariana, I decided I was done and went home and got into bed and died for five hours. Hack, hack, hack! Glad I have my family and my bed.

Collie Hit By A Trolley

A silly pic of the classic menu. Mom had a poster of this in her kitchen when she lived out in Touchet, WA.

"You'll Eat Like A Hog When You Try Our Dog"

Joke

Feeling a little crappy today. I think Rosalind's virus decided to spread the joy, to me. Thanks virus!


Since our lungs are threatening to jump ship(s), we decided to go to the doctor this morning.

She doesn't look that sick

We both have coughs - mine is just persistent, but Roz's is bad. She sounds like a barking dog. Roz was given a nice inhaler with some asthma-type medication, and I was prescribed some lovely pills to quell my cough during the day and a syrup to take at night. My cough syrup supposedly tastes so disgusting, not even the pharmacist could stomach it - he said he took one dose and threw the rest away. Whoa!! That's how you know it's bad.

Today I'm grateful for medicine, not having pneumonia, and Dole's orange banana strawberry juice

Now the joke:
Q. What's the internal temperature of a tauntaun?
A. Lukewarm.

Thank you Brennan!!