I didn't write on Tuesday cuz there really isn't much going on with me - and Dad is pretty much doing the same thing at Grandma's as he's been doing for the past couple of weeks. So, using the emails back and forth between Dad and I, I will fill you in on what we've been doing since I last wrote.
Monday
My Monday was delightful. I slept in 'til 9:15am which I thought was a very respectable time to get up. :-) After breakfast, I started working on my plan for the first day of school. I absolutely loved doing it - it reminded me of how much I love teaching - just not in Hervey Bay. I asked Heavenly Father what we were supposed to do - I want to teach - I am not ready to give it up yet - but, I also don't want to teach in the conditions here in HB - I'm not sure what the answer is yet. Anyway, after I was planning for a while, I thought to myself - what am I doing inside when it's such a beautiful day outside (27C today), so I went outside and read my book out on my chaise lounger. This book is a crime thriller and it's quite good - it's about a blind woman who 'sees' the last 18 seconds of a dead person's life when she touches their hand. I didn't get my nap in today as I didn't really feel tired at nap time - likely cuz I had slept in late. After the wind got too cool outside, I came inside and ran a bath and read for another 90 minutes. I know that it will cost a little extra having all these baths, but I figure that since I am not doing anything or going anywhere that costs money, I can afford to pay for a few bathtubs full of hot water. :-)
Tuesday
I got a call from Rosalea about 9am to say that were up and ready for me to come over to help them clean the house. As soon as I got there, I got to work on cleaning out the kitchen cupboards - that's a big job and one that I could do without Rosalea's help - she was busy packing things into their fridge. Rob was busy packing things into their sea container. We worked until about noon and then they wanted to go and get something to eat, so we drove over to 'Subway' on the Esplanade and then ate on the foreshore, beside the ocean on one of the tables there. It was another beautiful day in HB. :-) After that, we went back to their house and worked until almost 5pm. I told them that I wanted to leave by then as I didn't want to drive in the dark (not quite comfortable with that yet).
Wednesday
Today I went to the Lovelock's for lunch. Alison and I sat down at their kitchen table and chatted while Graham made pancakes - they asked me if that was okay and I told them how you used to make it all the time for us when the girls were little. The pancakes were yummy! We talked about how they met and they showed me their wedding albums. We will have to have them over for dinner when you get home. After lunch, I went over to help Rob and Rosalea clean again. They asked me if I would like to go with them to Rainbow Beach tomorrow, but I declined as I really need to do some planning - I have only touched a little of it on Monday and haven't done any more since then. They also wanted to take me out to dinner tonight for helping, but I told them that I was quite tired and just wanted to go home and relax. Since getting home, the only energetic thing I have done is make 'Bev's Garlic Chicken'. It's been a night of tv watching - what a lazy slug, eh? :-) Oh yeah, when I was on the way to the Woodcott's from the Lovelock's, I stopped at 'Cut it out Christa' and made an appointment for 11am on Friday to have my hair cut - it is getting way too long and it's starting to make me look old - and I don't like looking older than 29! :-)
Thursday
I slept in until 9am again - yippee - I'm getting good at this - just in time to have to wake up early again next Monday. :-) I spent some time reading before getting to work on my planning. I am now reading a book called 'The Secret Life of Bees' - it's one of my book club book list books. I was able to completely plan for the first week of school which I was pleased about. Tomorrow, I will start to get all the supplies I need for the week so that I can take the stuff into my classroom on Saturday (or maybe tomorrow if I'm really organized). My evening was spent watching tv again - I have it on every night just to have noise in the house - I just don't like the silence in here when it's not on. If it's during the day, I have the CD player on, but it just doesn't do the trick in the evening. If there's 'nothing' on, I put on the news channel just to have some background noise (although often on the news channel, it's actually interesting. :-)
DAD
Monday
I walked Mom through sending an email today. Krystal had written and sent along a few pictures of Alexander and Dominic. She opened the email, read it and looked at the pictures, then replied and sent it off. All in all not bad for her first go. I spent the day today, after making 5 trips to the garbage bin and recycle with all yesterday's garbage, helping Mom with all sorts of things. We found phone numbers for almost all of the companies who she will need to call in the next couple of days. It took nearly all day, and still a dozen or so calls for Mom to make. Jackie is still sorting photos with Mom. Which to get rid of, which to keep and put into albums. Tomorrow I also need to get a small mailer box and send if off to myself with all the family history documents and old photos that are passing to me. In going over documents and photos with Mom we have found a few holes in the family history that will need looking into.
Tuesday
Mom really likes having me here helping her out. She really does not like having to deal with all the red tape and forms, etc that go with someone passing. Doug, or Scott, or Erika can help her, but I think she just likes me being here to take it on straight away and get things sorted out, or at least moving on. Today Mom and I went to the airport and picked up my Zed ticket. A stop at the funeral place to see how the memories book is coming. Jackie needs some of the photos back to scan for Victoria who is working on Dad's memoirs book. The memory book computer version should be finished by tomorrow. So all is well there for Jackie to get the stuff back in time to scan it before they head out to Calgary. Speaking of Calgary it looks like Scott may not be going. He does not have enough time off available and is having trouble seeing if someone can swap a day or two with him. Also today included stops at the drug store, the post office and the grocery store. Several more phone calls (they're neverending, it seems). There really is a lot to tidy up after someone passes on. I can see the 'business wisdom' in a company requiring all this red tape, but it sure makes it difficult for a grieving spouse to deal with all the paperwork and red tape. Tomorrow Dad's work has arranged for a courier to come and pick up 2 boxes and a paper roll tube of stuff we have come across that needs to be returned to his office. Then they can decide what happens to it all. Much of it they did indicate they would like back when Mom talked with them.
Wednesday
Jackie has decided to come back to Vancouver after Thanksgiving and will likely stay until Christmas. That way she doesn't have to rush through sorting photos and books. She can also continue to help Mom with email, Skype and other things which come up. So today was stops at the drug store, pet store, Walmart, Dad's Dr's office to get some forms signed for insurance. Also Jackie and I went over and had a look at the memories book. We found a few missing pages and a couple of typos they had made, so they will fix those tomorrow morning and give us another call. Mom's visiting teachers came by tonight and they are really nice and supportive. They offered to give her a ride to church if required and stop by if she needs any help. They talked about the VT message that Terri-Ann put a quote from in her blog the other day regarding being hit over the head. We also had a very nice stew dinner tonight. Yesterday at YW, they had a cooking lesson and made the stew. They made tons and when the girls asked what they were going to do with all the extra, the leaders said they were going to be giving it to some sisters in the Ward that were on their own and could use the help. Right away the girls said to make sure Sister Martin got some. So they brought enough by for the three of us. It was pretty good. Certainly better than fast food.
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