Monday: flower

Today I got to pick up one of the flower arrangements from the funeral.

However, we have a cat that likes plants so I had to put a bag over it.  It's not as nice as being without the bag, but it's nicer then having cats eat it.

vacation Tuesday: Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios was our last day, and it was the best.  I remember a lot of details but I took a little too long to write this post so a few things might be out of order.

We started with day with Rockin' Rollercoaster.  Joshua was a bit nervous because it went upside-down, but he loved it!  It was also better than I remembered - I remember coming off it ten years ago and having a headache.  Yay for a great start!

We moved into the Star Wars section to ride those two rides.  Isaac and I were the pilots for one of the rides and we didn't do all that well.

Everyone was looking forward to Tower of Terror.

And the toy story ride.  Ben got the most points, as normal.

We got off the shooting ride and noticed that the Slinky Dog Dash wait was on the low side.  It was a ride we didn't have a fast pass for because the kids indicated that they would rather ride the other option, but when we got to the park they said they were excited for this ride too.  So we decided to stand in line.  It was a bit of a wait, but at the same time the line kept moving.  I love Joshua's expression in this picture too.  It's like he knew where to look for the camera, but I think it was just lucky.

We split up for lunch because people were having a "hard" time agreeing on what to eat and we can split up.  It's sometimes hard to remember that, but sometimes it is the right choice.  The kids and I went to get pizza.  It was not the fastest meal service ever, but it gave us time to find a table.  Isaac was the one that managed to snag it in the end - it was a little busy.

We were going to do Tower of Terror again, but it was broken down.  We did some of the shows and smaller rides.  Eventually we got back to it.  The line wasn't long, but it wasn't as short as normal either because one of the elevators was broken down.  We ended up sitting in the same seats as previously.

We also decided to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster again and that was probably my biggest mistake of the day.  I came off of it with a headache.  Some medicine cleared it up promptly, but I really didn't have any fun on the ride the second time.

We went to the dinner for dinner.  I had something delicious, but it came with a boatload of green beans.  I ate a whole bunch of them, but my waiter brought them back out with some whipped cream because I was supposed to eat my vegetables.

Whipped cream does NOT enhance the flavor of green beans.  I tried several.

At this point we decided to stay around for the night time show, so we had a bit of time.  We went back to the Star Wars area as Rise of the Resistance was only a 25 minute wait.  Then we did it again in the single rider line right away!  It was a bit odd because there were more people in the single rider lane than in the normal lane when we got there, so we were still all able to ride together.  It was interesting seeing how the single riders get back to the ride - there are some sneaky places where you need to wait before they'll let you through.

Then to the light show, which was surprisingly far back in the park.  It was good, and it was nice to sit down, but seeing it once is probably enough.  Getting out of the amphitheater was a bit easier than I expected, even with Ben's scooter.  We didn't have to wait long for the bus back to the hotel either!

Sunday: Grandma's Funeral

Today we celebrated the life of Betty Hilldore.  It was a beautiful day, a sad day, and a long day.

We got to the funeral home for the family viewing/set-up time.  Grandma looked so nice.  She was in a pink sweater and her hair and make-up looked really good.  Someone found a note in her yearbook about her and a friend hitch-hiking to Zeeland for a "baseball game", trespassing on private property, and "more that [the friend] couldn't write here."  Everyone got a kick out of it.  Jamie also put together a very nice slide show and everyone commented on the pictures multiple times.

We stayed for the visitation.  Isaac and Joshua mostly disappeared for this, and I don't blame them.  A lot of people they didn't know where there and they had probably talked to most of the people they wanted to talk to already.  I think they had a few extra cookies.

We went in for the funeral.  The family had several members stand up and reflect on memories and it was beautiful.  There were some songs - Jamie made it through her song and cracked just the perfect amount at the end.  I wish the Chaplain had spoken more about heaven and Grandma's faith.  Several other family members mentioned it, but our eternal hope comes from God.  Ben shared a few memories, including how she and Grandpa always made him say Caboose and laughed over his pronunciation, how she was cut-throat in Uno (to the chagrin of the kids sometimes), and how if you didn't have what you needed in Yahtzee you just kept rolling.  (She did that to several family members in Yahtzee.)  But most of all that she was always so happy to see you.

We then went in the funeral procession to the cemetery.  I don't think I've actually been in a funeral procession before, but there is a high chance that I have been.  (Maybe even for Mom's funeral?  Details are so blurry.)  I didn't realize they were so slow!  It makes a lot of sense - you don't want to lose the last people and it seems like a proper mournful procession - but it is not what I was expecting.

The cemetery was wet and misty.  A few last words were said, the flowers placed on the casket (a white rose for me and Ben, snap dragons for Joshua.  Isaac ended up standing somewhere else), and it was lowered down.

Then we went to the boat barn for a final toast and party.  "To Grandma!"  I had Pinot grigio, and in hind-sight I think it was a mistake.  I know it was only a half-cup, but I was already tired and something wiped me out.  I was done.  I went the top area and closed my eyes on an uncomfortable chair for a few minutes, but then the pizza came.  We weren't planning on staying very long anyway, so I got up to eat.  That was fine.  Then as we were leaving I was standing around, getting stuff ready and I was done.  Completely.  I just left to go to the car, possibly cutting off Ben's goodbyes, although that wasn't the intention.  I think the combination of a lot of standing, a lot of emotions, being a bit tired, and the wine just sent me over the edge.  

At home I took a long nap.  It was a poor time for a nap since it was already 6:30pm, but that was my only option.  I stayed up a little bit longer than normal before actually going to bed, but I think I was asleep just a little later than normal too.

Saturday: disappointing

It was a rather disappointing day.  Not really a bad day, but I probably would have changed several things if I could have.

*Our evening plans were changed last minute.

*Taxes are not as straight-forward as we were hoping this year.

*The kids had a rough afternoon

Friday: car

The car was fixed by the end of the day.  It meant I still needed to bring Ben to and from work, but in the scheme of things that wasn't too bad.

I was going to do a "day in pictures", but then I only remembered to take three pictures.  So I guess we don't get to see that today.  

I tried a new type of sausage for our pizza today.  The overall consensus was that it was either the same or slightly better.

Thursday: today's gonna' be a good day

This morning as I was walking to class I decided it was going to be a good day.

It started off well: Ben was able to work from home so I could have the car and the car was safe in the garage.  It was really a great place and time for it to die on me.

Today I got to teach ANDs and ORs and nesting them.  It's one of my favorites.

I ate lunch with Natalie!

My second class is great because they ask a lot of good questions.  It's great.

There was a student issue that was solved in a positive way.

Joshua has extra stuff after school so I can just wait for Isaac at Hope College.  It's a lot less driving.

Ben will have his glasses fixed tomorrow!

All the driving could be done this evening rather easily.  It was a lot more driving than normal because there was only one car, but the scheduling worked out just fine.

The car started!!  Ben tried and it didn't start.  He popped the hood and as he did so I tried and it started right up.  He didn't even get the hood all the way open and it started.  Yay!  We were able to get it to the mechanic, and hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow.

I ran the dishwasher this evening.  I often don't get the dishwasher started in the evening, but it's so nice in the morning to have it ready.

Wednesday: could have gone better

*Grandma passed away early this morning.  She's happy with Jesus now, even though she will be missed here.

*It was nice and rainy today.  Our lake is higher than it's been for a while.

*I still have no idea how to log into the Health Insurance website on the computer.  I can do it on my phone, and every time I log in on the phone I create a passkey so that I can log in on the computer and it never works.

*A friend is studying for a homeopathic medicine degree and this month...I'm not sure what she was studying but I got a free massage as she was practicing some of her stuff.

*The headache that was just barely there the last few days came for real.  Some ibuprofen took care of it, but it wasn't nice for a bit.

*We had fettucine as the pasta type today.  The kids didn't really like it, which doesn't surprise me.

*My car didn't start this evening.  I think the starter is out; it isn't the battery.  It's done this twice before but it started after a few tries, so we're hoping it'll start once more to get to the auto shop.  In the meantime, we're down to one car for a while.  At least it decided to not start while in the garage and with Ben's car available.  It could have been a ton more annoying.

*We played Space Base this evening - it's been a while since we've played.  I had a bunch of cards on the "1" and no 1's were rolled.  For about the first 10 rounds.  It was absurd.