What A Busy Week...

The title says it all, I feel like this week has just been packed with things to do, and quite frankly, I'm ready for this week to be over!

This "week" started for me on Thursday, January 14th; approximately 3:15 pm, I got a phone call from my family in NE Missouri telling me that my Uncle Bill (56 years old) had just passed away. It was a shock of course, but I handle stuff like that well, so I just started making the necessary plans.

I worked all day on Friday, January 15th. I told them while I was there that I would need Monday & Tuesday off so that I could travel back to NE Missouri to attend my uncle's funeral, and unless something changed, I would be back to work on Wednesday.

That evening, we got everything packed & loaded, and then went to bed so that we could leave for Missouri sometime Saturday morning. As luck would have it, I came down with a "thankfully short" stomach flu Friday night/Saturday morning. I felt awful when I got up on Saturday, but we made the plans, and headed out anyway. My husband drove the whole way, and I rode in the back with Dakota. By about 12-2, I felt like my normal self (like I said, thankfully short). We arrived in Kirksville around 5 pm. We met my family over there to do some shopping, then we all met back at their house in Downing. We spent the rest of the evening visiting and playing "pass the baby".

Sunday morning, we all got up and went to church. After church, we all went out to my uncle's house where we all had a family dinner with the food everyone had brought/donated. Then we all left my uncle's house to return to my parents house, so that we could change our clothes. After we changed our clothes, we headed to Memphis to the Payne Funeral Chapel to attend what was supposed to be a 2-hour visitation. Anyone that was there (like Trenton & Erin) knows that this turned out to be much longer than that. Uncle Bill was very well liked. Our 2-hour visitation turned into a 4-hour visitation (needed that long to run everyone thru) (funeral directors estimated between 800 & 1000 people came thru). There was a line clear thru the funeral home when the family got there. They moved the family to the front of the line, then we started greeting/visiting & moving people thru. Needless to say, this turned into a very long evening. We finally got home between 10:30 & 11 pm.

Monday morning we got up, had breakfast, got dressed and left for the funeral home once again. Uncle Bill's funeral started at 11 am, once again, there was a huge turn-out (funeral directors estimated between 500 & 600). When the service was done, we all loaded up in our vehicles to begin the procession back to the Downing Cemetery. Anyone up that way knows that it was kind of chilly those days, and needless to say, the family was a little torqued, because there was a mix-up when we got there. Yes they had the hole dug, but we had no vault, no tent, no chairs. Come to find out, the vault company is responsible for the tent & chairs, and the vault company wrote down the wrong day. Therefore, we stood outside while the preacher made is graveside sermon. When it was all done, we loaded back up and returned to Memphis (again), where they had a family dinner waiting for us at the funeral home. We ate, visited, divided plants/flowers, took pictures of some of the family that was present & together for a change. Then we all left to head back to Downing again; one, to go back to the cemetery (the vault people finally got there so that they could get him buried), two, then we went to my parents house for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday morning we got packed up so that we could head back to Kansas. Needless to say, we didn't get started as early as we would of liked due to the fog & slick roads. We eventually left around 12:45 pm. We made the long trip back home, and finally made it home about 7:15 pm. It was an uncomfortable ride this time as Dakota was cutting his first tooth, so he wasn't a real happy camper this go round. We got home, got everything unloaded, got James sent off to work, got Dakota feed & in bed. Then I crashed. I was exhausted.

Like I said, it's been a long week, and I'm ready for it to be done. Here's to things looking up & things slowing down for a while!!!