Twist of Lemon

I believe the subject line says it all.  Frances Davenport if you read this please find some way to get in contact with Brain or me.  We are concerned!

Last Wednesday I got a call at work from my father. He was calling to let me know my Grandfather had died. Now this did and did not come as a shock, my Grandpa Butch was not in the best health, and suffered a heart attack. Now I love my family, but you can love someone and just not like them very much at times. So remember that while reading the rest of this post. My Grandmother is not a pleasant woman. In fact she is one of the most self centered people I have ever met, and i wonder if my Grandfather didn’t just die to escape. I am quite sure he is in a better place. My Grandmother will live for a very long time I am sure, only the good die young and all that.

Well now for the drama and comedy. It went down like this. My folks did the arrangements for the flight to Indiana. We flew out of Minneapolis at 07:00, so that meant the folks picked Brain and I up at 05:30. Neither Dad nor Mom had much [or any ] sleep, and Dad missed the exit for the airport. After Brain dropped us off we went to check in our bags, and then went to the longest security line I had seen in quite awhile. If we were lucky we would just make our flight. Luckily the crabby woman guarding the empty first class line took pity on me and asked if I was traveling alone. As I was hungry and wanted to get some food before running for the plane I said “Yes!” leaving my parents to their fate and hopped into the empty line. She asked my folks if they were a couple, and after a false start [where my Dad said there were three of them..Hey Dad I already ditched you two...] she let them in the quick lane. I managed to get a nasty pastry to eat on the plane as I ran to the gate. Once we arrived in Indianapolis and got the rental car it was more fun and games. So my parents didn’t sign me up to be able to drive the rental, and with them both being sleepy we had a few false starts before we got onto the highway we needed to get to Mom’s hometown.  We did catch a meal on the way to my Grandmother’s house, at Steak and Shake [a personal fave].  Why is this important to the story?  It isn’t but eating at a good Steak and Shake ranks high in my book of good things.

So we arrived at my Grandmother’s at about 12:30 and went through some pictures of my Grandfather for the boards at the visitation with her and my aunt.  If there is anything good about a funeral I think going over the pictures and reminiscing about the departed is it.  Then my Mom and aunt went to get ready for the visitation, leaving my Dad and me wigth my Grandmother.  Did I mention that her house had the heat on, in May, set to 78F ?  And she had the radio on, to a country station?  And she was still sort of bitching about my Grandfather [yeah the dead one]?  That is my idea of Purgatory.

The visitation went well.  Almost all of my aunts, uncles and their families showed up.  I got to catch up with most everyone, and no one seemed to be pissed off at anyone else.  After four hours at the funeral home, a bunch of us went out for dinner and then my folks dropped me off at my Grandfather Bob’s [Mom's actual father] where I was staying.  So I got to stay in comfort, while Mom and Dad had to go back to Grandma’s to sleep in the sauna.

The actual funeral was the next afternoon.  And I think I forgot to mention that my Grandmother has gone back to religion in her waning years and her church is the Baptist church.  Now a few years ago when my youngest aunt passed away, the sermon at the funeral was given by a member of my Grandmother’s church and he used the whole time to proselytize, which made me very angry as my aunt was a lesbian and would not have been accepted by the church if alive, but he used her death as a means to try and get more members into the church.  Well Grandma had asked this same man to do the sermon at my Grandfather’s funeral.  This was my idea of hell.  As he droned on for the next 35 to 40 minutes I tried to use the time to remember the good times I had spent with my Grandfather, and to think of what he meant to me.  After the burial and the meal at my Grandmother’s church, the family gathered back at my Grandmother’s house and spent the time catching up with each other until late in the night.

Brian and I raced down to Rochester Friday night. Our Realtor had set up an open house for this Saturday and we needed to clean up the patio area now that the snow had finally melted. It seems that even with the temperatures in the high 60s the back yard is so shady that we still had snow as of the beginning of the week. So after two hours of driving, and a half an hour of clean-up, we went over to visit Mel and Dave. It was good to see them and just spend time chatting. Dave even lent me some books to read.

Saturday Brain and I went out to lunch with his Brother and Sister-in-law at Elsies. They were in town from Fargo for a pair of family birthdays. We had a good time catching up. Then in the evening we went over to my folks. Mom made Lasagna, garlic bread and a Harvey Wallbanger cake for my birthday dinner. Afterward we played some Pinochle. Thursday Mom goes in for her surgery so Brian and I will be taking turns going over to the house to be with Mercury while Mom and Dad are gone. I miss having my little dog around all the time, he is such a good little snuggler. We then came home to watch the latest episode of Doctor Who. More info follows, but since some people may not appreciate spoilers I will continue after the more tag.

Well now Dad is sick.  There is nothing more terrible than getting your own father sick after he has been helping you all week packing up your stuff to move.  And it appears to be treating Dad even worse than it did Brian or me.  It is probably worse for him since he was tired from all the packing.  I can only imagine that Mom will get it once Dad goes home.

Well it has been a busy, tiring, crappy week. I was out sick on Sunday and most of Monday. We had the carpet installed on Monday, as well as some linoleum. that went fairly well but took them from 8 AM to 2 PM, during which time I got nothing accomplished. My Dad showed up on Tuesday and has been the best help in the world! He says sometimes he is going slowly, but he packed my entire kitchen and has helped fix up things around the house as well as kept me going when I would have just crawled into a corner to start crying. But most of the place is packed up, now it just remains to move everything down to the garage and basement. Tomorrow I will repaint the spare room and finish up a few little fixits. Dad is now worn out, and I am not too far behind. Brian caught the virus I had and has been out for a few days. I think it was a food borne virus and he probably caught it while it was aerosol during my upchuck phase on Saturday. We have high hopes he will be in shape on Saturday to help me pack and unpack the U-haul. We wont be taking much more than a couch, a bed, food, kitchen implements and clothes to the temporary spot. Anyone who would like to help us move it out of the U-haul and into the apartment Saturday afternoon would be greatly appreciated! And possibly even fed and liquored up!

So here is a picture of Mercury playing with my Dad while he is staying with my parents. Looks like he is having a good time. I really appreciate how great my parents have been helping Brian and me out with the whole move. I cannot express how much less stress I have knowing Mercury is happy and healthy and getting all sorts of attention while we try and sell the house. If you are reading this, thanks Mom and Dad!