Wordless Wednesday - Ted Drewes ice cream

I love me some Ted Drewes frozen custard. Even better when it's on a date with Husband. :)

Right now, I’m feeling…

Like my feet are going to fall off.

I was basically on my feet for ten hours today, working two events and all that that entails.

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Let’s just say that the iced grande cinnamon dolce latte with whip this morning did NOT get me through the event like it should have. The petite vanilla bean scones did NOT cover the gap.

I love planning events but sometimes, I get exhausted by everything that has to get done in order to pull it off.

But everyone who attended, both staff and guests, raved about the logistics and food and the sneak peak that we gave the guests. I wish I could say more, but you know about that internet privacy thing!

I wish I could take off the rest of the week or go in late tomorrow… but there’s too much to do. I’ll have to settle for lunch with a colleague and a volunteer tomorrow, and a site visit for a new event on Thursday. Then it’s on a plane to visit my mom on Thursday night to spend the weekend with her. That’ll get me through!

Besides, the office is closed on Friday. :)

“My soul is in the sky” ~ William Shakespeare

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This is really hard.

Losing a parent is something I didn’t think I’d have to deal with until I was a much older adult, probably with kids of my own. I’ve always dreaded that talk with my child about death and dying – how do you explain that concept to someone so young?

I lost my maternal grandfather when I was 13. His death was a surprise to everyone – a heart attack took him very quickly even after a pacemaker was added a few years before his death. We thought we had plenty of time left.

My father’s death was very similar, now that I look back on it. He was much younger than my grandfather, obviously, but his death came a few years after an intervention to prevent a heart attack.

When I was at home dealing with the family and the estate and all of those little things (like hiring someone to clean the pool so mom won’t have to do that because that’s something Dad used to do for the house), the days flew by. Of course I cried when I first heard the news and again on the plane and the wake and funeral. The first week was hard – I couldn’t imagine something harder.

But then I got home. I was thrust into a crazy work environment with a major event in just five business days. Most of the work was done but as an event coordinator, it’s my job to make sure all details are taken care of – so it was a busy week last week in the office. I didn’t think of things for a few days because of work.

Then on the way home from seeing a play on Friday night, I hit the wall. After I got in the car, I simply started sobbing like a baby. I’m not sure what exactly set me off – other than I was about to pick up the phone to tell my dad how much he would have liked the show.

That’s the first time I was in my every day life and realized that my father wasn’t going to be there for me to pick up the phone and call anymore. So I cried. A lot. For the entire twenty-minute drive home.

When Husband called to me as I walked in the door and asked me how I was, I burst in to tears again and found him in the den. I climbed into his lap, put my head on his shoulder and sobbed. I told him why I was crying and how much I just wanted to hear my daddy’s voice again.

My boss had asked me earlier in the day if anything weird has happened since his death – you know, feeling his presence or anything like that. She told me a story of her dad’s death and I realized that in two weeks, I haven’t had any experience like that. And when I really thought about it, THAT made me sad. Even though I don’t quite believe in it, I wondered why I hadn’t felt him around me in that way.

It was cathartic to have a nice long cry again, but now the shock is beginning to wear off and the physical ache of knowing my father is gone is starting to set in. I hope it gives way to the good memories soon – because this part is so not fun.

A tough re-entry to life as we know it…

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Someone posted a comment a few days ago on this blog asking me where I was. I’m sorry there hasn’t been much on here lately…

I admit, I’ve been a little absent. I probably have over 3,000 unread posts in my Google Reader. I’ve been a bit distracted.

Last Monday, my mother called me with the call I’ve dreaded since I knew what death was – my father passed away.

And at that point, the world was instantly changed. I still can’t quite believe that I got on a plane immediately and was home in just a few hours – to plan my father’s funeral with my whole family in Texas.

We held the wake on Friday and the funeral mass was said on Saturday. Even though I saw him in the casket and knew with my intellect that he left us and is now in Heaven with all of the other departed family, it is still hard to believe that he won’t pick up the phone and tell me that he had a great idea for Mom’s birthday present… or give me a hint on how to help get my husband through law school and business school… or tell me how smart he thought I was to be doing what I’m doing with my life and how proud he is of me, his eldest, his daughter.

My mom recently told me that she reads this blog now so I hope she’s not too beside herself with tears at this point, like I am. The emotion is still very raw and it was quite hard to get on that plane last night to come back to my husband.

This is my favorite photo of my Dad – he walked me down the aisle a little over three years ago. He was so happy that day knowing that I married the man of my dreams.

He taught me how to hit a baseball, he taught me how to balance a checkbook, he taught me how to be a good person – because he knew how to do ALL of those things (and so many more) extremely well.

I know he was proud of me, I know that he loved me, and I know that he will forever be with me as I journey through life.

Saturday Night in the City

Husband and I went out with friends last night and we…

Ate yummy pizza…

Tried out a place that we’ve never been before and I absolutely LOVED the pizza. So good…

And then went bowling for a few frames…

I’m proud to say that the girls beat the boys two out of three games and I beat Husband two out of three times! I even broke 100 twice. I might have to go bowling more often!

Housewife FAIL

All I wanted to do today was to spend the afternoon vegging in front of the TV doing some DVR maintenance (basically, watching all my shows I’ve recorded so I can then delete them and record more!).

But in order to make myself feel better about taking the time to do that, I figured I should do some laundry – you know, the chore that basically does itself while I’m doing something else.

So for the past few weeks, I’ve been meaning to wash the comforter. We bought a new one when we moved in to the townhouse and I’m embarrassed to say it hasn’t been washed. YIKES. But it’s silk and a queen-sized, and honestly, I had no idea how to take care of it. We don’t slip under it, there’s a sheet next to our bodies, so it’s not WAY dirty, but STILL. I needed to wash it.

Husband said I should put it on the coldest, gentlest setting and that jived with what I had read on the internet when I googled “how to wash a comforter.” Because, seriously, I don’t do anything without asking Google how to do it first.

I was able to get the comforter in our washing machine and went upstairs to work on that DVR stuff. :)

Then Husband comes quietly upstairs and just gives me “a look”. You know the one – something’s happened and he doesn’t want to tell me. At first, I thought he was going to tell me that the USA Soccer team just lost against England. That wasn’t it.

He said the comforter wasn’t so much in one piece anymore.

A corner of the comforter had been caught in something in the washer and ripped open – apparently making a big noise, which got Husband’s attention and made him get up from the soccer game [impressive in and of itself, actually!] and check it out.

So it’s halfway clean and partially open with the padding falling out and now completely soaked and I suck. It’s currently in the dryer and then Husband will actually sew it up because I can’t sew.

Housewife FAIL.

Florida Wedding – the main reason for the trip!

Alternative title: Jessica cries at weddings, no matter who is getting married because it reminds her of her own wedding.

The wedding was at the Grand Bohemian in Orlando. There was a tent set up pool-side with amazing chandeliers hanging in them! What an amazing place to get married. :)

 

That’s Husband’s cousin as the groom and a few of the other cousins as bridesmaids.

The absolutely GORGEOUS bride and her handsome groom. Seriously, she was gorgeous. I wish I had a better picture to show.

 

Brother-in-law and cousin-in-law at the cocktail reception.

Kind of a cute pic of me and hubby.

 

The ballroom was just beautiful!

Table setting.

Me with the adorable flower girl.

A bunch of the family during the cocktail reception.

 

We had such a great time! I love weddings. :)

Random Extra Disney Pics

We saw some animals…

 

Had a nifty Grand Marnier and Grey Goose vodka slushie in France, Epcot…

Saw Storm Troopers in Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekend…

 

Hung out with family we hardly ever get to see…

Well, we see him a bunch, but I had to show you the picture. That’s my BIL.

And saw the castle change colors like the sunset around it…

An awesome vacation so far and we haven’t even gotten to the wedding part – that’s why we were in Florida to begin with!

Dining at Walt Disney World This Time Around

Warning: this post will be picture heavy. There are just too many good things not to show!

Lunch at the SciFi dine in:

You actually get to sit on a little car and watch B movies and old commercials. We had a blast! And believe it or not, the BLT soup was actually really good. :)

Wishes! Fireworks dessert party:

     

Dinner at the Coral Sea for our anniversary celebration:

Mike hates having his picture taken. Hence, the menu.

Our view of the tank. Thankfully I didn’t eat anything that was swimming in there. I would have felt awkward!

Yummy Cava sparkling wine from Spain. It’s never a celebration without sparkling stuff!

This might be one of the BEST pictures that we have ever taken, save for our wedding day. Thanks go to the nice British man I accosted to take this picture for us. 

Flowers and champagne in Walt Disney World

We were in Walt Disney World right after the Flower and Garden Festival. There were still some neat topiaries leftover…

At the Magic Kingdom:

At Epcot:

When we got back to the room that evening, we had a message waiting for us on the phone. You know that it’s strange to have a message for you in a hotel room!

I called down to the front desk and was told that we had an anniversary present waiting for us and someone would bring it to us shortly.

This is what we got! It’s an anniversary present from my in-laws. We were there a few days early to celebrate our third wedding anniversary {a month late, but it still counts!} and his mom and dad decided that we needed a yummy treat on our first night.

We got rose champagne and champagne glasses with Mickey heads etched on them. The package also had sun-dried tomato basil cheese spread and crackers.

There was also a card…

 

It says:

Today you have been given two gifts.

One gift is the treasure

you hold in your hands.

The other is the gift of thoughfulness.

Both were meant for you.

Isn’t that sweet? The champagne was quite yummy and we just sat back that night and enjoyed each other’s company. I literally have the best in-laws. :)