I Love Flowers

I came home from a long day of work yesterday, plus an hour and a half long baptism preparation class so I can be a godmother to my cousin’s second daughter next weekend. It was exhausting because of a major meeting at work I had to set up, exhausting because of the meeting we had with SLU regarding the donation in Dad’s name plus a mass said for the repose of his soul. I was on the verge of tears for most of the day.

So I got home and saw those lovely flowers sitting on my kitchen table and couldn’t imagine who they were from!

My mom’s cousin, Helen, had sent us red roses – one for each of us in the family plus my Grandma. Wasn’t that the sweetest thing? She wanted us to have a smile on the anniversary of Dad’s passing. Well, it definitely happened. We smiled the rest of the evening and again this morning when we walked downstairs to see them.

This totally counts for my 101 in 1001 list!

Thank you, cousin Helen!

One Year Ago Today…

One year ago today, my world was irrevocably changed with a call I received while making coffee for a mid-morning meeting. I always knew that I would have to deal with my parents’ mortality, but I honestly thought I thought it would be many more years before I was faced with the situation of one year ago.

I still find it hard to believe that my father is gone.  On the way home from an important meeting or a particularly fun night out with friends, I still find myself reaching for the phone to call him and let him know how things went.

My first post after the blogging break due to his death really says it all. It’s very raw, and it hurts me to read it.

Needless to say, I’m still hurt. I miss him terribly. I know that those feelings will never go away. They are a bit softer now, one year later.

I spent the day busy at work, while mom and brother were at my apartment, puttering around and waiting for me to get home.

The afternoon had a nice symmetry to it – we met at SLU and my mother passed along a donation in Dad’s name to the Service Leadership Certificate program. It aims to get business students involved in service leadership to the community in order to really make a difference in those communities.  It’s the perfect way to commemorate his life. He even gets a conference room named after him! It was very exciting.

Then we gathered in the chapel and had mass said for the repose of his soul. That also was full of symmetry. Coming back to our faith time after time during this past year has helped keep me center.

We believe that he is not gone, but has simply passed on to his Eternal Reward. It’s what we strive for all our lives – to die and be reunited with our Heavenly Father. So it’s very hard to be sad for him because he has what he has always wanted. We grieve for ourselves, because we are left behind.

But I know that with each passing year, he is with me. And someday, we will be reunited in Heaven, when it is our time to leave this earth. It’s important to remember that.

Oh yeah, I meant to do those.

So I totally ignored my 101 in 1001 list for months and then picked up a few of them in a short span of time. I decided to blog about them together.

When I go through my whole DVR recorded shows, I’m forced to turn to Netflix. It’s really quite addicted how many shows are available to stream straight to Husband’s XBox or the Wii in my craft room.

99. Watch 26 movies, each one starting with a different letter

I decided to focus my next few movie watching experiences on those classics that I just never saw for some reason. This time, it was Royal Wedding, starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell. Oh how I love Fred. They don’t make dancers like that anymore. [sigh]

10. Send 10 cards to friends just because (0/10)

So I think I may have cheated on this one. I came home from the $ store with some great greeting cards that I had to have. And then I saw my mother’s mother had sent me a card, just because. I had some cute cards so I sat down to reply to her. Now that I have some stationery, I’m planning on doing this more often. I love getting mail, and I know others do too!

I only have a little over one year to complete my 101 list. And I’m not so sure I’ll complete everything. But there’s always the next list, right?

Tush! Tush! Fear Boys with Bugs*

There is something so wonderful, so fun and so perfect about experiencing Shakespeare for free in a public park, outside under the stars. I really think it adds an element of magic to the thing that is live theatre.

Here in St. Louis, we are very lucky to have an amazing company that produces that free Shakespeare show each year in Forest Park. Last night, a group of our friends went down to the park early with a picnic basket, cooler and our lawn chairs to see the show.

We got there around 6 pm and were surprised to find so many people already there. It was starting to get cool and there wasn’t rain in the forecast so I think everyone else had the same idea as us that night! In any case, we were able to set up our lawn chairs a bit up the hill where it was relatively flat and wouldn’t cause it to come tumbling down the hill when we sat down to watch the show.

We were treated to Juggling Jeff and Josh the Clown’s antics before the show. I even asked them to redo their bit so I could catch them in a picture!

 

I am always impressed by their acts – they’re also the nicest guys in the world. Hence, the redo of their act so I could get a picture!

We nibbled and chatted for a bit before the show started.

And then there was a drunk in the crowd, followed by a policeman. And no, it wasn’t one of our group for once!

 

Definitely part of the show. I knew the play (it was the first Shakespearean show I was in during high school) and remembered that the play-within-a-play plot that Taming of the Shrew employs actually starts with a drunkard. Hence, the wandering thru the audience. It was really funny.

Right before the show started, we settled in, refilled our beers and margaritas, and then I was faced with this:

REALLY?!

We had been sitting there since 6 pm and a lady came in a few minutes before the show started and squeezed herself and her lawn chair right in front of me.

Oh well. I was still able to see if I tilted my head to the left and she did end up leaving during intermission. It got too cold for her, I overheard.

  

It wasn’t blazing hot during the day, but I didn’t realize that it was going to get so cool when the sun went down! Husband’s good friend D gave me his sweatshirt because I was so cold [such a nice guy, that one!] but then he ended up getting chilly too. So being the inventive one that he is, he grabbed the covers for the chairs and put one on each leg. That sure kept him warm! I was much better when Husband found a t-shirt in the trunk of our car and I was able to cover my cold toes with that.

But all in all, it was a wonderful night with friends and comedy onstage. If you’re in St. Louis, you still have until Father’s Day to see Taming of the Shrew in the Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park. It’s a hoot!

  

*Post title is one of my favorite quotes from The Taming of the Shrew, Act i. Scene 2.

Part of my 101 in 1001 list - Go out with friends at least once a month. One more down!

Inspired to Declutter

After reading about Sonya’s awesome summer o’ decluttering over at A Day in the Life, I was inspired.  I wanted to spend the weekend cleaning. This afternoon after the Costco run, I set down to business.

I meant to attack the master bedroom – I hate that room right now because it’s so messy. They say to eat your frog first, or do the thing that bugs you most or that you don’t want to do. Then, you’ve completed something and it makes the rest of the projects seem easier.

But as I was putting away groceries, I decided the pantry wasn’t going to fit all the new food we got. Plus, I was pretty sure that a bunch of food was expired. Since, well, um, I don’t even want to say. Let’s just say it’s been a little while since I’ve cleaned out the pantry or fridge.

Ok, so it doesn’t look horrible, but there was a lot of wasted space. The reason there are jackets hanging on the back of the door? Well, this is the pantry and the coat closet and the vacuum storage and the home of the trash can and reusable bags, plus our food. Not fun.

Many trash bags and a trip to the dumpster later, we now have a more organized pantry full of food that I know is actually ok for us to eat.

I now have containers for cereal and baskets to corral things like rice packets and snacks of various types. The white trash can is recycling and the step can is for regular trash.  The recycling can is sitting on top of two containers that have hats and scarves and such for the wintertime. This way they’re by the door but still hidden. I’ll switch all the coats out when it starts getting colder again.

 

I’m so excited about my newly organized pantry!