Another Weekend, Another Roadtrip

On Saturday, Meri and I headed back to see my parents again.  But we left at 5am because we had a job to do.

I brought my sewing machine, cutting board, iron and a slew of other supplies and we got to work on lining the coffin.  It's an inevitability and needs to be done eventually.  and my great honor.

We stopped at my sister's to get the key to the church and I saw my dad there.  Melanie said that he knew what I was up to, so he gave me another hug and said "Do a good job, she deserves it."

Whew...

So while Meri worked on stapling in the batting, I worked on other things that didn't really need to get done at this time...  I don't know what I was thinking...  I had started on the scarf thingy that drapes over the coffin, but I really should have started on the inside of the lid.  I can always do the scarf thingy when I get home.  

So Meri ironed the ruffle and started stapling that in, when we realized it almost 10:30 and we wanted to go see Mom and Dad.  

We visited with them and a couple sisters and a nephew and niece.  

Mom was confused as to why all the company every single weekend.  

Another sister was coming on Sunday too.

But you never know what could happen nor how soon.  Every minute counts.

And she was confused as to why her skin is getting so yellow.  

Tammy told her to lay out in a direct sun spot in the nursing home with next to no clothes on, but Mom didn't like that idea.  She WILL sit in the sun more though.  and drink even MORE water.  However even that isn't going to slow down what's happening to her.

I attempted to get a selfie with my folks and this was the best I could do.  Yikes, I suck!  

But I almost like this one better than the one my nephew took of us.

What is the deal with my hair?!  sigh...

Oh well.  

My brother picked up Meri and gave her a tour through an abandoned synagogue in town.  He works for the city and told me about it once.  I knew Meri would love exploring it.  After getting permission for Saturday, they headed out for an adventure.  What an incredible place!  Meri took tons of pics and Mark gave me a brilliant idea for a birthday present for Meri.  More on that later.

While they did that and Mom and Dad had lunch and their nap, I went back to the church with Melanie and company and after a quick lunch, I got back to work on the coffin.  Meri arrived after her adventure and jumped back into the stapling.    

She was SUCH a good help to me!!  And she took her part of the project very seriously as this was her gift to grandma.

However we had some moments of levity, when she tried a piece of my fabric artwork on as a cap.  She looks a bit Amish, doesn't she?

We worked until 2:30 and then went back to see Mom and Dad again.  My sister and nephew from Kentucky were there again, so we had some fun conversations.  Mom told Meri that her hair was beautiful and Meri showed her before and after photos of when she had to dye her hair for her role as Belle in Beauty and the Beast.  Suddenly Mom didn't want to slight anyone so she said that Scott's hair was also beautiful and so was Tammy's.  "Did I miss anyone?" she asked?  

I raised my hand and said, you missed me!  She smiled and said "Yes, I did."

Sigh... to be dissed by your own mother... ;) lol

I really need to pay more attention to my hair.

After the visit, Meri and I stopped by my brother's house because she had forgotten some things in his car and she still had his head-lamp in her purse that he'd loaned her. 

He lives past the cemetery that I used to ride my moped through or use as a short cut to work as a teenager.  They've since closed off the roads that I used.  darn.  But I was able to show Meri my favorite tombstone.  

How many people have a favorite tombstone??...

Isn't this beautiful?  And it fits their family name SO well!

Then went back to the church again to wrap things up.  We didn't get as far as I'd wanted, but I have a laundry list of things to do this week and me with maybe one other will head back on Saturday to finish what's left.

Here's where we left it.  Lots to do yet, and I'm not sure I like how the photo pockets are puckering a little here and there.  It'll look different with actual photos tucked in.  We'll probably hot glue the photos in as well to keep them from falling out.

After cleaning up and packing up my sewing supplies again, we left the keys where my sister could find them and headed out.

On our way out of town, I remembered that I was going to take Meri to the Hard Rock Cafe in town so she could get a souvenir.  She has various collections of things and has had different collections all of her life.  As a kid, it was bells, then snow globes.  Now it's shot glasses (not that she's old enough to use them, but she's ready for when she turns 21...)

They didn't have one that she liked, so she settled on a glass and we took the opportunity for a pic with Johnny Cash.

We got home by 8:30 and Meri rushed home to take care of her dog who had been cooped up all day waiting for her.

On Sunday, everyone sang Happy Birthday to Meri at church and then she ran off to shop for the afternoon with friends.  Robb picked up Leon while I did some grocery shopping for Meri's birthday dinner that evening.

Then a quick visit with my bestie before cooking our hearts out for the dinner. 

Meri requested beef/snow pea stir fry and since we have people in the house who can't handle beef, we also made a chicken stir fry.  She also requested cauliflower rice and we made regular rice as an option too.  For dessert, Meri usually has an ice cream cake because she hates cake, but saw a recipe for Banana Foster's upside down cake and thought she'd like to have that this year.  So I made that.  It has dark rum in it.  Only 2 tablespoons and it cooks out, but the smallest quantity I could buy was almost a quart.  yikes!  I looked like a boozer in HyVee and wouldn't you just know it... I ran into someone I knew... sigh.

So Robb was chopping everything under the sun and I was cooking up a storm.  EVERY crock pot,  pot, pan, dish, silverware bit and china piece was used.  It took 2 hours this morning to wash everything up and get the kitchen back to normal.  But it was worth it. 

You only turn 19 once.

Besides plenty of Ginger Brew, we gave Meri a vacuum cleaner and a head lamp that Mark recommended for her explorations.  

Two of her friends came along for dinner and we all had a great time.  Maddy even DUOed with us after Meri had already blown out the candle, but we did a re-creation of the singing and blowing it out just for her so she'd feel like she was there.

Anyway, that was the weekend.  And as I've said before... I need another.