Everyday Lunasea

So we went to our friend's memorial on Saturday. First we had the funeral mass. Those things are long but you've gotta do them to make sure your loved one gets into heaven.

Then we had the viewing at the funeral home. You wouldn't believe this place. (Well, maybe you would. I don't know.) I have experience only at the Catholic cemetaries. This place looked like a hotel. Huge lobby with armchairs and sofas and lots of windows, with a reception desk - seriously just like a hotel.

Then you go to each wing and you walk through several living rooms with different seating areas, coffee tables, nice lamps, etc., before you get to the chapel. We filled the chapel and spilled out into the living room. People spoke for 2 hours and could have gone on longer. G was the only non-family member to speak, and he did a great job. R was a musician as well as a doctor, and he encouraged lots of his younger siblings and cousins to pursue music. A few of them wrote songs in his honor and performed them. It was really moving. And the whole time there was a slide show of R and his family and friends. A couple of the photos had been taken at our wedding.

Then there was food in a room adjoining the chapel, I guess so you could get your little sandwich and then mosey back into the chapel to tell R how the food was. The casket was open the entire time, and the kids didn't seem weirded out by it at all. I'd never had a reception like this in a funeral home - it was actually really nice.

So. In Other News.....

A. is very into mysteries at the moment. He carries around his little Thomas notebook and counts things, saying he's collecting clues. I guess a pillow was moved recently in the living room, and A. was on the case. He found footsteps and decided it was PAPA who'd moved the pillow. It was all very dramatic and needed much documentation and Speaking! In! Exclamation! Points!

Ben screeches in a pitch that I'm sure is going to break glass someday. I admit I've had fantasies of those operations where they cut a dog's vocal cords so he can't bark. Don't come after me, BBM, I'm not in favor of those operations on dogs. But on Ben....well, let's just say sometimes it sounds like a good idea.

We bought both a refrigerator and a dishwasher tonight. We are using a refrigerator that my mom and dad bought when I was a teenager, and I'm now 41 so....it's time to put the thing out of its misery. It has really been quite the tough little soldier, though. It's still chilling and freezing like a champ, at least 25 years later. But the stripping is all worn off and I'm pretty sure it's at least 20% responsible for global warming with the energy it takes to run. And stainless steel is going to look better in our kitchen.

The dishwasher has gotten tired and has recently been trying to do its job without water. I appreciate the conservation effort, but it's not getting the plates clean. So we're getting a silver one of those too. Our tiny little postage-stamp kitchen is going to be the most stylish room in the house.

Now if we could just get a new stove/oven. Tonight it took over an hour to warm up. There's no indicator on it to tell me when the temperature is right. There's no broiler. The temperature gauge is off, anyway. But hey, I'm not complaining. One (or two) appliances at a time.

AND, I now have a Home Depot credit card (so we could get an additional 10% off). That's like G having a Macy's credit card. Will wonders ever cease?