a new definition of the word : LOVE

While we were away, Dahn came in and Spring Cleaned our house. Seriously. And there were some SCARY things ... Ya'll my laundry room is clean. Read that sentence again. Words just fail. I hope everyone reading this has this good of a friend in their lives. Oh, and stocked the fridge as well... I am telling ya'll, Sainthood is just around the corner....

How I spent my Easter Vacation.

Some of the pictures and stories of our time in Winder for my Dad's funeral. Like I say many times through out, I did not take enough pictures. This evening was the first chance I had to download these onto my computer. I am still tired, and now tired with lots of laundry to do. Happy to be home. Koda slept, all day long.. his week at Camp Toebie just wore him out . Getting back to the new normal.

Sunday March 28th, 2010

We left Mendon, Nine-ish I think.
Rained a lot
I swear, it seemed like a really fast trip down. It is sort of a blur....

Monday March 29th, 2010

Wake up in Winder, family, people, house full. Loud... just a little hard to get my mind around the reason Neil and I were there. I was told when to do everything. That was a good thing. Lots of lovely Winder ladies, with lots of perfume. Today was " Calling hours". I called it " viewing hours" in an earlier post, I was , wrong. I was also scared our of my mind.

Whispered , in a back room, with the door locked and the water running : " I might not go..." That did not go over well,not only was I going, I was staying until the bitter end.

Lunch.
Drinking. Early and often...
Jason and baby Hawkins. There were several babies that day.
Best , and largest pound cake ever. Still warm, that crusty top with the under layer of slightly damp/sticky, then the cake. It was also just huge.
It was worthy of two pictures. A friend of Mother's sent the center piece that day.
Ham. Cooked in the micro wave for 75 min. Everyone was talking about it.
Seriously, and Neil will back me up on this. Fried Chicken fingers.. A lot of people ate this chicken, and the big tub only filled back up, kitchen elves, I was watching, never saw it happen.
I am going to guess that a dozen or so of these were gone through. Look which one is empty. [ sidebar: Neil did not know you could go into a store, just buy a large cup of ice, and ride around Winder with a gallon of diet sweet tea ]

Smith Funeral Home.

I did not ,again, take enough pictures. I'm sure some people thought it was tacky that I was taking pics at all. Kyle gives a fuzzy ........

THAD! In full Capt. America drag, he thought it was a fancy dress visiting hours. My dad would have loved that. No ,I jest.. he keeps our country safe. I hope , I HOPE, he knows how happy I was to see him, and how darn sweet he was the whole time we were in Winder.. ( I'll keep that just between us.. he has his rough street cred to keep up) Lovely to see his parents as well.

Ok, this was only my second " visiting hours" ever. It is HOT, it is VERY CROWDED, it is full of people that have not seen me since I was like 18. Now... and forgive me this one time of patting myself on the back, but like ten people came up to me and said what a good job I was doing... You can find the strength to do the things that you have to do. In the end, as scared as I was, I am very happy I did this. It was good to see some folks. You know this whole crazy " letting people in" thing, really could catch on....
This was my posse. B.Day and Neil.... just the best.

The flowers that Dahn and David sent ↑, the flowers that Joyce and David sent ↓
Just great big hugs from Upstate NY and Texas. Again, I hope they know how very much this meant to me. And just how much they helped me....

Back at the house.....

Frankie, Freta, Montez... ( have been on this sofa, or one in the same spot, MANY MANY TIMES)
I am not even sure how many folks came back over to the house. I left at 8 on the dot, and people were there. No one stayed that late.
Mike R., Pam , Jeff, Susan.... some GOOD stories were told.
The red kitchen.
It is probably wrong to look this happy the night before a funeral, but we were celebrating my dad's life. And really ya'll, not many folks enjoyed a good party more than Pete. This is all family...

Tuesday March 30th, 2010

My Dad's Funeral.

It was a beautiful day. I woke up bemoaning the fact that , for what ever crazy reason, I decided to stay up talking and drinking with my Aunt Elaine. Something I knew better than years and years and years ago. I am pretty sure it was a good conversation. Fuzzy ,fuzzy morning.

Some church group brought over lunch for us, before the funeral. Breakfast for me, waking up again to a house full of people. Coffee, diet coke, repeat as often as needed, just keep moving forward.

More fried chicken, VERY good mac and cheese with chilies in it, pineapple casserole, two green beans, one all meaty and with little potatoes, casserole 2...
The green beans that I liked..
What I think was the third ham of the week.. this one NOT cooked for 75 min in the microwave. It was a tad clove-ie....
Neil and Jason ( note the pepper sauce...) I was just sort of out of it this morning, everything was going too too too fast. So, no where near enough pictures. Our cousin Jannie was our Julie the Love Boat Director for the week... stand up, sit down, eat, go here, go there.. happy she was there. But it was all so fast, off to the funeral. I really do not remember driving there... odd.
SO DARN HAPPY TO SEE MY FRIENDS TODAY. I NEEDED THEM!
Since we had gone thought three or four hundred cases of beer in the last few days, Neil and I were told to stop and get some more. ( I did not buy enough Bud or Miller light ... what the hell are you doing buying Stella in Winder..) While in the Publix in walked Dana, Angela, Susan, John, Beth, Laura and Dedee! We all had the same idea. We bought beer, they bought beer and wine. A picture that makes me happy, on what was a most sad day.

Meanwhile, back at the house.

I was done. Done.... this was just my time to get through, and I had a house full of Moopahs to help me do it!. This was the time that all the big food was broken out, no pictures - bad Kyle, but like I said, I was just done. Lots and lots of people. I got home, changed cloths and parked myself on the back porch in my own little world. I was kept well beered and we had a darn good time. Exactly what a post funeral should be.

Blueberry congealed salad, made with no extra sugar, only fruit juice. Beth loved it, I will try and get the recipe.
Orange congealed salad, with people.. there was a third. Really,if ever given a choice, you want to be called home in a small Southern town.
Stories were swapped. Laughing... non moopahs drifted out to the screened porch ( yes, the Winder folks in these pics are not true Moopahs...but honorific for the day! ). They would sort of look at us, zoo like, then drift back into the fried food and locals...
Blonds
Problems were solved....
The young folks, out in the yard... bud light, miller light, dipping skoal. Seems like there were more of them at some point. Friends of theirs, I am related to all of these...Cute short blue dress just finished up her Phd or something, and is getting married next Easter. The colors are a royal blue and sort of a bright sky blue. Prettier than it sounds. Dress is lovely, Notebook is all in order, with lots of pockets.... ( really, if you have a choice, plan your wedding in a small southern town...you don't have to get married there, just make the plans there...)
A picture of Dedee and Beth that just warms my heart of stone, Traffic kept everyone in Winder for a while longer!
After everyone left, I was drunk out, full of good food, and went to visit Laurie's dogs. Some much needed puppy time! There are four... again not enough pictures. I went to bed early, there were some people at the house at like mid-night.

Wednesday March 31st, 2001

I needed a break.

It was such a beautiful Spring day, bright, sunny, very warm. We did not take the right cloths with us. It was very shorts and flip flops weather. I was family and fried chicken-ed out, so we hit the road to Athens for the afternoon.

Seriously, my soul NEEDED Taco Stand.
Bean Taco and Spinach Quesadilla.... one more time, Bean Taco and Spinach Quesadilla.
I really wanted another round, but it got packed right as we finished eating..
SUCH a pretty day .... and Spring was in full bloom. As close to perfect as I had seen in a while...
A very old Camellia
Old campus... that will be jumbo tailgate free this fall ( a good thing..) Picnics will be fine, Johnny Redneck moving his living room from Bogart to Old Campus not fine...
Kyle and Neil on the very nice new back loggia of the new(ish) Tate Center.
Inside the new(ish) Tate Center
Chapel Bell... not in the Fall. Back home to Winder very early.

Thursday April 1st, 2010

We just hung out with Mother and in Winder today, getting some things in order at the house, still people in and out. Just a day to sort of be calm.... or as least as calm as things were at all over the week.

This is one of a hand full of " good Zaxby's ". I tried to call Todd while I was in town, but could not find his number or his Mother's number, at least on line. I will do better next time! I could not find Paul's number either. Hopefully if we can get back over the Summer, I will make plans before I go...
Neil needed to get some work done on his computer, so we went and hung out at the local library for a bit. It was yet another over the top, chamber of commerce day, weather wise.
Giant cans of boiled peanuts at the store.
I made dinner that night, Turkey, black beans, brown rice , broccoli. A little bit of Mendon in Winder.