I haven’t blogged much this week because I’ve been busy working and getting ready for our four day vacation in Ocean City, Maryland. When we went to the beach last year, we didn’t do anything until the night before. As a result we were up way too late, were rushed and stressed, and were dragging ass the next day. This year, especially since we’re going away for twice as long, I worked on packing up beach gear, clothes for the kids and other essentials days in advance. I also killed myself and my hands in order to get plenty of work done in time for the weekend. 
Right now I am dead tired. We had my grandfather’s funeral this morning. It was beautiful, bittersweet, painful and heart-wrenching. I really felt like I had achieved some closure and was able to move on. The funeral today, especially the 21 gun salute and the playing of Taps, was like ripping a freshly made scab off of a recent wound. I thought by now I was out of tears, or at the very least I wouldn’t cry so much, especially since I’ve been doing so good at keeping myself composed for the past two weeks.
But, it’s all over now, and while we do have photos and a video to recall the beautiful ceremony with, I doubt we’ll pull them up for viewing anytime soon. My side of the family has always been like that — taking photos of the funeral services, and yes, of the person who has died — but we don’t look at the photos. I guess it’s just our way of holding onto something tangible of a person who is no longer with us.
I’ve been on the go all day. I was up by 6:45am, running on less than four hours of sleep. The funeral was at 8am, and was an hour’s drive each way. Thankfully, part of the funeral package included the rental of two Cadillacs, so I didn’t have to do any driving. After the funeral, Dan, my mother, myself and my brothers went to Applebee’s. Then we parted ways — Dan going to do a few work-related errands, my brothers back to their respective residences, and my mom and I to do a few errands.
I finally got home around 4:30pm, only to throw on my swimsuit and run right back out with Dan, Jason and the kids. We spent two and a half hours at the pool, and had an absolute blast (see Swim, Swim, Swim). The kids were definitely knocked out from all of the activity. After a quick stop at the grocery store, we came home, I bathed them, Dan popped TV dinners in the microwave for them, and then they were more than ready for bed (Ryan fell asleep on the couch and Alyssa put herself to bed) before 9:00pm.
Right now I’m just waiting for my nails to dry, and then I’m going to crash. For most of today, aside from when I was at the pool, I have been hot, tired, thirsty, dizzy and slightly nauseous. I’m quite sick of feeling like this, and am more than excited about going to bed and getting a good eight hour’s worth of sleep!
Tomorrow: getting up by 8:30am, packing up my car with all the stuff (as I type this, everything is packed except for Dan’s clothes, our toiletries and our laptops), putting the kids with Dan in the Hyundai, and then hitting the road by 9:30am!!! FOUR DAY BEACH WEEKEND YEAH!!! ♥
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, on June 6 2009 at 11:56am:
have fun! I’m not a beach person. That’s why I pack up the baby and send him off with my mother when she wants to go. xD
As the domain name suggests, my name is Jenn, and I own this blog. I'm 26 years old and married to my one true ♥, Daniel. And while I have two kids (Alyssa is five, and Ryan is three), you won't find "mommy" in my username or email address, nor does my blog revolve around them. I'm a mother, but most importantly I am me, with a passion for love, blogging, reading, and photography. I'm also a busy freelance writer, web designer & SEO goddess, and a blogger relations person for an adult toy company.
Wow, sounds like a crazy day to me too! I hope you have a good trip!