cheerios and chickens

Note: I totally know that I have been absent more than usual. I am just throwing pictures up in the hopes that people won't totally forget me.

Okay. This is my charge to all of you. Go CLEAN YOUR HOUSE and MAKE SURE YOUR WILL IS UPDATED!!!

Phew... I feel better.
I have been a little out of the loop because of the following things.

1. I am teaching 2nd grade this year. Love it... so much better than arguing with horny teenagers all day. Still lots of work. I have really behaviorally challenged kids mixed in with some English as a 2nd language kids. Makes communication oh so easy.

2. I am working towards my licensure to teach Visually Impaired kids. OSU is paying for all of my tuition for this. All the classes and such are online, sounds easy right?? But, I am not so good at this. I am having a h#ll of a time finding time for all of it. I would much rather be in the classroom being spoon fed and looking at the professors that are talking to me through constant e-mails. I know it will all be worth it... but it is going to be oh so fun for awhile. Thank goodness I have Joe. He is taking the kids 2 nights a week while I sneak away and work on my coursework. I feel like a bad mommy right now, but I know that we will all be better off in the future.


3. According to his death certificate...my 65 year old uncle passed away on September 13th. When did he really die? We don't know. The last time anyone heard from him was September 2nd. We think the poor guy was there for close to 10 days. I just went through his cell phone this week and found an outgoing call on September 2nd or 3rd. I have learned so much about the underworkings of medical clean up crews, coroners, and the like. Wow. I am so glad that there are people out there willing to do this kind of work. I made sure and shook all of their hands and thanked them for doing their jobs.

4. My uncle was a book hoarder. Loved books to pieces, bought books literally EVERY day of his life. Never got rid of a single one. Seriously folks. We have a house, and 3 storage lockers FILLED with freaking books. My mother, my brother, my sister and I are up to our @ss in old military and fire history books. Yay us. Actually @ss is an understatement. These storage lockers are sky high with books. I have NEVER seen anything like it. I literally was rubbing my head on the roof of the storage facility roof as I was crawling around on top of all the books in one of the storage facilities. We haven't even been in one of the storage facilities yet. We are scared to DEATH of what is in there. So scared. Mom is executor of his will, and I have realized that she is one tough Mama.

5. We are also up to our @ss in old family momentos and historical things. My mom and Lou (the uncle), were only 1/2 siblings. They had the same mother. His dad died when he was 2 in WWII. He never met his father. Such a sad story. They never laid eyes on one another. While his dad was overseas, he wrote him journal after journal about how much he loved him and what they were going to do together when he got home from the war. So damn sad. What do you do with 50 notebooks that are so sentimental? I cry everytime I open one. Lou was the last survivor from that whole family, so over the years, he inherited everything worth anything. Now we are piecing our way through every fraternity pin, postcard, and graduation tassel. So fascinating and weird to uncover every little thing in a person's life.(!)

6. I helped make all of his funeral arrangements and such without really knowing what he wanted at all. He had a will, but no real mention of anything else. He was cremated and we will bury the ashes at his funeral, on Sunday the 14th. Lou, I hope you like the cherry box I picked out. It just looked like you.

7. My aunt Carrie (Lou's sister) passed away this summer too, so we are having a memorial service for her tomorrow the 13th. She died of really intense Multiple Sclerosis. Her partner Lea Ann is flying out, and we are going to have all sorts of fmaily and friends together to celebrate her life. Carrie never met my kids. I am going to be such a mess this weekend when Lea Ann meets them for the first time. In fact I am sobbing as I type this. One of the hardest things is that Stella completely has my aunt's personality and laugh, and Grant is named after Carrie's dad. I don't know how Lea Ann is going to do either. Sob. choke. Sob. The last time I saw Lea Ann and Carrie was on my wedding day in 2002. Carrie just couldn't travel after that. She was only 54 years old.

Well folks, that is all I can do for now. Things are just a bit surreal right now. My family is going to say goodbye to 2 people this weekend. 2 siblings to boot.

Sigh... I took the day off to pack and clean the house before the long weekend of crying and hugging, and all I can do is sit here in huge pile of laundry and cry.

I can't wait to be boring again. :)

P.S.. want some books?