Thank you to everyone who gave me advice about the funeral. I did go, and I was glad I went even though I was ridiculously nervous beforehand. Partly because I didn’t know what to expect but mostly because I was going back to my old church and I haven’t been there since we left about 7 months ago and I still have mixed feelings about our leaving. But it was a good service and I learned a lot about the man who died and so for that reason alone I’m glad I went. He was only 40 years old, which really freaks me out, but apparently he had some kind of chronic illness for many years so I guess his death was not unexpected in that sense. And it’s interesting, a few people commented that he had made this huge effort to get to church the last few months and to be involved in his son’s activities – and I wonder if somehow he had a sense that he didn’t have much time left? It really made me think, sitting there listening to people eulogize a man just a few years older than me… I never want to take life for granted, every day is a blessing. And boy did I want to hug Hubby when I got home. I just ache for his wife, I can’t imagine how empty her home must feel without him there.
I didn’t bring anything to the service, though I could have brought the card, they had a basket for them there. And there was a note in the program that in lieu of flowers there’s a fund for the family through the church so I can send them a check that way. Anyway, thanks again for all the helpful feedback and advice, I really appreciate it.

Less than an hour after I got home we had a realtor over to give us an appraisal on our house. We’re not really that close to putting it on the market (and don’t even know if we’re moving locally or to another state) but Hubby wanted to have a better sense of what our home is worth. Which is a good idea and all but of course that meant getting the house “realtor clean” which is not the easiest thing to do just a few days after Christmas.   And since I was gone all morning Hubby had to do the last minute stuff.  And then I did all the stuff he missed in the thirty minutes before she arrived.  Except that it didn’t all get done.  So I said stuff like, “um, just ignore those baskets of laundry waiting to be folded please.”  Yeah, not too embarrassing.

So all in all, it was a rather stressful day. And then when I finally plopped down on the couch with my laptop to surf the web and relax a little, I came across this article about Angelina Jolie’s annual report letter for Pax. Which triggered two thoughts: (1) So much for Pax’s privacy! and (2) Holy Crud, I totally forgot to write our annual report for Zeeb!! In fact I’m exactly one week past our agency’s due date. ooops. So then I had to do that this afternoon too. I understand the need for annual reports and I think they are a good thing, in theory. But in reality they stress me out. How do I encapsulate my son’s personality and achievements in a 2-3 paragraph letter? Not easy, I tell you. But this web site helped a bit. It has a timeline of developmental milestones for children from birth to 5 years old, which gave me a starting point for describing Zeeb at 4 1/2. And I picked up a few pointers from Angelina’s letter too.

“He laughs, sings, tells stories and is very fun to be around. He has a great sense of humor and is very imaginative, ” she wrote.

No, I didn’t actually copy Angelina! In fact, I think her letter is probably better than mine. Oh well. Anyway, I have to give her props because I had totally forgotten about the report until I saw the article about hers and then I figured, dang if the Tomb Raider has time to write such a great letter about her son, I am really without excuse!

So thanks to you guys and thanks to Angelina for the helpful info! And now I’m really going to crash on the couch because this has been one long day and I am tired! (or “Tie-doe” as Zeeb says. He gets his consanants a bit mixed up from time to time. And now I’m babbling…)