Monday, March 19, 2018

The Jumble That Is In My Head Tonight

This is a post about the jumble of life. I was going to try to say something more profound, but really it is just me writing the jumble that is in my head right now. It is a strange mix but I think it will help to write it.

My grandmother died this weekend. She was 94, and lived a full and good life. But if you'd asked me a month ago, I would have said I expected her to be around for another few years yet. She had lost some of her sharpness, but she was still very much herself, just sometimes a little confused. Then, a couple of weeks ago she experienced a sudden and steep decline. I do not think she would have wanted to linger long after that decline. But we miss her.

I am so glad the family was able to all gather for my grandparents' 75th wedding anniversary celebration last summer. Gathering in Phoenix in June seemed like a really strange thing to do, but I think we will all treasure the memory of that day.

My sister was able to make it over to see Grandma one last time. I was not. I could have made it happen, but my parents told me she would not really know I was there, and I decided to instead focus on getting things ready here, so that when I go home for the memorial I won't be worrying about a bunch of other things. It is summer camp registration season here, and this year both kids asked to change things up a bit, which made this registration season much harder than previous ones.

Pumpkin is tired of the Y camps she's been doing since she was six, and wanted to find some other options. I spent a huge amount of time researching options, and managed to book her into new camps for three of the weeks. One week, she'll do an "aerial arts" camp with her best friend, and getting that scheduling sorted took a somewhat epic email thread. For the other two weeks, she will be doing a "STEAM academy" that had a bunch of interesting workshop options. She got to pick two per week, and I think she picked really great ones. If she likes this camp, we'll probably try to arrange our summer schedule next year to let her do more of it. (This year, two of the weeks it was offered fell on weeks we were doing vacation things.)

Petunia is still interested in a lot of the Y camps, but really wants a friend with her, particularly for the ones she thinks will have a lot of kids. So we met up with her best friend's family this weekend to coordinate schedules. She also has one non-Y camp that she'll be doing with her best friend.

So anyway, I decided to get the registrations done so that I wasn't still in the midst of email threads about whether we should do ice skating camp in week 3 or week 6 while I'm home for Grandma's memorial. I want to be able to ignore my email.

(Also, the kids and I had to go shopping this weekend because when I looked in Petunia's closet I didn't see a single thing that seemed appropriate for a memorial service. I was starting to think we'd have to improvise something, though, because since it is Easter season all the dresses are pastel and flouncy and not really much of an improvement on her Minnie Mouse skirt or dinosaur shirt in terms of appropriateness. But The Gap came through with a navy blue dress with understated pastel stripes and a matching navy cardigan. Phew.)

Of course I won't really be able to ignore my email for an entire week. For one thing, Pumpkin's 11th birthday party is soon, and I'll be getting the RSVPs for that. But I won't have to be super responsive to my email. I have the cake booked and Mr. Snarky is taking care of booking the jumpy. I just need to go off now and see if I can find some wands we can buy and thereby spare me the "make your own wands" instructions Pumpkin found on Pinterest....

The Harry Potter themed party is coming along well. Pumpkin came up with really great invitations, and has some good ideas for activities and treats. I'm going to hand over ordering Pumpkin's actual gift to Mr. Snarky and so I just need to get any party favors that need to be ordered sorted this week. That should be doable.

And that's the jumble that is in my head. A bunch of to do list items, overlaid with a sadness because my Grandma is gone, tinged relief that she did not linger in a state she would not have wanted. Thanks for letting me ramble. I think this has helped clear some space, so that I can let more memories of Grandma come in. Which is good, because I've said I'll say a few words at the memorial, and I want to make sure I remember all the best bits of the years I got to share with her.

8 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm so sorry about your grandma. I'm so glad you were able to spend time with her last summer though.

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  3. betsyphd12:15 AM

    I’m so sorry for your loss. That’s so lovely that your girls were able to know her and will remember her. ❤️

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  4. I am so sorry for your loss.

    I spent part of spring break trying to figure out camps. This is complicated by half the places not having their info up yet. As they trickle, I’m finding that DC1’s current plans conflict with Disney and the one away camp I’ve already sugned him up for. Plus since the away camp removed the day camp option they used to have we’ve now over saved in the FSA by at least 1k. With DC1 being 11 and going into 8th grade there are a lot fewer nonresidential options for summer. And the bilingual daycamp we found for DC2 is less expensive than the other day camps I’d been looking at when I set the FSA. So DC1 May end up taking a lot of cooking classes this summer.

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  5. Sorry about your grandma. :(

    Camps are hard. Eldest went to the same camp out of the city, with a lake, till he aged out (end of middle school). Had good friends there.

    Middle boy went there one year and was done with it. He always needs new things which makes him hard to please. But his friends are paramount so there's coordination with other parents... This year we're doing stuff that some of his other buddies are doing. I think I have maybe 5 weeks taken care of.

    Smurf I haven't even started. Sigh.

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  6. I'm so sorry about your grandmother.

    I had to make a last-minute purchase for a memorial service myself, so I know what a scramble that can be. I was able to find something at Macys; another option for kids might be primary.com.

    Summer camps. Sigh. This is Baguette's last year at her regular camp, as they only take kids through age 8. The camp is run by her old day care, so I think it's going to be a big jolt to all of us. We'll probably do one week at the summer camp run by her after-school program, because what's most important right now is that the camp leadership know Baguette and her needs and preferences. I'm not sure it's an amazing camp, but I'm not sure "amazing camp" is our priority.

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  7. Alexicographer12:16 PM

    I am sorry to hear about your grandmother.

    We're lucky, we're at a reasonably steady state with summer camps, though I'm guessing next year or after it will change as he decides he's outgrowing some stuff -- we'll see...

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  8. Socal dendrite9:36 AM

    I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother, but I am glad you all have the anniversary celebration (among other memories) to treasure. 75 years of marriage is just wonderful!

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