Friday, October 17, 2008

Today, Tomorrow and Sunday

Today

Weird, icky, not fun, stressful and awkward. Still, it was great to see my cantankerous, snarky Grandfather and my Aunts and Uncles. We talked about the will, the pink slip to the car, his personal debt. People talked about different items they wanted and my Grandfather was in the room, present for all of this. There is a reason why people do this after the person has passed away.
We did make progress, we spoke about what items will move to the Assisted living facility, what will be put into storage and what will go to Goodwill. I met my Great uncle Jack today, who is 3 years older - a young 86 years old. Still driving.....scary. He and my Grandfather had a falling out - before I was born, I think and they reconciled a few years back. He lays pretty low, his wife has passed and he has no children. How odd that his brother has ten kids with gobs of grand kids.
Picking up my Grandfather from the assisted care facility, watching him shoot dagger eyes as my dad who suggested we get a wheelchair and then watching him roll his eyes at his peers enjoying an impromptu banjo jam session in the rec room made me realize my Grandpa is not going to change. As much as I would love to see him become more social with people, he is who he is.
I returned home this evening from SD and made a nice dinner, then...



I made some pumpkin muffins. D crashed out in his favorite chair so Jamie kept me company in the kitchen. Yes, I kept the melamine *made in China* mixing bowls from Williams-Sonoma.




I added dried cranberries and almonds, as directed on the package of the mix for the "holiday touch".




I was knee deep in my Irish roots today, so I decided to use my shamrock liners.


Tomorrow


We will leave at super early O'clock to head back to SD.



The finished product. I tasted one a few minutes ago, yummy!


Sunday


Planning to do to school work.


St. Catherine's of Siena ~Dubois, Pennsylvania - circa 1914

Today, I came across my Grandfather's baptismal certificate. He was baptized Catholic on August 1, 1926 - oddly, my brother and I attended mass and went to school at St. Catherine's of Alexandria - here in Riverside. It's also where D and I got married. Cool coincidence.

St. Catherine's of Siena in Dubois, Pennsylvania

Present day.

6 comments:

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Bridget McGee said...

I have muffins I made with that same mix from Trader Joe's. I wish I was closer and could help out with all of the Grandpa stuff. What's funny is that I learn the most about what's going on with the grandparents by reading your blog.

Kara said...

Bridget,

I am so glad you are reading my blog, it really means alot to me. Hey, I can't find your email address - email me, when you get a chance - karabrickel@hotmail.com.

Seriously - your dad, Uncle Joe and my dad are pretty good at making odd moments quite fun. It was good to see everyone, even though it was under stressed circumstances. Are you coming down for Thanksgiving?

kate said...

Mmm! Muffins! Those look so yummy. I absolutely love cranberries (actually, I just love tart/sour flavors, so they qualify!).

I have an awesome recipe for pumpkin cream cheese muffins, which are basically pumpkin muffins, but with a dollop of cream cheese buried in the center. So you're eating along like normal, and then, boom! Big gooey gob of cream cheese. Mmmmm. Maybe I'll make these for breakfast on Saturday when my mom, brother and mom's BF are here...

Io said...

Oh muffins. I love you muffins.

Barb said...

I. Love. Everything. Pumpkin!