Continuation of the saga...

So, we arrived at 8 p.m. in Thatcher. DH's parents and two aunts are seated at the table in the dining room. Immediately, dh is whisked away to help with the funeral program. So I begin making sandwiches and whatever else I can find for the kids. They need to go to bed, and the house is full of dh's cousins and their children, and I have just thrown six more into the fray. So I am trying to get everyone fed, and ready for bed, and no longer have the help of my dh. I don't dare say a word, mostly because the aunt who is in charge of the arrangements told me I was lazy last July because my dh does the dishes. It was an arrangement we made when we got married. I hate doing dishes. I don't want to do them. And he doesn't mind. He doesn't like doing laundry, and I don't mind, so I do laundry, he does the dishes. It works for us. Keep in mind that he was a single dad before we got married, and I was a single mom, so it beats the hell out of doing it all alone. But anyway....

So, I got all the kids situated, and that was NO small task. And they fought. Because it's what kids do. Especially kids that have been in the car for 12+ hours a day for the last two days. So after about an hour, they finally settled down and stopped fighting. And feel asleep. Blissful sleep. My time of day for relaxation. Usually.

I didn't even get to sit down before dh called me in for my opinion on what they were doing with the program, due to my "scrapbooker" status. How a funeral program is like scrapping, I have no idea... but they were trying to use this awful star that was from a program they had on Grandma's 90th birthday. And they were having trouble getting it to fit, etc. And I am looking at it going, SERIOUSLY??? YOU CANNOT put this on the freaking funeral program. First of all, it's ugly, and secondly, it's not that appropriate. So after 2.5 more HOURS of trying to get the stupid ugly thing to fit on the back of the program, my dh came up with an alternative idea that everyone was satisfied with. I will tell you, that was NO small task, and it was due by 10 a.m. the following morning. So finally, into bed for some much needed SLEEP.

The kids were up EARLY the following morning. Must have been all that pent up energy from the drive. 6 a.m. the kids were fighting and carrying on. GRRRRR. My awesome dh went in and put the fear of the Almighty in them so at least I could get a little more rest. So the kids ate cereal for breakfast, and I had to have a coke, so dh and I went to the land of the golden arches. In Arizona, they have a southern style chicken biscuit. OH. MY. HELL. SOOO Good.
Nothing on it, no sauce, no gravy, etc. Just a piece of "southern fried" chicken and the biscuit. I wish they had them here. YUM-O.

Anyway, we spent the day finishing up arrangements for the funeral and I typed the life sketch that dh was going to be giving. The kids played outside in the back yard (no grass, it's AZ) and jumped on the trampoline, etc. So when they came in after it was getting dark, they were FILTHY. Every last one of them. So we made them all shower, bathe etc. That was also a very big job. But it got done, and they were all in bed on time. And thankfully, all the guests who'd been there that day went home in time for my kids to go to bed. The next morning, we got up, showered, and got everyone fed. Then we got ready for the drive to St. David to the funeral. Grandma lived in St. David for a long time, and had only been in Thatcher for a couple of years after she'd gotten shingles. But the drive was 2 hours, and we weren't really looking forward to being in the van again.

The viewing was at 12, and it was SO crowded that I took the kids in, we said our goodbyes, and I took them back out. The funeral didn't start until 1, so I took them out and we walked around the church for about 30 minutes, because they were being so rambunctious, and I wanted them to expel some energy. So then we went in and found our seats, etc. The funeral was good, but Mason freaked out at the end and I had to carry him out kicking me and screaming during the closing song... I went out and put him in the van, and had to hold him down to get him strapped into his car seat. He has a temper and he is STRONG.

So we sat in the van while we waited for everyone else to come out, and then we began the procession to the cemetary. The day was beautiful, about 70, and breezy. The sun was shining, and it was lovely. It began to cloud over when we were at the cemetary, but still was nice. My big complaint, however, is while we were at the cemetary visiting, and looking at some of the graves of other family members, etc (remember some of us have NEVER been there, and live far enough away that it will be a while before we can go back) the workers at the cemetary were standing around less than 30 feet from us, with SHOVELS IN HAND.

SERIOUSLY??? That is the tackiest thing I think I have EVER seen. Here are these people greiving for the loss of their mother, grandmother, aunt, etc. and these idiots in grungy dirty clothes have the never to stand around holding their shovels and acting annoyed that we are talking to our relatives and taking a moment to say a final goodbye to this wonderful woman. I intend to write a letter to the city about it. I mean, really, can we show just the smallest bit of respect? Other than that, the funeral went off without a hitch and was quite nice.

We went back to the house and relaxed for the day. We were going to go the next morning to Tombstone and Bisbee to do some sightseeing, as dh's mom grew up in Bisbee. We ended up touring Queen Mine, where dh's grandfather worked, and went to Boot Hill in Tombstone. We let the kids buy a few little souvenirs from there. It was neat to be able to do something fun while we were there. Well, my kids are home from school today, and are fighting, so I need to stop typing and take care of that...

To be continued.....