Going Through Life One Blog Post at a Time
Andy and I are on vacation for the next three days. It is officially for our wedding anniversary tomorrow, but it is also much needed downtime given all that has happened the past two weeks. Today, was Abigail’s Restaurant in Rocheport for lunch and then a stop at Les Bourgeois Winery on the way home.
It was another year of friends, food, and fun! We began the night eating great chili, drinking Great Pumpkin Ale, and catching up with everyone while the kids played. Then, we loaded up the kids for Trick-or-Treating in Vanderveen.
Despite it being a bit on the cold side, the “candy getting” was good. I am still amazed at how much candy the kids get in this subdivision!
We spent two hours wandering around Vanderveen. I love to look at all the house decorations, but this giant cat was my absolute favorite!
Thanks to everyone who came to spend Halloween with us! It was another fun celebration!
The chili fixins’ are in the house…
…and the chili master is at the stove! I can’t wait for Halloween with great friends and wonderful chili!
It is Jack-O-Lantern Night in the Kassel Household! First, the kids draw the faces that they want on paper. John must have a thing for eyes because he wanted five of them. Yes, five.
Second, Laura and I scoop the guts. I love that Laura likes to do this part!
Third, the kids use their artistic skills to transfer the face designs to the actual pumpkins.
Fourth, Andy carves until the pumpkins are satisfactory to all. This is actually never in question because Andy is an excellent Jack-O-Lantern carver.
This year, both kids got in on the pumpkin-carving action. Laura did most of hers while John did a little of his.
Fifth, the obligatory picture of the kids holding their Jack-O-Lanterns is taken.
Finally, the finished Jack-O-Lanterns are placed in their new stands on our front porch for all to enjoy.
The kids and I arrived home from Illinois today a little after noon (Andy had to come back last night due to a prior commitment). I have to admit that I am emotionally drained and exhausted. It took about all the energy I had to unload everything and unpack. After a shower and a short nap, I awoke to Andy and Laura working on finishing the outside Halloween decorations. The Kassel family graveyard, ghoul, and spider webs have returned for another year.
This evening, I spent some time making smaller flower bouquets and placing the flowers and plants from Mom’s service around the house. I still have one large arrangement to place, but I have no idea where to put it because it is so big. Most likely, I will need to take the flowers out tomorrow anyway because it is in a water block. The flowers and plants do look nice around the house.
Today was a very hard day. We had Mom’s Visitation and Services. Everything was beautiful and understated – just like my mom. The Eastern Star Service was attended by 23 people, which is amazing. I got to see my cousins who drove in from Rockford and also Carol and Shawn, my college best friend and her husband, who drove in from Pekin just to give me a hug. Several people that we know sent flowers: Ian and Scot (Andy’s brothers) and their families, the Assessment Resource Center (my work), and Tracy and Tiffany (my stepsisters).
Saying goodbye to my mom is going to take a lot of time. The hardest part is that while I know Mom has passed, the reality has still not truly set in. I saw something that she would have found very funny yesterday and I reached for my phone to give her a call. I suppose I am doing as well as can be expected, but this is just maybe the hardest thing that I have ever done – facing each day without her. I am incredibly lucky though. I had a great relationship with my mom and I have an amazing support system in Andy, the kids, my family, and my friends. I know if I need it they will be there. That helps the pain just a little.
Andy spent part of the day installing the rest of the new lights on the back of our house. It looks so much better now and he can check another project off his list.
