A novel length catch up

I feel like I've been to the edge and back.... a whole month with NO BLOGGING.  Let me explain, it's been a crazy ride.

I'm sitting in my half-clean house, door open, ocean breeze blowing and I'm starting to feel normal again.

Here's how it happened. Let's call it the longest month in review.

Easter came and went.  So much fun. So much family time. So So much wine. To say it was a blast would be an understatement. What's not to love about strolling across to the beach , coffee cups in hand, bundled up because it's slightly chilly, chatting and laughing with family on Easter Sunday? Not to many things at all. 

Easter faded and I put on my " parent planning mode" to make sure everything would be ready for their visit the following week. Too busy to blog. Too excited to sleep. It had been months since I'd seen them. That on top of the j-o-b about sent me into a spin. When I got home, if J got to come home before 5 am, all I wanted to do was spend some time with the couch and a bottle of vino. When your husband is as cute as mine who can blame me?

That Tuesday I get a call that my granddad is fading fast. My parents can't make the trip to Cali that Thursday, he won't last much longer. They can't in their right mind board a plane to the other coast. COMPLETELY understand. Completely bummed about the trip and my granddad. Start to look into flights for next few days so I can head home if the worst happens. 3000 miles away.

Make it through the weekend. Have a great weekend actually. Hubs does everything in his power to take my mind off things. Monday, granddad is stable, I'm feeling pretty good. I call my mom at lunch, she sounds funny but I shrug it off. I get a call at 7 PM. One of my aunts has died. My dad's sister.  She just didn't wake up that morning. That sudden. Seriously? I panic, try to figure out how to get home. Listen to my parents talk about logistics about getting all my sisters to Savannah for the funeral and fast. My mom waited to tell me until I was with J at home. Thank God for that. 

I board a plane at the crack of dawn Wednesday, fly into Atlanta, meet my sister at the airport. I get to see my nieces for a night before we head over to Nevils, GA to meet my family for the funeral. It is beyond tragic and beyond sad. Open caskets are horrible. She was buried in the dress she wore to my wedding. Devastated is the only word to describe it. Seriously devastated. The whole family is in shock.

Still reeling from the funeral, we get in the car to head back to Richmond so I can see my granddad, 8 hours away, while I'm on the East coast. We learn, when my mom returns the 6 missed calls from her brothers and sisters, that he's died that morning. While we were at my aunts funeral. Looks like I need another black dress. 

We head straight back to Richmond, re-group and head to Lynchburg to be with the other side of the family. My dad is still in Savannah trying to help my grandmother deal with my aunts sudden death. We see family, visit with my grandmother and get things ready for his funeral. My dad meets us at home Saturday. The viewing was Sunday, funeral Monday. We visited with family and hit the road to the Richmond airport Monday night. We flew through the night into LA in the early early morning.

Now we are home. After the longest whirlwind of my life. Two funerals in 5 days, 2 cross country flights and 15+ hours of coastal driving. I'm tired and sad and trying to get back into the swing of things. I got caught up after taking 5 unexpected days off work and things are slowing to a normal pace. I'm coming back to blogging. I'm attempting to do some laundry and I'm ready to sit on the beach all day Saturday and re-group. Yep, thats my plan.

xo