I have had a pretty crazy week. As I was writing about it to Hannie this week, I wanted to record it all, but I didn't want to rewrite it for the blog, so I thought I would just copy and paste it here.
Oh my goodness, Hannie, it has been SUCH a busy week! I had to set my alarm for this morning (Monday) just to make sure I got something off to you!
Monday afternoon, Glo and I left to drive Jewel back home. This was after Glo had taken a final that morning, finished cleaning her apartment, and driven to downtown Salt Lake City to pick me up. Of course, I was wandering around multiple parking structures, trying to find where Ethan had parked his car after walking to Deseret Book and picking up new garments for Daddy. We knew we had cheesecake to take back home to Michigan, so we stopped by Smith's to buy an insulated tote bag (which, by the way, worked AMAZING! Every night, we would unpack it and throw the cheesecake and yogurt drinks in the hotel mini-frig, and repack it all in the morning.)
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| Our good old thermal tote--it almost felt like a third person by the time the trip was over! |
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| Pizza and The Crossing in Laramie. |
That darn drive--it's just so stinking long. Thankfully, everything that Glo wanted to take home fit in the car, and we were off. One of my main worries was that Jewel just wasn't going to make it. It's not like Daddy is around her all the time to hear strange noises, or notice that the air in the tires is low (although to Glo's credit, she HAS gotten the oil changed regularly). We made it to Laramie, WY that night. We ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut and turned on The Crossing, a new TV show that I absolutely LOVE!
However, I really wanted to break up the drive. Since we just finished All Quiet on the Western Front as a book club, and because Ethan had encouraged us to visit an online exhibition of the WWI Museum and Memorial, I thought why don't we just go visit the museum itself? It was only going to add an extra three hours onto our trip, and since we were gaining six by not needing to drive to PA....
So we did! We drove to Kansas City, Missouri, stayed overnight and visited the Museum in the morning. Then, we grabbed a quick bite at First Watch (always my favorite breakfast place), and drove four more hours to catch a ride up the Gateway Arch! Glo was super excited to do it, because it was something completely new. It didn't hurt that it felt like spring in St. Louis, so the walk from the parking lot to the arch felt amazing! We were the last tour, so we actually missed seeing the movie, and we had to rush to the gift shop (Glo always needs to get a poster), but really, it was so nice. And we made it to our hotel that evening in time for Survivor :-)
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| Spring has definitely sprung in St. Louis! It was so beautiful! |
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| Getting in the tram to the top |
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| It was rather stomach-churning to look out the small windows and see 630 feet down! |
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| See the teeny tiny cars? |
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| One of my favorite pictures in a long time <3 |
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| We have been more excited to sit around outside than to do anything else. Warm, wet weather--we have missed you! |
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| Breakfast OR lunch at First Watch NEVER disappoints! In fact, I took half of the sandwich and half of the soup to go and had it for dinner. Goodness, it was yummy. |
The next day, we were up early to start driving, because Glo had a job interview at 4 p.m. Ugh, I already feel badly for Mark and Allison who will need to make almost that exact same drive anytime they want to come home. It's long, and boring, and lots of traffic. However, we made it home, Glo curled her hair and changed her clothes, and landed her FOURTH job here! She's just going to work two jobs, but it's nice that she has so many options!
So we got back Thursday afternoon, Daddy, Glo and Mark unloaded Jewel, and the next day was Mark's two graduations! Like I said, it has been such a busy week! First, we went to his very small Russian graduation, held in a small room but with AMAZING food. Dr. Makin had really nice things to say about Mark being a double major and a musician. Then, we were off to Hill Auditorium to see Mark graduate from his music program. It was a much larger ceremony, but being artists, the entire ceremony was performances. Man, I sure love that stuff! I know he's just so happy to be done.
Then, of all the restaurants in AA, Mark decided he wanted to go to Don Juan for Mexican. Okay, Mark, you do you.
The next day, we were supposed to head to the Big House (the stadium) for the main graduation ceremony, but Mark called the night before and said he didn't want to go. I have to admit, I've been suffering from a terrible sinus infection since Brother's blessing weekend, so I wasn't really relishing sitting in the cold stadium for four hours, but it was a little bit sad to not go. I felt like it would have been a nice capstone to all that Mark has done at Michigan. However, he reminded me that he has already been on the floor of the Big House twice. Okay.
So instead, he and Allison slept in, and then came over around 11. We had pancakes and played video games and did crossword puzzles the entire day. And had buffalo burgers for dinner. As Mark put it, it was exactly what he wanted to do ;=)
And just when I thought I might relax, Daddy asked Glo and me to play for his Uncle Zeb's funeral, being held tomorrow (Sunday) up in Manton, Mi (it's about 30 minutes from Interlochen). Uncle Zeb was the husband of Helen Kennedy who is Grandpa's sister. Since she didn't want the funeral to be religious at all, Mark suggested we play "Hallelujah", that kind of popular song that has the million verses (hopefully you remember it). It was easy to download, and when Glo tried to "fiddle" it up, it sounded amazing.
Only problem? During the night, I was going diarrhea and vomiting, all at the same time (flashback to your experience, right?). I had stupidly taken the medication for my sinus infection right before bed (instead of taking it with food), and my body revolted. So when I finally woke up Sunday morning, I knew it was going to take everything I had to do what I needed to do. So I quickly found a substitute for playing the organ and laid back down until I had to get up to leave for the funeral (when Daddy and Glo came home). We drove the three hours there and discovered that we were distinctly overdressed. Most people were in Harley-Davidson jackets and out smoking near the entrance. We also discovered that just that morning, the funeral home's Clavinova had blown a fuse, so it wasn't working. The funeral director led us to an empty room where we could re-work Hallelujah for solo violin. In the end, the service wasn't much of anything, but people were openly sobbing during Glo's playing. And in one of the most beautiful things I've seen in my musical career, people actually started SINGING with Glo while she was playing. Poor Aunt Helen couldn't control the tears. It's really amazing to see, once again, the power of music.
We drove the three hours home, collapsed in front of the TV (and I ate something for the first time that day), and now I'm writing you this morning. Phew! I'm tired just WRITING this!
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