It's beautiful outside, but it's sad

This past week's been a doozy. I'm hoping I never repeat some of it again.

Work was work. We had our yearly inspection and I survived. The inspection team had some new and some old folks, so it was interesting to watch them.

Outside of that, one of my mother's in-laws died. I hadn't seen her (or any of her kids) in ages. I like this family, so it was pleasant. The crazy relative didn't show up for the wake. Still don't know if he/she is alive or dead. 

I was just getting ready to go to bed when another relative called me. Her son didn't answer calls as usual that day, so she went to the apartment complex where he lived near her. No one answered when she knocked and one of the neighbor's let her know she could see inside the apartment from outside, since Max left the curtains open when he worked from home. (He had a job that could be done remotely, and hadn't worked in an office in years.)

When they looked in, Max appeared hunched over his desk. My relative watched, but Max didn't move. She knew Max was probably dead. While it wasn't a surprise (Max had problems), it was sudden.

So, since Max's family (girlfriend and teen child) was out of town and she didn't have a key, she had to call the police to break down the door. She found Max dead. He was in his early 50s. It was sort of a circus arranging the apartment, having the police roaming around, lots of questions, and waiting. Happily, things calmed down before I could get dressed and leave.

Now, we're just waiting for Max's family to get back to complete the arrangements, and for the medical examiner to do his/her part.

Stay tuned...

Fritterin' the day away

I had an enormous task today: entertain Bubba and keep him out of trouble on his spring break.

Our task list:

1. Eat breakfast at McDonalds early in the AM. No kids were on any of the Playland equipment. Run, dance and sing in there with reckless abandon. Why not?

2. Go on errands with Mom, which included checking out all the spice blends and providing commentary for other customers: "Oh! Mom, this Greek one sounds interesting." as he read the information on the shelf.

3. Visit the library AND the bookstore. We went out of the way to a different library, so this was a fun diversion. The bookstore moved some of his favorite books, so we went searching for them, and he's been reading it all day.

4. Go to lunch with Mom, don't order anything, but eat about half of her lunch. "Wow, salmon is pretty good."

5. Visit relatives who also happen to be off. Fun times when your retired great aunt gives you the remote control and you watch every cartoon you can.

I enjoyed that, because I could talk without interruption.

6. Come home and help Mom make dinner and dessert.

I didn't do all the things I wanted today (or this weekend), but I did do one thing. I had fun with my family.

Stay tuned...