MICHIGAN DAY FOUR

Pedicures and the funeral.

GRANDFATHER

Today is my grandfather's funeral for which I have been asked to give the eulogy. Dear heavens... Wish me luck. My grandfather's senior picture. He was quite the looker in his day.

MICHIGAN DAYS ONE - THREE

MICHIGAN DAY ONE:
*Arrive and get situated.

MICHIGAN DAY TWO:
*Funeral stuff.

MICHIGAN DAY THREE:
*Adventuring.

















My least favorite moment so far. Swerving to avoid an oncoming car that was veering into my lane, thus causing me to drive over a curb. Turns out that the Chevy Sonic has 2 inches of clearance down below, so I cracked a pan and all the transmission fluid leaked out. I never knew a vehicle so small could leak so much liquid. Saving grace: it happened in the hotel parking lot, so I was not stranded in backwoods Michigan. But everyone is safe and I am now rocking a Nissan Versa. Ugh.

RELAXATION

I don't even know what this word means, so how can I talk about it?!
I am in my hotel room in Michigan. Lights are off. Baby is sleeping. Yet I still feel the need to go 100 miles per minute. I really can't shut this part of my personality off. Ever. I have a photo board to arrange for the funeral. I have a million blog posts that need to be written. I have a camera that needs to capture everything in this tiny town. I have to shop. I have to organize. I have to go, go, go, go. I have just as many events as obligations ON VACATION that I would otherwise have if I were at home. Though I am here for my grandfather's funeral, I plan to made use of the extra time back East to visit with people I haven't seen in ages. A sweet friend and an awesome uncle. Every day will be full of doing this or that. And I wouldn't have it any other way. So even though I should use this time away from [most of] my kids to relax and unwind, I probably won't. Let's be honest. Relaxation is not a word in my vocabulary. The closest thing to it that I know is laziness. And I refuse to be lazy.

As tempting as it is to just sit for a minute in this dark room, the baby is stirring and this tiny town is calling my name...

FAMILY

Howell, Michigan. Where my family is from. Where my ancestors are buried. Where my roots lie. I have never lived there myself, but I have visited enough to call it home. Catching frogs. Outrunning a tornado. Swimming in lakes. Watching the Amish. Riding wooden roller coasters. Tasting cantaloupe shaved ice. Seeing wild turkey. Eating cherry pie. Visiting Spag's.
I love Howell. And I look forward to returning next week. Pictured above is my mother, my late grandfather, and my late great-grandfather (my grandfather's FIL, not his own father).

OVERLOAD

Yup. It's Thursday again. And I am just now posting my Wednesday what.
You'll have to excuse me. November is my overload month. 6 photo shoots, plus OUR family photos. 2 family get togethers. 2 Thanksgivings. 1 Pinterest party for Relief Society. 1 funeral in Michigan. 1 5k to run. 1 birthday to celebrate. Parties. Showers. And everything else in between. Really. This month may kill me. But strangely, I like the stress of a full plate. Going nonstop exhausts me, but I love the sense of accomplishment that comes with it. And so far, everything has been falling into place perfectly. The only thing to suffer so far is a little housework and the blog. So I apologize if my house isn't its normal level of clean or if I miss a post or two this month. I am trying my best to do it all.

BOO

It's Halloween.
So I am just going to say BOO before I say bye for today. I have three little dragons that might gobble me up if I don't get everything ready for our neighborhood Halloween carnival. Happy haunting.