Friday, November 18, 2011

Here I am at the beginning of a very unusual weekend. There just seems to be a convergence of unusual activities hitting. Let's see....

  • Last night one of Bob's brothers arrived to spend the weekend because this happens to be the weekend of the OSU game he drew in the lottery.

  • Today, everyone in my office had to pack up everything as they are reconfiguring the cubes this weekend. So I went in to work, struggled through working for a few hours while mayhem reigned around me, then packed my stuff and was home before 1:00. Working online since then.

  • At 5:00 this evening, Warren has what sounds like the final interview for a new job – already through one interview and a general comprehension test, so we're pretty sure tonight generates the actual job offer. (Fingers crossed!)

  • Since Dale is in town, we will be going to Otey's in Hilliard tonight for dinner because that's where Bob's local brother, Paul is playing and singing. As so often happens with this kind of situation, Paul plays somewhere almost every Friday night and therefore, Bob and I hardly ever see him play. Apparently it is true that familiarity breeds – well, if not contempt, certainly taking-for-granted. So it's cool that we are actually going to see him this week.

  • Tomorrow, I am singing in a wedding. Of someone I don't know. But I'm excited, because I'll be singing in a choir brought together for this one event. We meet tomorrow morning for our one and only rehearsal, then reconvene at 5:30 for the actual wedding. Which is actually my idea of a really fun recreational activity. (Yes, I guess I'm some sort of choir geek.)

  • Bob is working at a tailgate party at the OSU game as part of the St. Joan of Arc Men's Club. (This is a MAJOR fundraiser for them.) Which means he leaves early in the morning and will be gone until bedtime.

  • Dale spends tomorrow with old college friends enjoying the game and whatever they cook up for the rest of the day.

  • Sam cantors at 5:00 Mass. OK, this one is not unusual, but I include it because it is part of the general over-scheduled-ness of the weekend.

  • Then on Sunday, we get the real convergence of schedules. Bob and I are supposed to be singing in choir at 10:45 Mass, and then we have to be at our Boy Scout troop's Webelo's Open House from 1:00 to 5:00. (I actually speak at it, so I really, really have to be there.) This makes us unavailable for chauffeur service. Dale flies out about 1:30, so he has to be at the airport by about 12:30. Warren has a doctor's appointment at noon. So unbeknownst to Sam, I think he gets to experience the joy of being the driver on duty for both the doctor trip and the airport run. (Tee-hee. Some sort of karma at work there, I think.)

  • I'm pretty sure that after 5:00 on Sunday, we're all just going to collapse.

But of course, we only get to collapse for a few hours. Then it's Thanksgiving week. Yee-haw! But I don't have the energy to think about that now.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

I am just exhausted, and though I did several chores and stayed pretty busy today, I don't think that is the reason.  I believe the cause of my fatigue is the bizarre experience that started our day. It left me emotionally drained.

We have a long-time friend who has brain cancer and is, shall we say, in the final countdown.  So this morning when Bob arrived at church to cantor 9:00 Mass, he was told that John had passed away last night.  He called me, and I posted a little memorial on Facebook.  Then I went to join Bob at 10:45 Mass, where the choir was to sing.  John was a choir member, so the choir was all grieving, and prayed for John's soul at the end of our rehearsal.  Then we went into the sanctuary and started the Mass.  Just as it started, one of the ushers in the back started making huge arm signals not unlike air traffic control bringing in a 747, and in walks the grieving widow -- followed by the deceased! 

What eventually came to light was that the parish had received a voice mail message that someone else named John, with a surname one letter different from John's, had died.  Since the church was well aware of John's fragile state, they heard John's name, and thus the misunderstanding began.  So it was all an understandable series of events, and no one really did anything stupid or malicious.  But wow!  We came home from Mass feeling like we had been through the ringer.  First there was the very genuine grief, tempered with just a hint of relief that his suffering was at an end.  Then the shock of seeing him, followed by anger that someone could make such a dreadful mistake, and finally the gradually dawning realization that it was just an unfortunate but blameless mistake.  And now that I've recovered from all that, I realize that my dread of the day when I really get that news has increased. Now I sort of know how much it will hurt!