Whack a Mole No Longer

Thanks everyone for your sympathies and encouraging words. Even though I didn’t respond to each one, you all have touched me deeply. I thank you. I’ve heard through word of mouth that there are many out there reading my blog who were quite concerned about me, and I’m sorry if my posts alarmed anyone. Yes, I am usually chipper and upbeat and could roll with the punches, but not this time. All of these things hit me in quick succession and with great strength and I felt just like a Whack a Mole at the amusement park. Except, I wasn’t amused. But, I’m okay now. I am! :)

This past weekend was a glorious one in Wisconsin. The perfect autumn day. The turning leaves are in full color now…skies were bright blue…and the weather was warm. I managed to get a 2 hour hike in on Sunday. I hiked until my head was clear, the tears dried up, and my heart started feeling light again. I could have hiked longer, but the park was really filling up with people out enjoying the day. When I’m in the park it’s usually quite empty and I much prefer the feeling of solitude.

Wednesday Night I have my first Realtor interview. She wants to do a Market analysis and tell me about the company. I’m getting excited again about the prospect of selling my home. But I’ll be realistic this time. Again, I know the market is bad now, but homes are still selling here and mine will be one of them someday.

The funeral for Don is set for Friday. It will be in Illinois as most of our family is from the Chicago area. Originally, I thought it was going to be in New Hampshire. Thursday night, when I found out about my Uncle’s death, I emailed my boss and told him that I would cancel my Mexico vacation in order to have the time off to attend my Uncle’s funeral. Friday he called me into the office and told me by no means was I to cancel anything and that I was covered if I wanted to fly out east. I told him that we probably wouldn’t go because airfare was steep for the two of us (Mom and I). A few minutes later, he called me back into his office and told me that he was gifting me frequent flyer miles for both my mom and I to use. I choked up on the spot. These people are truly wonderful people to work for…and I’ve said it before, I cannot imagine working for anyone else. They treat us all like family and truly believe that family and family issues come first. I’m so lucky. We found out at the end of the day that the funeral would be in Illinois, so I profusely thanked him for his generous offer and told him that Mom and I were deeply appreciative and touched.

My mom called this morning and asked if I’d do a reading at the service. Of course, I would be honored. Don always said I was his favorite niece. He was my bud! I’m going to miss him so.