Tribute to my Father-In-Law

  We got the news this morning that my father-in-law passed away. Bari called me at work and I immediately came home. As anyone who just lost a parent, he is in shock. Bari M. (Gippy), had been ill for several years. I don't know I can name all the health challenges. Arthritis took it's tole, as did some kind of cancer of the tonsils. Like I said, I never knew all the specifics of his ailing health. What I do know, is that Gippy had the flu (or flu-like symptoms) this past week, and this morning he died. 

 I don't think it is possible to stand by your spouse without reliving your own experiences. This morning as I comforted and supported my dear husband, I remembered every moment of the evening my own father passed away. Nothing can prepare you for the inevitable. Even though I have a strong sense of purpose of my mission in life, my belief in Christ and Eternal Family, it is nonetheless, difficult to move forward in this life without a parent. Parents are the strength of the family, the ties of family bonds. Thinking of one parent without their spouse beside them, is terrible. It isn't just your own mourning/sadness/sense of loss, it is the concern of your surviving parents mourning/sadness/sense of loss that can become even more overwhelming.

I can't say enough great things about Bari's parents (all 4 of them!). All have been nothing but gratious, kind and inclusive for my children and myself in their family.

One of the first Christmas' I had with my kids and Gippy & Nana, they were teasing Bari about keeping us - whether or not he married me. They were instantly in love with all the kids and included them in every family activity. The only sadness I ever saw in Gippy was when he would reflect on not spending enough family time together.

The last time I saw Gippy and Nana, was when they came up (they live in Chattanooga), for Bari Ray's Graduation, and was here for the twin's birth also. (It was all on the same night- my family, over-scheduled, as usual). Bari M. and Linda were planning on coming up at New Year's to have Christmas with all the grandkids, and see the twins.

Of course, we have weddings on both Friday, and Saturday. Bari and Bari Ray will drive down to TN tomorrow morning (Wednesday) and come back the next evening (Thursday). We are hoping any funeral arrangements will be scheduled for Sunday, so the whole family will be able to make it back down by then.

The Saga of the Christmas Tree

Christmas tree. It should be so easy.

I have been married to Bari for 6 Christmas's. And for 6 Christmas's there has been drama over the Christmas Tree.

When we got married, we each had our own tree. Each of us loved our own tree (and did not particularly like the others' tree). My tree was narrow and tall, kind of sparse so there could be lots of ornaments. We made new ornaments each year to put up. I had gotten it the first or second Christmas after the divorce, and we were living in a townhouse. I didn't want to bother with a real tree (had done that most of my life), and knew the benefits of an artificial tree would outweigh the strengths of a real tree.

Bari had a short(er) W-I-D-E tree. The kind you have to put the yellow branches in the yellow holes. Only most of the color codes were worn off and you just had to guess what went where. Each branch had to be carefully pulled apart and the ends tipped up a little bit so it not only held the ornaments, but looked Real. (Oh, my tree came in sections that fit together, and folded like an umbrella).  Bari's big thing was that it 'looked real'. Ok. Maybe. But it was a Royal Pain to put up.

 Now, I work Retail. RETAIL. I need Christmas to be fun and EASY. I don't want to miss the holiday because I work (all the time). So, I have (in the last 6 years since we have had the cable network with BYU channel), put up the tree on the first Sunday in December when the church Christmas Devotional is on. It is just long enough after Thanksgiving that I don't feel like it is Too early, but early enough that I don't feel like it is at the last minute. Yes. Lots of thought and experience has gone into this. And thus the problem.

 A couple of years ago my tree finally bit the dust. It couldn't be stored well- parts of it wouldn't come apart, and that was a problem. So. We started using Bari's tree.  . . . . Everyone was frustrated. The kids couldn't figure out where the branches went. When I wanted the tree put op (on the required Sunday), Bari was busy/taking a nap/not interested. Last year they actually put it up when I was at work, which was ok, but part of the problem is how hard it is to put lights on it.

Last year in January, Bari and I had a bridal show at the Convention Center downtown for 2 days. The night of the first day, we all got the flu. The second day we spent at the show running back and forth to the Restrooms. When we got home, we found all the kids sick, the tree knocked over, and the house a mess. I walked in, surveyed the living room and went to bed.

So, our cats think the tree is a giant cat toy. When they get into the tree (which they do) they knock off branches to make a place to sit. Cute? Sure, you should see the pictures.


Now  . . . . all that leads me to this year. I want a Pre-lit tree. I don't want to mess with putting lights all over branches anymore. Saturday night I bought a tree. Today I returned the tree.

The Saga continues........

Let's try again . . . . .

So, it's Tuesday. Everyone is at church or school and I am at home ALONE. (hurray) Writing on my Blog. (hurray). And typing with one hand because I'm eating a Klondike bar with the other (sugar free) (hurray- - - -challenging, but definitely worth it!).

  If it is at all possible, this week is busier than ever. We have Redsfest coming up next weekend, and are setting up 2 Costco displays. On top of all that, I still have custom framing to do. It's all good. I work with some wonderful people. Thank heavens they are all team players. Although, they (both Lynne and Greg- the other 2 framers) have crowned me - "the Responsible One". Yea, that means I take charge of all the stuff no one else wants to do. I don't mind it, but it does get to be a lot extra stress sometimes. So, for instance, these are some of the things that either I do all the time, or things that occasionally someone else will do too. (By occasionally, I mean, when I am on vacation, or crying in the bathroom because I am overwhelmed [no- I don't cry in the bathroom- at work anyway] ).
  *I clean the Mymaki (printer) every morning. There is a special cleaning on Mondays, too. Also make sure the cleaning solutions are ordered when they get low.
 *I keep inventory of all the length moulding, mats and glass.
 * Keep inventory of all frames made that day, size, number made, and moulding type.
  *Keep inventory of all the movie posters we have. Keep a sheet of specific posters, and organize all the rolls of posters. So, if my boss (just like tonight before I left) yells from his office -"Do We Have Hoosiers?" He isn't talking to anyone else. I look at my list and yell back -"Yea, One!" and he replies- "Ok- Pull It Out - Steve Needs It Tomorrow!'. So, I'm framing a poster tomorrow.
*I do almost all of the corporate custom framing projects. Not only do we frame for the Reds Baseball team, I frame for CBTS (Cincinnati Bell), ProCamps and lots others.
 *I check all the saw blades and change them when needed.
  Anyway, the list goes on and on. I wasn't going to blog about all of this, I was going to write about this past weekend.

Saturday I worked until noon, and then went downtown (Price Hill) to visit Joey. I brought him some clothes. He has broken off his relationship with his girlfriend, and because of this, he doesn't have anything, not clothes, not blankets, nothing. I already took a coat and blanket and some shirts. Anyway, he is at the Prospect House. It seems to be helping him. He is always surprised to see me. I stayed for the Family Meeting. There was a woman conducting the meeting that had not done it before. It was mostly about her life and how AA had helped her. At the end there were questions. I didn't find it particularly helpful or interesting, but I was there to support Joey any way I could. We (Joey and I) talked for a while. I met his counselor.  Stayed about 2 hours.
 Drove home, and was there for only about 30 minutes before Bari and I left to go to a Thanksgiving dinner that his step-brother was having. That was interesting. Bari's step-brother Miquel's ex-wives were there. They were both there last year also. Anyway, we went back this year, because Miquel is planning on moving back to Panama at the end of next year, and so, won't have anymore Thanksgiving dinners. So, we went.
  Got home (after stopping by Kroger), at about 10. At that time, I baked 3 Pumpkin pies. Went to bed at midnight.
  Got up at 6:30, baked the cake part of a Pumpkin Roll and went to Church. After church, our delightful Home Teachers came by. When they left, I finished the Pumpkin Roll, and made Sam a frozen pizza (what is wrong with that picture?). I also, did some post-production work on a set of portraits for a client we were meeting.
 We left for Katy's around 2:30, on the way, stopped by a restaurant where our customer was waiting for us. We delivered a package of pictures to her of her daughter.
 Headed on to Katy's and got there around 4. My oldest step-son, Dane and his wife, Yuka, were there. We had a really nice time visiting. Yuka is wild- literally. She was wrestling on the floor with Sam. He had a great time though. I gave Dane a baseball that Pete Rose personalized for him. He was so excited. (Oh yea, I almost forgot- Pete was in Cincinnati about 4 days last week. He was in my store on Monday and Thursday).
 So, we had a good time catching up with Dane. I hadn't seen him since Katy's wedding. They are thinking about coming up at Christmas. Dane is in the Army, and is now stationed at Fort Knox. I am just thrilled that all the brothers and sisters might have a strong relationship. Dane was already out of the house when we had Madeline and Sam. So I love seeing them interact and get to know each other. Family is so important.
 That's my weekend and more.
 Gonna bake more pies tonight to take tomorrow.
 Have a great Thanksgiving! (2 down, one to go!).

Oops, missed a couple.

 So, blame it on the Bengals. They played (badly) a Monday Night football game, so I didn't blog. I don't have an excuse for the week after that though. 

Bari was so kind as to download all the pictures from my camera.

I never do well when adding pictures to this blog. Bear with me.

Obviously this is Halloween. The boys were the cutest pumpkins ever.


These seem to be going backwards in time. Hmmm. This was taken on Katy's back porch the Sunday the twins were Blessed. What a super cute bunch of boys!

This is Tony Perez. One of the Big Red Machine Reds baseball players. Geez- I need to loose the weight!

The picture of Pete Rose in the chair are from the Pete Rose Roast we photographed in September. This is from my camera, Bari took the 'official' photos from the event. Oh, that's Pete's son - Pete at the podium.


The bat and ball were given to me by the Reds this summer. I framed them as a gift from the Reds to Jonny Gomes. It was his 100th home run bat and ball. Last I heard, Jonny sent them to his home in Arizona.
And yes, that is fake grass in the back of the frame. It gets everywhere when I have to frame with it.

So, I hope the pics make up for the fact I hadn't blogged the past couple of weeks.