Monday, February 1, 2016

Ethel's Father's Funeral and Women's Basketball


Happy February! January is finally over! Is it just me, or does it feel like the longest month? Years ago I used to get an email that said what day of the year it was, and when I told my boss at the time that it was the 40th day of the year that day, he quipped, “It’s January 40th!” Sometimes it sure feels like January is forty days long…

Friday evening Travalon went to his hometown to watch basketball, so I hung out with Rich, Kathbert, and Antoshka. I brought broccoli to our dinner, and Rich cooked the biggest slab of salmon I have ever seen. It took so long to cook that we were noshing on pistachios while waiting, which pushed my fat intake for the day over my recommended amount, according to the Drill Sergeant, i.e., the health app. I seem to go over on fat every day, even though I manage to stay under my total caloric allowance. Nuts and avocados really have a lot of fat!

Saturday Travalon had to work. Rich and I drove to Milwaukee to attend the funeral of the father of my old friend Ethel, the one I got stuck on a roof in Rouen with. Her brother, who is a priest, was the main celebrant, which was touching because he cried a little during it but not so much that it interrupted the proceedings. This man had nine children (Ethel is the youngest), and two became priests, but the others all had kids, and some of them had a LOT of kids. Some of those kids are having kids now, so the deceased had over a hundred children and grandchildren. A friend of his told us he learned one thing that interested each grandchild so he could talk to them about their interest, and they wouldn’t feel like a faceless part of the crowd. He was in the Air Force, so the burial was with full military honors. It was a happy funeral, if such a thing could be said, because he had so many descendants to mourn him and we all felt pretty sure about which direction he was going. Rich and I stayed for the luncheon and then headed home. Meanwhile, Travalon went back to Sauk and saw three bald eagles this time. In the evening we went to the Nau-Ti-Gal, and the bartender was trying to talk me into doing the Paint Night for this month, which is painting a set of wine glasses. How about it, Rosary Ladies? Anyone interested?

Yesterday OK Cap and I went to the women’s basketball game, which was very crowded because it was only a dollar to go, and Luxuli joined us after working on some computer problems. The women lost pretty badly to Michigan State, but it was a fun game anyway, and the a capella group MadHatters performed during halftime. In the evening all the Rosary Ladies and our husbands went to dinner at Liliana’s, since it was the last possible day I could use my birthday month coupon for an order of free beignets. Since each order is three beignets, OK Cap ordered another round so each of us got one. Then, of course, Travalon and I went home and watched Downton Abbey. It was a shocking episode because the Earl of Grantham almost died after puking up blood all over the dinner table. Apparently the actor was so good at projecting the stuff out of his mouth that he got it all over his “wife’s” vintage dress on the other side of the table, which made for quite a display. However, the dress is from the 1920’s and made of beads, and when they tried to clean it for a subsequent scene, it sort of disintegrated. If you have not seen the show, the clothes are amazing. I just love flapper-era fashions! 

Famous Hat

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