morrowlife

Here are Shannon and me getting ready to board the ship that took us to Mexico back in February 2010. She had her great old flower bag, which accompanied us on every one of our vacations for many years. I had my computer bag, which accompanied me pretty much everywhere always. Great Art courtesy of our friends Doug and Connie – I have no idea which one of them took it – using their nice Canon camera, and part of my famous Shannon, Cruise, Machinery, and Vacation series.

I look at this picture and think: if I had only known we had less than four years left. There are a lot of things I would change. I would overlook everything and anything that I let come between us. I would tell her I love her a hundred times a day. I would do everything in my power to make her happy and make her life absolutely carefree and make her feel constantly surrounded by love. I would treat her like the queen she was to me. But there are some things I wouldn’t change. I think this vacation is one of them. We had a wonderful time together and everything was just perfect. I’ll never forget it, along with the other cruises we took. I was so happy and felt so close to Shannon on those ships. It’s no wonder I love cruising.

Not a busy day. My sinuses are acting up pretty badly. I’m sure it’s an allergic reaction to something, although I have no idea what. If I knew, I’d get away from it. I’m feeling pretty miserable. No fever, no other symptoms other than clogged sinuses on the right side of my head and a headache. But that’s enough.

So I didn’t do much, yet again. I did find the time to go through a bunch of emails and to plan out the next few days of work. Now I just have to do the work. I also spent a little time finding accommodations for Mark and me (and Andy and Heather, although they’re making their own reservations) for the family reunion in Park City. We’ll be staying at the same hotel where we stayed for the last reunion. It’s not the best place in town, but it was nice and worked for us then, so I suspect it’ll work for us now.

I’ve been reconsidering my contemplated driving tour of the country. As I’ve probably mentioned before, my original plan was Las Vegas – San Francisco – Park City (or Salt Lake, depending on when) – Denver – Detroit – Stafford – Orlando – Tucson – Las Vegas. When Mark and I looked at the calendar for that trip, it would take more than 30 days. I’m thinking that’s a bit more than I really want to do. So now I’m thinking Las Vegas – San Francisco (only if Katy and company have time to see me then, otherwise I’ll visit them another time) – Park City – Denver – Detroit – Las Vegas. It’s two days’ travel from Denver to Detroit and three back to Las Vegas, so I would have to find some hotel rooms for five nights. I would plan to stay in Detroit for the week that includes the Fourth of July, which would make it something like ten days there. I wonder if the Michigan family would get tired of having me there for so long. I guess I could split my trip up between family members so none of them had time to get fed up. I’m planning a trip to Orlando next February for a conference, so I’ll see Tony then, and I can run over to Tucson and see Chris pretty much any time. I’d miss Paul and Melissa this time, so I’d have to find a way to get with them soon. Besides, they’re hoping to move to Las Vegas soon, so I’ll see a lot of them then.

Anyway. I need to make a decision and start checking with family members to see what works for whom when.

And that’s pretty much it for today. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: macaroni and cheese-related parental assault!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s Shannon inspecting a bug with Andy and Mark during a hike in Hickory Run State Park in Pennsylvania back in 2003. At least I think that was a bug. Might have been a rock or a stick or something else. But let’s go with bug. Great Art courtesy of my old Minolta camera, taken during one of our all-time favorite camping trips, and part of my famous Shannon, Hiking, Camping, and Vacation series.

Remember, Loyal Readers, that we were homeschooling the boys, so Shannon was their teacher. She often used little opportunities like this to teach them something useful. How I envy them all that wonderful time together!

I went to a meetup.com get-together this evening. It was at the Peppermill restaurant and lounge at the north end of the Strip and was for single people over 40. Much as I dislike the fact, I’m now a single person over 40. Anyway, I met several very nice folks. I even made a buddy! His name: Buddy. Seems like a nice guy. I hope he likes to golf and is terrible at it. I think I’ll visit this group again. It’s really great to be out with people. I wish I was out with my dear Shannon instead, but that’s not to be.

And that’s about all I did today. Mark and I did our third consecutive day of exercise at the gym. I have some sore muscles, but I’m really trying hard not to overdo things and I think that is paying off. I can still walk! It’s not particularly easy to go there every day yet, but I expect it to take at least several weeks of constant attendance and hard work to start making us feel healthier and stronger. Then it will be easy to go. I may have mentioned that we’re not going at 7:00, as we did with Shannon right after we moved to Las Vegas. We’re going at the much more relaxed time of about 10:00. That allows Mark to get the sleep he needs and lets me get up at a leisurely pace as well, although I’m also managing to get an hour or two’s worth of work (of some kind) done before we go. All in all, I’m pleased with how that’s going.

I watched [amazon asin=B000ECX0S8&text=The Trouble with Harry] this evening. I think it’s one of my two favorite Hitchcock movies, along with [amazon asin=B0045HCJ9E&text=North by Northwest]. Leave it to Alfred Hitchcock to make a hilarious romantic comedy involving the repeated burial and disinterment of a possible murder victim. Beautifully filmed in New England, brilliantly acted, and masterfully directed, of course. Highly recommended.

Paul reports he’s struggling a bit with his feelings about Shannon’s death. Mark told me he had a tough day today, although he doesn’t see his mom’s death as necessarily being the immediate cause. I know Katie and Andy are struggling too. I also got a very touching note in the mail from Mia today, expressing her sadness at her grandma’s death (and including a St. Patty’s Day picture of a rainbow with a pot of gold at the end!). Things are hard. I wish I had a magic wand to wave to make everything better, but I don’t. I sent a note to Mia tonight telling her that I also am still feeling very sad about the death of my own true love Shannon, but I feel that in a very real way, we haven’t entirely lost her. We still have our memories, many photos, a few videos, our endless love for her, and each other. I told her I think the best thing we can do to remember her is to live happily. That’s taking some effort right now, but we all have the ability to do it.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: train-dwelling fugitive crabs!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s Shannon leading the way on a hike through one of the beautiful East Coast campgrounds we visited. What a beautiful place that was. Great Art courtesy of my old Minolta camera and part of my famous Shannon, Camping, and Vacation series.

We loved camping, and we especially loved camping on the East Coast. Virginia, Pennsylvania, upstate New York. They were all spectacular. There were a few places we enjoyed in Northern California and Colorado too, of course, and many of them were lovely too, but there was something about the greenery in the east. Plus, the state park campgrounds there were always magnificent. Just as an example, here’s our campsite from the trip featured above:

Nice, huh? If we still had access to places like that one, we might not have sold the trailer a couple years ago.

On the other hand, we might have sold it anyway. The trailer was starting to get a bit old and pretty much needed repairs every time we took it out. On top of that, the Suburban was getting old too and we really didn’t want to buy a new one, as the kids were moving away and we didn’t need anything that big anymore. So I guess that phase is over.

Although my brother Chris suggested today that I buy a teardrop trailer and tow it behind my beloved pickup. That sounds like some fun, but I don’t think I care to spend that kind of money for something like that right now. Nevada camping isn’t world renowned for its beauty. And cruise ships have certain advantages over campgrounds. But those teardrop trailers are pretty cool, aren’t they?

Not a lot to report today. The plumber came by pretty early this morning, examined a few things and couldn’t find any blockage. Then he took the cover off the water meter vault to see if he could see anything wrong there. He found it.  Last night’s plumber left the main shutoff valve nearly completely closed. So the fix was easy and we’re back in business.

After the plumber left, I got a call from Ken. He had a small medical procedure performed on his eye yesterday and they had given him a contact lens to protect it. Sadly, the contact had come off overnight and he was in a bit of pain. So I ran over there, picked him up, and took him over to the doctor’s office. They fixed him up in just a few moments and we were on our way. To celebrate, we went to Carl’s Jr. for a bit of breakfast. I enjoyed getting together and hope Ken’s eye heals up quickly and painlessly.

Didn’t do much else today. Can’t explain why, so I won’t.

Paul sent a text message today telling me he and Melissa had just finished dinner at IHOP. It sounded good, so Mark and I went to our local IHOP for dinner too. It not only sounded good, it was good. So I didn’t need to plan dinner today. I’ll find something to eat at home tomorrow night.

Hung around in the jacuzzi for a while this evening. Mark was busy with something else, so I was on my own. Mark suggested we jacuzzify together tomorrow night, which sounds nice.

And that’s about it for another week. Life gets easier every day. Today is day 40 since Shannon’s death. I can hardly believe it’s been so long. It seems like just last week that we were still together. But time passes and before I know it, a year will have gone by and then two and then five and more. Memories will fade but my love for Shannon won’t. I don’t believe the pain will ever completely go away, but I do believe it will fade and become easier to bear.

I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: 140,000-pound walnut heist!

See you tomorrow.

Here are Andy, Me, Mark, Shannon, Sandy, and my mom at Ardastra Gardens and Zoo in Nassau, Bahamas. Along with a couple of friends. To be perfectly honest, we didn’t think that was the best zoo in the world, but we had fun that day anyway. Great Art courtesy of my old Minolta camera, taken by a cooperative zoo employee during shore leave from our 2005 Disney cruise, and part of my famous Shannon, Cruise, Bird, and Vacation series.

No post yesterday. I forgot. I still think that’s a good enough excuse, don’t you? Fortunately, nothing happened yesterday.

Today, Mark and I went to see a counselor. I think we both had a good experience. Fortunately for me, he told me he thinks I’m doing pretty much as well as can be expected at this point after Shannon’s passing. I still need to let the grieving run its course – I’m sure it will never end, but I’m also sure I’ll be a bit more able to concentrate after a while. The important part, he said, is to keep living my life as I work through the grief. I can do that. I think I’m doing it already, in fact.

Didn’t do much else today. Yesterday, I forgot to plan any dinner, so I ended up making a frozen skillet dinner and a tossed salad. I was a bit frustrated that I let it go until after 7:00 in the evening before I even remembered that I needed to cook dinner. Tonight, I planned ahead. I made bacon-wrapped scallops for an appetizer, grilled filet mignon and twice-baked potatoes for dinner, and caramel apple tarts for dessert. Many thanks to Chris for the Omaha Steaks Christmas present, which provided everything but the appetizers. We bought the scallops at Trader Joe’s. They were supposed to be for New Year’s Eve, but we never got to them. So Mark and I had half of them tonight. It was a good dinner.

I noticed a puddle yesterday at the front edge of my yard, right by the driveway. It had gotten worse by today, so I called the HOA, thinking it might have been an irrigation problem. They decided it wasn’t, so they suggested I call the local water district, which I did. They came out shortly to have a look and determined I had a leak in my main water supply pipe, somewhere between the water meter and the house. He also told me I was losing about half a gallon a minute. So I called the builder and asked if they could send somebody out right away. They put me in touch with the plumber who worked on building the house. Since it was leaking, they came out right away. The guy spent a few hours working on the line and got it fixed – or so I thought.

However, Mark soon discovered that the water pressure was dramatically reduced, so I called the plumber back. They guy is coming back early tomorrow morning to remove whatever is partially plugging the line. Then it will be fixed. And under warranty!

I spent a bunch of time this evening labeling old family pictures. I found a bunch of photos with Shannon in them, which was nice. I also found a couple of very brief video clips, some of which featured Shannon. I’ll have to do something with them soon. Here’s the earliest example I found: the haircut

Truly a video masterpiece! Such amazing production values.

And that’s about it for today. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: bear-pregnancy-detecting beagle!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s Shannon with her creation, appropriately named The Duck Statue. When we went to visit this river at Worlds End State Park, we discovered that people were piling up stones and making cool little statues. Some examples:

Shannon thought that was pretty cool, so she decided to make one too. We all agreed hers looked like a duck. Great Art courtesy of my old Minolta camera, taken at Worlds End State Park in Pennsylvania, and part of my famous Shannon, Statue, Hiking, Camping, and Vacation series.

She was such a creative, gentle, beautiful person. Oh, how I miss her.

Got a few things done today. I went to the bank to have all our accounts transferred solely into my name. Unpleasant, but necessary, I’m led to believe. I also went to the post office and mailed a box to Sandy. It contains a few items of Shannon’s clothes that Sandy and Julie plan to turn into a quilt for me. I’m really touched they would do that. No hurry, Sandy and Julie! But I’m really excited to have it.

Then I went to lunch with my friends Jim and Kathy McClure. They live in Manteca and were in town for a meeting and to go to tonight’s Donny and Marie show at the Flamingo. It was nice of them to think of me. We spent a couple hours talking and enjoyed it. Afterwards, I worked for pretty much the rest of the day on paying bills and providing a bunch of medical information to the life insurance people. Since Shannon died less than two years after our insurance went into effect, they want us to prove we didn’t know she was sick before the policy went into effect. I think we have a very strong case for that. She had her annual checkup in December 2012 and an insurance physical in January 2013. Nothing out of the ordinary was discovered in either of those visits and she felt just fine until just a couple weeks before she went into the hospital. It was coincidental that she got sick right after we moved and we certainly didn’t defraud those people. I hope they give me no additional hassles over it.

Not a lot more to tell about today. I stayed busy and when I’m busy, I’m happy. I need to work some tomorrow and then there are my taxes. Lots to do.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this combination food violence and exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: Egg salad sandwich, cat and dog caused monkey attack!