part deux: Grand Rapids or bust, and beyond

*If you missed the firsts installment of the crazy busy weekend, you can catch up here. 

Saturday, March 14th:

8:08 am - We drove to the station closest to us. Reg parked Tex. We triple checked that he left the fob in the car, sent Tank photos of where Tex was, and drove west. One of the girls suggested that I leave them there - at the closer station. I noted the panic in Reg's face in my rearview mirror. 

Me:  No, it's no problem. I don't want to mess you guys up. We'll go to the other station. 

The station was packed. Reg texted that they just managed to squeeze on. 

8:45  am- I whipped up more soda bread, wanting it fresh for my Grand Rapids friends.

9:00 am - I worked out. Loaded my Stanley thermos with dinner from the crockpot for the road trippers. Showered. Got dressed for the funeral. Tank texted that he hopped on an earlier train, so he'd be home before I left for the funeral.

10:50 am - Curly, Mini, and I attended the funeral mass at the church a stone's throw from our house. 

Tank took Rae to see my folks, filled the minivan with gas, and brought the big cooler in from the garage. 

12:00 pm- after the funeral, Mini asked me to drop her home. She refused to attend the celebration of life lunch, because of her 'puddle' status. I told her she'd feel better surrounded by people and friends who were also grieving. Nope. She insisted that if her friend who spoke about her dad and didn't shed a tear could hold it together, she could not show up in such a state. I dropped her home, and Curly and I drove around the corner to the luncheon. 

12:30 pm - Curly's friend picked up Rae and drove her 25 minutes away to Suzi's house. She claimed volunteer status, but I insisted on paying her. Suzi's older kids would drop Rae home after 3:30 pm. 

1:00 pm - Got home. Changed clothes, loaded the cars, loaded the cooler with 7 layer taco dip, breakfast, GF dinner for me, and soda bread. 

1:30 pm -  hit the road. I listened to the last few hours of my audiobook 'Culpability' on blue tooth. Mini asked for a recap of the first 3/4 of the book. I filled her in. She was invested. 

4:45 pm - Rae called. It was 3:45 at home. 

Rae:  I just got home. The garage door was up, but no one's home. Is it OK if I go to Chick-Fil-A with Suzi's girls? And then come back? I'll put the door down. 

Me:  Yeah, Reg's probably napping. 

5:20 pm - Reg called. 

Reg:  Do you know where the girls are? It took a little longer to get home, because the train was packed. But I called Tommy (a neighbor kid) and had him open the garage door*. But the girls aren't here and I just got home and the door is down. 

*little girls don't know the code, because I can go for my run and they can go outside and shoot hoops, walk, etc. That way they don't re-enter the house while I'm running. Do we hope to trust them one day - soon? Yep. It's not easy living with kids who:  earn trust, break trust, repeat. *sigh* 

Me:  grrrr - It's fine, Reg. Rae will be home any minute. She got home and her ride took her to Chick-Fil-A because you weren't there. I told her you were napping. 

From crockpot to Stanley
pot. Have food, will travel.

5:30 pm - We arrive at the hotel (time change) after an uneventful 3 hour drive. Changed into green party attire, and I fed my people dinner from my Stanley thermos. No one would be surviving on appetizers alone on my watch. 

I knew that Reg's friends were coming back to our house after the parade to hang out in the basement. I'd suggested 8 or 9:00 pm. Um, no. They showed up right after the parade and the 'it'll be about 8 kids' wasn't accurate, but Reg fed the girls dinner, loaded leftovers from the crockpot in the fridge, and came upstairs regularly to check on them. They were watching a movie in the family room. 

Is the fact that Reg forgot to serve the 7 layer taco dip an indication that he may have been a tad overserved? Um, yes. 

Coach called Kay to ask her how science fair went. She was the only one from her school that didn't make it to state. We were SHOCKED that she'd made it to regionals. I wish I had a recording of Mini asking her about her project over Christmas. "So, you're giving preschoolers fruit, telling them it's apple, and then waiting to see if they notice it's pear? Is that science? Or trickery?" 

Kay told Coach there were about 50 pairs of shoes in the front hall. Maybe an exaggeration? Coach was a little miffed, but I reminded him that Reg is a huge help and this was the one thing he wanted to do over break. AND - the girls had to attend a 10:00 am scrutiny mass on Sunday at a church 20 minutes away. He took them, filled in as a sponsor, since their sponsors were unavailable. They were dressed appropriately, and not late. We let the basement 'rager' slide.

This bottle opener posted in
 their home made me chuckle. 

6:45 pm - 12:30 am - The Grand Rapids crew laughed, and enjoyed the party. We
watched Curly dance. We chuckled when Tank's best friend's freshman in hs little brother talked for a long time to Curly. Hey, maybe he digs older chicks? 

12:30 am - we Uber'd back to the hotel. Tank fell asleep in his clothes, face down on his bed. Mini hit him with a pillow during the night:  "Stop snoring!" The air mattress Curly brought failed her. Her butt was on the floor. Despite the nonsense, I enjoyed some long stretches of sleep. 

9:00 am - I'd decided that 9:30 am was the latest we could leave. Reg needed to meet Thomas, his ride back to Omaha. Thomas lives in Grand Rapids. I'd met his mom at the party. I needed to drop Mini at ND (slight detour), get home, and drive Reg 25 min south of our house to meet Thomas.

I roused the gang and put my contacts in. 

Confession: I sometimes wear my daily  contacts an additional day. 

My lens ripped in half in my eye. Curly eventually found the hidden half, and helped me get it out but my one-eye'd status slowed us down. Don't worry - I'm no longer reusing lenses. I'm a slow learner. 

11:20 am - dropped Tank off at a bagel place in South Bend, and circled back after I dropped Mini off. He needed food and my 'here's a banana' offering wasn't cutting it.

We'd just finished 'Culpabiliy' and had a mini book club 'how would you rank it?' discussion. Tank was annoyed he'd been subjected to it. Mini gave it a 3 out of 5. I'm maybe 3.5. I was interested in the story, but not the technical stuff - even though I know that was the whole point. Curly listened to music, unaware that a book was playing. She'd rather stream 'Castle' than read. I'm hoping she'll discover a love of reading eventually. I didn't embrace reading till I was a grown-ass adult. 

We got gas. I kept waiting for Reg to leave mass, so he could text me Thomas' ETA. 

12:00 pm - we got home. I scraped together some leftovers for Tank to take home and I told him to use my cc to Uber back to the city. I drove Reg. 

12:32 pm - we arrived 2 minutes before Thomas. (wipes sweat from brow). Kay and Rae were with me for . . .                                            

our next adventure. STAY TUNED. 

******

You can try, but there's literally no chance you'll guess where the girls and I ventured next. Have you read Culpability?  If so, what would you rate it?