First, let me start out by saying THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of your kind words regarding my Grandmom’s passing. It has definitely been a tough few days but I know things will get better with time. She is much better off up in heaven looking down upon us all rather than suffering in the hospital. She had an absolutely amazing life. She made a huge impact upon my life- and will continue to do so for as long as I live. There has been lots of tears throughout these few days and I am sure there will many more tears to come but I am really trying to look at the good times and to celebrate the wonderful memories that my family and I had with her.
Tomorrow is the viewing/funeral/luncheon. So today, as you could probably imagine, was a very hectic day. I woke up early and got right to work on the pamphlet for the funeral tomorrow. When I was finally finished with it, I took it over to our local copying center to get it edited and to have copies made…. here is the finished product!
My grandmom (the baby) and her mother in France by the arc de triomphe
the quote on the last page says:
I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one.
I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.
I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,
of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.
I’d like the tears of those who grieve to dry before the sun.
Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.
I also helped my dad with printing up these foam poster boards with pictures of her life. there are 7 boards in all but this is just a little sample for ya:
Boston Recap:
Well we were on the fence as to whether to still go to boston (for my oldest sister’s crew regatta- she is the coach) or not, but my sister and I finally decided to go. Friday morning I made a classic bowl of hot oats:
1/2 C oats, 1/2 C H20, 1/2 C skim milk, raisins, chopped apple, cinnamon, honey
and then we took the train from Philly to boston on Friday afternoon and got to boston late Friday night. Saturday morning, although the weather predicted rain, we woke up to a sunny, clear sky…not a drop of rain in the sky. I was still semi-sick and my sister was getting sick but we decided to suck it up and run our longest run yet- 19 miles! Now- let me remind you- the only workout I did ALL WEEK before this run was 2 yoga sessions (not hard ones either) and a 2 mile run. Needless to say, I was nervous! Yeah I was coughing a bit here and there but I made it! It wasnt the fastest splits ever and I sorta died in the last mile…but I RAN 19 MILES…BOO YAA!!! and you wanna know something even better? Luna Bar, Cascadian Farms, and Nantucket Nectars were all at the Head of the Charles…. andddd they were giving out free samples! So half way through the run we took a pit stop and downed a sample of nantucket nectars, took a plastic bag and filled it with FREE mini lara bars and cascadian farms samples (and yes we ran 6 miles home carrying it all!).
After the run, we showered and went out to breakfast (aka a late lunch- it was 3 pm by the time we were eating!) to a place in Kendall Square called The Friendly Toast.
VERY cool inside. strange, yet awesome. and lets just say… we did not hold back AT ALL. I ordered an egg white omelet with Broccoli, spinach, tomato, and scallions with 2 HUGE and THICK sliced of their homemade cinnamon raisin toast with home fries, hot chocolate, and tea. We also shared a fruit salad.
yes…its true. We ate every last drop of food on our plates. Thank goodness I was wearing some spandex yogaish pants so I had room to expand hahah. it was glorious. We shopped around after that and went back to the hotel and took a nap!
We decided to head to Harvard Square at night an ended up meeting up my two best friends (who go to school in boston)- Katie and Lindsey. Lindsey gave me yellow roses and a nice sympathy card (even with a seashore theme (my family is from the shore))- really made me happy 😉
We walked around and finally found a place to get something to eat! Cambridge 1 …. and you know what? it ended up being AWESOME. They have GREAT flat breads. I just stuck with a traditional flatbread…
And for dessert we walked over to the famous J.P. Licks (they have homemade ice cream and non-fat frozen yogurt)….
homemade hand dipped (hard) cofffee-oreo frozen yogurt (its on the bottom and you cant see it...sorry!) with homemade peanut butter soft serve frozen yogurt on top!
mary (my sister) enjoying her frozen yogurt!
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. My sister and I could not stop talking about how awesome this. Praise the lord she qualified for the boston marathon- – we are definitely going to make several trips to J.P. Licks that weekend!!
Sunday was race day for the crew team. Unfortunately the weather was HORRIBLE. Windy. raining. freezing. and they did not do so well. oh well. it happens. they never are amazing in the fall anyways. In the spring, however, they always do well. We got on the bus around 3 pm and headed back home. We got back around 10:30 and I stayed awake until about 2:30 AM helping my dad with funeral arrangements…. and then in the morning/the whole entire day- I finished up with the funeral arrangements and got an outfit from anne taylor loft for the funeral.
oh and I also did some level 2 SHRED today… Jillian kicked my bootay. But it was great. perfect thing to do for a crazy day like this- when you have almost no time at all!
okay well its getting late and tomorrow is another long day ahead. We are leaving home around 8:30, then we have the viewing/funeral, the trip to the cemetery, and then a very nice luncheon afterwards. As of now, I am planning to get back to school late tuesday night- but I may just end up going back early wednesday morning- we shall see!
Good night and thanks again for all of your kind words. It really means ALOT to me…
I am beat….and so is my doggie Andie
Time for bed!
Love always,
Christina
Mindful Living 