Thank you all for your comments and hugs from my last post, I really appreciate it.  It is nice to know that y’all care (that was for you, Nancy!  Minnesotans do not typically say y’all).

After a brief interlude Monday morning where my sister played a practical joke on me by telling me she was downstairs waiting for me (and causing me to panic) when she was actually at home, Kari, Eric, Josh and I headed off to the funeral.

There was studying of the obituary to determine 1) the name of our cousins (my mother’s side of the family isn’t as close as we used to be, not since my grandmother died) and 2) names of their spouses.  Kari and I would quiz each other. 

Arriving at the church, we were greeted by several of our cousins.  Kari and I perused the pictures of Aunt Rita and Uncle Jerry, the pictures of family and friends.  There was one picture of the two of them with my grandmother that set me off a little (I miss my grandmother a lot).

The mass was very comforting.  I was baptized Catholic but raised Lutheran (Mom was excommunicated, long story) and it always surprises me how similar the services are.  Which it shouldn’t.  After all, Martin Luther was Catholic.  It was nice to hear some of the elements of the service that I remember from my childhood – such as the Lamb of God song (Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us (repeated many times), except I think the Lutheran version is cooler. 

The priest read something that had been written by the family.  He talked about how my aunt and uncle met.  Apparently they had been on a double date and didn’t like the people they were with (it might have been a blind date, not sure) so they switched and the rest was history.  They were together for 54 years. 

He also mentioned how she used to make fudge for Uncle Jerry and that started me crying again.  Aunt Rita made the only fudge I ever liked and every Christmas I would greet her with “Hi.  How are you?  Did you make fudge?”  And she would laugh and tell me yes.  She had a beautiful laugh and I always thought she was so glamorous. 

We sat with my Uncle Kenny and Aunt Mary at the luncheon after and caught up.  It was a lot of fun.  We talked about a family dish that I haven’t had in years, called Slacie Klasse (which translates to Fancy Potatoes, I guess).  Uncle Kenny has the recipe and is going to email it to me.*  There’s a 28 potato version and a 54 potato version.  Kari and I are hoping to be able to talk Keem into making it!  It’s not a visually appetizing dish, it’s sort of grayish but it is yummy!  It also has the added benefit of sitting in your stomach for hours after you eat so you don’t want to eat anything else (helpful on Thanksgiving.  I am a huge fan of turkey).

*Which was when I had to explain where the name greenduckiesgirl came from.  I always start the story out about seeing the box of rubber ducks and being happy because then I can sing the rubber duckie song to myself.  That’s when Aunt Mary said “I do as well!”  Which was completely awesome.  I’m not sure if she meant she loves rubber ducks or sings the song but I don’t care. 

Josh was adorable as usual.  He spent some time looking at his Lego catalog.  Apparently he carries it with him everywhere and will pull it out to decide what set he wants next. 

DM:  Well, maybe I’ll have to set up a Josh Lego fund.
Josh:  I like that idea.

As we were headed to the door so I could go back to work, Josh asked if we were leaving.  Kari told him yes. 

Josh:  But I haven’t seen Jesus yet!

Kari brought him over to a huge crucifix so Josh could say hi.

I love that kid.  He is a constant source of amusement and awe.

So to sum it up, I’m doing much better than Friday.  I hope you all had a good weekend.