Day 394 - A Week That Was

To my dearest future Ellie, 

It pains me to say the following. It seems that over a week of your childhood has been lost to the sands of time, never to be recorded for future generations (or you know, you) to peruse for enjoyment. 

It's ok though as I think I have a decent reason for that being the case. It's not like I was sitting around playing Star Wars: Battlefront on PS2. Ok, you're right because I did do that some. However, the real reason is much less incriminating of me. Shall we take a quick sojourn back through the week that was? Why yes, we shall. **Initiate the flashback sequence now**

First, we must head all the way back to last Friday. Long story short, my parents are needing to have their basement refinished and sewer lines replaced after the lines collapsed due to wear and tear resulting in the sewer backing up. Eww. Therefore, I headed up for the morning to help get a few things done that needed to be done. 

After leaving for the day around 1, I received a phone call from my mom around 4 that I needed to come home immediately. It just so happened that my dad had broken his leg while doing some repairs on the farm's Bobcat (the piece of equipment, not the wild animal). Not only that, but he would be having surgery that night at 8 pm in St. Joseph to place a rod in the leg. Therefore, as soon as past Ellie was bathed and in bed for the night, I hopped in the car to head to the hospital to hang out with my mom during surgery. 

Hey, look! I'm in dress clothes. Why, yes, that is weird.

Somewhat surprisingly, my dad was released from the hospital on Saturday afternoon meaning he'd get to be home for Easter. Bethany and I, however, would not be doing so as I would be serving in the audio/visual booth in church on Sunday. Just as well because we didn't really want to travel too far in the blinding snowstorm that ended up happening. Fortunately for us, we were invited to attend an Easter party in Kansas City so we wouldn't need to spend the day alone.

On to Monday morning, I received the startling news that my uncle (my dad's brother) had passed away suddenly. Therefore, past Ellie and I headed to Savannah for the day to spend time with my mom and dad before heading back to Kansas City that night. On a positive note, I at least got to spend some time chasing after a cow in labor on a four-wheeler. It'd been a while since I last chased cows so that was oddly enjoyable.

My dad will probably be mortified by the existence of this picture. However, I really like it!

Tuesday was actually a relatively normal day which was sorely needed by this point. The only thing for future Ellie to remember is probably that she really, really wanted to go outside. However, the weather wasn't really conducive for really, really wanting to go outside. Instead, we just stayed inside and I set up past Ellie's tent in the basement for her to play in/place every toy inside. As for Wednesday, more of the same except you need to substitute an hour of playtime at the local library in lieu of tent time and yours truly heading to church in the evening to fulfill my responsibilities.

Once we finally reached Thursday, it was time for a "Hallelujah" kind of day. By that, I mean the sun was shining, the temperatures were soaring, and the birds were singing (not to mention, eating my grass seed off the lawn). After "Uncle" Malachi made an appearance for lunch and past Ellie took her afternoon nap, we decided to mark the great weather with a nice, relaxing swing in the hammock followed by a trot around the neighborhood. During said trot, perhaps the most interesting thing to occur was past Ellie's discovery of basketball. 

Enjoy this collage complete with totally authentic picture of the sun in sunglasses. Promise it's real...

Now, keep in mind, the baby has watched plenty of March Madness and even filled out a bracket last year. This time though, she discovered some neighborhood kids playing basketball and was super content to stand there watching them play despite the wary looks said kids were casting towards me. After all, there's nothing creepier than a grown man with a baby watching kids play basketball in the street.

Around 5, quite the convergence of people occurred as Bethany got home, her parents stopped by (Bethany's new nephew was born late Wednesday night for the record), and I needed to head out the door to head to Savannah for my uncle's visitation. Over 500 people headed through the line during the course of the night! For the record, I offer my apologies if you came through that line knowing me and I seemingly had no clue who you were. It wasn't meant to be offensive; I'm just super forgetful.

Today marked the funeral day in Savannah with the three of us hitting the road at 9:00 to make it to the chapel by 10:00 am. Once things commenced, I found myself seated with the other pall bearers which meant I was away from Bethany and past Ellie. Now, I should probably say that past Ellie was really good during the funeral. 

However, there were a few instances of past Ellie making her presence known. You know, like the resounding "Uh oh" that echoed through the chapel each time the keyboardist ceased playing. Or how she kept reminding everyone sitting around her via the strains of "No nose" that they shouldn't pick their nose. Not to mention her silently protest of the playing of 'Amazing Grace' because she thought that meant we were attempting to lull her to sleep.

So future Ellie, as you plainly can see/read, even as I run back through a really weird, hectic, and seemingly long week, I can still find the simple ways in which past Ellie managed to put a smile on my face. Also, luckily for Bethany and I, that little girl managed to put a smile of the faces of quite a few people who found themselves struggling during a sad time as well. 

So, with that, I simply have to say, "Good baby." #DaddyWrite