The unexpected expected

I had other posts planned for this space that I hadn't gotten around to writing yet, but life got turned upside down this past weekend.

My Grampie (ok, I shared him with a few other people) died on Saturday.

It wasn't completely unexpected -- he wasn't a spring chicken (at 91!) and suffered from dementia -- but it hit me harder than I thought it would.

Grampie had been in a nursing facility for almost three years when he moved in with my parents around Thanksgiving.

And for almost three months, he got to be home.

Then early in the morning on Saturday, with some of his family gathered around him, he took his last breath.

It's been a sad few days, but we've also spent some good time together as a family, laughing, crying, and reminiscing over some of our favorite Grampie memories.

I've written before on the blog about how I wanted to remember this giant of a man.

Today mostly I wanted to say how lucky I am to have been loved by a grandfather who took such delight in his grandchildren.

Catching up

Hi all! I'm alive!

I've been thinking about this space a lot and am more than a little sad that I got out of the habit of posting here. In part because I miss you all but also because I miss having my life documented. 

So why not start now?!

The end of 2014 and the first part of 2015 have been crazy -- so crazy that I'm about 100 blog posts behind. Because I have been reading, just not commenting. (Loser, I know.)

While I get this space back up and running (and organize my thoughts), I thought I'd do a "currently" post to catch you up on life at the moment. 

So here's what I'm currently:

Reading: I actually just finished The Zookeeper's Wife and am probably starting Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children next. A friend suggested a movie themes book club, so we've selected the books that will become movies that we each want to read and then we'll go together to see them in theaters. I'm excited!

Watching: I finally caught up on Downton! A friend and I meet every week for dinner and the latest episode but I was out of town a few weeks in a row. It was so fun to catch up on all the family and servant drama. 

I also finished Parenthood and was really happy with the season finale. Did you watch? What did you think?

Making: Homemade bread. I'm actually waiting for it to finish baking so I can go to bed. So excited to enjoy this for breakfast tomorrow!

Looking forward to: a news trivia night tomorrow. I'm no trivia geek but this one is right up my alley and with a fun group of people. Plus, it's hosted by Ken Jennings. So excited!

Listening to: I've become anti-music in the car and have been listening mostly to podcast -- The Moment with Brian Koppelman is a fave -- but I just started the audiobook Wallflower at the Orgy about Nora Ephron. Any audiobook or podcast recommendations? Send 'em my way!

Wishing: That the Seahawks had won. Yeah, I know that is so a week and a half ago, but it's still sad. I was actually in Phoenix at the stadium for work (more on that later) and it is still shocking to me to think of how the game ended. 

Ready for: my four day weekend. Is tomorrow really only Wednesday? I'm headed up to meet my parents at my mom and aunt's new cabin. It's a little basic but cozy and I'm excited for lots of mountain adventures in our future. 

That's it for me! What's new currently for you?