Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Whew!

I'm home. What a weekend.

I still feel a little sick. I spent most of today in bed. This trip was harder than I thought it would be. I want to thank all my wonderful friends for taking such good care of me. I know it was an expression of their love for both Jim and me.

The party was amazing. And awful in some ways. Seeing all the music stuff being set up and seeing all our friends arrive was like losing Jim all over again. These are the people he loved to play with. Everyone had almost the same things to say about him. That he was generous on stage, that he made others sound good. There was no one like him. He was one hell of a musician and a dear, dear friend. Several times I had to leave the party and go into the bathroom to sob. I was kind of a wreck all day.

But it really was wonderful. Ed was the go-to guy for sound and set-up. He really made it happen. Plus, he's just plain fun to be around. Michael and Terri brought their new next door neighbor, Larry The O, who played drums all day. Jim knew of Larry and would have loved meeting him. Ernie Fosselius brought his Mechalodeon which was a HUGE hit. People played with it all day. Ernie played guitar as well. Bob and John on guitars, Dave on bass, Amelia on bass, Michele and Barry singing, Ed on keyboards, Michael on conga, Donita singing and playing uke, Mary singing and playing a shaker. Dan brought his pretty guitar and an electric violin. Did I leave anyone out?

Michael, thank you for Across The Universe. It was perfect.

Mark Mayer and his family came. I felt bad because I know he was disappointed that Lindsay and Paige weren't there. It was good to see him. Brian brought me a framed photo of Jim that I had never seen. It's a good picture of him. Thank you, Brian! Ray and his wife were there. Jim loved working with Ray. Jeanne was there for a little while. I'm glad she didn't miss it. Jon and Mary. I could hang out with them forever. Ok, help me here. I don't want to miss anyone.

Dave, Nancy and Amelia, thank you for all your hard work and your loving support. That was really quite a day, wasn't it? There was much sadness but also so much love and joy. Thank you, Michele. Thank you, Dan.

The next morning we went to breakfast at Sam's. Then Michele drove me to Lorraine's. She hasn't been feeling well lately so she missed the party. We sat on her deck with Danny, Eric and Jeanne and drank wine and talked and laughed. It really helped me to blow off some of the heaviness of the day before. On Monday Lorraine had to work so I spent the day with Jeanne and Mary. We had lunch at Washoe House. Then Lorraine came home and took me to the airport. The flight home was uneventful but I felt queasy and yucky the whole time, especially at the end when we hit some turbulence. Good thing it was a short flight.

It was really a wonderful weekend but it's brought up a fresh, new wave of grief. I had to stop typing this several times because I was crying so hard. I'll get through this one, too. Having a good, hard cry is cleansing. Wears me out, tho.

So, now I'm going to go in and watch The Office. That's a pleasant snap in the other direction.

11 comments:

Donita Curioso said...

Oh, jeez. I still feel like crap and now I have tiny red spots all over my skin. What the hell is this?

vivage said...

Ummm, maybe you ought to go to the doctor? Or maybe it's just heat rash? Although it hasn't really been that hot. Has it gone away yet?

Anonymous said...

Red spots - what the hell is that???

Yeah, the party was, I guess, as nice as it could be, considering. We missed Lorraine and Ray Garcia, and Dan Podell, who couldn't make it. It felt so weird having only pictures of Jim around, instead of the real thing. How could that be?????????? I think everyone here was wandering around feeling the emptiness. Not having Jim at the keyboards, singing along was just weird. I guess we have to accept it, hard as it is. And be grateful for the friends we have. It was so nice to see all of Jim's close friends here! We truly appreciate all the help in putting everything together! I know it sure was great to have you here, Doni. Jim sure made a big impact on a lot of people's lives.

I'd sure be up for a trip to Milsap bar with you sometime!

Hope you are feeling better!

Did you leave an alarm clock here? We found an extra, but had Dave's sister overnight last night, too.

Nancy

Donita Curioso said...

Virginia- No, it's still there. If it's not better tomorrow morning I'm going to go to the doctor. Maybe it's stress. This has been the weirdest illness I've ever had. Well, it's in the top 3.

Nancy- Boy, you're right about the emptiness. It was a sad day. It was a sad, sweet and loving day. And as hard as it was I'm glad I was there. Ok, so now we work on getting back to happiness.

After seeing Mark's slides I'm majorly jonesing for Milsap Bar. Let's plan on going next August.

Yeah, that could be my clock. Just hang onto it.

Aw... Our friends, Michael and Terri, have lost their chocolate lab, Evie. She was a sweet doggie. She was old and Michael said she hadn't been doing well lately. I just saw them at the party last Saturday.

Man, it's like a sadness cluster. We shared some tears and hugs on Saturday and now this.

vivage said...

Might be stress, you've been thru a pretty intense time. Your body might just be low on it's defenses and you're getting sick is a way to force yourself to rest.

Little tiny red dots on your skin might be a rash due to an allergic reaction, any new meds lately?

Once I got tiny red dots all over my body and it turned out I was allergic to sulfa. No more sulfa meds for me.

Donita Curioso said...

I don't think it's an allergic reaction. I'm not taking anything new. It's either stress or this shitty illness. I'm still spotty but I seem to be feeling a little better.

My big problem this morning is our main computer is on the fritz. When I try to turn it on nothing happens. So, now I get to crawl around under the desk and try to figure out what happened. This is the crap I hate. Stuff that would have taken Jim 30 seconds to figure out but for me is a total mystery. What could possibly have happened between shutting it down last night and trying to turn it on this morning?

Dammit! Why can't everything just work?

Anonymous said...

Oh man, are you in the middle of a shit storm. Is there anything someone can do from long distance to help?

--leg

Donita Curioso said...

Heh! Well, I don't think I'd call it a shit storm just yet. We'll probably have to take the computer to the Apple store and let one of their geniuses take a look at it. I'm just glad we have the Mac Mini as back up.

Being sick is such a drag. I feel like I'm just laying around wasting time. You know when you get back from a trip and you're all inspired to get down to business and get things done? That's what I want to do but my jumpy stomach just wants to lay around and watch Kathy Griffin and The Office. And now all my dreams are just like The Office, except not funny.

But at some point I have to get it together because I'm going to have a houseguest in a few days. My ex-boyfriend, Chris, called and asked if his ex-wife could come stay with me for a week while she gets some training in Riverside. No problem but I do need to do some house cleaning. Heh! When I told Lindsay about it she said (her voice dripping with irony), "Your ex-boyfriend's ex-wife is coming to stay with us?" Well jeez, when you put it that way...

I just need to fix up a space in the studio for her. I'm sure everything will be fine. She and I can dish dirt about Chris. Not much, tho. I wasn't with him for very long and I was only 15. But he did invite me to the prom and then backed out. I think that's a capital offense in some states. I don't blame him. I was a bonehead back then.

vivage said...

Lindsey says: " When I told Lindsay about it she said (her voice dripping with irony), "Your ex-boyfriend's ex-wife is coming to stay with us?"

A woman after my own heart. it's something I'd say for sure.

ummmm, one of the animals might have knocked loose a connection by just brushing against a cord. I've done that myself.

you might really consider looking at all the stuff you've done in the past 6 months and realize you haven't rested at all. Not surprising that your immune defenses are down and now you are expecting company?

hseeek: The sound you make when you know you must clean the house for company and you realize you will have to put a lot more effort into it than you really want to.

Donita Curioso said...

Heh! Well, the house needs to be cleaned anyway. I just wish I felt better.

Damn, I want to go to the movies.

Donita Curioso said...

I went to the movies. I saw Ratatouille. It was raterrific.