The funeral went well. The weather was cold, rainy, and very windy but the power stayed on and freezing rain held off until later. Today I am home all.day as we got significant freezing rain and sleet overnight.

what type of book club? Very conservative? More open?

For me the difference has been the center griddle on our gas stove. I mix the eggs with a bit of milk. Turn burner on medium, let it heat for 1-2 minutes, then spray with non stick spray and add eggs. Once they are cooked most of the way through I put meat, veggies, cheese on it, finish cooking and then fold. The griddle though makes the difference as the eggs don't stick at all. I could never master omelets before.

The wake went well. There was one sympathy card with money in it. I assume that is for me to donate, correct?

Katilac Good point in the alter server. I will remember him. It is harder as the mass is at an older chapel that used to.be a parish church but now isn't in use full time. The parish priest is out of town on vacation and the priest doing the mass came from Canada.....and therefore is a different parish. I gave the solists and organists their fee + some as a thank you. The note about donations was just to give people the address if they wanted it. This was specified in her obituary as well online and in the paper.

Thanks. I am getting tired. Added to the fun.....we are under a storm watch/warning for an ice storm tomorrow. Just praying we don't get that.

Ok. We will have the cremains there. I have get them at 5:30 tonight but they will be there. Good to know I don't have to send thank you to everyone attendee.

Arctic mom.....I would NOT donthe easement thing. That can seriously devalue YOUR property if you ever decide to sell in the future. When I was house hunting I avoided all private drives/shared driveway situations. The maintenance, repair, snow plowing, etc. Are just not worth it. The headaches could be severe.

One of my friends has a classic reply "I will not be emotionally manipulated" and then she ignores. I have a very similar 21 year old here. My issue is she has a mild cognitive impairment and can't live on her own without a lot of help but yet is too high for adult foster homes, etc. Has your daughter been evaluated by a psychiatrist for a mood disorder? Meds here help a great deal....but I also try not to engage at all with her until about an hour after she takes her meds. I love her dearly but I am ready for her to move out.

Tonight is the wake service and tomorrow the funeral for MIL. Complicating matters is we are under a warning for the worst ice storm in 15 years....but anyway, my questions: Do I enclose a note of thanks with the monetary gift for the soloist and organist or do I do a separate thank you note later? The small parish chapel is free for church members but do I leave a monetary gift for custodian and/or make a donation to the Parrish as a thank you? How about the ladies group serving the luncheon? Do I send thank you notes to everyone who attends the funeral? Or just those involved in the service? What do I do if cremains are not ready today (and therefore not at the funeral mass)? How about the donations in leiu of flowers thing? Do I set out a small 1/4 sheet of paper by guest book that says memorial gifts may be made in her honor to a charity of your choice or .........(and list a specific one)? Any other etiquette things I need to know...esp for Catholic, mostly older attendees, and Secular Franciscan? I am a country, lot less formal Baptist so I need guidance.

Yes. Ours considered IQ, LDs, ADHD, mental health concerns, learning styles, any signs of brain injury/seizures, etc. I found it very helpful...... esp if you get a good one to evaluate the kids.

Lots to consider. My kids are all older and the dog isn't allowed in the bed so it will be just me. I am only 5'5" so not tall. I do have a full bed downstairs I could try for a bit to see how the size is. One plus for the full size is that bedding is easier to wash at home....esp comforters.

I am looking to downsize from a king bed to a double or Queen now that I am alone. Anything special I should consider? Room is larger but I like more open space.

We dry outside about 1/2 the year. I have a laundry room so I installed (all by myself :-) ) wire shelves with hanging rod. I now hang up about 2/3 of our clothes in the winter on hangers from that shelf to dry. Takes about 12-24 hours to dry but it adds much needed humidity to our house in the winter and saves so much money as well as wear on the dryer.

Joining in as I need a new mattress soon. I loved the mattress on the bed at the Sheraton we stayed at for Special Olympics. Issue is they change models and names so frequently that I can't find the same one. I hate mattress shipping as they make it so hard to compare.

Unpredictable. May can have snow flurries in the air or 80s.....even in the same week. I agree layers are your friend. If you will be inside much of the time it doesnt matter as much. Outside I would plan for layers and if you are doing a lot of hiking, etc then shoes for wet, muddy conditions.

Does the church you are planning on attending have a version that they use the most? If so, having your own Bible in that version might make things a bit easier but it is certainly not required. Besides that, find a Bible that you love the looks and feels of and will enjoy reading and studying from. I prefer the NASB but also have others. My current devotional Bible is an English/Spanish bilingual one and I love seeing the 2 languages side by side. If you like the color and find that helpful then go with that one.

Have you tried Keen sandals? Several of my students wear these over their AFOs.

I can commiserate a bit as I have a bad foot/ankle and wear orthodics which severely limits my shoe choices. Hard to look cute with clunky Brooks Dyads on your feet. Hopefully the Mary Jane style will work for you.

I love hearing about your travels and finally putting a picture to a name :-)

One thing to consider, if MOH is a size 20 she might need a 24-26 in a formal dress. Often you size up 2-3 sizes from their normal dress size.

I would not have asked about a eulogy but the 88 year old lady that is helping to organize this asked me if anyone wanted to speak. When BIL was buried it was a Baptist funeral. Then FIL had a Catholic funeral but it sounds like not the complete funeral mass as standard. There were some songs, readings, communion, etc but not as long as this one seems to be. I am going to try to get with the priest. Part of the issue is that I was presented with everything to approve just hours before MIL passed away and honestly I was tired and didn't even know what to ask, had not had a chance to talk to her brother and other family, etc. For many, complex reasons the majority of this falls to me to navigate.

The priest is coming in from Canada the day of the wake but hopefully I could get ahold of him before that.

I see there are various views. There is no funeral home. MIL wanted everything very minimal and she wanted to be cremated. She also did not want us to go to the cemetery after the mass for burial. The family will do that privately as she was Native American and her brother will handle that. We are not a typical family at all.

My MIL was a secular Franciscan. Her funeral mass is going to be next Saturday morning. Is it appropriate at the end of mass (after it is done) to have one or more Grand kids read a short tribute to Grandma and have her sister in Law sing Amazing Grace? None of the rest of us are Catholic so we don't know the protocol and don't want to be offensive but also want to be sensitive to the rest of the family that is Protestant. Anything else I need to know so as not to mess this up?