"The monkey married the baboon sister.
First he smacked his lips and then he kissed her.
Kissed her so hard that he made a blister.
And that was the end of the baboon sister."

I started this post several days ago as thoughts of my grandfather just kept swirling through my head.  For those that know him and got to be blessed by his presence, consider yourself lucky.  He is one person that will never slip from my memory.  Just like my Grandma Ritter.  They both raised my parents, who in turn raised me, and I'd like to think that in some ways I am much like my grandparents would have raised me to be too.  The quote at the beginning is not a quote, but rather a song my Grandpa used to wake us up to when we stayed at his house in Concordia.  He thought he was a hoot, and we thought we'd sure like some more sleep.  Now though as I remember him and who he was in my life, this song tends to sum it up.  He was that one person that wasn't afraid of what others would think of him.  He had his views and he stood like a rock when it came to them.  He loved his family unconditionally.  A thought that many people brought up at his funeral.  Even in his last few months he would still crack jokes about the most random things, but it was a sign that life was still in him.  I don't think I would have known my life the way I did without my Grandpa in it.  He was at every major event in my life and he never missed a holiday until he was moved to the nursing home when it came to sending cards.  He was predictable and familiar in my life, and after last weekend I realize that now he is out there watching over us but on Earth he is buried under some fresh dirt.. still so hard to accept...

As I mentioned, last weekend Mom and I spend some time in Concordia.  Luckily there was so much going on that we didn't really have time to dwell on the fact that one month before we were going through a funeral right there in that same town.  This time instead of meaning the loss of someone great to us, it was a fun weekend spent making new memories and laughing at how some people never change.  We saw the parade, walked around the festival, attended a dance (which was basically just a bunch of bikers drinking beer and listening to some pretty good live music), lunched with some of Mom's old classmates, donated money for the library to get new carpet and in return, Mom got to sign the old carpet, attended the demolition derby, saw some family, devoured some good food, lunched with Mom's best friends son, shopped and at the end of the weekend we were more than just a little bit worn out.

After such a quick and jam packed weekend, this last week has actually gone by fairly quickly.  Minus the hiccups here and there.  Like Piston getting diagnosed with kennel cough, although the vet isn't sure where he got it.  Now his daily pill regime is bigger than mine.  Like me being sick as well.  It's either a head cold or just really bad allergies.  So bad that I stayed in bed until about 4 today and told my boss further training for work would have to wait.  Like having an exam at work.  Basically I have two funky spots in my neck and shoulders, as well as half way down my back and my right hip is a bit messed up.  Good to know.. now lets fix it!  Like the house being a total mess but the Halloween decorations being put out (come on people it's a month and a day away!).  Like the weather going from hot to cold.. in hours.  Basically that's a Kansas fall in a nutshell.  The giant moths on the other hand, Piston and I could do without.  I've killed two tonight alone.

But today we got to celebrate my Daddy's birthday.  Another year older.  It means a lot that I got to celebrate it with him this year.  As last year I was in Maryland.  We went out for dinner and walked around Bass Pro.  Simple yet just right.  I hope he had a marvelous day, as he truly deserves it.