Finally Saying Goodbye To George

      Wow, I’m having to rush to get this one done today. I started typing at 3:26 and I have to leave at 4:30, and I’m not even fully dressed yet. I’ve been doing a lot of housework today. All of my wife’s sisters are in town, and there’s the possibility that they might come by some time in the next week, so I wanted to make sure the house was “company ready.” It didn’t seem like my wife would have really cared, but since the home is kind of my domain, I thought it should look ready. I’m glad I did. Apparently, it had been a while. I’ve been doing little bits all week, and every step of the way I keep telling myself not to wait as long as I did this time. I’d like to blame it on Covid, but that’s been over for a while. I’d like to blame it on our unexpected house guest, but she’s been gone a while. And when I stripped it all down, the blame lies fully on me. I accept it. I am, after all, a house husband. And while I was cleaning, I was trying to remember the last time I did some of these things. It had been a while. Some of which may have been the first time. I feel a little guilty because in my rush to get this done, I may not have scrubbed the kitchen floor as much as I would have liked to, but it is way better than it was, and no longer looks like “eww.”  This is the kick-off for a huge weekend. Tonight, my wife’s work is having a company barbeque in their parking lot. After that she and I have band practice with my guitar player from the Eruption. His name is Wagz. Well, that’s what we call him. That’s a lot shorter than “my guitar player from the Eruption.” We are practicing a song to play at my Father-in-law’s memorial service this weekend.

     My Father-in-law’s service is why this is such a huge weekend. He passed back in February, but they decided to have the service now, so everyone could make the time to get here. It is here! Unbelievable. They are all in town as of right now. I know she feels like she should be with them, but we’re going to see each other a lot over the next 5 days, one more won’t hurt. Plus, as a new manager, she feels it’s important for her co-workers to see her at company functions. And she wants to be good when we perform on Saturday, so time needs made. Plus, we were just at her mom’s house on Tuesday, and it was a nightmare, I can’t imagine 6 more people. Yikes! We’re going to be there all day tomorrow setting up all of the tents and chairs, plus putting up all the decorations. Then all day again on Saturday. They are all so happy to see each other, yet, at the same time, they are all finally getting to let go of some of their pent-up sadness. Apparently, there’s something about finally getting to hug someone you’re going through the same thing with. I think it’s good that it has taken time. I can’t imagine trying to deal with all of the things that need dealt with while the wound is still fresh. But watching them see each other, it’s like the whole thing becomes fresh again. I’m helping as much as I can. I’m being as patient as I can. You can ask someone! It doesn’t much help that it’s the hottest week on record. I am grateful we can afford air-conditioning. One of her sisters is coming from Arizona, it’s going to probably feel like beach weather to her. She’s got a lot of other friends and family coming into town too. We just went last night to hang out with one of her old family friends and his family. It was nice, but she can’t get to everyone.

     Needless to say, I am busy for the next 5 days. But I’ve also been busy for the past 5 days, so it’ll be nice to have a change of scenery. And no more cleansing odor. It’ll also help take my mind off of the Calvin’s recording. We recorded last week. I thought it went pretty good. I had told them I didn’t have the money to help pay. We re-recorded 3 songs, that I didn’t feel needed re-recorded. It seemed like a waste of money. However, once we got in there, and rocked it out, I felt differently. It sounded really good, and is a lot different than what we previously did, so I was stoked. The night after we finished, I thought it would be worth it, and had every intention of contributing my share for the experience. But now we’re not all seeing things the same way. Plus, the producer is taking what may seem to some of us as a long time to get things to us. Last time we had tracks to review the next day. This time that is not the case. We’ve only heard 2 of 4, and they both need quite a bit of work still. However, we’re all very excited to get to hear them, so having other things to do will help keep my mind off of it. I know these things can take time. He’s a busy guy, and we’re technically in no hurry. But we still just want to hear it so bad! Apparently, it’s taking him a long time to get the drums right. Our drummer was apologizing the whole weekend. Instead of doing multiple takes, the producer wants to piece together the recording from what we have. It seems like he did not nail it. He feels bad, but at the same time, it wasn’t “good.” Now some of us are not in agreement about the vocal effects and some other “creative choices.” I’m not sure how we’ll resolve it, and feel that they’re communicating with each other behind my back. Paranoid?