today seemed long. i don't know why. i got up around 10 to shower and get ready for lorraine's funeral. it was sad. this is the last paragraph of her obituary...

"For Mom, the work was never done. There was always another card to send, a letter to write, bills to pay, a phone call to make, house to clean, or another life to touch, always something. Even in her last days, when breathing became too difficult in a sitting position she would stand at the kitchen counter to write letters and sign and adress cards into the wee hours of the night or until her legs couldn't take it anymore and she was tired enough to sleep a little while. And then on her deathbed the evening before her Home Going, she apologized for not being able to help any longer and her strong desire to not be a burden to us. We assured her, she was not a burden and she had done enough and that her work was done, she should rest now. Hallelujah, she took our advice. She's resting now... or maybe she's not! Who knows? Maybe she's dancing... with Dad... in praise to God... without all those physical difficulties and breathing machines. Who knows? And then in her Bible we found a 3x5 card with a poem scotch taped to it and addressed"To my children" and signed "Mom, Lorraine." Obviously placed there for us to find.
If I should die and leave you here awhile,
Be not like other, sore, undone, who keep
Long vigil by the silent dust and weep
For my sake turn again to life and smile,
Nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do
That which will comfort other souls than mine;
Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine,
And I, perchance, may therein comfort you.
i've gotten so many of those cards and letters from her over the years. for birthdays, christmas, achievements, just to let me know that she was praying for me, or (since i've been at school) just to say hi and let me know she's thinking of me. i really took those for granted. i never thanked her. and now i'm not going to get them anymore.... i really looked up to lorraine like a grandmother. i loved going to visit her, even tho i hate nursing homes. i even dragged jeremiah there when we were all dressed up for prom. :) i'm gonna miss her a lot, but she's in a much better place, reunited with her husband.
Lorraine M. Rice- April 17, 1930-January 3, 2004

there was a meal after the funeral (its a mennonite thing i think), and then mom and i went and picked up my car. jeff ended up giving me an oil change, too, cuz i needed. altogether, i only paid about $100 to get my car fixed. which is nice. he oiled my door, too. haha. he made fun of me for how bad it was getting. oh and he showed me how to check my oil, since it was reeeeally low.
i called leah falzetta when we got home. clarinet sleepover at leah's on saturday night! woohoo!!! its gonna be awesome, i'm excited. you should come. but only if you play(ed) clarinet and your name is leah, casey, kim, sara, or tiff. :) good times ahead! i love my girls!
after that mom and i went to salem to go to lion and lamb cuz we both had cds we wanted to buy. she got the new city on a hill cd, and i bought the new TFK cd (for 7 bucks!!!!!!!), the new benjamin gate cd (well i guess its not really new anymore, but its new to me. and i got it for $10!), and i bought the new tait cd cuz i wanted it. then we went to fashion bug and made fun of the hideous clothes that they had on sale.... haha.
i chilled at home for awhile. watched a stargate episode (a really sad one!! with happy ending tho). i have to finish watching those before i leave on sunday, and i still have a dvd and a half to go. i played some zoo tycoon for awhile too. that game is so incredibly addicting. i think its worse than the sims. i think its a good thing that its moms game and i have to leave it here, cuz i would never get anything done if i took it with me.
i worked 7-close tonight. it wasn't bad. the time went fast. i closed with lynne, jason, and kelly. jason and i had a blast being dumb. oh and i have a nice bruise from a friend of lynne's. we were having nugget wars in mcdonalds (like all-out running all over the store hiding in booths--we were so dead, no customers were there when we were doing it, haha--and taylor hid behind me, sean chucked a nugget at us, and man! it hid hard! lol. but yeah.
the drive home was hilarious. lynne was driving on my butt and flashing her lights, so i slowed down to 10 mph under the speed limit. she went to pass me, and then just drove next to me for a bit. then she got in front of me and went 10 under, but i couldn't pass her cuz of a double yellow line. we basically screwed around like that the whole way home. maybe not totally safe, but it was hilarious. then she stopped her car right in front of my driveway. i love that girl, she makes me laugh!
now i'm home. i should go to bed. i'm hanging out with lynne, keith, and maybe mike tomorrow. good stuff! but i'm gonna go do other random stuff online, and maybe go down to my computer and play zoo tycoon for a bit.
this is a really long post... lol