My trip to Dallas and week was going wonderfully until I returned to my room at 11:30 to shower and get ready for the afternoon. As I was heading down my Backberry rang and I saw that it was my brother. He told me to sit down before he’d continue. He shared with me the unfortunate news that my Uncle Carl had passed that morning. I felt like I was hit with a ton of blocks as this was my dad’s oldest brother but still only in his mid 60s. He’d died of a major heart attack and had passed before the ambulance even arrived. My mind went into shock as I realized that my father had suddenly lost his mother and father within a short month time period. After immediately calling my father and other relatives I immediately started reseraching airfares in hopes to be with my family during their period of difficulty. Unfortunately, airlines are not very understanding unless an immediate (mother, father, husband, or wife) has died and therefore all flights were over $1500! During all of this all I could focus on was how happy I was that these people were all together along with the rest of my dad’s extended family for our wedding on November 21st!

My father and his siblings decided to have a delayed memorial service since other family members were out of the country and wouldn’t be able to attend this week. Therefore, May 8th my family and I will all come together in South Bend, Indiana to celebrate two wonderful people: my Grandma Hazel who died at the age of 102 and my Uncle Carl who died at the all too young age of 67. This memorial weekend to celebrate both their lives is unfortunately the same weekend as my dear friend’s wedding. As you may recall, I was down in Atlanta celebrating Meg’s bachelorette just last month. I am so glad I was able to spend that weekend with her but also very sad that i’ll be in South Bend instead of celebrating her wedding in Macon. While it will be a very sad weekend it will also be a wonderful weekend of remembrance in the town where my father and his siblings grew up. I haven’t been to South Bend since I spent a prospectus weekend at University of Notre Dame during senior year. I’m sure our weekend will include dinner at Roccos and Little Italy, walks through campus, and maybe even a trip to the lake.

The rest of the week in Dallas was a blur because I was trying to keep my emotions together while also focusing on the business. Oh and yes, I forgot to tell you that the below is my BROKEN computer. I somehow stuck my thumb completely through my screen when I was trying to adjust the screen. You see that thumb mark at the top. Oh yes, I kid you not, I can’t make these things up! To make matters worse, this happened on Wednesday morning right after my phone call with my brother. The screen went from this (below) to completely black in about 3 minutes. Needless to say, I have never been happier to arrive back home than I was last night! All I wanted was a big hug from Bo.

Bathroom #1

Living room (the previous tenant left the lights but we’ll be removing them when we move in)

100 square foot walk in bedroom closet. Oh yes, I kid you not!

Bedroom view #1

Front hallway closet

Kitchen

Guest bathroom

Dining nook and living room

This is one of the benefits to having a husband with an architecture background. Sketches, measurements, and plans. We’re spending the rest of the evening posting ads on Craigslist (need a Pottery Barn entertainment console? Patio furniture? Pottery barn Bedford desk?), watching a very odd moving called A Serious Man, and relaxing. I still feel a bit off both physically and emotionally even though I worked out daily and ate well in Dallas. I think part of it is the emotional stress paired with the fact that my team was out at the Ghost Bar until nearly 3am on Thursday night! Three hours sleep is NOT enough for this gal!