a birthday, a funeral & a surgery

the couple of birthday parties we took Z to this year (of 8) were a bit much; carnival style with tons of games, a popcorn machine, cotton candy machine, nacho cheese dispenser, etc, the other party was a pool party & they had an indoor game room. yeah, no competition over here, we ain't doing that...when i asked Z what he wanted to do for his birthday he said he just wanted to take a few friends to disneyland...we're not doing that either.

next week we're going to legoland with his class, for his actual birthday we're going to a miniature golf amusement park type place, then the following week when we're at the beach, we'll extend an invitation to the class to join us there. come if you like, the beach is free.

for cake he's requested angel food (although he's never eaten it before) & yesterday when we were at the doctor's office he saw an ocean theme one & that's how he wants me to decorate it [apparently he thinks i'm martha stewart or something]. oh, & the other day we read a book & they talked about a sho-tao, it's flour dough shaped like a peach, filled with a bean paste & food coloring is used to make the cooked dough look like a peach & i'm supposed to make him one of those too. to make it easy on me he said i could just use sugar to fill it instead of the bean paste.


in the middle of that, i'm trying to make arrangements for my dad's funeral, we're keeping it simple [partially bc i have no instructions or wishes from the departed but also bc he didn't leave a single dime to pay for anything & fyi, this stuff isn't cheap]. we're having a gravesite memorial service but i have yet to decide on a date.

mainly bc i was trying to schedule it during our beach trip....& before my mother's knee surgery. so i have this window where i have to fit everything in, i don't want the funeral too close to the birthday, then we're at the beach, then my mom has surgery & can't walk.

never simple