Before our CO trip, Marci had been in Indio with her parents. Ted hasn't been doing so well lately and Marci and Alison had been trading off every few weeks to spend some time down there to help. Marci was just down there before our trip, and then on my birthday, we had to make plans for her to go back down as Ted took a turn for the worse.
Last week, I spent 4.5 days in San Francisco for work. Was sort of excited as I'd never been there before, but was reluctant to be away from home as Marci would be gone and Riley would be by himself. He was pretty well immersed in prep for his school musical, so his time at home would be minimal.
Anyway, SF was pretty cool. Got to make some deeper connections with other employees and teammates; had a come to Jesus convo with my manager (not unexpected or unwarranted); developed an understanding of what I need to do to get better at my job as well as what my job actually entails; took a run around SF and saw the baseball and basketball stadiums; kept in continual contact with Marci and her situation in Indio; wished Haley a happy birthday; ate out a lot and also watched BCS first 2 episodes.
All in all, picture is clearer for my future. I know what I need to do, now I have to execute.
Friday night was Riley's musical, Seussical. Long show, lots of fun. Rye did great; his cadence is better, but still a little fast. He has "isms" that he needs to get under control (jazz hands). But it's what he loves and I am proud of him for finding that and chasing it. He has committed to CMU and will pursue it further. I'm excited to see what happens next.
Yesterday, Ted finally passed on around 12pm or so. Marci mentioned yesterday morning that the previous night was not great and I think she felt it was likely going to happen. She called when Riley and I were coming back from lunch and she was upset. Mainly because of her dad's passing but also because Coachella is happening nearby and it taxes the local cell networks so she had a hard time reaching us.
But I digress. She was crying and it was difficult to hear her and know I couldn't be there to hold her and just listen. Riley and I did what we could via the phone, but ideally, we'd be there in person. I called Haley later and let her know and she was pretty good about it. She went into mom support mode and after getting permission, drove to Indio to be with them.
I spent the rest of the practicing some tunes on bass, messaging back and forth with Robb and Cass about music, and taking phone calls and texts about Ted and the developing situation. As the next week or so unfolds, these are the things I will have to manage:
- Haley is done with school on 5/6. The initial plan was to fly down and drive her back up over 2 days or so and that would be that. However, Ted's passing puts a pause on all that. They will likely have his memorial the following week so Chandler and Ella can participate as well, which means Marci will probably stay down there until then. That means Riley and I would fly down sometime that week, and then be there for Ted's memorial. After that, either we all drive back together, or I drive with Haley back home. I'm balancing working during this time so I get paid because if I take time off, I don't have vacation or sick time; I just don't get paid.
- Come week of 5/23, I will be in Washington DC for another Amazon event. Ted's memorial shouldn't affect that, but the time heading up to it will be a jumble of logistics and planning. Once I'm there, it will be fine, but hopefully Marci and the kids will be back home (don't know where else they'd be) and it won't be an issue.
