Day 282 - 11/29/2007

The visitation was today at the funeral home (one of two in town). Family visitation is from 5-6p and then it's open to friends from the area. We got there just before 5p and were surprised to see most everyone already there. Once 6p rolled around, D's mom and her siblings lined up for the receiving line and were busy throughout the evening greeting everyone who had stopped by to pay their respects. After a while, I took the kids back to Angie's house, where we were joined by a couple of other cousins and their kids while the rest of the family stayed at the funeral home. The vast majority of whom showed up afterwards, making the house pretty crowded.

D's cousin Joe plays the piano (quite well!) and was asked to play during the funeral; her cousin's husband was asked to sing as well. With that in mind, they rehearsed for a while and somehow I got involved and it was decided that I would join them in the choir loft (along with D's uncle). I wasn't sure how it would sound, but they seemed to think it was alright, so I went along with it. Not that I minded, though. I love singing, even if I might not be that good -- or so I've been told. (Hey, at least I can hold a tune in a bucket, unlike other members of the family.) After a couple of rounds of songs, I had to put the kids to bed, so I called it quits. It had been a long day (and is going to be another long one tomorrow).

Earlier in the afternoon I took M, N and Jacob to the park to get out of the house. While it was on the chilly side, it wasn't too bad. We headed into town and eventually made our way over to the park, where the kids played on the equipment. As we got there, I announced that whoever saw a white squirrel first would be rewarded with a dollar. I had never seen one before and I've been told that they usually hang out at the park, so I figured four sets of eyes was better than one. After they played on the playground, we walked around looking at the lights. Sure, it was during the day, but we could still see the cut out displays from various movies.

As we were finishing up, Jacob earned the dollar and I spotted my first ever white squirrel (I've been going to Olney for 10+ years now and had never seen one until today). I got a couple more shots, but I think this one shows best.