Wow. Wow it's been a long time since I've updated.
Lots of stuff have happened since my last update, mostly good.
I live in the OC, and the Bower's Museum had the terracotta warriors. Like the actual ones from Xi'an.
I'd wanted to see them since I was a kid and saw them on documentaries I watched. So being able to see them, even if it was only a few of the army, was just... words can't really describe my admiration and joy at seeing them up close. Probably a highlight of my year, maybe even decade.
Holidays have both come, gone, and are coming.
Halloween was fun, if uneventful. A simple get-together with friends, and as always I decorated to the rafters. I love Halloween so much. :D
Thanksgiving too was good, had a few guests over this year and it all went smoothly, if stressful. Not just for the holiday prep and worry about things going well.
The no so good was that my grandfather went on hospice on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I found out that Sunday and it hit me pretty hard during the week that he really, truly was going to die. He and I were never that close, but we'd been developing somewhat of a connection. I guess I myself thought I had more time, and he probably wasn't sure how to make a connection, being kinda old school and unsure about me. My mother and he'd been estranged most my life so we were never in each other's lives, which on the one hand makes it not too painful, is itself a source of pain as the "what ifs" and "coulda shoulda woulda"s snuck in during the week. I reached out a couple times during the week, wishing him well and telling him I loved him, but he was apparently too weak to reply. Especially when he was gone by Friday. Didn't even make it a week on hospice before he was gone. My sis'd even been thinking of going to spend time helping out in the next couple weeks and she didn't even get the chance to make plans.
It's as I said a sort of complicated emotion. I miss him. I didn't know him that well, but I wish I had. His photography was excellent, a hobby he clearly had passion for. He and my mom loved watching football together. He could be stubborn, but he was also... just kind, in that gruff, old-man way. I loved him, even if it wasn't as strong as it could have been, and that too has me filled with regret at having not had enough time to bond, even as far apart as we were both in age and temperment.
Regardless, that means I'm probably out of town on Christmas to help my mother out with his affairs, but also means I have friendsmas planning to do. So *panics slightly*.
Hope everyone's doing well and hope you all have an amazing holiday season, and love you all.