During the next week, to keep our minds off of the death, we tried to get back on track with our to do list and into a daily routine. We made our rounds to the County Recorder's office to pick up our marriage license, then to the Social Security Administration to start the name change process. After 45 minutes my old card was taken and I was told a new one would be mailed to me. We still had time left on our meter so we stopped off for a bite to eat. Next I went to the DMV. I had not been able to get an appointment so I waited for 1 1/2 hours.
Unfortunately, I also had to ask for my "corrective lenses" restriction to be removed, along with changing my name. Well, somehow there was a glitch on the clerk's computer. She had to start the process all over again, after reviewing my doctor's note and making me read 3 or of 5 lines to test my eyesight. She did let me keep my license until my new one arrived, without punching a hole in it. Then we combined our car insurances, which saved us a lot of money.
We went back to work, which was hard to do for a full week after 2 1/2 weeks off. We caught up with a few friends during the week. We also managed to address our announcements to family and friends who were unable to attend our wedding, and to others we were unable to invite due to capacity at the venue. I was finally able to get Gabe to donate blood with me too. He felt proud afterwards.
At the end of the week we went to the casket viewing, then watched over Gabe's grandma while the rest of the family went to the viewing. The following morning, we all went to the funeral. There was a nice turnout and most people had good stories to tell. Afterwards, we enjoyed a rememberance luncheon at San Diego Brewing Co.
To my surprise, my driver's license arrived in one week, compared to the 3-5 I was told it would take. But there was a problem... yes, my name was spelled correctly, but my restriction had not been removed. The photo was also pretty terrible, zoomed close to my round face. I called the DMV and explained the situation. They agreed it was most likely their error, which would be free to me to fix it, but I would have to go to my local office again. This time I made an appointment.
After three years of sleeping on a full size bed, it was time to search for a new one. I decided I was going to skip the queen size and jump to a king. Our first stop was Real Deal Furniture, where we had purchased our couches the prior year. The business moved into a larger showroom and was closer for us to stop by after work. It was our only stop. We found a lovely bedroom set, including bed frame, dresser, nightstand, and mirror, and found a tempurpedic mattress. We got a great deal and set up delivery for the end of the week.
Gabe and his family decided they would drive mid-week to Oregon for the Memorial Holiday weekend. They wanted to watch the youngest, Liz, race in the pre-qualifying regionals. I chose not to go partly because I could not afford to take anymore unpaid time off from work, and also because I hate long car rides.
Our friend Clem came to keep me company since Gabe was out of town during our furniture delivery. All I had to do was make dinner. I tried out a new casserole recipe with asparagus, red potatoes, chicken, and tomatoes. It turned out quiet tasty, although next time the chicken should be cooked separately. After the furniture guys left, Clem went home, and I proceeded to set up our new bedroom. The furniture had been put together for me, but I need remove the new sheets we received as a wedding gift from the dryer, and also the new down comforter. I ended up making pretty good progress cleaning house by moving our old mattress to our spare "guest" bedroom, de-cluttering, and visiting with Gabe's grandma.
Gabe got back early Sunday morning. We spent most of the day lounging, then went to see the Hangover 2 with Clem. Of course it's rare any movie is better than it's predecessor, but it was still pretty funny. We ended the holiday weekend with a fun, yet relaxing bbq with friends.
The next week went by pretty quickly, mostly because we were excited to see Tim McGraw in concert. We met my friend Erica, and her boyfriend Joe, at the parking lot. We made excellent time earlier to tailgate. We made our way to our seats that we purchased for a great deal. We saw the Band Perry, Luke Bryan, and finally Tim McGraw. He sang many of his hits and a few new songs.
Then came a long night... as we waited patiently by our cars for traffic to subside we noticed two policemen on motorcycles, one in a sedan, and then an ambulance pass us. Gabe and Joe went to see what the commotion was about. Then Joe rushed rushed over to us girls to tell us Clem had collapsed. Gabe and I spoke with the paramedics and met the ambulance at the hospital. Clem had hit his head, twice, and was taken to ICU. We were not allowed to see him until 3am. After a few days in the hospital, Clem was able to go home. We spent the next few weeks taking turns with friends, visiting Clem and his parents, who flew in from Virginia. He is making excellent progress. He is still being monitored carefully by his family, and will hopefully be back at work in a couple weeks.
I finally got my license restriction removed, re-took a photo, but it still came out to close up. Oh well, I have to renew my license in a couple years anyway. Gabe and I also consulted our insurance provider for life insurance. We each have a policy through work, but mine isn't nearly enough. A nurse came to our house to test our urine, and take samples of our blood, blood pressure, and weight. We both ended up weighing more than we thought we had, which means all the weight I lost pre-wedding has come back. We were both approved for policies, which also gave us a multi-policy discount on our car insurance. Unfortunately, Gabe was misclassified and we have to follow up before the sky-high premium is charged.
We ordered, wrote, and mailed out all of our thank you cards. It took us a couple weeks and sore wrists to get them all done. We even managed to select only 100 photos out of more than 700 from our wedding, for our album. The photographers should be getting us the album proof soon.
To be continued...
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