My family is Caraaaazy! (crazy)

Seriously.

As many of you know, my grandfather passed away last weekend. I have been in Columbus, Ohio for the past four days celebrating his life. He was a wonderful Christian man and I have no doubt that he is singing in the choir in heaven.

I am positive that my grandfather was looking down on all of us, and rolling his eyes over the craziness of this past week. There is nothing like putting 30 people together to make you want to be institutionalized. Don't get me wrong, I love my extended family, but whew, they are nuts. Let me explain...

I had to bring Peyton with me because she is obviously still nursing. So Peyton and I loaded up on Wednesday morning at 5am and headed to the DFW. Once I got there, the craziness began. I had missed my flight (whoops), been rebooked for a later flight, and I accidentally told the security guard that I "might" have a firearm in my bag (i wasn't paying attention to what he was asking) - needless to say, the trip got off to a rocky start.

Once I got there, I spent the next three days trying to see straight. Not only did we have 32 family members in my grandmother's house, but we had three wild dogs, about 50 delivered plants, 18 casseroles, 27 pies/cakes/desserts, 4 edible arrangements, and endless sodas and bottles of water. My grandmother proceeds to insist that the grandchildren keep an inventory of every single thing that she received and who she received it from. Sounds easy? Don't be fooled. We had to write exactly what each flower or food looked like, how big it was, the container it came in, and what it smelled like (ok, i made that last one up). We did it however, and we did it with a smile :-).

That evening my cousin made the mistake of printing out the tentative program from the funeral the next evening. My grandmother and her three daughters proceeded to spaz over the layout for the next 2 hours. I am positive my grandfather was yelling from heaven, ITS JUST THE LAYOUT! The funeral director graciously listened to the millions of complaints, and fixed it to a T.

Poor Peyton barely survived. She lived on everyone else's schedule and got a nap whenever and wherever she could. I think sometimes that people forget what it is like to have a newborn - they require some sort of a schedule that includes several naps, and unfortunately, they require some amount of quiet. Well, she got none of that. Peyton and I and my parents slept in the basement and you could hear every paw print, footstep, door slam, etc. The worst were the high heels clomping down the entryway, directly over Peyton's room...bless her heart, she was a trooper.

The next three days were filled with ups and downs and everything in between. We all gained about 10 pounds on yummy food, celebrated my grandfather's life, spent $600 at the Buckeye Corner on Ohio State memorabilia, and put up with each other's craziness. I would like to think that my immediate family is the sane ones, but we have our qwirks too. Isn't every family a little bit crazy? I hope so...