There was the Gallers visit, which was a lot of fun. Leah is old enough to enjoy Disney a bit more, so it was fun to see her a bit mesmerized by some things. I think that's one of the best things about working at Disney...seeing the amazement in kids' eyes when they see their favorite character or hundreds of tiny dolls singing 'it's a small world'. The next week was another week of Disney parks and going out with two friends in from Arkansas.
Then there was this week, the bad one. My dad called on Friday night to tell me that my grandfather had passed away. He'd been recovering from two broken vertebrae in his neck and had gotten pneumonia. The doctors thought he was doing well, but he just sorta faded away on Friday. I think he knew that he'd be living in a lot of pain with the neck brace, so figured now would be a good time to bow out. (Either that or he couldn't bear to see how much worse the Miami Dolphins would get.) Pop was a wonderful guy...he taught me to love horses as a kid, introduced me to the world of the arts and theater, and found my family the best dog ever, Rusty. I spent the last 3 days at home with the family, and everyone's doing pretty well. He will definitely be missed. Every time I watch the Pixar chess short, I will think of Pop. I think they used him as inspiration for the character...
To end this post on a happier note, I did get to visit IKEA before I left South Florida. Ours in Orlando doesn't open for a few weeks, so I got a jump start. I don't think I can express how much I love that store. I can't wait to have a house so I can deck it out with everything IKEA!
