5 months

Yep. 5 months. It's been 5 months since I've blogged. I'm aware that I'm a slacker...you don't have to point that out. Between school, home stuff, the boys, and life in general, blogging just kind of slipped into oblivion. So, I guess some catch-up is in order. Let's see...

School: I quit. Well, I didn't actually quit. I finished out the semester and then Mr. Armed with a Latte and I made some hard decisions about school next year for our children. Fact is, we're incredibly disappointed with the public school system in general. While our local public school is "fine," we don't want just "fine" for our boys. And private school? Nope. It's not only out of our budget, but it's just not realistic to me. Realistic in that there is realistically no school that will meet all my criteria (which it should, if I'm paying) for my kids' educations. So, we took a step back and made a decision. A biggie. I mean, like monumental big. Here it is:

WE'RE HOMESCHOOLING!!!

Now, had you even muttered those words to me any time within the last 8 million years, I would have laughed (rather loudly and obnoxiously) at your lame idea. I mean, why homeschool when there are lots and lots and lots of public school for our children? Right? Right? Nope...wrong. We didn't make this decision because our children are so behind in school that this is the only way to get them caught up (though one is definitely not learning the way he's being taught and that results in my "doing school" with him for hours after "real" school has ended just to ensure he's staying on pace with his class. But his teacher swore he was doing "just great." Grrrr.....). Nor did we choose to homeschool because our children are academic stars who are incredibly bored in class and are working grade levels ahead (although one is such a little natural at picking stuff up, it's almost irritating). We decided to homeschool because, honestly, it simply makes sense to us. We can spend as much time on a subject or a unit as we need or want. When it's time for US History, we can research all we want on Abraham Lincoln (which my older one will love) and when it's time for math, my younger one can work at his own pace rather than wait for anyone else in his class to finish. In fact, my older son's teacher told me that we could probably finish an entire day of "normal" school in 3 hours because we won't have to do so much waiting or crowd control (which, sadly, is a huge part of any public school teacher's day). How does he know? Because he (along with his public school teacher wife) HOMESCHOOL THEIR DAUGHTER!! She's in the same grade as my oldest son. I'm just sayin'. OK....on to the next thing. Ummm...

Home stuff: No big news here. Still trying desperately to keep up with this house and the two little pigs who live in it (the boys, not us).

The boys: Well, there is one word that has consumed us for the past few months and that word is BASEBALL. My oldest made the All-Star team (and my baby was the bat boy) and we've had practice just about every night...until last week when it all came to an end. We didn't qualify for the national tournament, so baseball is over for us...for now. The truth is, we're starting a travel baseball team in January, so life will just get crazy again. But we honestly love it. All of us. How many things can we say that about? So we have a rest from baseball. Only to occupy our time with football in about 2 1/2 weeks. Practice 4 or 5 days a week and games on Saturday (back to back games since the boys are in two different age divisions). Fun times.

So, now we're on to life in general. The truth is, the past month and a half or so has been pretty hard. My Papa (my dad's dad) went into the hospital and we were told he had hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain). While there is a "fix" for hydrocephalus (surgery to insert a shunt to drain the fluid), Pop decided he didn't want any surgery. He told us he was tired and he just wanted to rest. And he did. June 26, my Pop left this world and went to be with his beloved of over 50 years, our Gram Jack. To say that I'm devastated would be an understatement. To say that I miss him would be just scratching the surface of the truth.

Pop's funeral was last Thursday, almost a week ago. Over 500 people came...judges, DAs, cops, mayors. It was unbelievable. My husband had to monitor the city council meeting last night and they closed in honor of my Pop. How crazy is that? He was a man's man, his wife's hero, a cop's cop, and my Pop. I pasted the talk I gave at his service below. Maybe you'll get a glimpse of how much I love my Pop. It's long, but it's worth the read.

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When Corey and I were planning our 1998 wedding, he made one thing abundantly clear. He was marrying me for my Papa. He had had the privilege of working with Papa Walt for a couple years before Pop retired in 1994 and apparently, Corey saw me as his way into Pop’s family. He married me for my Papa Walt and, baby, I can’t say that I blame you.

Uncle Doug and I both decided that when we spoke at Grandma Jack’s funeral, it was actually pretty easy to think of things to say because Gram was…well, let’s face it. Gram was quirky. But thinking of something to say today has been a little tougher. Papa wasn’t quirky. Papa was straightforward; the real deal. All his cards were on the table. Papa meant what he said and said what he meant. If you didn’t want the truth, you didn’t ask Papa. Papa was just a good man.

When I was a kid, the Muniz family epitomized the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child.” Throughout this city on any given day, you could find us kids together…either at Uncle Rich’s, Uncle Ed’s, or Papa Walt’s. My Papa picked me up from school, drove on my field trips, and entertained my friends. It wasn’t uncommon for friends to tell me that they wish they had my Papa as their own. Now I hear my boys’ friends telling them the same thing about their Papa, my dad. Dad, Uncle Dan, Uncle Doug, Pop left all three of you with an amazing legacy to carry on for your children and your grandchildren. I see glimpses of him in each one of you. Pop was a good man and he bred good men.

Usually, when someone who lives in an assisted living facility passes away, you don’t hear much about the assisted living facility. Not the case here. Making the decision for Pop to live somewhere that could help our family take care of him 24 hours a day was not an easy one for my dad and his brothers. But it turned out to be one of the best decisions they ever made for him. The people at Prestige in Manteca assured us that they would take care of Pop like he was their own family member…and they did. When he hurt, they hurt. When he smiled, he made their day, just like he made all of ours. Sunny, Jan, Jaime, JB, Jasmine, Amy…and every one at Prestige, thank you. Thank you for never looking at my Papa as “just another resident.” Thank you for providing this family with peace and assurance that our patriarch was in good hands. We love every single one of you. Like it or not, you’re in the family now.

If you would just forgive me for a minute, I’d like to have some words with my Pop.

Pop, I know you see this. I know you see all these people you used to work with and play ball with and your friends and family all here. We’re all here, Pop. Prestige even brought the party bus for you. Jan says it’s empty there without you. They love you so much. We’ll take care of them, Pop. Don’t worry.

The kids are doing ok, Pop, but they miss you. Telling them that you were gone was one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do. But we’re thankful that we all got to spend so much time with you when you felt good. It takes the sting away a little bit to know that our boys will remember the good times.

Thank you, Pop. Thank you for loving me and for taking care of me. Thank you for coaching my high school softball team with my dad. Thank you for showing us the most important thing: family. We’re working on teaching the boys that, Pop. Thank you for loving my husband, for showing him what a real cop is, and for showing us what it means to stick it out in a marriage. Thank you for always taking our babies and rocking them to sleep when nobody else could. Thank you for smoked salmon and fried catfish. (Did you all know how fast this man could skin a catfish?) Thank you for showing us all the meaning of “honoring your mother and father” when you took care of your parents in front of our eyes. Thank you for taking care of Gram the very best you could. Thank you for Bethel Island and for passing on the love of radio stories. With the invention of satellite radio, the boys now listen to the same radio stories you used to made me listen to as a kid. They love them some Fibber McGee and Great Gildersleeve, Pop. Just like you did. I’ll hold on to that forever.

We’ll take care of each other, Pop. I won’t lie…the last few days have been hard, but we’ll help each other through. Just enjoy your reunion with Gram. Maybe dance with her…she’ll like that. I know you missed her every second of the past 2 ½ years. Tell her we love her and we miss her too. I miss you, Pop. But know that you took a piece of each one of us…and you left us with so much more. We’ll all do our best to make you and Gram proud. We’ll do good Pop, just like you done good.