This is it...

I haven't been out of the apartment since Saturday. I am sick....the head-is-so-stuffy-you- feel-like-a-zombie-sick. I am terribly behind in school work, the refrigerator is pathetically bare, I can't taste my coffee and I am out of tissues....the soft, lotiony kind that don't hurt my raw, red nose. Oh, and I am feeling incredibly sorry for myself, in case that wasn't completely clear to begin with. Robbie informed me this morning that I really need to get out today. Of course, this would require showering, wearing actual clothes, not the fake, pajama-like ones I have been hibernating in, and maneuvering my way through a store where important decisions must be made. *sigh*

A long time ago my Mom and I worked at a funeral home together. She was the office manager and I was the receptionist. The funeral home had a long, skinny hallway with numerous doors. Each door would lead to either the prep room, the casket and urn room, the chapel or the in-state rooms. (At night this hallway was a scary place and I would often run as fast I as could in heels down the length of it to get back to my desk.)

There were a few times I was pretty sick and could not go to work and there was this one time, when I had all four of my molars removed, that I was convinced I was going to die. Whenever I was home, terribly sick, I would call my Mom at the funeral home, who was not only doing her job, but mine as well, and inform her that I was indeed dying and that she needed to notify our co-workers and begin preparing for my funeral. She was quite aware of what I wanted.

The casket room was a lovely room with soft music and a plethora of wood and metal caskets, to choose from. Some were lined in silk and they all looked as though you could, quite comfortably, sleep forever in them. (Don't be fooled, there's no mattress there...it's all an illusion!) You could choose from Oak, Maple, Poplar, or Cherry woods, or you could really splurge and go with a fine bronze casket. My choice was the, pink velvet-lined Primrose Bronze. The flowers would have to be roses, no carnations or gladiolas and I preferred that they come from the New Leaf florist shop, oh they did such lovely work. They used a lot of twigs I remember...

Mom, you might want to make the call....I think this is it. And remember, no gladiolas, please.