Memorial Day 2010

Remembering fallen soldiers of every time and season.

Had to work in the morning. Just mowing, but all the way to Novi & Brighton. Then came home and cleaned out the van. Now just waiting for some rain. It is very dry. My sister had storms and lost power down in Livonia. Had fun reviewing past memorial days via my previous blog posts. What a neat way to record things. There is so much I would have forgotten. It's neat to have it all electronically recorded. I'm amazed at how much some things have changed, and yet also how much they have stayed the same. Last year we were recovering from throwing a wedding. Other years involved planting a garden and one year a camping trip with great friends.

2010 Balloon Glow at Frankenmuth

While watching the news last night, we saw a clip from the Balloon Flights in Frankenmuth. The newscaster said they were scheduled to take off at 7. We hurried up, jumped in the car and flew up to Frankenmuth. We arrived just in time. We saw several balloons take off. What a beautiful sight. We hung around listening to the announcer. We soon learned that it was actually a race and that the balloons would be arriving overhead and dropping a bean-bag with streamer attached into a target area. We decided to hang around. I'm glad we did. It was really neat to watch as the pilots maneuvered the balloons over the target area and dropped the bean-bag. Several missed the area entirely as they depend on finding the right wind currents to guide them. The pilots then landed the balloons and ferried them back to the area where 15 of them set up just at sunset and fired the burners creating the "glow." It was really beautiful to watch them glowing and listen to the "whoosh" of the flames.

Not Much But Work, Then Rest

Had to go to work again today. Just mowing. 4 lawns from Ortonville, to Grand Blanc, to Burton, to Flint. Got home at a decent time, took a relaxing bath and settled on the couch to veg. Sarah was updating the work. After about 1/2 hour she jumped up and said, "we have to go." Apparently, we skipped a job that was due today. So, back out we went. It was quick tho, and we are back home again.
My Peonies are in full bloom. Beautiful this year. Yesterday, as you saw on my fb, was the Community Picnic at the elementary school. I was in charge of Syd and Emma. Who by the way is the class whiner. She lived up to her name. Wow! That was interesting. Now I remember why I never wanted to teach Kindergarten. Syd did a great job of getting her to "refocus." And of course and ice-pac was involved. The kid only ate watermelon for lunch. Which was provided by Famous Dave's and was quite good.

Field Day Thursday

A trip to St. John and Henderson Mi. First a stop at Hardee's in Owosso. One of the few left. Then on to St. John where I mowed and Sarah did the "maid service." Basically just wiping down everything and vacuuming, like a "refresh" cleaning. Then on to Henderson, which is out in the middle of nowhere basically. The farmers were bringing in the hay. The grass at the property was super high. I guess last time the crew tried to mow there the lawn was wet. Some spots were over a foot tall! I had to go real slow. It was huge too! Over an acre I'd say. About half way through I noticed my neck and arms were getting hot and burny. I covered with an extra shirt for the duration. Man it was hot. Then more sitting in the sun. Niki's games last night-they're always a double-header. Whew! More hot. They squeaked out both games though. Was wishing I had a pool to go swimming in when I got home.

Whey Back Whens-day

Found some old pics. One of the girls tubing up north. The "good ole days." What fun they had. And me too, tryin to make them fly out of the tubes.

The other is of Syd and Niki back when Syd first started coming over. Oh my, she was a tiny little thing.

A Taste of Summer

Highs in the upper 80's. Good Grief! We never seem to be able to have just a "normal" temperature. We're either above or below average. Last night we enjoyed a 'Lost' party with the Renee's. Burgers and spaghetti salad. Renee tried the new recipe from the Kroger magazine, buffalo chicken dip. It was very good. Topped off the dinner with carrot cake or ice-cream sandwiches. I chose the carrot cake. Yummm. Today's agenda includes daily chores and trying to stay cool! Tonight's menu will be: Grilled pork tenderloin (recipe from chef Donaldo), grilled peaches and grilled asparagus.

Scrap at the B&B

Wonderful weekend with the sistopher and neicopher and great-neiceopher & great-nephewfer. It all started with a trip to the scrapbook store. Got some beautiful pages for my new ancestery book. Then went back to the B &B and Don graciously unpacked my car and took everything down to the basement. Marlene got us started by buying a georgous ancestry pad of pages and some scrapbook pages. We then made a lot of copies of documents and photos! Thanks Mar! She copied down the family tree that I had worked on to date. Dinner by Chef Donaldo and his apprentice Karen was Greens a la Taco Salad served with Corunna. For dessert a fresh baked Rhubarb/Strawberry Crumb served with vanilla ice-cream. Breakfast on Saturday was Buttermilk blueberry pancakes served with Canadian bacon and of course coffee. Lunch was Hummus and chips with Asiago & apple brats. Yummmm. Some people had another slice of the crunch. (not me I was too full!) The sleeping accomodations were cozy and peaceful. Other activites included a Barbie wedding, (video will probably show up on another blog) magnetic dolls, storybook reading general silliness.

A Full Day

Did the morning work & paid bills. Watered flowers. Went to Rich's - bought some basil, red-leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, and nasturtium plants. Oh and a grape tomato plant. Picked up Syd the Kid. We got the car washed, picked up some bird seed, picked up some lunch and headed for the park. Ate at the park and played for a bit. Came home. Planted all the stuff in pots, cept the nasturtium which we put in the flower bed. Picked up Evan. Then did a "drive by" to see if peeps were living in the house that we have to do work at tomorrow. Took a small bike ride with Syd on her Barbie bike. Went to the store to get shrooms for the ke-bobs. Made some awesome grilled chicken kebobs and ate them with some fresh pineapple. After dinner I played "hopshotts" with Syd. Threw to the ball to Bailey several times. Now I'm just chillin. Very nice outside today.

Post Today is on http://fit-n-trim.blogspot.com/

Today's post is back on http://fit-n-trim.blogspot.com/

I don't care if anyone reads it or not. It's just something I need to do. I think it keeps me accountable to something.

No Cell Phones in The Courthouse

New law in the Genesee Co. courts ~ No cell phones allowed. Duh, ya think? However if you are a lawyer, cop, employee, or juror you may have one. Ok, that's probably 70 percent of the people there. Hoping to see more places adopt the rule. Michigan will soon have a "no driving while texting" law.

I have a fresh supply of kleenex, cough drops, cough medicine, Tylenol, benedryl, chicken soup and vernors. Can't seem to shake the cold. Took a 2 hour nap this afternoon. I seem to feel worse in the afternoon and evening.

Sneezing, Sniffling, Coughing

That's me for the past three days. I haven't been sick or even had a cold for at least 2 years. But the neighbors have been passing this cold around to each other and I think it finally got passed on to me. Stuffy head & nose. Bad headaches and some dizziness. Been mostly camped out on the couch reading, watching tv and napping. Yesterday I did sit out in the sun at Niki's softball tourney. It felt good for a while. But then in the afternoon, I started to feel drowsy so we came home and I napped. No cooking for me - take out Chinese. Then back outside for a bit to watch as Syd learned how to ride her 2-wheeler Dora bike. Hopefully the sneezing, sniffling, coughing will soon be through!

All Dressed Up & No Place to Go

Mr. & Mrs. B. Bird have returned only to find out their previously occupied home went into foreclosure and Mr. & Mrs. Sp. Arrow and family have moved in lock, stock & barrel. Mr. & Mrs. B. Bird were quite upset. So much so that Mr. B. was engaging Mr. & Mrs. Sp. in a duel. This went on for a relatively long time. The Sp. Arrow family was not about to budge. So I quickly dressed, & ran to Meijers to purchase a new home. Now the plan is to entice Mr. & Mrs. B. Bird into the new home. They were nowhere to be seen when I returned. I'll be keeping surveillance this afternoon.

Way Back When-s-Day (Thursday)

I got the blog title from my sister, of course - got to compete. I think she actually got the idea from another blogger anyway. Here are some pics from the family first trip to Florida. ~ December 1971. Just the 4 out of the 6. We were quite "wowwed" with the ocean, oranges and the sun. I fell in love with it way back then.
It's raining cats & dogs today! Found some cool stuff with the genealogy today. I'm making a pork tenderloin with sage (from my sister's herb garden) and bay (from my bay tree) with red skinned potatoes and asparagus. Smells delicious-i-oso. Crockpot of course.

Just Another Day in Paradise

I made this basket up last week. Went to Rich's Market and picked out all the flowers. They were on sale 3 for $10. Did some dishes, computer work, banking, shopping (the grocery type), made grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner then rode my bike while Syd rode her scooter. Now I'm blogging, ordering pictures online, adding songs to my playlist, and listening to Nicole reading from Frankenstein.

Tired, Cold & Sore

Tired is because we stayed over Tom & Renee's too late last night playing "Sing-star." It's just so much fun. I couldn't leave until I beat someone. Finally did- singing MmMmMmMmM song by Crash Test Dummies. Then tired some more because we had to get up at 7:30 and go to work. Tired, Cold and Sore from cleaning a most nasty house. It was disgusting. I don't even want to put up pictures because it was so gross. It was freezing cold today, possibly even saw some little tiny snowflakes. I should add smelly too, cause that's what I was after cleaning that mess. Came home dropped the trailer full of junk, changed clothes and headed back out to finish a couple other jobs. Rushed home to take a bath and get ready for the prom pics. Ended by ordering take out Chinese and vegging out, which I'm doing now.

Monday's Musings

Some Places I'd Like to Visit This Summer

• Ann Arbor Farmer's Market
• Shipshewana
• Algonac State Park
• Boyne, Mi
• Holland Tulip Festival (Too late, I already missed it)
• Otsego State Park
• Mackinaw Island: The Great Turtle Run/Walk
• St John, Mi: Mint Farm
• Roscommon, Mi - Kirtland Warbler Festival
• Saginaw State Park: Walk the trails in nature center
• Oscoda, Mi: Kayaking

Some Much Needed Rain

Except that I couldn't open the G.S. until bout 12:30. Only a few people today. Made a few bucks. Sarah boxed it all up and put away the boxes until next time. Didn't do much today. Lazy day. Made an awesome chicken pasta for dinner & then strawberry shortcake too! Now I'm just trying to finish the book I'm reading because it has to go back to the library tomorrow.

May Day ~ May 1st

May Day occurs on May 1 and refers to several public holidays.[1] In many countries, My Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Day, a day of political demonstrations and celebrations organised by the unions, anarchists, and socialist groups. May Day is also a traditional holiday in many cultures.

So what are you doing this May Day? We had a bit of rain, now it's just cloudy. I'm sittin here in the garage again, trying to make a buck. Had a wonderful evening last nite playing euchre at Mike & Chris's. Had a bbq - first of the season. I came in third place and recouped my $5 game fee. Yahoo!