Eatin Like a Pig

No, not me! The birds in the backyard. I can't seem to keep the feeders filled. Now I now why. Today I received a newsletter from "Wild Birds Unlimited." The article was all about the fact that the birds are preparing for migration/onset of winter. So they are "pigging" out right now whenever they can.

So for now, DON'T "eat like a bird."

Fall Mini Trip

Started out Saturday, beautiful, warm & sunny. First stop was the apple orchard in Montrose. We enjoyed some doughnuts and cider. A hot coffee for me. We then meandered down the road. There was an old country cemetery so we stopped to look around and I took some pictures. We then took the back roads all the way to Freeland. It was so interesting to see all the houses that were decorated for halloween. Some outlandishly so. I realized too late that we should have stopped and taken pictures of them.

Went to another apple orchard, where we bought a pumpkin. Went to the "Bird House" and looked around. Turned around and headed for Chesaning, again taking back roads. Took some more pictures near a river. Had an interesting lunch in St. Charles. Tony's famous steak sandwich's. More about that on another edition. Landed in Chesaning about 2:00 and went down to the river to take more pictures. Arrived at the Stone House B & B about 3:30. It was very relaxing and beautiful. Sat in the parlour and read a book about the history of Chesaning. I read a diary of a woman who traveled from MA. to Mich in the 1800's. Unbelievable. I don't know how those women did it. Apparently the area was inhabited by Native Americans. It was a riveting read. Later we went to dinner at Gracie's in New Lathrop. It was kind of disappointing. A high priced buffet. Drove back on the country roads. Several farmers were out in the dark bringing in their crops.

Field Trip

Upland Hills Farm with 90 1st graders! Well, I only had 2 in my charge. We started by feeding corn to the ducks. Then off to the barn for an animal show. The best part was the goat on a track over our heads. He kept going from one side of the barn (top) to the other; until the farmer put a pail on a pole and fed him. Most of the kids really enjoyed it when the cow pooped and peed! Next, we had lunch (bag) under the pavilion. I didn't get to eat mine because I left it in the truck. The kids were (kinda) happy to share. I bought a hotdog at the stand. After lunch was a tractor pulled hay ride. That was loads of fun. Especially when I kept sliding down towards the end of the wagon. Syd did a good job of holding on to my legs. I ended up meeting a neighbor that lives down the street. Then we marched to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin. It was a beautiful day~ A fun time was had by all!

Weighty Matters ~ Week 5

Interested?

or

Committed?

That was the topic for this week's meeting.

Interest: a feeling of curiosity or concern about something that makes the attention turn toward it

Committ: intransitive verb to pledge devotion or dedication to somebody or something

So, the question is am I interested in becoming healthy or committed to becoming healthy? Ah, ha. Some deep soul searching here. I think I've only been just interested. I see that I must become committed. I did lose a pound this week, bringing the total to 4.2. See that is merely an interest. I can't get too hard on myself however, because it is still moving in a forward direction. This week I commit to "be committed."

What does this mean?

• Making good food choices


• Exercising


• Tracking points


• Not over eating

Simple right? hmmmm.

Plans Gone Awry

Yesterday started out warm and sunny. First stop was the little restaurant in SC for their awesome baked oatmeal. A few little errands, then we were off to Frankenmuth. They had a tiny farmer's market. Bought a home made dog bone for the dog. Then over to the cheese shop in town, where I bought a few items for Christmas. Then over to River Place where we did a little more Christmas shopping. We ate lunch at the Frankenmuth Brewery where Kevin and Audrey had their wedding reception. It has changed hands since then. It was still nice and we ate outside on the deck. Next over to Birch Run to the outlet mall. This is where things went sideways. We stopped at "Justice" where Katie works to say hi. They said she had just left to go to the hospital because she was having pains. Meanwhile, she had been trying to call us. Hence, Sarah took her to the hospital and I went home to take care of the dog and wait. She ended up with some minor infections and sent her on her way. It was about 8 pm, (I had already cancelled out B&B reservations) so we just went out for dinner.

This morning dawned even warmer and sunnier. I decided I wanted to get some fallish things. Went to a farm market in Linden and ended up getting cornstalks and gourds. I kept seeing those gorgeous purple flowery things on the side of the road. I finally convinced Sarah to stop and we picked a large bunch. After a few errands we ended up back at home. Accomplished quit a few chores. Put the camper back in it's spot. Put away the rest of the garage sale things. I mowed the lawn. Cleaned up the garage a bit. BBQ chicken, apple salad and sweet potato fries for dinner. Now I'm relaxing with a cup of Scottish tea and some of the Pumpkin Polka Dot cookies I made last week. The plan is to go to the Chesaning B& B next weekend.

This and That or Nuts & Bolts

Nuts and Bolts.

Right now I am hating those box elder insects. They are everywhere. Coming in the house when and where ever they can get in. Oh, well, that is the price for the awesome weather we are enjoying.

As you can see I missed my "Weighty Matters" edition. Hmm, that's because I am having a hard time getting with the program. Had another minor setback this week. It's really all about making choices. I really haven't been making smart choices all the time. I did have a victory earlier on Wed. however. We were celebrating Richie's birthday with pizza and chocolate cake. YIKES. I ended up making a low carb veggie pizza for myself and making some WW pumpkin cookies. The cookies are delics. and only 1 point per cookie. If anyone wants the recipe I'll forward to you. I enjoy the home made pizza better than the pizza joint stuff anyway. I loaded it up with all my favorite veggie toppings, some pineapple and low fat mozz. cheese. Put it all on a high fiber, low cal flat bread.

It's been really crazy around here. Slammed with work. (not complaining mind you) but then the trailer broke, had it get it fixed. A belt was going on the truck, had to get that fixed. blah, blah, blah. Going to a B & B in Chesening on Saturday. Maybe do some Christmas shopping at Birch Run. Probably find a festival or farmer's market or some such thing. Maybe dinner at Frankenmuth. Yikes on that one!

All In A Day's Happenings

Some how it's Tuesday already. Garage sale not a complete bust, but because of the rain, I was only able to do about a day and a half. Almost 200 bucks, not too bad though.

Very beautiful day today, and the forecast calls for the same all week. Trying to decide whether or not to still go camping this weekend, which seems like allot of work. So, maybe we'll just go to a B & B, not sure yet.

I had gotten some cheap peppers at the market last week so, I've got some simmering in the crockpot. Perfect meal because it is time for the monthly ancestry meeting tonight.

Curling Up With a Book

Because I'm cold and tired from sitting in the garage for a large part of the day.

I "Heart" the Farmer's Market

Really, any farmer's market. But, today I visited the one in Northville. My second hometown. It was fallish, cool and crisp. Started with a cup of 1/2 caff. Circled the market once before making my purchases. Ha, I got there at the appointed time, even maybe 5 or 10 minutes early. My early bird sistopher had already been there for a 1/2 hour and had filled up 2 carts full! Wow, she was born to shop.
I got the following:
2 little pumpkin decoration thingies
1 box of cooking apples, I think the guy called them 'spie-gold,' combo of spies and golden delicious
1 box of eating apples, honeycrisp
1 tomato for the pizza i will make later this weekend (organic)
1 red onion (organic)
1 red pepper (organic)
4 large red pepper to stuff
1 half loaf of low carb grain bread from Great Harvest

Had breakfast with the sistopher a Rebecca's in Northville. No stories, but let me just say, YIKES we are both getting forgetful! LOL
Stopped at VG's on the way home for some lunch meat. Got some organic turkey breast and some (not organic) buffalo chicken breast. This week on Biggest Loser I got the idea to wrap veggies in lunchmeat.


Dinner tonight. Sausage and cabbage with onions cooked in the crockpot. Some of the bread from Great Harvest. AND, baked apples. Yumm.

Weighty Matters ~ Week 3

Minus 2.6 lbs and total WL of 4.6 It's a start down the long and winding road. Dude on Biggest Loser lost 41 lbs. this week. Yikes! That sounds scary. It barely made a dent tho cuz he was over 400 lbs. Today's focus at the WW meeting was about how to shop smarter at the grocery store. Come on, is there any more smarter shopper than I? I could've guest taught the lecture. LOL I will look for some way in which to improve. You have to look at the total picture especially the fiber.
Upcoming Events:
Going to the Northville Farmer's Market with my sistopher
Getting my hairs cut
Garage sale this weekend
Going camping next weekend ~ FALL COLORS!

Water Aerobics

What a great work out. I decided to go back. So I went. Today. Water log city. But, if felt pretty good to do a work out. I'm a bit tired, but you don't really get sore like you do with a regular workout. Tomorrow is the big .........weigh in at the ole WW. Hope I lost, I don't even care how much.

There was 26 women + the leader. It was very crowded. But, I held my ground. I did not let those old regulars push me to the deep end. No siree. My goal for WA is to do everything in rhythm with the leader. I always seem to be a few counts behind. Some of those babes can move!

Corn and Beans~ Beans and Corn

I love this time of year when the beans and corn are brown and crunchy looking. Just waiting for the ole combine to mow em down and bring em in. I rode in a combine once; on the Hoisington farm out in Pinckney. Just cause I wanted to. That was back in the good old days. We used to go out there with the LCA peeps every fall for hay rides, hot dogs + (pot luck), and a huge bonfire. So generous to invite the whole gang every year. Then they had a fire, almost the entire farm burned down. So sad! ~Wow, that got a little off topic.~

Anyway, I finished my first crochet project; a washcloth. Turned out pretty good I might add. Went back to the store for more yarn. Started a second one. When I feel comfortable I'm gonna start a towel. Bought some halloween towels on sale at Kohl's so I need to hurry up and get them done.

Apple Cider Crisp

Discovered a yummy recipe that was on the WW board last week. I've made it twice since then! Here is the recipe~ ENJOY!

Apple Cider Crisp

Topping
1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cups sugar or sugar subs.
1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4 cups butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

Filling
7 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced
1/3 C apple cider
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
cooking spray

Instructions:
preheat oven to 375 degrees
combine first 4 ingredients in blender or food processor until crumbly. set aside
(i used my hands)
Combine apple and next 5 ingred. in a large bowl toss gently to combine. Spoon apple mix into an 8 inch sq baking dish coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with crumb mix. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm. Makes 8 servings. 3 WW points.

Busy Saturday

Caught up on life with my old friend Morris Code. Then I dressed and showered and we headed off to Wolcott's Apple Orchard for the annual fall festival. Sarah's mom and dad bring their tractors as part of the tractor show. We had a bowl of bean soup (made in a big cast iron pot) a cup of cider and cinnamon doughnut. Walked around the craft show. Bought a Sweet Annie wreath for the front door, scarves for Bailey, a new dog tag for him too, and some fall towels that have the crochet top on them so you can hang them from your stove or fridge. (more about the towels later) Got really, really cold so we decided to head home. Looking at the towels, I had one of my stellar idea moments and decided that I could make those towels. So we stopped at Hobby Lobby on the way home and got some crochet hook thingies and some yarn. Luckily a lady was there buying yarn and she helped settle the "quiet" argument we were conducting on what kind of yarn to buy. When we got home I promptly got on the computer and did a few searches on crocheting and watched a few getting started videos, a little reading, downloaded a few patterns, and voila' I was chain stitching away like mad. Right in time to the snoring going on, from the couch! I quickly added the single stitch, (sc) and double crochet stitch. (dc) That was all I needed for my first project, a simple wash cloth. I did start over about 3 times, but that was just to get into the swing of things. After about 5 rows down, we decided to head out for dinner and some more yarn. We hit, K-Mart which doesn't carry yarn any more. JoAnne's which was way to pricey. Finally Wal-Mart where I got some yarn for the towels and some more of the wash cloth type yarn. Then a quick stop at Kohl's for a few halloween towels. Whew! That's all for now-- got to go and finish my first wash cloth.

Second Full Day of Fall

I think I missed the first day. Oh yeah, it was 86 degrees! Crazy weather we have here in the mitten. Had to go OTJ yesterday. I noticed that it was looking "fallish" along the country roads. Stopped at a huge baby sale, stuff was kinda high priced. Might go back tomorrow, it's supposed to be half off! Going to Walcott's fall festival tomorrow. Tractor show, craft show, apples, cider, doughnuts, opps, no doughnuts, and a huge kettle of home made bean soup! Going tonight to watch Sydney cheer at the varsity game. Should be entertaining. Threw some curry chicken in the crockpot for dinner. Love the smells of that! It's been a crazy week and there's no signs of stopping.

Weighty Matters ~Week 2

You win some you lose some. It was a battle this past week and I lost. Not pounds, but the battle. I [won] some hard earned lost pounds back. So, okay crisis over. Back at it again this week. It is a new week and a new beginning. I had a new realization today at the meeting. We had to get in small groups and in my group was a nice older lady who said she was a life time member. I thought, wow, why are you still coming? Then it hit me. Because she needs to come to the meeting to stay with the program. That's what sunk home. I will need to attend for the rest of my life to "stay with the program." I certainly didn't get this way over night and I have been over weight for years. So, I'm guessing It will take a looooooong time to come off and then I will need to work at keeping it off for the rest of my life. Similar to an alcoholic. Yikes! I really plan to make it to goal this time. I've never done that before - either make it to goal or even plan to make it to goal. Huh, maybe that's been a problem. If you don't set a goal how can you achieve the goal? Or, if I have set a goal before it's been only 30 lbs or something that isn't even close to what I really need to lose because I have really been telling myself that I could never actually lose 80 lbs. So, that was a really BIG enlightenment.

Monday's Musings

I love to grocery shop.

I know some people think that is weird. As soon as you walk in the door the smells of chicken on the rotisserie and fresh baked good wafts into the entry way. Then you browse the produce section where the fruits and veggies look so awesome. While shopping each and every isle you challenge yourself to finding the best bargain prices. As you check out you proudly watch as all your coupons register minus amounts on the display. It's good exercise too! Then when you get home you watch as your fridge and cupboards fill up with new foodstuffs.

A Shorts Wearing Kind of Day

So glad it warmed up enough to wear shorts today. Especially after the raining and dreary day we had yesterday. Had to go to work today. I hate when we get work orders due on Sunday. Half a cup of Tim Horton's Potato soup with half bagel for lunch, yumm! Cleaned out the van, wound up the hose and picked up some of the dog poo. Hung out with Syd for a few. Made a pot of spaghetti. Chatted with the neighbors in the driveway. All in all not a bad day.

Tidbits and Trivialities

I made a really tasty pizza last night. Spinach & mushroom. Healthy & tasty. I really should open up a "good foods" restaurant. Anyone want to back me? (financially that is...) It's been very busy around here. The work has picked up. It seems to be very cyclical. Busy is good. Keeping people employed is good. Hoping to possibly go to the A2 Farmers Market tomorrow. Haven't been all summer. One can always hope.
Thought about going up north this w-end, but that is not going to work. Darn. Really missing being up in Boyne. maybe another weekend.
All the bills are paid.
Life is good. <3

Weighty Matters

Well, my friend and I lost a total equal to that of an 8.4 baby! We laughed about that. Probably bout the size of Rj. A great first week on the program. Got our weekly motivation from the meeting. I decided that I want to be a weight watcher's instructor. That will be a while from now. I think first you have to reach goal and life-time member status. I could use my "teacher skills." It might be fun. So I did really good at tracking this week. That's what always goes by the wayside. It's probably one of the most important tools to staying with a program, however. So I will continue with it this week. Tried some new recipes. Veggie soup, shepherd's pie, and Chinese pineapple chicken. All were very tasty.

Nap Time

"B" is here again and we are trying to take a nap. One thing about little boys is, they only take a nap when they are ready to take a nap. It's a beautiful day. I was out and about doing some errands and the blue skies are abundant.
I changed my mind again about my other blog. I think I will track my progress at Weight Watchers on a special weekly edition called "Weighty Matters" right here live on Blue Skies and Butterflies. Stay tuned!

Is It Too Early For a Pumpkin Spice Latte?

Doesn't that just sound yummy? It's supposed to be cooler this week. Hmmm, will that fit into my weight watchers plan? I need to find out how many points for a grande. Then fit it into my daily plan. Oh, btw I'm back on my other blog "fit and trim". In case anyone is interested. Had "B" today, my little afternoon guy. He was great. Fell asleep within 3 minutes of putting in the movie, Happy Feet. He's a real sweetie.

Sunday, Sunday

It's supposed to be a beautiful day in the neighborhood. 75 sunny degrees. Thought about going to the Renaissance Festival. Talked ourselves right out of that. Too much money and then on top of that food, souvenirs, etc... Then the food would be fattening. So, we decided to stay home and take care of the yard work. I might even be able to get some fall flowers out of the deal! Going to go to HD and rent a tiller to till up the garden and til the compost into the soil. After hacking out the massive weeds that have had their heyday all summer.

Planning our winter time vacation extravaganza. Thinking about a mini-cruise to cozumel. We'd go to florida and visit the florida peeps for a couple days, then back to tampa to board the ship. Need to start saving our pennies now! If my sistopher can survive a 3 week overseas ordeal, certainly I could go on a 4 day cruise, right?

So Much Going On

Cleaning, cooking, etc. Birthday party today for Katie. (21) Then her baby shower is tomorrow. Making cucumber sandwiches. They are so yummy. Went over to Sarah's moms to vacuum and bring chairs. Tomorrow pick up balloons and decorate. Made brownies and taco salad for dinner tonight.

Still need to put up the fall decorations. Yikes!

On another note, I joined weight watchers with (don't know if I'm allowed to say who) a friend. We'll be going to the Wed. am meeting. It helps allot to go with someone, camaraderie and all that. Or maybe just a little competition. LOL Also, there's the whole accountability deal. So, all in all it's a good thing. Also, taking on another babysitting job. 3 days a week for 2 hours and hopefully, most of that is a nap. :)

Turkey Talk

Yesterday morning I was looking out the kitchen window & all of a sudden I saw this huge bird coming out of the woods. I realized it was a turkey. Then more and more of them started pouring out. Adults and their babies. They were eating the seeds from the bird feeders that fall to the ground. They hustled out when they realized they were being watched.

First day of school was yesterday. Got the 1st & 4th graders ready. Syd & Evan. New outfit (check), new shoes (check), back pack (check), eat lunch (check). They both looked so old. Picked them up at 3:30, both liked their teachers and had a good day. (check)

When Did September Arrive?

Apparently about a week ago. Went camping this weekend out to Myers Lake in Argentine. It was group camping with 10 other camp mates. There were hard-side campers, pop-ups, and tents. There was a plethora of kids. A good time was had by all. Except for maybe the people that stayed to themselves and then left early. There was a pot luck dinner with salads, watermelon, and pan of chocolate chip bars. Then a taco night extravaganza. The kids went swimming even tho the temperature never got much above 70. There was a never ending campfire. It was so cold on Saturday we even went home, took a warm shower and brought back warm clothes! Lots of stories around the ole campfire. Glad there is a heater in the camper! It really got cold at night.

What To Do on a Beautiful Saturday Evening

Tried to find a concert, Anita Baker at DTE, no don't think so. Too hot to go dragging around the fair or Renaissance Festival. Hmmm. Renee suggested doing the laundry, nope. Stay home and watch reruns, naw. Hey, wait what about the Loons game? They're in West Michigan to play the team there, near Grand Rapids. Lugnuts? Yes, a home game in Lansing. It was a great night, warm but not too hot. 10 bucks buys you a great seat behind home plate in the box seats. It doesn't matter that you don't know the players, it was just fun to watch. The Lugnuts lost, 5-6. Oh well. Great fireworks after the game and home by 10:30 p.m. Not anywhere near the traffic that you'd have to deal with at a Tiger's game. A good way to spend a beautiful Saturday Evening.

Home Again...Ahhh

Nothing like being back home again. (for a while) Except, now I have to do the shopping, laundry, cleaning etc.... The conference was pretty good. Did lots of networking with other contractors, that's always helpful. Lots of perks. And guess what? We won an air -compressor. (See what do I know? Apparently it's a generator, NOT an air-compressor. )Not exciting for me, mind you, but it's always fun to win something. Went to a comedy club Monday night. Free food and drinks first. The comedian was the guy from the "Hemi" comercials. He was pretty funny. Finally caught up with my sistopher in Scotland. They are having a wonderful time, of course.

@ the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel

Attending a 2 day vendor conference. Great diggs. Reception last nite was awesome. Hors' Doeuvres that were out of this world. Desert table - yumm. Had the afternoon off. Walked the streets of downtown, then stepped into Tower Center to browse. Tonight is Pickwick & Frolic with a comedy show and hors d'oeuvres and drinks again. Tomorrow's break includes the "give-a-ways!! We'll be back home

Back to the Bricks

Not as glitzy as Woodward Dream Cruise I'm sure. But, a nice relaxing way to spend a Saturday evening for sure. Went with Mike & Chris, spent about an hour and a half walking around & looking at the cars. Some old, some classic, some; not so much. Then went back to Mike & Chris's for hamburgers, brats, fries and jello cake. After dinner Chris & I proceeded to womp on Mike & Sarah during several attempts at euchre. Made an early evening of it as I still need to finish washing & packing for Cleveland.

See ya all later.

What is The Point?

What is the point of writing your blog when your biggest blog fan is out of the country for 3 weeks? Are there any other readers out there still reading?
Getting ready for the last of the 3 August trips. 3 days in Cleveland for the Safeguard convention. Thank goodness the weather has cooled a bit. Nice breezy days and cool evenings. Nothing much going on; just been trying to get back into the swing of things.

The "Race" Experience

Wow, what a hot weekend for a camping trip to a campground without electricity. Good thing we brought the generator to run the air=conditioning. The campers were crammed in like I've never seen. Quite an interesting atmosphere. Lot's of partying, like way more than I've ever seen. Crazy scene. But, our backyard neighbors were some really nice guys from Canada. They even shared some of their gourmet camping food. Of course we had a friendly rival over car drivers. The race was awesome. Watching those cars roar around the track was awesome. It was very hot tho. Stayed cool with lots of water and cold washcloths packed in ice/water. Saturday nite we enjoyed a concert by Cross Country which turned out to be a Christian band. They were pretty good.

Man, I Sure Am Tired

Got home bout 4:30 from camping at Otsego Lake. Had a great time with the TREE's and Tom's parents, Big Tom and Carla. Here are some of the highlights:

• swimming



• tubing



• riding in the boat



• Big Tom's goulash



• Visiting my dad in Boyne



• Getting yelled at by the park ranger for being too loud at night ( I was telling the story



• of "Big Red." )



• sunburn



• campfires



• pizza and taco pie, AND pineapple upside down cake ~ all served campfire style



• Sr. pics for Niki



• carmel corn from the new store in Boyne



• building sand castles



• telling the dead shark and emu stories (Karen knows these)



• hanging with good friends

August Already

I had a record low number of blogs for last month. Several reasons. Mostly I just didn't feel like writing. It happens sometimes. Also, this past week I've been very busy. Had to go out to the job sites 6 out of 7 days starting with last Sunday. The only day off was Thursday. Business picked up about double, so that's a good thing. Just makes things more hectic. This next month is going to be really crazy. We are leaving today for Otsego Lake up by Gaylord. We'll be there all week. Well most of us. Sarah will drop Niki and I off and drive back home to work this week. Never ending work. Then I am meeting 2 of my nieces on Sunday at DTE for the Michael W Smith/Amy Grant concert. Looking forward to that.

Then home for a few days and off again to camp at MIS where we will then watch the NASCAR race on Sunday. My birthday gift to Sarah. She has always wanted to attend the race. I want to visit: Cambridge Junction Historic State Park. It is the site of Walker Tavern, a major stopping place for stagecoaches traveling between Detroit and Chicago in the early nineteenth century. The site tells the story of taverns and stagecoach travel for early Michigan residents.

Home for about a week, then off to Cleveland OH to the Safeguard Properties Convention where we will hob-nob with other contractors and sit in sessions all day to hopefully pick up some procedures to help in the work flow. We will eat darn good. With any luck maybe we will win one of the HD cards or cash prizes this year! Home for another week then off to Myers Lake Campground for our annual Labor Day group camping. Now, (Marlene) that will be the end of summer as we know it!

Drilled Out Two Door Knobs Today

Yea, so I got to use the power tools today! You might also like to know that I did all this while talking on the phone. I took out 2 knob-locks and 2 deadbolts. See I even know all the right terminology. I'm not sure how helpful all that was though because I'm supposed to install the new knob-locks and remove the innards to the deadbolt and re-install it. But, I was quit engrossed in my phone convo. so I wasn't able to finish my task.

All this after my 5 mile bike ride last night. Rode my legs off! See I got a new "computer" as the bike guy calls it. It was so fun keeping track of my speed/mph, ave speed, time etc. that I didn't even mind the 5 miles. I even went an additional mile afterwards with Syd cause she wanted to go for a bike ride after I got back.

A Stay at Home Get er Done Weekend

I think it's going to be one of those weekends. There is a list of things to be done.

• Shopping for baby shower on Sunday (Katie's first)


• Get cards for grad party today


• Grocery shopping for ingredients for shower food - oriental slaw & nacho chips


• Clean the messy, dusty house


• Finish cleaning out the front flower bed


• Clean out the camper in prep for the upcoming Otsego trip


• Organize the outfits for Sr pictures for Nicole


• Regular grocery shopping


• Clean off the deck


• Finish painting the wooden birds my sister sent me a while ago


• Oil changes in the vehicles

Hot N Humid

Yikes, can't even stand to be outside to get the mail or walk across the street. Trying hard to get to the Ann Arbor Market in the morning. Keep getting work orders tho, so it may not be possible. We shall see. Lots to do tomorrow; including a grad party. Stand by:

Apparently it is the Ann Arbor art fair this weekend; so no market. I will have to settle for the SC market on Sunday.

Humph

That might be bout all I can say today.
I received 2 cute gifts (notepads) with the perfect sayings for me:

1) "I used to have a handle on life.... but it broke!"

2) "Let me drop everything and pretend I care."

LOL aren't those great?

someone knows me well. Speaking of gifts, I received gifts in the mail from my sistopheers 2 days in a row. Don't ya just love gifts in the mail? Well I do. Thanks again my sissies. Drinkin out of my "K" cup right now.

Post Birthday Breakfast Scam

I was told I was being taken to The French Laundry in Fenton today. Day late birthday breakfast. I willingly dragged myself out of bed to go. Oh, and we might as well do 2 quick jobs after that. Ate a delicious leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs with mushrooms and Maytag blue cheese, a warm croissant and glass of passion tea. All is right with the world. Go to the first job, a quick lawn mow. All I have to do is take pictures and blow the grass off the walk and driveway. Easy, peasy. Now on to the place that we were at on Sunday. Just need to install a sump pump & get a little debris. Again all I have to do is take the pictures. Hour and a half later we are still there. I'm browsing through my new magazine, Organic Farmer's Market. I then am asked if I would like to "put on the water boots and squeegee some water in the basement. Sure why not. Get down to the basement. Yikes. A wet mess. The boots and floor=very slippery! Pushing the squeegee= extremely slippery! Very muggy, no air=very miserable. Came home and mowed the back lawn. (at least I had the riding mower) Needless to say, I took an hour nap and still have barely moved off the couch.

How Is It The Middle of July Already?

Time flies when you're having fun I guess. I've been busy trying to get the house back in order. It seems to take longer and longer each time. Anyway, not much else is going on. "Same ole-same-ole. (that reminds me of grandma Rush) Thinking about going up to Tawas for my birthday. However, the dog is being like Saran-wrap so I don't know how that will work. Would have to take him. He hates being left alone. Any offers to dog-sit? Here are a few more pix from Algonac.

Algonac State Park

Another lovely trip to Algonac State Park. The site was right on the water. Of course, because that's the one I reserved 6 months ago. Very hot this year. We only cooked one dinner on Sunday night. It was too hot to cook the rest of the nights. A great vacation for me-- no cooking. We brought the bikes but only biked around the campground because, again, it was too hot. Too bad because they have a really nice bike path into town. It was so hot I didn't even make coffee and had to go to Mickey Dee's to get iced coffee. Went to a new garden/gift shop and bought some local honey, a hanging thingy for the camper and a few other gifts. We also visited the local K-mart a few times to get some tank tops. Here are some pics of the campsite and also how Bailey kept cool.

Okay, It Is Way Hot to Be Camping

You know it's hot when you're camping if:
you run several times a day to get ice
you blast the air and stay inside and watch a movie
you don't even feel like cooking on the grill
you spend 99 cents to buy a water spray bottle to "mist" yourself (and the dog)
the dog lets you lay a wet washcloth over his head
you bring a fan outside
you see people in a pop-up camper with an air-conditioner stuffed into the canvas pop-out
all you can manage is a "sponge bath" because the shower room is way too hot & stuffy
you go to K-Mart 3 or more times a day
you go to the library to check your fb

First Campfire of the Summer

Had the first official campfire of the summer last night. Built a roaring fire in the firepit. It was a little chilly; sweatshirts in order. The Aurand's minus Tom came and brought the smushmallows and graham crackers. We tried something new last night since we didn't have any Hershey's bars to go with them. We spread peanut butter on the graham cracker and added a little Hershey's syrup. A new kind of Smore. Most excellent! Everyone was tired so we made an early night of it. Had to get up last night and get an extra blanket it was so chilly. BrRrRrRr.

Last Day of June

What, already? Where did the month go? The days are already getting shorter..NoNoNooooo! Hold on. We still have plenty of summer left.
Here are a few of my favorite summertime things:
camping
grilling
Boyne [may not be going this year :( ]
taking walks in the evening
bike riding
iced coffee
sitting out in the driveway (i know sounds weird)
picnics
birthdays
boating

What's the Buzz?

Facebook is a social networking website launched in February 2004 and operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc.[1] Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college. The website's name stems from the colloquial name of books given to students at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the US with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better. Anyone age 13 or older can become a Facebook user.
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes.[5] The website's membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It later expanded further to include (potentially) any university student, then high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. The original concept for Facebook was borrowed from a product produced by Zuckerberg's prep school Phillips Exeter Academy, which for decades published and distributed a printed manual of all students and faculty, unofficially called the "face book". The website currently has more than 400 million active users worldwide.[6][7]
Facebook has met with some controversy. It has been blocked intermittently in several countries including Pakistan,[8] Syria,[9] China,[10] Vietnam,[11] and Iran.[12] It has also been banned at many places of work to discourage employees from wasting time using the service.[13] Privacy has also been an issue, and it has been compromised several times. Facebook settled a lawsuit regarding claims over source code and intellectual property.[14] The site has also been involved in controversy over the sale of fans and friends.[15]
A January 2009 Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social network by worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace.[16] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade 'best-of' list, saying, "How on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers' birthdays, bug our friends, and play a rousing game of Scrabulous before Facebook?"[17]
From: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In The Good Ole Summer Time

Going to Handy Dip in our Pj's
Getting attacked by bats walking Mary Laukka home
BLBC
UPBC
swimming in the pool
playing baseball in the backyard
taking a family vacation
going to the Tiger's game
family birthday parties (lots of July birthdays)
trips to Iperwash
Hoping the good humor man would drive by
playing outside way past dark ~ kick the can
riding bikes

"Old" Friends Are the Best

(dedicated to Lisa)

Old 'n' Gold

Old and good friends share a piece

Of passion, pain, and pleasure

That no one else, no family can

Begin to know or treasure.

It's as if a secret room

Held their private store,

And every time they met, they could

Go through some special door.

It doesn't matter if they see

Each other every day,

Or years and years go by before

They come and go away:

The moment that they meet it all

Is there--the memories of

Fierce loyalty and times of need

And gratitude and love.

~author unknown~

A friend that knows (mostly) all about you and is still your friend is valuable. Patching up a broken friendship is worth the effort. It's hard to say you're sorry, but so worth it! We have stood by each other through "thick" and "thin" and endured the same crap like no other.

Summer Solstice - First Day of Summer

Summer Is:

Water Skiing














• Blowing Bubbles

Camping



• The Zoo

The first day of summer officially kicks off today at 7:28 a.m. ET, the beginning of the summer solstice and the longest day of the year—at least in the Northern Hemisphere.
The summer solstice is a result of the Earth's north-south axis being tilted 23.5 degrees relative to the sun. The tilt causes different amounts of sunlight to reach different regions of the planet.
Today the North Pole is tipped closer to the sun than on any other day of 2010. As high noon on the first day of summer, the sun appears at its highest point in the sky—its most directly overhead position—in the Northern Hemisphere.
That doesn't mean the sun will be exactly overhead at noon for everyone, said James Bell, an astronomer at Cornell University in New York State.
It depends on the viewer's latitude—the sun is only shining down directly overhead at noon at the Tropic of Cancer. "It's still at a low angle if you're up in Alaska," Bell explained.

June 17th

Happy Birthday, Sarah jane and Riley rose. Oh, and happy anniv. to our neighbors LeAnn and McKenzie. Went out to lunch at Red Robin. It was a beautiful day. I told Sarah she could do whatever she wanted. She picked a nap-- go figure. That's what happens when you work too hard, I guess. I called R.R. and wished her HB by singing the traditional song over the phone. Syd went swimming in the neighbor's pool, she was the only one brave enough. The other kids thought it was way too cold. Then we went to Tee Bonez for dinner. Very cool, on Lake Penemah where we used to ski; (in Fenton) there was a band and we had a nice dinner.

No Smores Allowed

Had a great time camping with our friends the Hinspeters. Went to Brighton Recreation Area. It only rained Saturday night and it was a peaceful sounding sleep inducing rain. It was cloudy most of Sat. and today but that's ok. Went for a bike ride on some trails Sat. a.m. Probably a couple miles around Bishop Lake. Went canoeing and kayaking in the afternoon for about an hour and a half. It was very muggy. We all really enjoyed that though. Chilled out and read in the late afternoon. Tried a mango smirnoff drink. It was pretty good. Then we ate a grilled dinner of chicken, asparagus and veggie packets. Strawberry shortcake for dessert. We ate very healthy all weekend. yea! I have to go "out" to work tomorrow because we got a HUGE job. But my goals for the rest of the week include making homemade granola and some whole wheat muffins. The plan is to eat healthy and exercise because I cannot afford my $200/month diabetes meds. (that's just one of 3 that I take.)

They're Back!

Mr. and Mrs. Blue Bird, that is. Syd noticed them yesterday. She said some birds are fighting on the grass. And sure enough it was the bluebird and the sparrow going at it again. I guess Mr. BB was still not happy with Mr S. taking up residence in the camper birdhouse. Later in the afternoon, however I noticed that the Mr. and Mrs. BB were hovering about and keeping an eye out on a different house. This morning I was up early and noticed them still hanging about. Upon closer observation, I saw that Mrs. BB was bring grass and such items back and forth and stuffing them into the new house. I was able to get some nice photographs of them in action yesterday. Mostly Mr. BB. They are so pretty and also fun to watch.

Finishing up packing the camper and hope to be pulling out by 4:30. Hope the rain holds off at least until we get set up.

Getting Ready for the Camping Trip

There is always so much to do. Whew! That's probably why once you get there you sit around and relaxxxx the whole time! Washing, packing the clothes, food, camping necessities. Why just the food alone, you have the "dry" goods, the refrigerator food AND the freezer food. I'm not complaining, really I'm not. Trying out a new state park with some friends. Brighton Recreation. I think it's really in Howell though. If the weather holds out we may try kayaking on Saturday. I really hope the weather does hold out. There is nothing MORE frightening when you're camping than a thunderstorm, especially if there is alot of wind. Let's not even mention the "T" word.
Then there is all the double-checking to make sure everything is still in the camper. Matches, newspaper, towels, paper towels, toilet paper, blankets, chairs, etc... That is my job today since I didn't have to go mowing.

Way Back Tuesday

Ha, ha. couldn't wait til Wednesday.
So, I was thinking about going to Ipperwash Beach as a kid. Just random thoughts actually. So bare with me. They will be in no particular order.

• Getting candy & pop from Blue Jays & another store
• Larry St. John throwing firecrackers at us
• The old log cabins
• Staying in the cottage below the Wagners
• Going to the beach at Grand Bend
• Trying to water ski behind Cliff Maye's boat
• Walking the beach
• Sunsets on the beach
• Going to the Forest Gospel Hall
• Going to the cute stores in Forest
• The Brown's A-Frame cottage and their get togethers
• Going to the bakery with mom and getting fresh tarts & bread
• Running up & down the sand dunes
• Purple Haze (private joke)
• Trips to Kettle Point
• Crossing over the bridge to Canada

**feel free to add your own memories - comments

SC Hometown Day Parade

Didn't go the the Birdhouse in Freeland or the farmer's market in Midland. Instead went to the Hometown Days parade. Sat by the "Tree's" and friends. Prime spots on Miller Rd. by Mary Crapo. (where the play was held) It was hot & humid and long. I held the bag while Syd and Evan scooped up the candy that was being thrown. Then went grocery shopping. Made some coleslaw and went to the last card party of the season.

Today we researched some bike trails in the area, decided to head out to do a quick job and then go biking. We got rained out before we even got there. Will go another time. There is a 7.5 mile trail in Clio and a 3 mile trail in Flushing that we want to try.

Fabulous Friday

Just sitting with my coffee and enjoying the cool breeze and quietness of the morning. I'm hoping the clouds will clear up and we will see the sun. Finally got a peak of it yesterday afternoon. Sure glad the heat has dialed down a bit. Not sure what's on tap for the weekend. Probably a little work, a little rest. I would like to go to a farmer's market somewhere to get some fresh veggies and fruits and maybe some organic chicken.

Thinking about going to the "Birdhouse" in Freeland and the farmer's market in Midland.

I Love a Surprise

Especially when it comes in the mail. It appears I wrote too many checks to good ole Uncle Sam and he returned one to me yesterday. Thank the Lord! It arrived at a most opportune time. The check book was squawking up a storm. LOL I did this last year too. It seems I keep forgetting to tell the accountant about the last payment that I make. Oh well.
It's June already. Wow. Going to be a busy month. Going to make a batch of my famous enchiladas tonight for dinner. Maybe with a salad from the lettuce growing on the deck.
K, bye gotta get back to work.