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.