Nora Grace

My good friend, Merrie, has told me many times that I am "livin' the dream". She is, as she usually is, spot on.

My mom and dad took care of our two kids while Kev and I worked full-time. I always knew how very fortunate we were to have Joyce and Sam cared for by their grandparents. Without them willing to do so, our lives would have taken a very different course. I wouldn't have worked full-time, and we've had a lot of fun through the years paid for by that income. Opportunities and experiences that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

My dream was to be able to babysit my grandchildren. Back in 2010 when I turned 50, I had all the points I needed to be able to retire with full pension benefits. I didn't retire then because Sam was still in high school and our mortgage was (and is) still alive and kicking. Then Joyce and Mike married in 2012, and I began to feel pressure (of my own making)... worried I wouldn't be able to retire before those two gave me a grandbaby.

Unexpectedly, but very, very happily, I did retire toward the end of 2012, and then waited until late in 2014 for my babysitting years to commence. Nora Grace was born on September 26, 2014.

All the stuff you hear and read and all those sayings posted on facebook about how great it is to be a grandparent... it's all true. So true. It's truly amazing. It's fucking awesome!

Nora is the love of my life.  Kev is completely smitten as well. I keep telling my daughter that she and Mike must procreate again soon, because this much love is gonna suffocate our little Nora.

Nora is almost 10 months old. She is a happy, beautiful, smart little baby girl. She's almost walking, seriously, any minute now. She's waving bye-bye and saying bye; she's blowing kisses. She dances to music, especially when the theme to "Doc McStuffins" comes on the TV. She is too adorable for words.

I love, love, love babysitting her every weekday. It's a lot more work and commitment than I thought it'd be, and I believe I had a pretty good idea beforehand. But it's made me so happy. Too happy for words. I'm livin' the dream. 

It's also made me appreciate my mom and dad so much more, and my appreciation for them already ran very deep. 

Nora is very observant; she is constantly watching everything. Her resting face is very serious, so her smiles really light her up. She has 5 teeth already. She never took to a pacifier. When she's tired, she loves to suck on the end of her blankets... whichever one is handy. When I rock her to sleep, I hum the Christmas carol, "We Three Kings," and this week, she's begun to hum with me. She's well used to being photographed already, and she loves to see photos of herself. And videos. I've given her toys that belonged to her momma and her Uncle Sam as babies, and she loves them. Makes my heart flip-flop.

From the very beginning, Nora has screeched with happiness. Joyce and Mike make her screech a great deal! I love watching the three of them together. Nora screeching with gusto and so happy that her little body is just jumping and wiggling. The more we laugh, the more she screeches. Her screeches can get pretty piercing. I'm enjoying them, even with bleeding ear drums... soon enough, I think her screeches will be replaced with words as she learns more and more verbal communication. Or at least that's the plan... sometime before Kindergarten anyway.

Thy leaves are so unchanging!

Our Christmas tree has been de-decorated for quite some time now, but Kev only just today took the lights off and carted the tree out of the living room.  We’ve been enjoying the lights so much that we both procrastinated.  The tree was surprisingly still keeping its needles well, mostly losing them only by the small clumps the cats chewed off (mostly Fat Murray).  We got the smallest tree we’ve ever had in this house... since 1993.  This year’s tree was once again a Frasier Fir (our favorite kind), and it was only a little bit over six foot tall.  Our typical Christmas tree has been closer to twelve feet, so this tree at first seemed tiny.

Kevin and Sam went over to the Christmas tree lot that we always go to, and they picked this tree out together.  I was still recuperating from the knee surgery I had in early December, so I didn't go with them.  (Arthroscopic surgery for torn meniscus... the most common of knee injuries... of course!)  The tree was the only Christmas decorating we did this year, foregoing all of the other stuff... Sam, Kev and I all had trouble getting into the decorating spirit this year.  Me because of my knee, Kev because of so many extra hours he had at work, and Sam because I am pretty sure that if any further decorating got done, he’d be hauling boxes up and down the stairs all by himself.  Not a lot of fun.

So now our living room is so much bigger!  Isn’t it nuts how the day you take the tree down, your room grows.

I thought the cats would be pissed off at Kev, but once he moved the loveseat back where it goes (where the tree was), they both plopped their butts on it and went to sleep.  The cats enjoyed the tree immensely... I thought they'd miss it more...

Kevin also got the Meyer snow plow on the old ’78 Chevy pickup today.  Kev uses the tractor to plow our driveway, so he gave the old truck to Mike and Joyce for their incredibly long, straight driveway.  The plow hasn’t been on the old truck in about five years, but Kev said it went on pretty easily and worked like a charm.  That old truck is rusting out like crazy, but she’s still dependable as heck.  Love that old truck. 

We’ve had a spell of nice weather... the annual January thaw.  This past week was lovely.  It started to get cold and a freezing rain began just as Kev finished with the old truck this afternoon.  Shortly after he got inside for evening, it turned to big, fat flakes of snow.  Now it’s snowing small and fast.  Little snow, big snow.  That means it should accumulate.  Yay!  Love the snow.

Sam wants to do some more senior photos in the snow... he did a photo shoot in the fall with the beautiful autumn colors.  So here’s hoping we get a lot of beautiful snow, because I would like to have some photos of Sam in the snow, too.  The same photographer who did Joyce and Mike’s engagement photos and wedding is doing Sam’s senior photos, and he’s so good.  Joyce and Mike did their engagement photos in the snow, and they were awesome photos.  There is something about snow... I have loved snow since I was little.  I love the first snow... I can smell it in the air.  It’s a wonderful smell that first snow.  Like the first cold morning you can really smell autumn.  Makes you wanna hug the air.

This past week, I have finally been able to get back into the pottery studio.  I didn’t get in there hardly at all during December, due to my knee.  I had two tears in the meniscus of my right knee, so it was very painful for a while.  After the surgery, it was amazing how the pain was gone.  I had pain from surgery, but that deep, intense inside pain was magically gone.  Very nice.  Then almost exactly two weeks after the surgery, I fell outside on the frozen ground directly onto that knee.  I was afraid I had done some damage to the meniscus, but I didn’t... but... I did bruise my patella.  The surgeon said it would just take time to heal.  And then he said he could give me a shot of steroids into the knee which would help with the pain.  I said, “Now, please.”  That was Monday afternoon, and by Tuesday morning, I was raring to get into the studio.  Wasn’t even limping!  I’ve been making things like a woman possessed.  I’ve missed clay so much. 

Most recently, I made eight tumblers which are currently in the kiln, just bisque fired over this weekend.  I will hopefully be able to glaze them all tomorrow, and they’ll go through a glaze firing this week.  These are a test lot, because I’ve taken on a commission to make 200 stoneware tumblers which must each hold 20 ounces.  I had made a luncheon set of stoneware dishes last year that’s still at the Serendipity 181 shop downtown, and a husband and wife saw them there.  They are opening a pub just down the street from Serendipity 181, and they want the 200 tumblers to look just like the ones they saw at the shop for their “mug club” at their pub.  I am very excited about this project.   And nervous.  200 tumblers by May 1st.  Gonna be fun!

But I don’t wanna do only tumblers from now until May.  I’ve been dreaming ideas for clay... I have more ideas than time!  That’s a lovely feeling.  Since I’ve been selling pieces at Serendipity 181 (which is an artist consignment shop), it’s like I’ve been freed up to try anything with clay.  I don’t have to make something that I want in my house or I want to give to a family member or friend... I can’t make any crazy thing I want!  And, the pieces sell.  It’s awesome.  Gives me money to keep my clay habit going.  I love being at the studio, being there with my friends, working with clay, creating something and then seeing it come out of the glaze firing.  Opening a kiln from a glaze firing is like Christmas morning.  So freakin’ fun.  And now my fingers are itching to get into clay right now!

This past Saturday I worked at the studio from 9am until about 2pm.  It is amazing to me how many muscles are used when making stuff at the studio.  Being forced to take a month away from it, this week has reminded me... but it is a wonderful type of soreness.  By 2pm on Saturday, though, I felt almost too tired to drive myself home.  Joyce worked the front desk at the studio, and she was busy working, but she was there (I love it when she's there), and we had lunch together.  Joyce helped me take care of a couple of things when I was cleaning up... she carried the heavy things for me because she could see I was struggling by that point.  I got out into my car to leave and realized I had left my water on the table... totally too pooped to go back in and get it so I called Joyce.  Setting in my car on the other side of the glass door, I talked with her and told her I left my water... she laughed at me and then got it and ran it out to me.  Love that girl. 

I made some ridiculous little salt and pepper shakers yesterday... I used a plaster mold of a baby face, so the shaker is a baby’s head.  Joycie said they’re freaky.  I like ‘em!  It’s a Duncan mold from the 1960’s that I bought at an estate sale last summer, along with about one hundred other molds.  I took quite a few into the studio for everyone to use, mostly simple shapes we can use for slump or hump molds.  I also have quite a few in my garage that I picked up for a friend, and this included 2 Duncan baby doll molds, a boy and a girl.  There are also little hands/arms and feet/legs parts in these molds... I might try using those for something wacky, too.  These plaster molds are meant for slip-casting, but I am just pressing clay into the mold, using the bit I want of the face... we don’t do slip-casting at the pottery studio.  I do a lot of hand-building (that is, instead of throwing on a wheel), and I like using plaster molds for some things.  I will have pottery on the mind all through the night now.  Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night to write down stuff, so I can remember my pottery ideas/dreams.  Often I can’t make sense of what I wrote.  But it’s damn fun.

Life is so good.  I love being retired.  I worked for 35 years, and I have not missed it at all, not for one minute.  I'm so happy.  A bad day in retirement is still better than the best day working.    I am totally grinning as I type this!!!

Sam and Allie are at the movies tonight.  Sam just texted me and asked me to set up a timer to record Honey Boo Boo on TLC.  I did it, though I could feel brain cells dying from it.  That’s crap TV Big Time.  And my son and his girlfriend wanna watch it.  Sigh.   Our family enjoys our TV.  Kev and I are hooked on a lot of shows... Blue Bloods, CSI, Elementary, Bones, CSI New York, Castle, Rizzoli & Isles, Rookie Blue, Person of Interest, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, and so on... so basically anything to do with crime!  We also like New Girl, Parenthood, Revenge...  And I have to have my Big Bang Theory weekly fix.  Many of the TV shows we watch are not Sam’s choice.  Now that we have the Dish Hopper, we share the DVR with Sam... before the hopper, we had a DVR in the living room and another upstairs, so we never saw what shows Sam recorded.   I know I sound old when I say this, but I can’t believe the shit Sam watches!  Damn kids, get off my lawn!

Birds for Joyce

Even though I have been trying to practice throwing on the wheel at the pottery studio, I still love hand-building. I made a set of small, shallow dishes for Joycie recently by using slabbed clay (the studio has a slab roller) and plaster forms.


They are squarish bowls, about 5" diameter and only about 1" depth.



My thinking when making them was to use them for olive oil dipping for breads, because we love that... a good olive oil, a nice spice and some balsamic vinegar. Yum.

I ended up making her a set of 9 because they all stayed intact! A couple of them had cracked when I was making them because I dried them too quickly, but they all made it through the bisque and then the glaze firing just fine. So now she has extra.

I decided to paint on the dishes doing something from one of my favorite illustrators, Charles Harper. I love his work. I've mentioned him before on my blog, from the "Twenty Froggies" poem in Childcraft. I searched for images of his work on the 'net, and there were just so many of his birds I liked, that I finally settled on doing all birds... but then there were so many birds to choose from, it was difficult to narrow it down to 9! Have I mentioned I love his work?!

The studio uses a medium-fire stoneware clay, white. I made the bowls and let them dry, then I traced the birds onto the bowls with carbon paper (remember carbon paper?!). I then used underglazes to paint the birds and the outsides of each bowl. Underglazes are basically like colored clay, and you can mix the colors to achieve different colors... and pretty much the color you paint onto your greenware piece (prior to bisque firing, or on bisque if you prefer) will be the color on the final piece after glaze firing. This is much different than typical glazes for bisque which are made up of glass and chemicals, and where your green glaze will be a shade of gray until it goes through the final glaze firing in the kiln. After the bowls were bisque fired, the underglazed colors were very dull. I dipped each dish in clear glaze, and then after the final kiln firing, they were all nice and shiny. I like working with underglazes for detailed painting. Unfortunately, I can't draw, so I usually trace and then paint.

I surprised Joycie with them the other day, and she was pretty happy. Another something for her "hope chest"...



















Mike liked them, too. I can't believe they are getting married in less than a year. Time flies! Like the birds...

Certain restrictions apply

Well hello there 2011. You arrived early, and I'm just not ready for you. Can you please go drive around the block a few hundred times? Thanks.

From my workday:

Purpose:
Confirm understanding of key activities for the next day and address any urgent hurdles to progress.
Provide clarity when path forward changes from previous plan/agreements.
Trying to focus on exceptions...no time to solve all problems

Julie T. would be the person.

Can you please let me know if you will need weekend support on January 8th and 9th? Management is trying to find out which clients will be working that weekend.

As a reminder, an implementation command center has been established to dispatch calls related to the implementation.

Once you have reviewed and submitted, your second level approver will receive an auto-generated email to complete the sign-off.

You recently reported a problem to I/S Service Delivery and we would like to invite you to complete a brief Customer Satisfaction Survey. This survey is your opportunity to tell us how well we met your needs and help us improve our service to you in the future.

My favorite Excel formula:

=IF(ISNA(MATCH(J2,Sheet1!J:J,0)),0,INDEX(Sheet1!L:L,MATCH('Sheet1 (2)'!J2,Sheet1!J:J,0),0))

Now then, don't you wish you were me???...

Overheard just now:

You know what. I'm sick of these people sending these emails to me. It's ridiculous.

From my head, not related to work:

"Madden had that look on his face like he was drinking a Dr. Pepper and somebody switched it out with iced tea but didn't tell him." I think I heard this one on NPR.

Nah nah nah nah. Nah nah nah nah. Hey hey hey. Goodbye. Been singing that in my head. When my kids were in elementary school, every year on the last day of school, staff members and some teachers would stand outside the door, hands raised waiving kleenexes (like a saber arch) and singing that lyric over and over as the kids walked out to the buses to start their summers. It was cool. Every time I think of that, I smile.

My 1999 Caddy DeVille had 4 gallons of gas left in it according to the dash info, and it beeped Empty at me two seconds later. She's a cranky old thing. So I paid about $3.20/gallon this morning, and Kev tells me it is now down to $3.01. Grrr.

Big flakes, little snow. Little flakes, big snow.
We had a mostly warm and rainy start of our weekend, but then it got cold again. It snowed on and off yesterday without much accumulation. This morning Kev was the first to leave the house, so he made fresh tracks all the way down the driveway and the road to M-20. His tracks down the road swerved from one side to the other all the half mile. He did that for me. So I called him and said, "Pretty!" Kev likes to do that with fresh snowfalls. On the rare occasion I'm the first to leave and it's a fresh snowfall, I make crazy tracks all down the road for him.

Mike was working on Joyce's Impala on Saturday, changing the oil and something with the brakes. (He's awesome that way!) It was late Saturday afternoon that the temp dropped so abruptly - within minutes it went from mild to very cold. It had been very windy all day, and with the drop in temp, the wind seemed to pick up. Kev was also outside, working on one thing or another, so he was standing not too far from the car. Mike was under the car, which was parked on the cement approach in front of our pole barn. Both Mike and Kev heard a huge BAM! A tree branch fell out of one of the oak trees and shattered the Impala's back window. Some of the branches that have fallen from those oaks are the size of small and not-so-small trees, this branch was probably about 8 or 10 feet long and about 6 or 8 inch diameter at base. Could have been worse. Mike was startled. As you can imagine.

Sam is doing well with his knee. He is at physical therapy right this moment. He's also able to walk around home now without the big brace on his leg, and that is a relief to him. He still must wear it anywhere outside and at school.



Kev and I drove around Mt. Pleasant on New Year's Eve trying to find a place to have dinner that wasn't a two-hour wait. We finally settled on Ruby Tuesdays, got our names on the list then went into the bar area to get a beer while we waited. We were standing at the bar when 2 guys left, so we quickly grabbed their seats. Then another guy asked one of the bartenders to turn the TV station to the Wings game that was just starting. While on our 2nd round of beer, Kev and I decided that we had the best seats in the house, so we ordered our dinner and ate it at the bar while watching the game. It was awesome. We had an excellent time. Even if NY won.

Gorgeousness

In mid-October one of Mike's cousins got married, so Joyce and Mike got all dressed up and pretty for the wedding reception...

Yamahaing

Mike and Joyce have enjoyed riding together on Mike's Harley, but Joyce decided early in June that she would rather be driving her own bike. I can totally see Joyce making that decision... she does like to be in control, and also when you're riding behind a person on a motorcycle, you really don't get to see much of what's in front of you, which isn't much fun.

So mid-June, Joyce paid not very much money for a 1982 Honda 450, a bike older than she is...





She was initially pretty happy with it (though doesn't Kev look the opposite in that 2nd photo?! yes, we worry). But there were problems with the carburetor and some other things, primarily a result of the bike having sat for so long without being started or driven.

So she and Mike started looking again. At the shop where they bought Mike's Harley, the dealer has just gotten in a used 2005 Yamaha. It was owned by an older couple, and it was a bike that had been very well maintained. So Joyce traded her old Honda in on this pretty Yamaha...





This bike is quite bigger than that old Honda, so Joyce took it slow learning to drive it and handle it. I'm happy about one thing... the previous owner outfitted the bike with extra lights on both the front and the back. The dealership where Joyce bought it put in an extra battery to handle the lights. You should definitely see this bike coming down the road!





The icing on the cake was the passenger footpads the owner had installed on the bike for his wife, whose name is also Joyce...



I had to admit that was a pretty awesome touch. I've struggled with all this motorcycle stuff, of course, and I worry like crazy. But Mike and Joyce are young and smart, and they love a ride on their motorcycles. I'm happy for them.

Skink with five lines

This is a photo that Mike took with his cell phone (which is now my cell phone since I got it when he & Joycie got new phones). Mike and his friend, Nick, saw this Five-lined Skink (aka Blue Tail Lizard to some). It was setting on a log in the woods near the pond. Nick held the log out over our pond while Mike took the photo with his cell. And isn't it an awesome photo?

I remember finding these little skinkers when I was a kid and trying to capture them... it always freaked me out when the tail came off and continued to move. Still kinda gives me the creeps. But I think they are a beautiful creature.

Mike left a lot of things on his-old/now-my phone when he gave it to me. Of all he left, this photo is one of the few that's fit to share!

     Dear Tony, Mickey, Chris, et al:
     Re: Texting Our Mike
     Ewww!!!!!! Gross. Stop.
     Regards,
     Julie
     p.s. Grow up!

And HEY! A Big Shout Out to my girl, Joycie, who did me a Major Solid this morning!
     I love you, Pumpkin!
     Thank you!!!!
     XOXOXO,
     Love,
     Yo Momma*

*way to cool to fool

If you like pina coladas

Many are the events going on...

Joyce finished her Junior year at CMU and her summer classes she took, and she got a co-op job at Dow Corning, so she is doing super good. She also bought a motorcycle. More on that later...

Mike's taking summer classes, too, which keep him busy first thing every morning, and he was fortunate to get a job working 2nd shift, so it accommodates his class schedule, though it is kind of a crappy job. But it is a job. A JOB. Times are pretty tough; we're a lucky family in that both Joyce and Mike found jobs. Whew.

Sammy got done with his Freshman year in high school and immediately started a 2-week basketball camp. Third day in, he was tripped up at a scrimmage and hurt his knee. Partial tear of his PCL. Yes, I said PCL, not ACL. It is AWFUL. Sam's in physical therapy 3 times per week now, and we go back to see the orthopedic surgeon in 3 weeks. The doc said that for Sam to have done that injury, it was like several things had to be just in the right (er, wrong) place and timing... kinda like a Perfect Storm. It isn't a common sports injury, particularly in high school, more commonly seen in things like car accidents. Sam is pretty darn strong and determined, so we will see what the future brings. All we can do. And pray. A LOT.

I took Monday off from work and had a dental appt at 7:30 am to get my permanent bridge put in. I now have a bridge in my mouth! Tolls, please. So anyway, Sam and I spent the day together and I let him drive most all day long. Made him drive to Goodwill and Salvation Army stores in Bay City, and I found a Coach purse for six bucks! Score!

At one point, around lunchtime, Sam asked if I had seen that truck. What truck?, says I. He had seen a big pickup that had the company name "External Landscaping" on it, which cracked us both up. What a dumb name for a landscaping company, ha ha! And then about a half hour later, we saw the same truck again... I said, "Sam, that reads Eternal Landscaping." Oh. What's eternal? Sam asked. Really, his vocabulary kinda sucks. I think mine was better at age 9 than his is now. Oy. (And Sam gets pretty much straight A's! Well, except for that B+ in Wood Shop his last semester. Wood Shop. The teacher gave him a so-so grade for the most beautiful and creative wooden bowl I've ever seen. Photos sometime soon. Boo hiss wood shop.)

What was Sammy driving on Monday you ask? Well... this, my new old car:



She's a 1999... here's a hint...



Yep!



a...



and she's a pretty thing. Loaded with way too many options. The owner's manual is leather bound and it came with a VHS instructional tape! Only about 80,000 miles on her, too. Darn good for a '99. Beautiful condition and runs great. Especially now since I had to put a new radiator in her... she is pretty...



I'm happy. But for some reason, whenever I'm in her, I feel a strange urge to drive straight to the casino. Hmmm...

Sammy will get his driver's license early in November, and we all are looking forward to that happy event. He will be driving my old Le Sabre, and he didn't seem to be as appreciative as he should be, at first, but he is now. Much preferable to walking. Especially since we live about a 25-minute drive to the high school.

I got this email from my BFF, Sandy, the other morning:

My tire yesterday at 7 a.m.



Kinda makes your day seem a little better, huh?! Poor Sandy.

It has been so hot and humid here in mid-Michigan lately that I have wanted to move way northward. Ugh. Everything is growing like CRAZY. My sisters are harvesting garden treasures already... this, the year we decided not to plant a vegetable garden coz we're all too busy.

I've been totally fasinated with the ditch along our road, though. The plants and the bugs. The weeds and wild flowers are all like a month ahead of schedule. I'm lovin' the bugs. Like this one...



which is a Phantom Crane Fly in flight. (Discovered what it is called due to the Googling diligence of my friend, Megan, from the pottery studio.) And oh, baby, I have plenty more photos from where that came from! Bug close-ups, lots and lots of bug close-ups.

Thankfully the last couple of evenings have been very nice and cool. I love me a cool summer evening. I drove home yesterday with the air off in the car, all the windows down, my hair up in a crazy pony-tail like I was Pebbles Flintstone or something, radio screaming loud and weaving my hand out the window up and down in the wind. Bliss. Singing along with the radio at the top of my lungs to the Beatles' Twist and Shout, "You know you twist so fine!"... But, unfortunately, what's stuck in my head is...
If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain,
If you're not into yoga, if you have half a brain...

Love, love, love

Since I have sorely neglected this poor old blog lately, I treat you with a photo!

Ladybug love...



Now, doesn't that photo give you a warm feeling inside? Even the smallest creatures are loving, and loving each other. And like humankind, some are just plain freaks, even among the smallest creatures... notice the little voyeur there on the side?... ahem...

This post must be photo-filled instead of text since the reason for my lack of posts is a decided lack of creativity in the cranium. I'm busy at work, as usual... I'll be too busy for the next couple of years cleaning up from my 2008 debacle. Too busy at home, as well, with a backlog of work there, too. And I'm still spending much of my free time whining and laying down. *sigh*

And I'm still not winning the lottery. *sigh* (Even though I dreamed, very realistically, that I won $250 million... in which dream, I made a list of 100 people, family, friends and coworkers, who would all get $1 million each. If you're reading this and fall into one of those categories, don't you sorely wish I had won?! Me, too.)

But instead of a million bucks for you, I have another lovely photo... Mike and Joycie on Mike's new-to-him Harley...



Isn't it all shiny and beautiful? And don't they both look so happy? You can't see me, but I can tell you that I look both happy and worried. *sigh*

Yet more love... this from Texas, where my best friend, Sandra Jean, and her hubby, Brian, have a new puppy. Meet Jake...



He is with his best friend, Scout, and Jake is a fun-filled, lovable 4-month old. And Jake is also, like most puppies, simply beautiful while napping...



Sadly, Sandy and Brian lost their dog, Shadow, a while back. Shad was a black lab, and she lived a long, happy life, and as with all our beloved pets, she'll always be missed. Having Jake helps the hurt a bit for both Scout and Shadow's humans.

Down home in Michigan

Joycie and Mike made Mexican food Saturday evening and had friends over. Allison's sweetheart, Christopher, is visiting her from Italy, where he's stationed in the Navy. I've been getting to know him through his VLog, and it was super nice to meet him in person. What I liked most about Christopher was how happy Allison looked. Their story is very romantic.

Kara has returned from India, where she spent her last semester. And got her nose pierced...



I love it. When you have an experience like that, you should come home changed. Internally and externally. The little diamond looks perfect on her.

Kev and I left the youngins on their own for dinner, and we went out... for Mexican food in Mt. Pleasant. Silly us. Joyce & Mike's was better (we had it Sunday). When we got home, they were all set up out at a campfire by the pond.



It was a pretty cold evening and kind of windy, so not the best evening for a campfire. Your front gets warm, but your back freezes, and the smoke goes all around.

But I managed to get a happy photo of Christopher and Allison:



And of Mike and Joycie:



Joycie, Allison and Kara have been friends since they were little kids in elementary school. So many years, so many changes...

TGIF

It has been a long week, and I'm tired. Sam is gone for the evening, as usual. Our little social butterfly is rarely home on Friday evenings, and he has made plans for the weekend. Tonight he's at the Loons game with friends and staying overnight with his best bud, Nate. Joyce and Mike are both done with their respective college 2nd semesters, and they've been working full-time each day this week. They're not home yet because they're getting groceries for us on their way home. Words cannot express how much I love and appreciate those 2 youngins.

It's a beautiful evening, and Kev started mowing the lawn about an hour or so ago. Since he has made such an enormous lawn for us, it takes him quite some time to mow. I've been sitting at my computer trying to get up the energy to do something, like write a blog post... but instead I was playing Hoyle chess. Kev decided I was looking far too serious, so next time he drove by the window I'm facing, he waved at me in a very energetic way... and he was buck naked. Yes! I know! How cool is that?!! But alas, my new cell phone failed me. The photo save and erase buttons are on opposite sides from my old cell phone... so I deleted 3 great pics instead of saving them. *sigh* But oh my heck, I laughed. My hubby is crazy. Very cute also.

Mother's Day was awesome. Sammy made pancakes for breakfast. Extra wonderful. Extra wonderful with my brother, Jim's, maple syrup, too. Yum. My wonderful kiddos, and Kev, too, gave me a Zune. 4 gig! I was so excited and surprised. I want to download books. And use it for music from Joycie, too. But, I have been unable to download the software. My high speed dish Internet access just isn't high speed enough, I guess... it keeps timing out. I had to call them and ask for a CD, which they are mailing, but it is the older version software, so after I install it, I will have to download the upgrade. Fingers crossed. It's frustrating. I wanna use it so badly!!! And I can't yet. Grrr... And it is such a pretty, pretty pink! With a pretty white and pink case!

My sister, Kathy, called me yesterday morning on her way to work. We both drive M-20 and there has been construction along a part of it recently. Yesterday morning was windy. One of those huge black and white signs that reads, "Injure or Kill a Worker..." blew over right in front of her. Right. In. Front. Of. Her. Thankfully no one was in the left lane, and she didn't hit anyone as she swerved to avoid the attacking sign. Which would have otherwise surely injured or killed a worker on her way to work. Irony on a windy morning. Gotta love it.

Both Mike and Joycie have done very well on their grades this past semester. I think they feel like college is crawling by, but I cannot believe this college year is over. I'm so very proud of the both of them. They are also both doing great at their jobs; both working for the same start-up company. That's for another blog post. But again, I'm so proud of them.

I'm also proud of my niece, Michelle, who has graduated from college (look for pics later), and I'm so proud of her brother, my nephew, Michael, who has also completed his first year of college. Michael with a straight 4.0 GPA. My nephew is brilliant.

Joycie's good friend, Allison, got a nice surprise this week. Her sweetheart who is in the Navy and stationed in Italy came to see her here in Michigan. We get to meet him tomorrow evening, and I'm very much looking forward to that. Also to Joycie's homemade Mexican food. The girl can crank out the tortillas so wonderfully. Mike's momma, Izzy, has taught her well.

And can we all get a HALLELUJAH! that "Coach" is finally, finally voted off. He has been barf material all the way. When he told his "Assistant Coach" that "they" call me the dragon slayer, I actually did feel a bit of vomit in my throat. They didn't call him that, HE called himself that. Ugh. Gag. And did anyone else find it strange that everyone else had a family member visit, but not him? We have been muting or fast forwarding through the Survivor episodes now whenever we see his mouth moving. He would have been the ideal person to take to the final 2, though... who on the jury would give that conceited jackass a million bucks? No one. Stephen is one smart dude. I hope he wins the million just for getting Coach out. Though JT is awfully adorable...

And speaking of adorable... this week's Two and Half Men was awesome. I love the character, "Berta" (Conchata Ferrell, who plays the part perfectly!)... my favorite quotes from that episode: 1) Jimminy, I'm drunk, and 2) He digs the trench and you lay the pipe. Classic.

Yet more TV! I really enjoy the show The Big Bang Theory. The character Sheldon and his "classic pranks" is so funny. Bazinga! This recent episode where Wolowitz pretends to shoot a crossbow at Sheldon, with the added gesture of throwing the weapon down when he's done shooting it was awesome. And now we are saying Bazinga! around this house.

I used to cook a lot. I used to be known as a really good cook. But I haven't been cooking hardly at all in the past, oh... 18 or 20 months. It's another thing I keep hoping will return to "normal" one of these days. Meantime, I am recording a heck of a lot of cooking shows. My favorites are Paula Deen, Ina Garten, Giada and Tyler, and of course, Rachel, too... I have so many different episodes recorded on our DVR, and I rename them all just "Food" so they are grouped together. When I am feeling particularly tired out and yet still anxious (have that going on a LOT lately... work pressures, so much work backlog from last year... ugh), I love to watch Paula cook. Her Southern drawl is so soothing, y'all. And her food looks so good. I just wanna hug her. And then eat everything she's cooked up in her gorgeous kitchen. I think Paula Deen is probably the TV cook I most admire... her book, "It Ain't All About the Cookin'" is on my want-to-read list. I love watching the Barefoot Contessa episodes, too, also soothing. Her home is lovely. But it's all a little too... I don't know... too too... y'know?. Kevin likes it when I'm watching any Everyday Italian episode, and he'll actually watch them with me. I'm sure it has nothing to do with how gorgeous Giada is... (Kev calls her the little midget with the big knockers and the low-cut shirts.)

Wow. I watch a lot of TV. And right now, the Tigers are on it. See ya!

The mighty oak falls

Out back near the dogs' run and the pole barn is one large oak that was part of a twin. One of the twins fell a couple of years ago, causing no damage. Though, years ago, back in 1991 when our house was in construction, we had a big wind storm that summer, and a huge branch of that tree fell off... and on its way to the ground, the branch swept down the side/corner of our pole barn. Did some major damage to the pole barn. And that was just a branch of the tree! A branch the size of a small tree.

The remaining, still-standing twin has become less stable. This is always the case when a pair of twin oaks loses one. This is the third set of huge oak twins where one came down in a storm and Kev has had to take the other one down. All 3 have been near our house, so also near our outbuildings and everything, too. Felling a tree that big is a risky venture, and you gotta know what you're doing. Thankfully, Kev has tons of experience cutting down trees, and he was taught by the master... my Dad. Dad and Kev have felled many a huge tree together.

So this tree has been leaning toward a couple of pine trees we have over there, pines we would like to keep... Kev decided yesterday was the day to take that tree down before it came down on our pines, or worse. We have very few pine trees on our property, and those we have are because we've planted them ourselves.

The wind yesterday was quite strong and blowing to the west, which would be helpful in taking this oak down in the right direction. My job was to keep the 3 dogs out of the way. Betty was easy, she just laid down, poor old girl...



Barney, now totally blind, was a bit more of a challenge. He had found an old tennis ball and was walking around with it possessively in his mouth. I got him to lay down, but he always just starts rolling around on the grass, coz it feels so goooooooood...



Reilly minded me and sat still. He also kept an eye on Betty and Barney, and when Barney would wander, Reilly desperately wanted to herd him back to me, but I made Reilly stay put...



This is Kev beginning to work on the tree. Big tree, huh...



The other big, single oak is staying... at least for now. It's standing tall and straight, well, mostly straight... so far, so good. Though, when a single oak has grown up so near other trees that have come down, it affects that tree. That oak has been used to the other 2 big trees all its life. With those twins gone, the single tree will have to adjust, such as how the wind and sun change against it, the roots at the bottom. That single tree should be fine, but through the years ahead, the twins being gone may adversely affect its life expectancy.

Kev starts on the tree by making a cut on the side he wants the tree to fall toward, first one cut...



Then another cut...



Cutting a wedge out of the tree, making the weak spot to convince the tree to fall that way, hopefully avoiding the nearby pine trees as much as possible...



Here's the video I took of the tree falling. Not very good videography skills; I'm not used to Joycie's little Sony at all yet. There is also a lot of wind noise in the video... it was a windy day! And there's a loud shout by me when I screamed for Barney because I thought Kev was telling me he was in danger. Scared the crap outta me! Poor old blind Barney.

Kev got the tree down keeping the pine tree intact... whoo hoo, Kev! That's my man!!!



It was pretty exciting. Scary, too. Big tree. Kev is 6' tall, so this photo gives you an idea of how much work he has ahead of him getting the tree cut, split and stacked and the stumps taken care of...



Of course, the first thing Barney did was find one of the wedges Kev used and had it in his mouth, which made Reilly instantly want it.



Kev got Barney to drop the little wedge and tried to get him to carry around the big wedge... eh, made us laugh anyway!... poor old blind Barney, guess we shouldn't be making fun of him...



Barney is such a huge dog, though. Guess we thought that wedge was more his style. Reilly only cared that it gave him the opportunity to get what Barney had...



I also took a sweet photo of N.C. also... can't you just feel that stretch?



And then later, Joycie and Mike got home, with groceries! Joycie started cooking right away. She cooked for about an hour, and the house smelled so wonderful. Usually Mike helps her cook because they like to do that together, but he had homework to work on. Joyce made taco beef, homemade tortillas, fried up some homemade tortilla chips and made a big bowl of guacamole. Oh. My. Heck! That was some good Mexican food. Izzy, Mike's momma, has done a great job teaching our Joycie how to cook the good stuff! It was so delicious.



You can see our beautiful girl had been slaving over the hot stove... looks at those pretty red cheeks! The four of us had a nice dinner together. Sammy wasn't home; he was at a friend's house. As usual... our little social butterfly, that boy.

And now, just for kicks, here's a crazy photo I made of our crazy old, blind Barney...



Freaky, eh.