A Few of My Favorite Things

I had to push myself, but I got up and out of the house early to go to 8:30 am Yoga class, followed by 23 minutes of swimming laps. I went to Meijer, as usual, and then went home for lunch, all prepared to roast up some veggies tomorrow when it is supposed to be cold and rainy. I'll be roasting asparagus, 3 colors of peppers, garlic, vidalia, onions, red skin potatoes and broccoli. We already have the portabella mushrooms sauteed to add to the veggie mix.
I spent the afternoon alternating between bidding on ebay for Sofie's current favorite toy and doing gardening. I planted half a flat of wave petunias and 1/2 a flat of impatiens, plus the primroses. I managed to win one of the auction I was working on.
When the mail came, my new "memory stick" arrived. I can't believe how cheap it was, and it fits my camera perfectly and will hold 4 times the amount of photos as my old one.
I walked Rascal for a mile and put him through his paces. He is getting better and better at the "come" command and can go very far in the heel position as well. He isn't good at "sitting" or "down", but once in either position he will stay for quite a while.
Except for the Red Wings losing, everything was great. The weather was wonderful and we were spending a lot of time on the porch looking at our brand new picnic table and umbrella. They are going to be very useful this summer.
After the game, Barry helped Mac put our boat in the water. It was just then that it started to rain like crazy and the wind came up and a very dark cloud blew in out of somewhere. Luckily the boat now has a powerful new engine, so Mac could scurry over the lake and bring it into the dock. After that it rained on and off for a while.
I made a great 8 layer salad for dinner and we had brats, but we didn't grill them or eat on the new table as it was too cold.
We waited for Barry and Nancy get done with their errands and then they came over for dessert. I made an experimental dessert that we all loved. You grill pineapple slices and add a scoop of coconut sorbet. Top that off with caramel mixed with rum. They are called Pina Coladas and they are great. That won't be the first time that I make that recipe this summer either.
We all got our winter parkas on and went for the first boat ride of the summer with both dogs, under an almost full moon.

Grateful for my Blessings Today

I have had a wonderful day. To start with, this morning I found out that I had won a new memory stick for my camera on an ebay auction. It supposedly holds 1GB and I got it for $2.99.(I love the Muu Muu that I got on ebay for Sean's upcoming Luau 4oth bash.) Then I took the dog out to pee without a leash and he went out and did his thing and came right back in when I called him. (He is getting used to us and our routines and soon we can just let him out and back in and not have to venture out ourselves.) Then I went to the gym for an hour of water aerobics plus an hour of Yoga, followed by shopping at Walgreens, Meijer, Walmart (to get Mac's glasses adjusted) and best of all the Two Season's greenhouse.
I bought the wave petunias, impatiens and alyssum that I buy each year, but I also bought a nice lavender plant and two primroses. I am going to try growing the lavender in a pot near the beach as it needs a lot of sun and I have mostly shade. The primroses are for Anja (I don't know if they are still her favorite flower or not.?) I used to have some but they have disappeared so I thought I would try again. Maybe they will be in bloom when she gets here next month.
My last errand in town was to go to the lung doctor for a check up. I haven't changed much in four years now and that is good news. My blood oxygen level was 94% this year and 95% then. They said, just call if you are in trouble, no more regular two year visits. (I weighed 5 lbs more than two years ago, but I am working on that.)
I have already dropped about 4 lbs since getting back from Florida. One of the things I have realized just lately is that the down side of not ever getting new knees is that I have to get serious about keeping these two out of pain. Losing weight is one way to help that along. I almost wanted new knees so that I wouldn't have to lose the weight--Isn't that sicko?--prefering a drastic operation like that, to controlling my food intake. (Rascal's dog obedience training accounts for some of the weight loss as I have recently added in a mile each day to work on his homework lessons.)
At the doctors office, I really had to add a lot of things to the list of pills I take. The additions were Melatonin, Chromium Picolanate, Magnesium, Alfalfa, Calcium with D, L-Lysene, Acidopholous and then I am now on Estrogen and off of the Fem Ring. I can't get anything else done as I have to take pills all day long.
Mac and I are having a good time this week trying to copy Landon's fart cuteness. He kept saying excitedly, "I farted!" each time it occurred. I kept replying that he should say "Excuse me." and he picked it right up. He changed it to "I farted!! Excuse me?" Of course I am almost where I want him to be. He is such a character!
Well this is the night for Grey's Anatomy so I have a nice way to finish a great day.

Brady's Birthday Weekend

The fact that Brady's Birthday always falls near Mother's Day makes a bit of a conflict for him. He can't complain this year, however, because he had a terrific weekend celebration. Thursday, the day of his birthday, he got to go on a field trip at school ( his Mom was along too) and then aferward he met all of his friends at a local park for a "presents-optional" frolic with cupcakes and juice. He received some great gifts (a rocket, a skate board and 4 webkins) from his friends and it was a very nice party. He had to hurry home because there was dinner and then soccer. The soccer game was followed by more gifts at home from his parents and us and then Ethan spent the night with him.

Friday Ethan was there all morning and then they went to afternoon Kindergarten together. After school, Sherry hired a sitter for Owen. The three older boys, Mac and me, and Eddie and Sherry spent the evening together. We went out for dinner in downtown Traverse City and then we did an indoor putt putt course. Eddie, Brady and Landon, each had a "hole-in-one" and Sherry and I tried our best. Evan is still figuring out who won.

Saturday was special too because Brady and Eddie had a father-son golf outing in the morning. They were using the new set of golf clubs that Brady got from his parents for his birthday. That afternoon Brady fell asleep and slept until 11:00 p.m. He was just tuckered out. We fed him some oatmeal at 11 and then he just went back to sleep.

Mother's Day Gifts

Here are pictures of some of my Mother's Day Gifts. I was nice to myself a little earlier and bought Mac and me lovely chairs to "shade" bathe in. I thought that was both a nice Mother's day gift for me and a Father's day gift for him. Mac didn't think that was enough so he brought me a nice pot of shrub roses that I can plant outside when the danger of frost has past. It was a very thoughtful gift on his part.

Anja sent me a book to read "Fire and Hemlock" and a lovely postcard from a museum. I read the book and loved it. In this book the main character "Polly" describes herself as a "hero in training". When I was coming home from two hours at the gym yesterday I realized that I am a "grandmother in training". I have to work-out to get strength and energy to keep up with the grandkids. Just picking up Owen is a load and he always wants to be cuddled and held (I love it.)

The book is by Diana Wynne Jones and Anja has read a bunch of these books and I've ordered her one at Amazon.com to have waiting for her when she returns. It is nice that she is finding books to take the place of the Harry Potter series that has ended. How many times can she reread one of those??

Sherry and Eddie and the kids gave me a sack of gifts. Scrapbooking things, a picture frame with a sailboat, some ginger cream and a nautical candle. I also got a card hand drawn by Owen. I helped him draw on it for me. He loves to work with markers, but you have to keep them out of his mouth still.

Sean called and told me that he had just hung the porch swing for me, so that now I can come and visit and sit in it and enjoy his view of the river. I am coming out in July for his party so that will be very nice.

Shannon called from Prague and had to go to a wi-fi cafe and call from outside on the lawn as it was too noisy in the cafe to talk. She and her family will be coming back soon.

All and all it was a great bunch of gifts and a nice day.

Monday Morning

It is 7:30 a.m. and I have been up for an hour and a half. I am waiting now for Mac to finish cooking a nice breakfast for me: sausage, red potatoes, eggs, toast and tea. I have a nice life. I have been working on the diagramless crossword puzzles that Jeanne Foster sends me from Florida. I love them. They are my favorite kind of puzzle and so hard to find.

I also played ball for quite a while with our new dog Rascal after walking him around in the yard a bit. We haven't let him off leash yet so I haven't gotten to play ball outside with him yet but I am really looking forward to it. Being part cocker, he is a great retreiver. Being part Shelty he is a bit too loud for Florida where we live on top of people. I hope we can quiet his warning barks a little.

Yesterday I found out that I can fly a lot cheaper now that I am a senior citizen(65). I was looking up prices for flights to New York in July for Sean's 40th birthday bash. I looked up adult prices first, forgetting that I had a birthday, and then it came to me to check out whether I qualified for senior fares and I did!!! I am still glowing. This is the best senior discount yet and I really need it. Being retired gives me all kinds of time to buy things and go places and not enough money for all the things I want to do. Also--not being an adult any more gives me all kinds of freedom to act any way I want--not that I needed anyone's permission.

I was on the deck around 7:00 last night (Our favorite time of the week when all of the weekenders have left for home and their jet skis are quieted.) and saw the first sailboat of the year. I think the water is still too cold for me to try sailing but maybe I'll give it a go in my wet suit next week.

We are spending this weekend (starting Thursday) in Kingsley. Brady's birthday is Thursday and then Mother's Day is Sunday. We are going up in two cars and leaving the camper there as we are going up again for Brady's Grandparent day in Kindergarten two weeks from now. We will probably be babysitting here for the Memorial day weekend as Eddie and Sherry want to do some more house hunting in Wisconsin. The last weekend of May, I will be in Ann Arbor playing a lot of bridge and catching up with my girlfriends down there. Roz might even have a party Friday night. This is going to be a busy summer.

Good Week

We are enjoying being in Michigan. We have a lot of the yard work done, the dock in, the boat out and getting ready for its new motor (a fast one for better tubing with the grandkids). The camper is out of the pole barn and everything seems to be in working order. The spring flowers are running through their cycle. My favorite wildflower, cowslips, are out now and I have even spotted a snake. We planted three new trees and have two bags of grass seed to put out. All of these things are ready for summer and winter is coming back next week with sleet and snow and freezing temps.
We started obedience classes with Rascal on Wed. We are working on "heel", "sit" and "stay". I have been working with him religiously on these commands and he seems good on "heel" and very slow on "sit". I think he has something wrong with his left hip and it makes sitting a bit hard for him. I persist though. (I will have the vet look it over when we go in for the bordatella booster.) He fits into our life like a lost piece of a puzzle. We are so lucky to have him. He is very, very into Mac and that is great.
I have some of the summer plans sorted out. In May we are spending two weekends in Kingsley(Brady's birthday and Grandparent Day in Brady's class) and then we are doing something with Eddie's family for memorial day. I am going to Ann Arbor for four days in May for lots of bridge and hopefully some mini-reunions with my friends.
June is way busy. Mac and I have some doc apts. in GR. I have squamous cell carcinoma on my left arm and it has to be dealt with, Mac is getting his annual screening and I am getting my eyes tested. After that, it is going to be very family oriented. Shannon and her family are coming back to Ann Arbor. They will be going to the family reunion in Boyne along with Beth, Mary, and maybe Sean. Beth and Mary will spend some time with us in Gowen and then I will put them both on return flights.
We have no idea of how many people will be at the cottage for the 4th of July. Mike is talking already about his trip to Indiana to get the fireworks. Sean has invited me to his big 40th birthday party in New York and I am flying out for it on the 19th and meeting Shannon and her family there.
August will start out with a bridge tournament in GR. I am hoping that some of my friends come to it. I already reserved three rooms at the hotel for our group. (Gargi, Allan said yes, Alice said maybe, Harry and Emily are also thinking about it.) The rest of August should be spent with Shannon's family here in Gowen. I have missed them a lot while they have been in Europe. I am hoping for a lot of swimming and yoga and crafting when they settle here for a while before moving on to California. They have had quite a lot of travelling. Right now they seem to be having a good time in Prague.
I borrowed the DVD "Howl's Moving Castle" from the library and viewed it last night. It is a cartoon movie based on a children's fantasy book by Diana Wynne Jones. Anja has read nearly all of this author while in Europe and I wanted to share some of her enthusiasm. This cartoon is very well done. It is an Hayao Miyazake film and way above Disney's creations. I will try to check it out again when she is here in August so we can watch it together.
We had the HD TV equiped with a DVR this week, but that DVR isn't functioning correctly yet. A repair man is coming tomorrow. Our Charter Bill is over $200. per month. It includes high speed internet, three boxes on three TV's, all of the premium channels and our phone.
I just love our DVR on the other TV. We tape Bill Maher who is aired very late Friday nights and watch it on Sat afternoon. Mac and I are both enjoying the HBO John Adams series which I taped in its entirety. ABC has been running the Harry Potter movies on Saturday nights and I have 4 of them taped and saved for both Evan and Anja.
Well, I should get back to either of my two tasks for today. One is to continue sorting and cleaning in the craft room. I am making into a baby room for Owen and a storage room for me. The other one is to wrap and put cards on all of the gifts that I have ready for the Sept/Oct birthdays for Jerry's 6 grandkids. I may even clean the other toilet. (My least favorite housecleaning job.)

Wonderful Saturday April 19th

Saturday April 19th was Karen's birthday and yet I had a such a party of a day you would have thought it was mine. It started with a beautiful sunrise, when I woke up at 5 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep.
My day included a session at the gym (Yoga and swimming), picking up some discounted photos from Walgreens and coming home to a very nice Skype call from Shannon and the girls.
I did a bunch of scrapbooking with the photos while Mac and Rascal had their naps and then we visited some Amish friends (one had an adorable two week old infant and we brought some gifts) and we sat down and talked to the other couple over coffeee and cookies.
The lady that we got Rascal from, asked us to bring him back for a little visit with her four kids as they were really missing him. He was so into them that I am now positive that he will get on with all of my grandkids. What a great dog! I was also able to show him to Shannon's girls by way of the Skype call. I think her kids needed to know that we were taking good care of Rascal and they were pretty impressed.
When we got home we had a great meal of venison steaks, (Mike Gurr had given us a lot of his deer) with mushrooms sauteed in garlic and butter and fresh steamed broccoli. We followed that with blackberries and whipped cream. What a feast!
The evening weather was gorgeous and Mac and Barry built a huge fire to sit around and watch the nearly full moon. The sky was clear and there was just enough wind to make a nice moon reflection across the water. It is so great to sit and appreciate it with Nancy and Barry as they are as enthralled as we are with moon scapes.
p.s. I am writing this on Sun and I just had to throw in a picture of the tulips that opened today. We sometimes regret coming back so early as we miss the pool and easy walking in Florida, but now that the weather is getting better, we are really enjoying the Spring. I also got a return phone call from Karen which was really nice.