Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful father's out there. When you're a good Father you also have a chance to be one of these:


A good Grandfather!



Howard has always been a great Dad but he's a wonderful Grandpa too. He gets such a kick out of Quinn and all the things she does. He even has a picture of them together as the wallpaper on his cell phone. That's love!

It's been a good week around here. I've managed to get a few things done and also had a little time to read out on the deck and garden a bit. I have also been able to take the pups to the high school field every other day or so which they have thoroughly enjoyed. They are about to be spoiled!! I have to change up the times I take them because if I don't they start staring at me every afternoon around 4:00 and have a fit every time I go near the garage door!

This is where you can find Zoe after a particularly hot trip to the park. She knows exactly where to lay, right on top of the air conditioning vent!


On Thursday I went out to the garden. I wasn't able to stay long as I had the pups with me but I hadn't been out there in over a week and wanted to check on things. Man, things had really grown!

The carrots (at least the tops) have really taken off.


The potatoes are looking good too. One or two have started to flower too which means the potatoes are starting to grow underground.


The lettuce is starting to "head up" and will be ready for harvesting soon.


The onions had really grown and some are even starting to flower.


This broccoli was ready to harvest, almost past it's prime.


I was going to go out there today to do a little weeding but I just ran out of energy. Hopefully tomorrow I will make it. There isn't that much to do but I do need to do a little maintenance.

Friday night we were supposed to go to my friend Loretta's son's graduation party but I was feeling a little under the weather so we weren't able to go.

Saturday we hung around the house getting ready for a visit with the Porter's and some friends of theirs. We were all going to see their daughter, Liz, who just happened to be in town with Sheryl Crow. We got to the venue around 5:00 and we all went out to dinner with Liz. She had to be back by 7:00 so Sheryl could get ready for the show. We had a nice relaxing (and delicious) dinner at Ruby Tuesdays and made it back in plenty of time. Colbie Calliet was Sheryl's opening act and just as we arrived back at Sheryl's bus Colbie walked by, said Hi to Sheryl and then proceeded to go on for her show. We only stayed on the bus for a few minutes and then headed around to our seats. We had great seats, Row K, center which is only about 11 rows back. Colbie was good, singing all her well-known hits. You aren't really supposed to take pictures there but I managed to get a couple, not very good ones.


There was 1/2 hour intermission and then it was time for Sheryl to come on. As usual, she didn't disappoint. We had a great time.


She sang all her hits (and our favorites) and there was even a "surprise" appearance by Kid Rock. Sheryl and her crew had spent the afternoon hanging out at his pool as he just lives up the road from us. I guess he didn't hang around, or at least we didn't see him, as he was gone when we went back stage after the show.

The one thing I really don't get about concerts is how some people get so smashed. There were several couples in front of us and they were so drunk I don't know how they would even remember the show today. There was another woman just down the row from us that was so drunk she fell out of her seat into the aisle and a security person had to help her out. As one point I thought she had passed out but she got a second wind and resumed her "dancing". Crazy!

We ended up back on the bus for another visit with Liz and then when Sheryl came back we had to go as the bus was leaving! It was a wonderful night and we had a great time. Sheryl is so gracious and welcoming. We always enjoy seeing her and spending time with all the Porters. The Porter's friends headed on to their hotel and the Porters came back to our place to spend the night. They were on the road early this morning though as they needed to get home.

Today has been kind of a lazy day. Scott took H to lunch for Father's Day and they had some manly time together. I took the pups to the high school field. Now they are passed out and happy (Zoe & Charlie that is). Although I think H is having a little nap himself! It's amazing what a little exercise will do (or pizza and beer.)

This week I will be traveling to see Amber, Andy and Quinn. I'm so looking forward to spending a few days with them. Quinn is changing from week to week. She's picking up new skills she didn't have just 3 weeks ago when they were here for Memorial Day. I can't wait to see them (the skills) in person instead of just hearing about them!

Have a great week!

What a Difference...

What a difference one little week can make. Actually less than week. Sometimes just a matter of hours.

Do you ever get the feeling that sometimes your luck is just so good? You and the Universe have lined up, your ship has come in, you are living right under your lucky star? Or "someone" really has your best interest at heart, be it a higher power than you or the highest power?

Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 I was marking the time of my last days (hours really) of my job as a para. Then things changed, just like that! The Principal came to our little room and offered me a job for next Fall. It sounded good, really good. I asked her if it would be ok if I let her know in the morning as I wanted to at least let H know about it and he was on his way to Ohio at the time. So the next morning, first thing, I walked into her office and told her I would love to take the job. Looks like next Fall I will be working in the ESL (English as a Second Language) program. I'm really excited and happy about it. We have had quite an influx of Spanish speaking families in the last few years and many of them are in our building. There are others out in the District though and even some students from Asia who will require help next year. It's only 5-1/2 hours a day as opposed to the 7 I have now but at least it's a job and a good one too. So, there's one thing off my mind. I won't have to be looking for a job all summer.

Then Friday H took a little time off to check into refinancing our home. We have a balloon payment due August 1 and needed to find out what to do. Last time I checked it was a real pain and no one seemed that interested in helping us. Now, thanks to Obama and some of his new policies, the Bank HAS to help us refinance and it's all pretty painless. Within an hour, over the phone, we were all set! Done, finished, over! I was so happy and relieved. Yes, we will incur some costs, which they will wrap in the new mortgage, which I wish we weren't incurring but thankfully our payment will stay mostly the same. Another thing I was dreading and I admit I was even thinking we might not be living here much longer.

So, I'm feeling very blessed and thankful right now.

Wednesday was the last day of school. The kids were there 1/2 a day, we signed yearbooks, said our good-byes. Two students brought us gifts this year. One gave me a beautiful pot of flowers and the other a full grown rose bush! I have no idea where in the heck I am going to plant the thing. I truly have no more room in my yard, not that gets 6 hours of sunlight a day anyway. The rest of the day we worked on packing up our room and getting it ready for cleaning and the contents to be moved again. We had just moved into that room last fall and now my teacher will be moving out and into another room next fall. After school we all attended a "pink party" for all the people who have been pink slipped. I have to admit I did feel a little guilty that I was no longer among those nice people. But hopefully they will all be called back again next year too. You never know. Michigan may come up with some money somewhere or else other people will retire and make room for those that were pink slipped.

It's been great these last few days waking up without an alarm. The latest I've actually been able to sleep is only 7:30 and sometimes the pups wake me up earlier and then I convince them we need another hour or so. Usually they comply.

Saturday I took the pups to the high school field but it was very hot and especially muggy. They didn't last long at all. I threw the frisbee 5 or 6 times and then they both trotted over to the shade and layed down. We were done. Time to go.




Today is a little cooler, less muggy and no sun in sight. The weather man keeps saying there is a chance of thunderstorms but I think we will dodge them today. I just got back from taking the pups to the high school field again and they were much more energetic. They lasted a good 20 minutes before they were panting this time.







In other news, Quinn is now 5 months old. Where has the time gone. Amber says she has discovered her feet! They were going to be taking her in the pool today. We video chatted earlier and she was really checking everything out. She can't quite see us yet but we can sure see her and we love it.


I also have been g-chatting with Tyler every couple days. He is mostly working though he did say he went to a park there and they had big screens set up to watch S. Korea participate in the World Cup games. That must have been a sight!

Scott is still trying to find a way into his own apartment. He's been working 3 or 4 nights a week but still not making substantial money yet. With the economy the way it is I just don't think he will. The other day I went to the mall where his restaurant is and noticed that several places that had been there for years have recently closed down. It's just hard to stay in business and make any money I guess. People are still losing their jobs.

I'm going to a retirement party this afternoon for two people from school. One has been the 5th grade teacher for many years and the other is the school social worker. Both decided to take advantage of the incentives that the District is offering to retire. With all the people coming and going our building will really have a different look next year.

But I'm not going to think about that now. Right now I'm going to enjoy summer!

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Best Present Ever!



Good gracious I love that face!

Three More Days...

Usually when there are only Three More Days left of school I'm really happy. And I am. I'm tired, ready for a break, ready to tackle some things around the house, sleep a little later (if Charlie will allow), not have a set schedule or some place to be by 8:00. This year, I will admit, it's a little bittersweet. I know I'm never going to do this job again though I do hold out a small bit of hope that some day I will be back at NSE, maybe even in the fall. The next three days will be both happy and sad. The fifth graders will be having lots of lasts, including their awards ceremony tomorrow. There will be lots of hugs and some tears. Some I will be sad to see leave, some not so much. Life goes on...

We had a nice weekend around here. Saturday I got lots of things accomplished. I went to the farmer's market and bought eggs and found a new supplier for some pasture-fed beef! That was exciting. From there I stopped to pick up some black oilers since my poor birds were completely out! Then I was off to pick up my new glasses. I've been feeling a little bit of buyer's remorse on picking this particular pair and I wasn't sure if I would really like them or not. Instead I didn't have to worry about that at all because when I put them on I couldn't see anything clearly except the sales girl standing about 18 inches away from me. I would not have been able to drive with them and I couldn't read close up clearly.
Something or someone screwed up somewhere. The girl said they would check them out and get back to me.

When I got home from there I had a little time to take the pups up to the high school field but I forgot the camera. But they pretty much look the same and do the same stuff every time anyway, right?



We couldn't stay long anyway because it was pretty hot and humid and they tired out quickly.

By the time we got home H was back from running his errands and we decided to head out to the garden. Yesterday morning was the beginning of the "big plant" for the main garden. We opted not to go but I'm sure I'll be doing my "hours" in other ways. I talked to Jim, the Master Gardener, yesterday and he said I could come out and to the big garden water once a week if I wanted. That would be pretty easy I think. So once we got out there we decided to do some weeding. It wasn't bad but a few weeks had definitely popped up. The broccoli had really taken off

and so had the radishes!

And here's what I picked!

The potatoes were looking good and had gotten so tall!


The lettuce and green beans, lookin' good!

The onions had grown so much and are about to bloom!

H did a little border work


and then INSISTED on laying some more straw, against my wishes, to keep the weeds down. I think it looks tacky and I'm worried about it keeping in too much moisture. He promised he would remove it in a week or so if I really didn't like it, which I don't!

Today I went to the Scamp Home Tour with my friend Natalie. There were 5 houses on the tour, two old ones (one built in the 1800's that had been the first local telephone company) and 3 newer ones, very fancy, lots of granite, etc. It rained pretty good most of the time but thankfully we brought our umbrellas so except for the humidity it wasn't too bad. Then we met Loretta for dinner at South of the Border and had a nice, long 3 hour dinner together. All in all it was a nice day.

Three more days. Three more days until my summer begins! Have a good week!

(Ok, now it's really 2 more days. Blogger would NOT cooperate last night and I could not post. Then I had to buy more space for my pictures as apparently I had run out!)

Two more days! Graduation was great. Everyone made it. The kids were happy. The teachers were happy. Last full day of school!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO! Now only two half days and two luncheons thrown in on top of that! Life is good!

Great Weekend!

What a great but busy weekend we had! It started Friday when we arrived in Muskegon to spend a couple days with Andy's family. Amber, Andy and Quinn had arrived a few hours before us, his sister Katie was there with her 3 children, his other sister Kerry and her husband arrived shortly after we did and his younger sister Molly arrived after we all went to bed! We spent the afternoon in or around the pool. The water was a little cool but Quinn loved it! It was her first pool experience.


Here she is taking a little break.


The little family.


Chillin' with Granddaddy H on the porch.

She wasn't napping much but I managed to get her to sleep for 15 or 20 minutes.

Amber's friend Nicole and her boyfriend and his son arrived a little bit later.

We were all treated to ribs and salads for dinner.
Saturday was another day spent around the pool. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! It was so nice visiting with Andy's family. They were so sweet to invite us to spend a little more time with Amber, Andy and Quinn.

We headed home around 4:00 to get things ready for Sunday when Amber, Andy and Quinn were coming to visit us!

They arrived Sunday around 11:30 and soon after Amber and I headed off to the grocery store to grab a few things to take to our friends house where there was another pool for Quinn to enjoy! It was another gorgeous day and we all (except Quinn) got a little sunburned I think!

Quinn seemed to enjoy spending time with Scott. He thought she had grown so much since he'd seen her in January.






I was so proud of Zoe and Charlie. They were so good with Quinn. For two dogs who haven't been around kids they did great. They wanted to sniff her toes and fingers and Charlie really wanted to lick her face but he moved off when we asked him to. His barking (which we kept to a minimum) didn't seem to scare her either. They both came running if she cried or seemed in any kind of distress. The hardest thing for them was staying off Scott's bed which was where Amber & Andy were sleeping. Every chance they got Charlie was up on the bed. Zoe stayed down when asked to. They had their heads up there though trying to see what she was doing.




Our time together ended all too quickly. The weekend just flew by and they had to leave around 4:30 today to catch their flight back home. We so enjoyed Quinn's visit (Amber & Andy too) to Michigan. They said she was great on the flight over (another first: first plane ride) and I just hope she was good on the way home too. The only thing worse than listening to someone's crying baby on a plane is being the baby's parents trying to get her quiet!

Back to the grind tomorrow. I will be in serious countdown mode! We only have 4 days this week which will include the 4th and 5th grade picnics so there won't be much work those days, a full day next Monday which includes the 5th grade award ceremony and then Tuesday and Wednesday are half days! Then I am officially unemployed. Let the closet cleaning begin!!!

Have a great week!

I Wish I Could Say...

That the whole weekend was beautiful, including the Friday I took off as another mental health day. But no, can't really say that, however today is absolutely gorgeous! A perfect Michigan pre-summer/feels like summer day!

I did take Friday as another mental health day, probably the next to last I will take. It rained almost all day, hard at times, drizzle at other times, but most of the things I had to accomplish were inside things anyway. The day started with a trip to the groomer for the pups. They were so excited, until we actually got there!

From there I went to the eye Dr. and almost two hours later I was more than $300 poorer and had my new glasses ordered. And I have insurance, and so does H, two insurances, working together and I still have to pay more than $300 for new glasses. And this was a discounted amount! The first price she gave me was almost $500! I was all, I'm sorry, I can't pay $500 for glasses and just what the heck is my insurance paying, may I ask? She had just arbitrarily added on a few things for me, assuming I wanted them like anti-glare, the best lenses, etc. No, I want the minimum, just some glasses that I can see out of and don't make me look like an old hag! Can we just try that?? I find the problem with trying to pick new glasses is that when I'm trying them on and trying to check myself out, I can't really see all that well. Kinda makes it hard to see if the glasses really look good or not. And then you are pretty much just trusting this person who doesn't even know you to tell you that yes, those glasses look great on you! Of course she's going to say that. She's trying to sell me some freakin' glasses!

My next stop was at the Secretary of State's office because I wasn't able to just reapply for my driver's license through the mail this year. I had to go in person, show my social security card and have a new picture taken. That took all of 10 minutes and I was thrilled and out the door! My new license will arrive in the mail in about 10 days, perfect!

From the SoS I headed home for a quick lunch and just about the time I finished that the groomer called to tell me my beauties were ready to pick up. And beauties they were! Just look at them!! She really took a lot off of Charlie and he desperately needed it. He was lookin' pretty shaggy!

But look how pretty they turned out! So much better.


Here they are, concentrating really hard on what I'm saying. I think it was something about a cookie or walk or somethin'.


Here's where Charlie heard the refrigerator door open. Notice Zoe still focusing on her Mama. What's that Mama? Did you say something about getting me a cookie?


Oh yea, I heard that, a cookie. Good job Zoe, never even blinked!


Saturday was another rainy day. I wasn't actually too sad about the rain because when I went out to the garden on Wednesday to water my newly planted veggies, I was met with the news that the pump was broken. That rain was just what saved me from having to lug water out there and carry it out to my plots by hand. So, I couldn't complain on this day about the rain. Besides, it gave me a chance to do some laundry, make pasta salad, catch up on my blog reading and other fun stuff. Oh, but I almost forgot. We did see this little cutie!

It's a little gosling. It ran out from behind the house across the street, got caught by the dogs across the street, we thought it was dead but it was only playing possum, then ran like heck to the front of our house. This is where he was when the picture above was snapped.

Then I herded him to the back yard in hopes that he would catch up to his parents again. Never a dull moment her in suburbia!



Today is another story! It is absolutely the perfect day. Sunny, light breeze, low humidity, warm, probably in the low 80's. Although this is how the day started out.

It was quickly gone though and the rest of the day was perfect. We started with a ride out to the plant nursery in the mustang. It was a good day to have the top down. From there I took the pups up to the field.


They really wanted to run but didn't last long as it was really HOT out in the sun. They were both draggin' by the time we walked back to the car.



We started to take a short cut through the woods but just a little way in the trail turned to nothin' but mud so we decided to turn around and head back out.



Then as a treat, since they were both panting like crazy and seriously hot, I decided to dig the old pool out from under the deck so they could cool down. Plus Zoe had decided a mud puddle was a good place to cool off while we were up at the school and she was a mess.

Even Charlie went in this time without any hesitation. He won't lay down like Zoe does but he was having him some good old fashioned fun!




After that H and I went out to the garden to see how things had faired this week and if they had enough to drink with all that rain!

Things were lookin' good.

The radishes are growing really well. I'll have to thin them out soon. I hate that job! I want them all!


My potatoes have made a recovery. They were nipped pretty badly by the frost we had a couple weeks ago but they are growing back really well.


This is one of the first broccoli I planted. It's doing much better than the others so far.

This is the view of plot 1. Things are doing well. I transplanted the pumpkin vine I'd been nursing along in the basement. It will have lots of sunshine and warm temps this week so we will see how it does. While we were out there we checked on the pump situation and it looks like they've managed to fix it which was good news. No hauling water in our future!

In other news, Tyler had a three day weekend so he and a couple friends took a bus/train trip to Seoul for the weekend. He said he had a good time walking around and even visited a Palace. Can't wait to see those pictures! He's also excited because his first real pay day is this coming week! Just in time too as his loans are already starting to become due!

Scott started his new job last night. Well, the training part anyway. He works two days this coming week and he can really use the money. I sure hope he's gonna like it.

We are all really looking forward to Memorial Day weekend next week! Amber, Andy and Quinn will be flying to the West side of the state on Friday to visit Andy's side of the family and they have graciously invited us to come also. They are going to have quite a houseful by Saturday morning as 4 of their 6 children will be there with spouses and children. Quinn will finally get to meet her last Aunt and cousins! She's already met the rest of her Aunts and her Uncle. Then AA&Q will come back to our place and wind up the weekend on the East side of the state, including visiting some friends here. Should be a great time and the weather is supposed to cooperate which will add to the fun. We are hoping to give Quinn her first ride on the Mustang.

But first I have to go watch the finale of Lost! I hope I can figure out what the heck is going on.

Have a good week!