Chubs

This is Chubs.  He's our friendly little squirrel that eats and eats and eats most of the bird food from our bird feeder...hence, the name "Chubs".  He's a friendly little guy who doesn't seem afraid of me.  We met a couple of months ago when I was sitting at the dining room table and he walked right up to the patio screen door and put his little paw on the screen, as if to see if he could come inside.  I was in the middle of painting and just told him no and he just turned around and walked away.  I'm not sure, but he may have even shrugged at me as he turned and walked away.  He's come up to the door a few times since then to check and see what's going on inside the house.  (I think he's hot and wants to come inside to enjoy the air conditioning.)  I say hi to Chubs and talk to him while I'm doing the dishes.  He comes a little closer to me each time I'm outside.  If I sit at the patio table, he'll venture up to the pond for a drink...about five feet from where I'm sitting.  I talk to him and he actually just sits and looks at me, like he's trying to figure out what I'm saying.  He's so cute!  Matt and Keaton think I'm crazy to have named him, to talk to him...and especially to take pictures of him.  Just wait until they come home from work one day and find Chubs wearing a collar and leash.  ;-) 

Chicken Boy

Cyrus has many names:  Sir Cyrus, Cy, Puppy Boy, Cy-Cy, Shmoopie, Pookie...and Chicken Boy.  Last night's fireworks definitely made for a long night with Chicken Boy.  The shaking, digging, and panting began about 5 p.m. when people started lighting fireworks.  Cyrus hid in our bedroom for a while and we were able to coax him out a few times...until there was another explosion and he ran right back to hide in the bedroom.  I went outside to collect the towels and bathing suits from the deck and came back inside to find Cyrus hiding in Matt's shower.  He was pretty darn cute with just his little face peeking out.  Poor little guy.  He did a little better in the basement last night with the TV blaring.  He still shook and panted, but he finally just crawled into a corner to curl up and fall into an exhausted sleep...so we all could thankfully sleep.  Well, at least until the next thunderstorm.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Fourth of July, America! Here are some interesting facts about the good ol' U.S.A. I found on PRLog that I thought would be fun to read...and to help me on Jeopardy.

Each of the colors on the America Flag is said to represent something: White: signifies Purity and Innocence; Red: Hardiness and Valour; Blue: Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.

The state of Ohio was the birthplace of 8 American presidents, more than any other state.

The state of Louisiana has almost 2,500 islands!

The USA has a number of towns which have an official population of just 1. These are Hibberts Gore, Maine; Ervings, New Hampshire; Lost Springs, Wyoming; and New Amsterdam, Indiana.

The USA is the world's 3rd largest country. Both Russia and Canada are larger though it is a close run race for 3rd between the USA and China. China is bigger if you include some of its disputed territories but is smaller when these are discounted

Although English is the most commonly spoken language used in the U.S. and is the language used in government, the country has no official language.

The world's tallest roller coaster is in New Jersey. At 45 stories, Kingda Ka, at Six Flags Great Adventure in N.J., is the tallest roller coaster in the world, plummeting 456 feet and reaching speeds up to 126 mph. The highest roller coaster recently opened in Colorado at an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet.

The retail price for the iPad would be $1,140 if it were built by American workers instead of Chinese.

The average American spends a third of their overall time online playing games and using social networks.

Each year, around 24,000 Americans are bitten by rats!

According to some estimates, Americans are sitting on $30 billion worth of unredeemed gift cards.

The first U.S. capital was New York City.

Montana has three times as many cows as it does people.

Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. president to have been born in a hospital.

Today, 66 percent of all Americans are considered to be overweight.

If Bill Gates gave every single penny of his fortune to the U.S. government, it would only cover the U.S. budget deficit for about 15 days.

87.5% ($2.8 million) of imported U.S. flags are from China.

The Founding Fathers actually signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.

Every 4th of July the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is tapped (not actually rung) thirteen times in honor of the original thirteen colonies.

Two U.S. presidents died on July 4th – Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

25 Random Facts About Me

While visiting with family over the weekend, I came to the realization that nobody takes pictures of me...unless I specifically ask them to take a picture of me.  I may be lucky enough to be in one shot, but that's pretty much it.  As a scrapbooker, I know the importance of pictures and storytelling.  So, here's a little list of some random facts about me that I'll put in my scrapbook one day...once I have Keaton's scrapbooks all caught up.  Uh...make that IF I ever have Keaton's scrapbooks all caught up.

This picture of me was snapped at the Grand Canyon by Matt...after I told him to take a picture of me.
I wish my hair would have looked better, though. 
This is what happened to it after riding in the Jeep with the windows down. 
Oh well...it's still better to have a picture with bad hair than no picture at all.

   

1. I'm not afraid of spiders and never kill them.  I always relocate them somewhere outside.  (I'm also not afraid of mice or snakes either.  But earwigs and June bugs freak me out.)
2. I'm totally a mustard person. The spicier, the better. (I dip my fries in it and even put it on my mac and cheese.)
3. I love high heels - the higher the better. (With Matt being 6'6", I can get them pretty darn high!!)
4. I'm very bossy. (It's the oldest child syndrome and I can't help it.)
5. My favorite candy bar is a frozen Snickers. (But, I don't like the Snickers ice cream bars. Yuck.)
6. I LOVE Seinfeld!  My favorite episode is a tie between "The Contest (Master of Your Domain)" and "The Soup Nazi".  (Cyrus is often called "shmoopie".)
7. I never step on manhole covers or grates.  Ever.
8. I love to read and even read while I blow-dry my hair in the morning.
9. I love Mexican food and could eat it every day.  (I'm not a huge fan of Italian food, though.)
10. I'd love to have a pet monkey. But I won't because I know they're wild animals. So, maybe I'll just rescue them and have my own personal monkey island some day.
11. I hate the sight, smell, color, and taste of peas.  (I gagged now just thinking about them.)
12. I'm afraid of heights.
13. I'd have a dozen dogs if Matt would let me (and the allergies would allow it).  But, they'd have to be small dogs...big dogs scare me.  (I've been known to jump on Matt's back if a big dog gets too close.  I even climbed on his shoulders once...Matt's shoulders, not the dog's.)
14. I can't sleep at night unless my closet door is closed.  And my bathroom door.
15. I prefer caramel over chocolate. (Which makes it easier for Matt and Keaton to battle for the last piece of chocolate cake.)
16. I have my clothes arranged in my closet by the order of the color spectrum.  My socks, too.
17. I believe in ghosts, but not Bigfoot. (That's just silly.)
18. I love fountain Coke from McDonald's, but I don't like Coke from a can or bottle. I'm totally a Pepsi person...and not that nasty diet stuff.
19. My toenails are always painted between Easter and Christmas.  Usually in a shade of pink. 
20. I eat leftovers for breakfast...not breakfast food.  (Cold pizza is the best.)
21. I haven't slept an entire night through since I had Keaton.   
22. I love girlie, fruity drinks...especially when they have whipped cream on them and come with an umbrella.  I don't like the smell or taste of beer.  (It wouldn't be too awful if only it didn't taste  or smell like beer.)
23. I hate the smell of crayons.
24. I won't ever go into the ocean any deeper than my waist.  (I may have seen Jaws one time too many.)
25. I have to have the toilet paper dispense OVER the roll and have been known to change it at other people's houses.

South Haven

Most of Matt's people stayed at a beach house in South Haven last week.  We headed over for a visit on Friday night.  It was nice to see the tanned people and visit for a bit.  A handful of us headed down to the beach and some more adventurous ones went for a boat ride on Matt's brother's boat.  After a few hours, it was time to head over to Clementine's...a landmark restaurant.  They have the best onion rings and Keaton declared it his new favorite restaurant (after his yummy steak with seafood on top). 

Beautiful Lake Michigan

Matt found a rock with an 'A' on it...or it could be a little android guy.

The stairs to get back up to the beach house. 
Climbing all these (without stopping to rest) allowed me to have a strawberry daiquiri at dinner!

Rude & Inconsiderate People Rage

I think I have a serious case of road rage.  Well...I'm not sure it's exactly road rage.  I don't drive like a maniac and try to beat people to my destination.  I don't change lanes excessively.  I don't lay on my horn if someone cuts me off or doesn't floor it when the light turns green.  What I have is more like rude, inconsiderate people rage.  I don't like rude and inconsiderate people.  I have no patience for them.  None at all.  I can get pretty creative with the names I call them.  All I ask is that people are kind and considerate.  It's the simple things that make a huge difference and could possibly stop me from wanting to shake some sense into you and/or denting your vehicle (not enough to hurt, just enough to scare).  Here are a few simple rules to follow when I'm out on the road:

1. Use your turn signal.
2. Do not drive in the passing lane.  Pass and then get back over in the right lane. 
3. Do not pull out in front of me and then turn...especially when there's absolutely nobody behind me.
4. Turn down your radio in the neighborhood...especially at night.
5. Don't lock/unlock your vehicle with your remote key chain (if it honks) at night...or early in the morning.
6. If your car alarm goes off in the middle of the night for no reason whatsoever and the next night and the next night and the next night, disconnect it.  Seriously.  Or I just may have to come over and disconnect it myself...with a baseball bat. 
7. And my personal favorite:  don't wait until the last possible second to merge when there were signs about the lane closure 5 miles ago...and every single mile since.  

So, I may have a slight rage issue to work on.  In my pink and fluffy world, I just want people to use a little common sense and have a little consideration for others on the road.  So, I either need some therapy or I may just have to get an old junky car and start teaching people a lesson.

Shoo Fly!

Today's handy-dandy household tip is one to keep flies away.  I've received e-mails and have seen stories online about the magical plastic bag filled with water and pennies that repels flies.  I've read the scientific reports and they're inconclusive.  So, I admit, I was skeptical when I finally caved in and decided to try this little trick for myself.  Well, knock-on-wood, it really does seems to work.  I filled a small plastic storage bag with some water and threw in three pennies.  (Some people say to use 1 penny.  Some people say to use 5 pennies.  I chose the middle of the road.)  I then hung each bag near the outside doors and on our umbrella over our patio table.  And, voila, we haven't had any flies in the house or hovering near our food on the patio.  Of course, Matt and Keaton think I'm nuts to have bags of water and pennies hanging outside.  But, instead, I think they should be thanking me for not having to chase any annoying flies away from their food.  Plus, I found a way to use some pennies that Keaton thinks are useless and should be eliminated from the U.S. mint.

Internship

Keaton wasn't able to go on vacation with us because he began his internship a few weeks ago.  Yay!  Uh, make that a paid internship!  YAY!!  He really enjoys working in the scheduling department and hasn't complained once about having to get up early....like 6:30 a.m. early.  He's excited about what he's learning and always has a million questions for Matt.  As a matter of fact, his questions lately are about taxes and mortgages.

I think Matt's happy that Keaton is working nearby so they can sometimes carpool together, work-out at the gym together...and, even better...golf together.  The golf league is happy to add Team Tall Guys to their roster. Last night was Keaton's first time golfing all year...and he beat his dad!

Team Tall Guys will continue their lawn care business over the summer so they can spend even more time together.  I'm beginning to think they may be spending too much time together.  Not only do they look and sound alike, but they also share the same interests, have the same sense of humor, and laugh EXACTLY alike.  Huh huh huh.

Keaton's first day of work. 
Since I wasn't there to record this momentous milestone for his scrapbook,
his girlfriend was sure to take his picture...without me even asking.  Isn't she the best?

Team Tall Guys
That black thing on Keaton's leg is his knee brace...not a sock.
He must have been worried about tan lines...or was sweating so much it just kind of slid down his leg.

22 Years of Wedded Bliss...Most of the Time!

While we were on vacation, we celebrated our wedding anniversary.  22 fun and fabulous years.  Actually, it's 27 years if you also count the time we dated.  Each other.  That's really hard to believe because we really can't be that old.  Well, I don't feel older...thanks, in a large part, to hair color.  Anyway, after being together for so long, we've learned some tips and compromises to having a happy marriage:

1. Always close the toilet seat and lid.  ALWAYS.
2. Eat at least one meal together each day.  It's always nice to have your husband bring something home for dinner once in a while.  It's even better if he also cleans up afterwards.
3. Put a new garbage bag in the garbage can immediately when you take out the garbage. (This is still an ongoing battle in our house...Matt.)
4. Just accept the fact that guys will have ESPN/sports on the TV at all hours of the day and night.  Just expect it...it's got something to do with the hard-wiring of the male brain. Learn to watch Lifetime on another TV.
5. Always kiss each other goodnight.  What happens after that is your own business and this is not that kind of blog.
6. Accept the fact that guys don't clean as well as girls. They try their best, so be sure to be thankful for what they do...and then go over what they cleaned when they're not looking.
7. Listen to the radio station your wife would like to listen to while in the car.  And in the house.  But, the radio in the garage belongs to the husband.
8. Aways compliment your wife and tell her she looks fabulous...even if she's having a really bad hair day.
9. Don't get on your wife's nerves.  (Maybe this one should be at the top of the list.)
10. Accept the fact that men aren't nearly as emotional and/or neurotic as women and don't want to talk about their feelings.  They mean what they say and then move on.  They don't analyze every single word they've said and worry what others will think.  They've already forgotten what they've said and are now thinking about either sex or sports.
11. Have anchovies (and other yucky stuff your spouse doesn't like) on the side, not cooked on the pizza.  Especially mushrooms...unless you're trying to kill your allergic wife.
12. Accept the fact that sometimes your spouse just seems to breathe really loud.  Don't succumb to the urge to smother him with a pillow. 
13. Always smile and tell your wife that dinner was delicious...even if the chicken was a little dry.
14. Bring your wife home flowers once in a while.  Or Snickers.  It may help her resist the urge to smother you with a pillow one day.
15. Learn that there really is a difference between cream, off-white, and eggshell. 
16. The A.I.S. (Ass in Seat) Rule does not apply to your wife.  If she needs an hour...or two...to get ready to go out, then wait patiently.  Your wife may need extra time if her hair won't cooperate, she sneezed while applying mascara and has to start all over again, and/or there's absolutely nothing in her closet to wear.  (Or if everything she puts on just makes her look fat.)  Adjust your departure time accordingly, tell her she looks fabulous (and thin), and never, ever ask her how much longer she'll be.  You can always just watch ESPN while she's getting ready.
17. Say 'I love you' every day. This usually works better if you say it to each other.
18. Embrace your wife's craziness and let her have her Lucy moments. Smile when she sings commercial jingles and puts the dog's name in them. Laugh when she gets stuck in the pool without the steps.
19. Open the door for your wife...especially in flu and cold season.
20. Always remember the little things and celebrate them:  Valentine's Day, your anniversary, and the first time you kissed...just to name a few.  Presents are always a good option. You can never go wrong with jewelry.         
21. Listen to your wife when she's rambling and carrying on about something that totally doesn't interest you in the least. Always sympathize and let her know she's justified in feeling like she does. You don't have to listen to every word she says...just tune in once in a while, nod in agreement, and then go back to analyzing baseball stats in your head.
22. Just accept the fact that your wife is right 99% of the time.  Bow down and concede that fact and you'll be guaranteed a happy marriage...and life.

Corn-on-the-Cob Trick

I found a new trick for a quick and easy way to avoid fighting with de-silking corn on the cob.  It really works!  First, take a couple of ears of corn and leave them in the husk.  Don't do anything to them at all.  Just cook them in the microwave for 8-10 min.  Use oven mitts when removing them from the microwave.  (Trust me, you need the oven mitts.  I found that out the hard way.)  Then, cut off the non-tassled end...all the way through...husk, cob and all.  Invert and slide cob out...free of annoying silks.  Assume the elbows-out position and dig in!

Back to Reality

Coming home from a vacation is both good and bad.  It's good...no, great...to be with Keaton and Cyrus again.  It's bad to have to join the real world again and go back to being responsible adults.  After all the unpacking, laundry, mail-sorting, grocery restocking, cleaning, and picture sorting, it's time to get back to the blog and finish telling the rest of our story.

Let's see...we left off with a visit to Canyonlands National Park in Utah.  Our next stop was in Flagstaff, Arizona.  After the heat and red dust for days, it was so nice to enjoy some cooler temps and TREES!  Yep...they had green trees!  During our drive, we saw lots of bikers (the pedal kind, not the Harley kind) participating in a race.  These bikers ride from California to the east coast in a week...usually riding for 22 hours per day.  CRAZY!  The hills they have to climb are unbelievable and my thighs burned just watching them.

We had to pose for a picture while at the Flagstaff KOA.
Keaton totally would have rolled his eyes at this and I'm sure he's so happy he wasn't with us
because we would have made him pose with us at the three-person sign!

We were up early to beat the other avid picture-takers to the Grand Canyon and arrived before the park officially opened.  (I'm not a patient person and don't like to wait for people to move out of my way so I can take a picture.  I have been known to use my elbows to keep others from encroaching on my prime picture-taking space.)  The Grand Canyon was...what's the right word...grand.  Really, it is gorgeous and really big.  The colors are always changing with the sunlight.

Matt never once told me to take a step back!

While we were in Arizona, we were lucky to have some of my people come up from the Phoenix area and meet us in Sedona for lunch.  It was so great to see them again and visit with them!  After spending the afternoon with them, I can put to rest my theory of possibly being switched at birth.  I definitely am a Marski through and through.  Before we headed back to Flagstaff, Matt found this sign for Keaton.  It's absolutely perfect!  I'm hanging it in his room when we get home. 

We visited the Petrified Forest National Park on our way over to Albuquerque.  It was filled with sparkly logs full of crystals and the Painted Desert was beautiful.  We enjoyed chili burgers at a diner in Albuquerque...hot chili peppers, not the beefy stew-like chili we eat in the winter.  Matt didn't even break out in a sweat...but that was probably because he was all sweated out by that time after being in temps of 100 for days and days. 

Next, we headed over to the Ozarks in Arkansas for the next leg of our journey.  My dad and Sharon met us in Eureka Springs and spent a couple of days with us.  The little town we stayed in was charming with its old Victorian architecture and many natural springs.  It's just funny to see Victorian architecture when I was expecting old guys sitting in rocking chairs on their porches in their bib overalls, whittling wooden teeth.  I have to admit I was a little disappointed not to hear 'Dueling Banjos' even once.  (But, we did see some kind of outdoor wedding/ritual that involved robes and candles.  Seriously.)  The Ozarks were beautiful.

Matt makes fun of me because my hand is always on my hip.

So, it was another great vacation!  We picked up three new states for our RV map...so that makes a total of 39 states we've visited in the RV.  (We're up to 41 without the RV!)  I'm still not a fan of country music, though...and there was a LOT of country music on the radio out west.  We saw a gazillion interesting sites, had many laughs along the way (especially when I had one of my many blond moments) and even dealt with a few mishaps.  Let's see...we had the Jeep overheat while four-wheeling and trying to vertically climb huge rocks in Moab; naughty kids threw something (apples?) off an overpass and had a direct hit to our roof on the RV while on the interstate in IL (luckily, there wasn't any damage); I lost a whole day of fun by catching some stomach bug and spent the day in bed sleeping and/or throwing up;  we couldn't run the air in the Jeep since it would overheat after the Moab adventure, so we sweated off a few pounds (which I wouldn't exactly call a mishap!); we had some bloody noses and dry, peeling skin from lack of moisture out west; and I had a major freak-out in the Rockies.  All in all, nothing serious and this only gives us some extra stories to share. 

It's good to be home, but a little hard to get back in our routine.  I'm looking forward to getting in our pool and just soaking.  We definitely missed the water while out west.  Oh, and Keaton and Cyrus too!

Canyonlands

Canyonlands National Park is HUGE!  You drive and drive and drive for miles and miles and miles to get to an overlook.  There are some trails to hike, but it's just way too hot to hike unless you go first thing in the morning or later in the evening.  We enjoyed driving and looking at the various canyon lookouts...especially seeing the Green River.  (And it really IS green...even if it doesn't look too green in the pictures!)  I'm still not exactly sure how deep the canyon is, though, because there was no way I'd get close enough to the edge to look down.  NO WAY!

hot, Hot, HOT!!!

After roughing it for one day and night, it was time to move to the KOA in Moab and turn on our air conditioning.  With temps reaching nearly 100, we definitely need the cool air!  We got up early to catch the sunrise and do some hiking in the cool of the day.  (Since we're staying on Michigan time, it's pretty darn easy to be up at 5:00 a.m. mountain time!) We pretty much had the trail to Landscape Arch all to ourselves.  After the hike, we did some driving around the park to see...what else...more arches.  There are over 2,000 arches here in Arches National Park.  I don't think we're going to see them all though.  I'm way too hot and I don't have enough memory cards with me for all those pictures.

We had to squeeze through some rocks on our way to check out Sand Dune Arch.

But, the view of Sand Dune Arch was worth the trek through the sand.  I sure do like the sand better in Michigan though...it leads to water!!

Red Dust

Arches National Park is incredible!  There are rock formations of every shape and size and they're spectacular.  After a long trek up into the park, we settled into our campsite amidst the rocks.  With all the rocks and desolation, it was almost like being on the moon.  We survived in my first-ever primitive campground (no water, no electricity, no cable, no wi-fi).  We still had battery power and water for showers, so it was like we almost had a full hook-up...thank goodness!

We did some climbing on the rocks behind us and Matt posed for a picture.  (This isn't as scary as it looks.  He's not allowed to do anything too crazy because I'm not driving us home.)

We've also done some hiking.  This was our hike yesterday to Broken Arch.  It was a little warm and we had some climbing to do, but it was totally worth it!  I've taken hundreds of pictures and we still have 11 more days of vacation!  Whoo-hoo!!

Whew!

Whew...we made it through the Rockies.  It was another stressful day, but no major meltdowns on my part.  I still don't like going through the mountains.  All I can say is thank goodness for tunnels...and alcohol!

After we arrived in Grand Junction, CO we headed over to the Colorado National Monument to take a 23-mile driving tour along the rim of the park.  We saw some awesome canyons and beautiful rock formations. 

Tomorrow we're headed to Utah and Arches National Park for some hiking, biking, and more rock formations.  We're also staying in the park...and it doesn't have electricity.  Yikes!  We'll be roughing it...with a generator.  I'm too girlie and need to use a hair dryer.  After all, I'll be taking lots of pictures and will probably even get in a few of them too.  No electricity also means no wi-fi, so I have a good excuse to miss a few days of blogging.  But, I'm sure I'll have lots of interesting things to share on the next update.  There's no telling what may happen with Matt.  It's always an adventure with him!

Westward Bound in the Bounder!

I know, I know...I've already skipped a day of blogging.  In my defense, yesterday we headed out for our vacation and had a long day of driving to Omaha, NE.  We passed lots of fields of corn and lots of cows.  We passed even more cows today as we drove to Central City, CO (just west of Denver).  We enjoyed some beautiful scenery along the way...especially the Rocky Mountains.  I'm just not a fan of having to DRIVE (well, ride) up and down them.  I'm definitely more of a tunnel kind of girl.  Or better yet, an elevator kind of girl.  I don't like heights.  I don't like crawling up mountains in an RV and towing a vehicle.  I especially don't like coming down the mountain with a steep grade.  I tend to freak out a bit when there are truck run-offs...and there are trucks on them!  Poor Matt had to drive and listen to me carry on about how much I hate the mountains. I think I even carried on a few times (as my life flashed before my eyes) that poor Keaton was going to be an orphan.  I admit I was a big baby, but facing a possible near-death experience is scary.  But, after tackling the switchbacks to get to the campground (which no RV should ever drive on those roads, in my opinion), we made it to a gorgeous campsite that overlooks a valley of a small mining town...with three casinos.  Cha-ching!  The first thing I did after Matt hooked us up to electricity (and the shaking in my knees stopped enough for me to stand upright) was fire up the blender for a very, very, VERY strong pina colada.  (Seriously...I hit the start button within one second after we had power.  It may even have been a half second after we had power.)  The alcohol helped to erase some of the scary, terrifying, stressful, awful mountain ordeal.  But, we'll have to tackle the mountains again tomorrow as we head over to Grand Junction, CO and I'm definitely not looking forward to the drive.  Luckily I saved half of my pitcher of pina coladas for tomorrow night.

The Rocky Mountains...so much better to go through than up and over!

Our view from the campground...and my drink.

 

Our view from the valley of the campground.

We're the motor home second from the right...the one with the big windshield.

If you look hard enough, you can probably see my drink.

Uh Oh!

Have you ever looked at something a million times and then one day, for some strange reason, it seemed to look totally different to you?  Today was one of those days for me.  This is an old t-shirt of Matt's that I've worn a million times.  For some strange reason this morning, when I looked in the mirror, it occurred to me that the hands on the shirt seem to touch me in an inappropriate area.  I don't think I'll be wearing this t-shirt out in public anymore!

Home Sweet Home (for the Summer!)

We're happy to report that we now officially have a college Junior...and he's back home for the summer!  After a full weekend of activities, including a festival and a wedding (and lots of studying in between!), Keaton ended the school year with three exams on Monday...even squeezing in a doctor's appt. for his knee.  (Definitely a Level 2 sprained MCL and four to six weeks of physical therapy.)  Matt and I headed to campus on Monday night with the trailer to pick up some furniture and odds and ends.  I'm not sure how it happens, but it seems like we end up moving out MUCH more from the dorm than we moved in back in the fall.  Keaton chose to stay at school one more night to hang out with his roommates and came home yesterday with the rest of his stuff.    Now to find a place to put everything...

1 Explorer full of college stuff

+ 1 Durango full of college stuff

+ 1 trailer full of college stuff

a LOT of stuff to put away!

The "before" picture of the rug.  (It actually doesn't look as bad as it really was in this picture.) 
I cleaned the rug in all four directions three times.  (That's like cleaning the rug 12 times!) 
Then I had fun doing it all over again on another rug.  I won't show pictures of the dirty water because it's really gross.  Trust me, it's enough to probably give you nightmares.

The "after" picture could definitely be used for a carpet cleaning ad!

 On a side note, we celebrated Keaton's homecoming with a yummy homemade-from-scratch chocolate cake.
(And I have flour and cocoa powder all over the kitchen to prove it!)

Memorial Day Weekend

Matt and I packed up the RV and hit the road to enjoy Pentwater with some friends.  Keaton had planned to go with us, but opted to stay home and babysit Cyrus.  Oh, and to play video games with his friends.  Because that's pretty much all he could do with a leg immobilizer.  I received the gut-wrenching phone call..."Mom, I hurt my knee playing basketball and am going to the hospital."  Luckily, I was wearing makeup and was fully dressed at the time so I wouldn't scare anyone if I had to venture out in public.  After Keaton's initial freak-out that he tore his MCL and/or his ACL, he was diagnosed with a sprained MCL.  No tear.  No damage to his meniscus.  Just a lot of pain and swelling in the knee.  A lot.  He was put in a brace and basically spent the weekend on the couch, sucking down the Motrin (sorry...I meant ibuprofen or Matt won't know what I'm talking about) and slept in our bed so he didn't have to tackle the stairs to his room.  Cyrus was happy to cuddle on the couch between Keaton and his friend...and push Keaton to the edge of the bed every night.

Matt and I had a good weekend.  Matt got to fish while I spent some time on the beach.  Until the birds started to surround me.  When it began to look like a scene from the movie, "The Birds", I called it a day at the beach before I was featured on an episode of "When Animals Attack".

We visited the Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Ludington and the Little Sable Point Lighthouse over near Silver Lake.  We enjoyed some nice walks along the beach...especially trying to outrun the storm coming up on shore.  But, we did stay ahead of the storm...and my hair and makeup were eternally grateful. 



Even though we missed having the boys with us, it's a good thing Cyrus stayed home.  We had rain and storms every night and in the early morning, so poor Cyrus would have freaked out.  (He doesn't do well with storms or rain...or with wind, fog, heat, humidity, and snow.)  We enjoyed some hiking, walks on the beach, sunsets, and just relaxing for an entire weekend.  When we came home, I laughed at the setup Keaton created in the living room for his gaming.  He pretty much just sat on the couch and kept his leg elevated and iced.  He wasn't happy to find out that we stole all the ice, so he improvised with bags of frozen veggies.  But hey, I definitely needed some liquid therapy after his phone call earlier in the week.  And I make fabulous frozen margaritas! 



Sewing Machine

I've been a sewing machine (pun intended) yesterday and this morning.  I bought material with the intention of making me a cover-up for my bathing suit.  (Trust me, this sounds more adventurous than it really was.  There was already elastic in the bust of the material, so all I had to do was basically cut the material and sew straight seams.  Well, TRY to sew straight seams.)  I made my cover-up and had enough extra fabric to make one for my niece so she can be my Mini-Me.  I still had enough material left over to make a third cover-up.  My sisters can fight over it...or bribe me.  (My favorite candy bar is a Snickers.)

While I had the sewing machine out, I decided to tackle the mending pile.  (I have a drawer in the closet that we put anything that needs mending.  I try to get to the pile once a year or so...depending on how quickly the pile grows out of the drawer.)  So, I cut off some of Matt's dress pants that lost the battle with the washer one-too-many times and made them into shorts.  (I'm so not a seamstress.  I can't sew a straight line to save my life.  I figure Matt can just lean a little if the legs aren't quite even.)  Then, I operated on a pair of swim trunks.  The sewn-in cord broke around the waistband, so I had to rip open the seams, remove the cord and re-thread a new cord through the waistband.  (Keaton better thank me profusely for this project because this one definitely pushed me over my patience quota for the day.)  Next, I mended a cardigan, a back pack and five dog toys. 

Life is good.  We now have an empty drawer in the closet and another project crossed off my "to do" list.  See you again next year, sewing machine!

No Shoes

I picked up this little gem of a sign while we were in Pentwater for the Memorial Day weekend.  Our carpet in the living room is cream-colored and still looks brand new after 16 years...all because we don't wear shoes in the house.  Even the dog knows he has to have his paws wiped before he comes into the house after being outside.  He stops at the back and raises his paw, waiting for it to be wiped.  I'm allergic to everything and pretty much get closer every year to living in a bubble.  If I ever do have to live in a bubble, I hope I can find one that's pink and sparkly!

Blogger Girl

I've decided I'm going to do it...I'm going to try to write daily on my blog and become a true blogger girl.  (Note:  the key word is TRY.)  I'm going to try to keep a running record of my life and the life of my guys...and all the crazy stuff that happens.  (And crazy things do happen.)  This will be a nice record of all that stuff life has thrown at us...and some laughs and bumps along our journey.  Plus, this will help us to remember when I scrapbook or when things get start to get fuzzy...and/or will provide documentation for medical and/or court appearances.  (Just kidding.  Sort of.)

First, let me be the first to admit that I am an organizational nut.  Seriously, I'm crazy and probably need medication.  I'm not OCD (yet), but definitely like things neat and tidy.  I also take a lot of pictures of our lives.  As a mother of an only child, you can imagine how many pictures and videos I take of our son.  Well...you probably can't because it's a lot.  And I mean A LOT!  Tons!  Thousands!  Maybe even approaching a million!  Well, maybe not that many, but I do take a lot of pictures and video.  (Let's just say that I've transferred all our home videos to DVDs and we now have over 300.  I told you it was a lot!)  I've been trying to scrapbook each year of our son's life and have about five years completely finished.  I'm trying to keep each year of his life contained to three 12x12 binders.  Yep, three.  Even that's doing a lot of editing.  I've been putting all the duplicate pictures and pictures I don't use (remember the grand ol' days of film?) in a box and it's been driving me crazy for over ten years now because they've just been sitting in boxes.  (Yikes...all jumbled together and not organized.)  I'm not sure how I was even able to sleep at night because this has always been tickling the back of my brain.  It's been on my "to do" list for years and years.  Well, I'm thrilled to say that I've finally sorted them, labeled them and put them away in neatly labeled storage containers.  (My label maker is probably my best friend in the whole wide world.  I even gave her a name...Lola.  I told you I was crazy!)  So, here's the finished project:

TA DA!!  So, this is about five years of duplicate pictures.  (Now do you believe me when I say I take a lot of pictures?)  Why am I saving duplicates?  As a scrapbooker, most of my pictures are glued down in a book and sometimes I need a picture and I don't want to chance ruining the picture itself and/or my layout.  (Plus, I have lots of embarrassing shots of butt cracks at the beach, bad hair days, and goofy faces of my entire family and these may come in handy for blackmailing purposes one day!)  I'm a chronological order kind of girl.  But, as I tried sorting pictures by year (and losing all feeling in the lower half of my body after hours of sitting the floor sorting), I decided to go outside my comfort zone and sort by theme.  This was SO much easier (and my lower extremities were much happier) and I finished in one day.  Yay!  That night, I think I slept the best I've slept in years.  (Well, the best for me, but that will have to be another blog.)

So, another item checked off on my "to do" list.  Now I only have fifteen years of pictures left to scrapbook!  Sigh.  But, any duplicate pictures will be filed accordingly.  Oh boy...I probably really do need medication!

What About Bob?

Today's entry is all about Bob.  For those of you who don't know, Bob is our friendly "ghost".  For years, I've joked about having a ghost in the house to explain quirky things that happen...strange sounds, things that are missing and things in the wrong place. (Remember, I'm totally a neat freak and everything in my house is labeled and in its proper place.  Seriously...my spices are in alphabetical order and the clothes in my closet are hung in order of the color spectrum.)  Mostly I joked about having a ghost because while washing dishes, the handle on the faucet would slowly turn off on its own.  It started to happen more and more often, so Matt changed the washers and tinkered with the faucet, but it still happened...and still continues to happen every so often today.  Then, one night last year, we came home from dinner to find one of the living room blinds open.  I know for certain I closed them because I vividly remember doing so...and I am one of those people who can't ever have any blinds open at night.  Ever.  Slowly, more little things started to happen:  things were in slightly different places, there were strange creaking sounds, and footsteps at night.  (Matt totally says he's not a believer in anything paranormal, but even he sat up in bed one night after hearing what sounded exactly like footsteps coming from upstairs.  I just shrugged and told him that I hear stuff like that all the time.  Finally, I had some validation and he couldn't think I was crazy anymore...well, at least not about having a ghost.)  So, that's when I really did begin to think we may actually have a house guest.  Now I jokingly blame Bob when little things happen.  But, I'm really not joking anymore.

Just before Christmas, while upstairs, I saw a shadow pass behind me in a reflection in the window.  (I was the only one at home at the time.)  I'm totally a skeptic on most things and try to disprove everything with simple, logical reasoning.  (C'mon people...Bigfoot?  That's just silly!)  I calmly and quickly tried to figure out an explanation, but couldn't.  After that little encounter, I told Bob that he's more than welcome to stay with us, but he has to follow my rules:  (1) He can't touch me.  (2) He can't come into my bedroom.  (3) He can't come into my bathroom.

I'm not a scaredy-cat kind of girl.  I don't run screaming from snakes, mice or spiders.  (I actually scoop up spiders and relocate them to a new home outside.)  I'm not afraid of being alone.  I love scary stuff...the scarier, the better!  I'm one of those people who loves to watch scary movies with all the lights turned off.  (The only movie that I think is scary is 'The Excorcist'.)  Bob and I had an understanding after I laid down some ground rules about no touchy and he'd been pretty quiet since almost giving me a heart attack at Christmas.  So, while Matt was in India, there were two really strange things that happened.  First, I went out to run the Jeep to keep the battery charged since we don't drive it in the winter.  It was super cold outside and I couldn't get the engine to turn over.  So I took the keys out of the ignition and let Cyrus outside in the backyard to do his business.  While standing in the back doorway of the garage, patiently waiting for Cyrus, the Jeep tried to turn over on its own...without me or the keys in it.  Imagine my surprise when I looked down at the keys STILL IN THE PALM OF MY HAND!  Seriously.  I'm not kidding.  Then, the Jeep tried to start again, and again, and again (I'm totally NOT exaggerating!)...all while I was still not anywhere near it and with the keys still in my hand.  I calmly told Bob thanks for trying to start the Jeep for me and went back in the house, admittedly a little shaken up.  (Remember, I was alone and would be for over two weeks).  A few nights later, Cyrus and I went to bed.  We have a routine:  I get ready for bed and then let Cyrus outside one last time before he jumps up in bed and tries to claim my side of the bed.  So, I was a little surprised when Cyrus and I got up the next morning and there was a pillow in the middle of the living room floor.  You may be thinking that's not a big deal, but it definitely wasn't there the night before.  So, that's when I told Bob that he was making me a little nervous and he needed to leave for a while...at least until Matt came back.  We haven't heard from him or seen him since.  It's a little sad.

I'm hoping Bob comes back.  I need to do some research and try and figure out who Bob could be...and even if he's male.  I'll feel bad if I find out we've been wrong and we've really had a Roberta in the house the whole time.

Pinball, Flooding, & A Monkey...Oh My!

Last Saturday, Matt and I loaded up a trailer with 15 blankets and headed down to southern Illinois.  Very early in the morning...yawn...at 5:22 a.m.   After a nearly eight-hour drive, we arrived to much warmer temps in the 90s to pick up six more pinball machines.  Yep...you read that correctly...6 more.  They're vintage ones that Matt is planning to restore.  I'm thinking that it's time to start looking for another house with either a bigger basement or another garage!

Machines loaded up in the trailer.

Now we just have to figure out which legs go to which machine.
(Oh, and move them all so I can park in the garage again!)

In other news of the past week, I was not pleasantly surprised to step in water in the basement.  We've had issues with the front outside water spigot and don't leave it on.  Well, except for Matt.  I spent hours with my new carpet cleaner vacuuming up seven containers of water from the carpet.  I'd say the carpet cleaner has paid for itself already.  The good news is that nothing was ruined, I got a really good workout for my arms, and now we can reorganize the storage closet!

4 hours + 7 full containers = one grouchy lady!

Mother's Day was spent with my two favorite guys in the whole-wide world.  Keaton got me a pretty plant with orange flowers and attached six Snickers bars to the base of the plant.  Full-sized Snickers...yay!  Matt finally got me something I've always wanted my whole life:  a monkey.  Well, not a real-live monkey, but a black diamond monkey pendant.  Diamonds are always a great gift, but diamonds that are on a monkey...well, it just may not get any better than that! 

New Blog

If you want to follow the adventures of our family, I have a new and improved blog at http://moreadventuresoftheadamsfamily.blogspot.com/.  I thought it was time for a change...and okay, I admit, I'm a little on the lazy side and don't want to keep trying to match my pictures with my written posts.  So, it was either start a new blog or keep spending hours trying to line everything up.  I definitely chose the easier solution.  Enjoy!

Totally Awesome!

We took a step back in time for a totally awesome 80s-themed party over the weekend.  I broke out the blue eye shadow (I have absolutely no idea why I even had blue eye shadow in my make-up drawer!), teased my hair really, really, really big and used a half can of hair spray to hold it in place.  (Thank goodness people can't smoke in public venues anymore because my hair was highly flammable.  It even crunched when you touched it...ahhh, just like the good ol' days!!)  I found some pink sunglasses, gel bracelets, a polka dot t-shirt and black mini skirt at the store and pulled everything together with my trusty and well-worn jean jacket.  (The 80s style is making a comeback. Well, at least it is at Walmart...or maybe it just never left.) I even found a pair of shoes tucked away in my closet that somehow were overlooked over the years during our bi-yearly cleaning of the closets.  They were perfect for the night...until the sole somehow came off on the dance floor.  (I'm not saying alcohol had anything to do with it.  I'm totally sure it was age...the shoe's and not mine!)  Matt dug through his stash of assorted Halloween costumes and personal mementos to pull together his outfit.  He wore his old baseball jersey and it was a bit tighter than it was back in 1986.  All in all, we looked pretty 80ish...even though I told Matt that my outfit looked like it was actually from the 80s and he looked like he pulled his outfit together from Goodwill.  (In Matt's defense, I won't let him keep anything or he could have actually worn an entire outfit he really had from 1986.)  We enjoyed some good food, drinks, and fun music from the 80s.  I won the trivia question of the night and my award was a hug from the d.j. (Which I totally forgot to redeem.  I definitely would have remembed if the d.j. had looked like Brad Pitt!) 

After our blast from the past, we decided to stop at the casino on the way home and had to do a quick-change in the car.  (There's so much less room in the backseat of the car than there used to be. I'm totally just kidding!) There was a band playing that Matt wanted to see and they were great...except I thought the lead singer looked like the scary guy from 'Silence of the Lambs' in his stage makeup.  They did a variety of music ranging from the 70s through current stuff.  We enjoyed people watching...especially those who over-imbibed and danced.  We'll have to make sure we see them when they come back in August...the band, not the drunk people dancing.  But I'll definitely make sure to go without blue eye shadow and big hair (well, not too big)!



  

New Blog Design

Yep, this is still all about the adventures of our family...but, it's just a new and improved version.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist (surprising, isn't it?) and I decided to stop wasting hours trying to coordinate my written posts with my pictures on the side.  Since I'm not going to stop taking pictures anytime soon, I thought it would just be a heck of a lot easier to just start a new blog with a new design...one that would allow me to include my pictures with my posts.  So, here goes...

I updated the blog last week and we've continued to stay busy while still having some fun.  Keaton had a couple of interviews last Thursday for a summer internship where Matt works.  Keaton was offered an internship in the scheduling department.  (Totally different department and building than where Matt works.  Keaton got this all on his own!)  It will be a great opportunity for him to learn a new computer system, get some experience in the work force, meet new people, and get paid.  Yay!  (On a funny side note, Keaton said afterwards that  interviews would be a lot easier if he had a list of questions beforehand.)  He's really excited about the job and will begin in June after his semester is finished.  The bad news is that he'll miss our vacation out west this summer.  The good news is that with all the miles Matt accumulated from his trip to India and back, we can get Keaton a free plane ticket to at least come for the weekend while we're at the Grand Canyon! 

Matt took a pic of me playing Blackout...just like the machine we have at home.  It's definitely much more fun to play at home...away from the weird people who jump around like they're almost having seizures or dancing like Elaine from Seinfeld while playing.  (I never noticed before, but Matt kind of does the Elaine dance while he's playing!)

 

Matt and I went over to Detroit for the Michigan Pinball Expo last Friday.  It was interesting.  We played a lot of pinball and Matt made a new BFF.  Matt wanted to go to the expo to listen to the seminar about Pinball 101 (basically how to repair them and things to know for a first-time pinball machine owner).  It was scheduled for an hour and at the two-hour mark, I decided it was about time for a nap.  Matt and the speaker chatted afterwards and the speaker invited Matt to play a game with him...a game of pinball, that is.  (Like I said, it was interesting.)  I learned a lot and had an idea that Matt fell in love with...getting a pinball machine from each decade.  I was kind of kidding, but I think he's totally on board with the idea now.  Yikes!  On the way home, we decided to break up the drive and stop at the casino where I won $88.80.  Yay!  I haven't decided if my winnings are going to go into our future pinball machine fund or my shoe/purse fund.  Since I won on a 'Sex and the City' slot machine, I'm kinda thinking it HAS to go for shoes and/or a purse.  It's really the only thing to do.

The past week has included some medical issues.  Just let me start by saying to always, Always, ALWAYS use the guard that comes with a kitchen mandolin when slicing stuff.  I kind of sliced off the end of my finger while slicing potatoes for a casserole.  It was (is) gross and  finally stopped bleeding after 5 days.  (The upside is that I didn't have to do many dishes for a few days!)  Over the weekend, Matt got into some poison ivy and it's slowly been creeping up on him.  When it made his eye swell nearly shut today, he decided it was time to seek some medical treatment and had to get a shot of steroids and will begin taking steroids every day.  (The upside is that he can really bulk up now!)

Friday is Pinball at the Zoo, so we'll be heading to that event.  I'm not letting Matt take the trailer with us so there's no way he'll be able to bring a machine home.  But, he's planning to also go on Saturday and I'm not (Oh, did I mention there's an auction of pinball machines on Saturday?), so he may just surprise me after all...

March Madness

Basketball and pinball pretty much summed up the month of March in the Adams household.  As we do every year, we all filled out our college basketball brackets.  Keaton and Matt laughed when I completed my sheet (in pink, of course) in under five minutes  and they teased me about my lack of research.  (Modern Family was coming on and there was no time to mess around!).  Matt and Keaton, of course, spent time online researching and reading stats and carefully considering who would be the best logical choices.  (Yeah, right...I pick teams from cities we've visited and then I pick by uniform color and shoes.  Seriously.)  Matt filled out a sheet for Cyrus and had Cy choose his own teams this year.  Matt would hold a treat hidden in his hand and then ask Cyrus to pick a team.  (I secretly think Matt rigged it a little and put the treat in the hand he wanted Cyrus to choose.)  So, we watched a lot of basketball...and the boys watched me move up in the ranks past them...all the way to second place.  Then, when Ohio State lost, I fell to fourth...and missed out on winning $300.  Stupid Ohio State.  As a Michigan fan, I'd never, ever bet on Ohio State...but it's just the way my bracket worked out. (Plus, we visited the campus one year during Keaton's college basketball tour.  Plus, they wear red uniforms and since my favorite color is pink...well, you get the idea.)  So, even though I correctly chose Kentucky to win it all, I lost by points.  Stupid Ohio State.  I planned to get a new TV for the living room with my winnings.  Stupid Ohio State.  With everything now being digital (even our cable), everything gets cut off on the edges and bottom of the TV screen.  Stupid Ohio State.  Not being able to read the news ticker or see the complete screen is driving me crazy.  (It is hilarious to watch sports because we can't see the ball off to the side of the screen and we laugh while trying to guess where it's going to pop back in again.)  Stupid Ohio State.

Matt's quest to be a pinball wizard is finally being realized.  He's acquired three pinball machines in three weeks...after years of dreaming and months of searching online for pinball deals.  Not only does he dream of playing pinball daily (probably hourly if he could), but he also has dreams of becoming a pinball repairman.  All of our machines need some TLC and two of them need more repairs to get them in fully-playing order again.  A friend came over to help Matt rig-up a moving system to take them in the basement.  They put two boards on each side of the basement stairs (we have a staircase in the garage that leads directly to the basement...perfect for moving things!), wrapped straps around each machine and slid them down the stairs.  Our friend was the first anchor and held the rope to keep the pinball machines from sliding down too fast and crushing Matt as he led them down the stairs.  As a backup, the second anchor was me...sitting on the tractor with the brake applied and the rope looped through the hitch.  I just sat on the tractor, hoping I didn't end up going down the stairs with them.  All in all, it was pretty uneventful...which is a fabulous thing if you know Matt and his gift of creating some form of entertainment (drama) with everything he does.

Spring cleaning done...check.  Windows and screens washed...check.  Taxes filed and returned...check.  Yard dethatched and raked...check.  Lawn care business started up again...check.  With our burst of warm weather last month (no, make that hot weather...we hit 87 here for a new record in March!), Matt has already begun mowing, trimming, and fertilizing.  Matt's getting everything all ready for Keaton to take over this summer.  I've been a cleaning machine and have washed and scrubbed everything in the house with basically a toothbrush.  Matt moved out the washer and dryer last night and climbed behind them to clean the floor and vents.  I'm so glad he joins me on my quest to have the cleanest house in America!  (Does anyone else vacuum their garage?)  All I have left to do is clean the carpet...but now I have to wait until our warm weather returns.  Believe it or not, it's actually snowing here today.  I think March and April got mixed up somehow.

Keaton enjoyed spring break at home this year...when he was home.  He spent most of his break hanging out at friends' houses across the lower peninsula, going to the casino in Canada,  and going to watch the Red Wings.  He left the casino $14 richer and said he's going to study blackjack so he can make more money the next time he goes.  I keep telling him to double-major in math AND computer science so he can be a bookie.  Maybe now he will.  He came home for Easter over the weekend (but will probably be re-thinking that decision for next year).  We hid his Easter basket and then made him search for it.  He was not as amused as we were.  (He may be 20 years old, but he'll never be too old to play hot and cold!)  I taped his search to add to the video archives of 'Keaton Adams:  1001 Ways My Parents Embarrass Me'.  Matt and Keaton moved the ping pong table out of the basement and set it up in the garage so they could enjoy a tourney.  He's been looking for houses to rent for next year with his roommates.  I told him he could probably talk Matt into letting him take a pinball machine to their house and they could have the ping pong table if they have room.  Keaton said they'll find room and can always put the table in the dining room.  I'm hoping the table is used for playing ping pong and not beer pong.

We hope that you all are enjoying the spring weather...and don't have to get out those snow shovels until next winter.  But, it is Michigan after all...

Happy Leap Day!

Yay for Leap Day!  It gives me an extra day to tie up some loose ends.  So to make the most of an extra day in the month, I thought that today would be a perfect opportunity to update any faithful stalkers (uh, I mean readers).  So, during February...

We continued to follow Keaton and his fellow Hornets around the basketball circuit.  While the season didn't finish as well as they had hoped, it was still nice to visit with Keaton twice a week.  We had the banquet on Sunday and said goodbye to everyone until next season.  On a positive note, it is really nice to be able to watch Modern Family again!

Matt left during the banquet for a business trip/conference in India for 12 days.  He was able to pack everything into one small carry-on suitcase and checked it as he boarded the plane.  Since he checked it just before he boarded, he wasn't too worried about it being misplaced...thinking that if it's one of the last pieces of luggage to be put on the plane then, theoretically, it would be one of the first pieces of luggage to be taken off the plane.  Again, in theory, that's how it should have worked.  Needless to say, Matt arrived in India...and his one small suitcase didn't.  So, he had to wear the same pants for three days.  A friend loaned him a clean shirt and a trip to a store allowed him to purchase some deodorant and underwear.  (He did have a hard time finding anything larger than a medium though.)  The hotel was nice and left some clothes in his room...unfortunately some pants that he couldn't even pull them up past his knees and some shoes that he figured were a women's size 9.  But, it's the thought that counts.  The good news is that he did get his suitcase today.  We're hoping it had a nice vacation.

So, with Matt being gone for 12 days, people are asking what I'm planning to do with myself.  First of all, I'm going to really live it up and not shave my legs.  Just kidding.  I shave my legs everyday...not because I'm hairy and have to but because I'm neurotic and have to.  I have this deeply-instilled fear that the one day I don't shave my legs will be the one day that Brad Pitt will ring my doorbell just as I'm getting out of the shower and ask for my towel to dry the water buffalo he just hit.  No really, it's a habit that I don't even think about.  I plan on some dinners with friends, lots of movies, and lots of scrapbooking.  Keaton stopped by last weekend for lunch and to say goodbye to Matt.  Keaton asked what I was doing this weekend because he was thinking of coming home for a visit.  I told him to call first because I might be having a party.  He just shook his head.  He does that a lot when I talk to him.  I told him that I set up an account on Skype and we could now video-chat.  I asked him if he wanted my screen name.  With a grimace, he asked if he should and then he just shook his head when I told him my name:  Shadynasty.  It's NOT Shady Nasty.  It's Sha Dynasty.  (If you haven't watched 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia', you're missing some funny stuff.)  Then I told him which picture I posted with my screen name.  That made him shake his head AND close his eyes.  I'm thinking I just may give him gray hair sooner rather than later.  One day he'll appreciate my sense of humor...or will probably need therapy.

So, Happy Leap Day!  To celebrate Leap Day, I'm going to try and take some pictures of Cyrus leaping.  Maybe I'll take some pictures of myself leaping.  Then, I'll send them to Keaton.  I think his future therapist will appreciate my sense of humor.

Happy 2012!

Happy 2012!  I'm not exactly working too hard on my vow to stop procrastinating.  I've been meaning to update the blog, but just haven't gotten around to it.  I kept telling myself I'd work on it tomorrow.  That was over two weeks ago.  I'm thinking I probably have what I call the Scarlett O'Hara Syndrome:  "Tomorrow is another day."

Christmas came and went with its usual flurry.  We made a quick trip back to Flint and took Keaton's beloved Elizabeth with us.  We, of course, had to initiate her and make her a fan of the overall Christmas spirit and yummy chicken dinner goodness found in Frankenmuth.  That meant posing for pictures...lots of pictures.  Some serious and some not-so-serious ones.  Poor Keaton just shakes his head and walks away from us when we're being goofy.  I think he's secretly wondering if there's any way he could have been switched at birth. 

Keaton spent New Year's Eve with his beloved and her family in Chicago.  So, since he wasn't around for his yearly Happy New Year kiss, I had Matt take a close-up picture of my puckered lips and then sent it to Keaton.  He didn't seem to find it as amusing as I did.  I think he's secretly hoping his real parents are normal.

Our crazy roller coaster weather has made it tough to snowshoe.  We did get about a foot of snow two weeks ago, so we ventured outside to enjoy a nice walk along the lovely Kalamazoo River.  We had another good snowfall last week and had snow piled up to the top of our mailbox.  But then we had a thunderstorm on Sunday night and awoke to rain.  Now the snow is pretty much gone.  I'm thinking of building an ark.  Well, maybe it'll be more like a houseboat.  With global warming and living in Michigan surrounded by huge lakes, I'm thinking we're going to get some flooding in the future.  Make that a lot of flooding.

I've been keeping busy trying to not get killed by our new treadmill.  So far, so good.  Well, mostly so good.  It has different workout programs with different inclines and speeds.  Last week I tried (that's the operative word...TRIED) to do the same workout as I had done the previous day.  Well, I thought it was the same program.  It started out exactly the same...slow increases in speed and incline.  All of a sudden the treadmill incline increased to 12 and the speed jumped to 6.5 mph.  That doesn't sound too bad for most people, but for us uncoordinated and out-of-shape people, it's scary.  So, I did what any woman would do.  I started yelling, "whoa, Whoa, WHOA, *^%(#@(!&#!" (edited for delicate ears).  Luckily I was able to jump off before I was forced to run up the mountain.  Since I have no need to ever run up a mountain, I see no need to ever train for running up a mountain.  (The only way I'd ever have to run up a mountain is if there was a bear chasing me.  Then, I only have to run faster than the person behind me.  So, I figure that if I just plan to make sure there's always someone slower than me on our hikes, I'll be just fine.)  So, training for a marathon or mountain climbing is just crazy for me.  Plus, I don't like to sweat.  (Again, it could just be a symptom of the Scarlett O'Hara Syndrome.)  I now have that workout program marked as the Near-Death Experience.  Matt was nice enough after my attempted murder to tell me about the safety cord I'm supposed to clip on me that will automatically stop the treadmill if it's ever trying to kill me.  Well, at that incline and speed, I definitely would have wound up bashed against the wall...probably perilously close to seeing a white light.  Needless to say, I've had much better workouts since the treadmill stopped trying to kill me.  Whew!  Cyrus, being Cyrus, just walks into the room and looks at me during my workouts and then walks out again.  He's so anti-drama in any way, shape or form.  Cyrus does like the treadmill though.  He enjoys sitting on it.  We're trying to get him to walk on it, but he just likes to ride it until the end of the belt and then just jumps off.  I guess that's kind of a workout for him.  He's at least jumping.

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at The Melting Pot to celebrate my birthday.  My original birthday celebration had to be postponed because Matt had his department holiday celebration that night.  Since spending my birthday with strangers and listening to a lot of work talk wasn't really my idea of a fun birthday celebration, I decided Matt could take me out for real and foot the bill instead of his boss.  We enjoyed a delicious three-course fondue dinner with friends and had a great time.  I'm not sure what it is about salads that make them a thousand times better in a restaurant than in your own home.  I make them at home with the same ingredients, but they're always SO much better in a restaurant.  It must be the fact that someone else prepares them and brings them to you.  Things just seem to taste better if someone else makes the food for you...and better yet if they wait on you.  I had lobster (probably my favorite food in the world after anything Mexican) and then chose milk chocolate with amaretto for our dessert fondue.  All I can say is I seriously almost licked the bowl...it was that amazingly, deliciously, unbelievably good! 

Speaking of food, I'm trying to introduce Matt to Indian cuisine since he'll be heading over to India in February/March for a few weeks for work.  I'm not a huge fan of Indian food (which is odd since I love anything spicy).  I think it's just the smell of curry.  It's a smell that just makes me nauseous.  I don't mind the flavor, but the smell just hangs around and I can't smell anything but curry for days and days.  I'm thinking of just clipping a clothespin on my nose for the next Indian meal I make for Matt...and then just using a can of Febreeze in the house.  Maybe a couple of cans.  I may need to stock up on Febreeze for Matt's return from India.  I'm afraid that all that curry will soak into his skin.  He may have to stay in the garage until he airs out.  But, Matt's not leaving for another month so I can worry about the smell next month.  Yep, I definitely think I have the Scarlett O'Hara Syndrome.