Sawgrass Lake, Chihuly and a Hot Shop

We have had such a full day and it isn't even 2:00 yet!

We started out at another great park with boardwalks where we saw 9 baby alligators and their mama's snout. She stayed hidden the whole time. But her nose was sticking out watching the babies.

Then we went to the Chihuly exhibit - alas no pictures allowed because it is a private collection. But there are a few pictures from the gift shop. Trust me when I say if you get anywhere near St. Petersburg you should go.

Then we went to a Hot Shop where we watched glass blowing and it was fascinating.

What fun we are having!

Tampa

We had two stops planned and both were great!

First we stopped at Lettuce Lake Park - a Tampa County Park. They have boardwalks all through the park where we saw Herons, Limpkins, Turtles, Egrets and our very first Armadillo!

It was a great park to walk and stop and sit for a bit and then continue on.

Then we went to the Manitee Viewing area. - when the ocean is too cold they come in to the warming area created by the discharge at the coal plant. It was cool to see them laying around the pool. Big tails and little noses!

Then on to St. PETERSBURG WHERE WE ARE GOING TO. . . . DRUM ROLL . . . .

A Chihulli exhibit and a hot shop where we can see glass being blown. We are waiting until tomorrow so I have both batteries for the camera fully charged!

On the road again

We left our gracious hostess and good friend, Noreen this morning for parts unknown. We decided to just get in the car and begin driving South.

We have no destination in mind when we get tired of driving for the day we will stop.

I'll continue on this as we go along.

Ok we ended up in Tampa - we had a great dinner at Carmines Seventh Avenue. Our bartender/waitress was Amanda and she was great. The food was so good. Pat had linguini and clam sauce and I had half a Cuban sandwich with black bean soup. We had the best bread with dinner. The atmosphere was great with a mix of locals and tourists.

Our hotel is nice even though we drove through a pretty rough section to get to it. We may stay one more night here depending on what we do tomorrow.

Big Mama's Hula Girl Gallery

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BREAKING NEWS

YOU CAN NOW PURCHASE FIRST SERVING PLATES AND KNIVES AT:

BIG MAMA'S HULA GIRL GALLERY
1300 B HWY 2835
GRAYTON BEACH, FLORIDA

The store has amazing art. As soon as I walked in and met Linda, the artist/owner, I knew I wanted to be part of this gallery. I am so pleased to offer my pieces at this great shop.

Pelican Pictures

I loved the Pelicans - this one was my favorite:

"I'm Keeping My Eye On You!"

Striped Pangasius

The first night here we went to the Calypso - we had a good dinner but in Michigan we call a catfish a catfish!

Last night we went to Salty Sues and had bbq pulled pork. They use a dry rub and then you add the bbq sauce at the table. It was very good.

We went to two Goodwills yesterday - found several dishes.

The beaches have fabulous white sand and yesterday there was a bright green color along with the blue in the water.

Panama City Beach Winery

Noreen, Pat and I went to the Winery today in Panama City Beach. We had such a great time with Larry as our guide.

We tasted so many wines and they were so yummy. The fruit wines do not have sugar added and that makes them very full bodied.

Larry was very good at figuring out which wines each of us would like and how to drink eah one to drink each one in order to savor it.

We bought a lot! It looks like a dinner with the dinner club with our favorite one made with tomatoes and peppers.

Morning Wakeup in Florida

Good Morning from Panama City Beach! We have been trying to keep quiet so the puppies won't hear us. We have been semi successful! The fog has lifted and we can't wait to see the sites. The sun is up and so is Noreen which means I wasn't as quiet as I thought!

I also want to see if there are any treasures to be found at flea markets and antique stores (won't Patrick be happy about that?)

Well - I will keep you posted as the day progresses. We went shopping and stopped to take pictures as we were walking along the shops.

We made it

We made it to Florida. Our drive the last few hours looked a lot like Michigan, except for a few palm trees and Spanish moss hanging I would have thought we were home. Lots of pine trees, signs for loggers entering the highway, huge log trucks filled with pine, robins galore, and even a bear crossing sign! Very unexpected.

It was so good to get to Noreen's. We went out to take pics of Flat Stanley - there was lots of fog so I'm looking forward to seeing the Gulf.

Church Sign

Just outside of Highland Home, AL, (which is close to Honoraville!) there is a little church with this sign:

Try Jesus
Don't like him
Satan will take you back

I like clever signs - they are sort of like Twitter - you only have so much room to get your message across.

Police in Prattville

Just an observation. . . . We stopped at a flea market in Prattville, Alabama and while we were in town we saw 10 police cars - then I looked up the population and it is only 33,000 people! They must work cheap here in the South.

Mounting Evidence

Just after entering Alabama we saw a hawk on the ground between the expressway lanes in the median. A few miles down the road we saw another one. I mentioned to Pat that there is mounting evidence that the hawks in Alabama are stupid. Sure enough within 5 miles we saw three roadkill hawks!

I don't think I would want to hit one of those hawks!

We are on our way to Panama City Beach - maybe a few flea market stops on the way!

Birmingham

We met with our friend, Sr. Dinah, last evening. It was so good to see her. We used to sing together in choir at the Cathedral. She took us to see her office at the hospital and their new chapel. Her office is very peaceful the moment you walk in you can feel that. The chapel has dark wood panels with brilliant stained glass windows all around the space. We went to dinner at the Fish Market which is really a fish market - it was really a fun place to go.She suggested the grouper which was delicious.

It was a great evening and so nice to visit with her. She sends her best wishes to all her friends in Saginaw.

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley sitting on Babe Ruth when he is getting ready to swing his bat at the Loiusville Slugger Factory.

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Louisville Slugger Factory AND antique malls

What a great day! We went to a couple antique malls and found about a dozen plates, however when we were at the checkout counter I asked the cashier where I could buy a plastic bag holder where you put a pile of bags on a hook and pull one out to fill it and then tear it off. She said they just got one in yesterday! Let me tell you - the most frustrating part of selling my dishes is opening the stupid plastic bags. This will be so easy!!!!

Then we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. It was SO much fun. You should have seen Pat order a baseball bat! He was so happy. When they asked what name he wanted on it he said Paco of course.

We took Flat Stanley in for Olivia, my friend Heather's daughter, we did a Babe Ruth theme. One on a plaque, one on one of his bats and one with a mannequin of Babe swinging a bat. Every kid there new Flat Stanley! He is one popular fellow!

Starbucks

Yum. . . Caramel Macchiato and a bluberry scone for ME and a regular coffee and classic coffeecake for Pat. . . So much for watching what we eat on this trip!

ok ok ok

The lesson for today is. . . . Pay attention to details. I am using trip advisor to plan where we are staying. I read all the reviews and then went in to choice privileges to make a reservation. Mmmmmm. . . How can there be two Comfort Inn Airport Hotels? We go to the one I think I made a reservation at and the lady at the desk said that I did not have a reservation. So she gave us directions to the "other" comfort inn airport hotel.

Yuk - it is an older place with lumpy carpets, old bathroom tiles with yucky grout, and the room you eat breakfast in has several leaks happening. We are going out for coffee this morning!

The hot water heat was quite loud and when the pipes were cooling it sounded as if there was a mouse in the room - but it was the same noise every time the heat went off. Half way through the night Pat tapped me on the shoulder three times. I asked him what he wanted but he was sleeping. I asked him about it this morning and he said he was dreaming he was trying to kill a mouse with a shovel!

Weber Grill Restaurant

We are at the Weber Grill Restaurant in Indianapolis. So far the pretzel rolls are yummy. We just got salmon dip just came and it is so good. We decided to get two appetizers for dinner - the other one is a sampler bbq platter - so I will save this as a draft and finish our dinner before I finish posting this.

OK - I'm done and it was GREAT. We each shared what looked to be a very small portion of meat and shrimp - we each got 1 shrimp, 2 pieces of skewered steak, a half of one sparerib, and a very small portion of beer can chicken.

We got one salad and one baked potato and we are stuffed. It was a great dinner - however there was an hour wait for the restaurant so we ate in the bar - part of the fun is watching them grill the food in the restaurant. But we had a nice time anyway.

FYI

The casino in Indiana is just like Michigan - go in with $40 come out with 23 cents! We had an hour before we could sign in at the hotel so Pat watched the Chicago and Seattle game and I played Wheel of Fortune.
By the way - the sucker holes gave way to blue skies and sunshine.

Florida or bust

We are on our way. After a whirwind weekend with family and friends we packed up this morning and we are on our way to Indianapolis. We are leaving snow covered and cold Michigan. I will keep you updated as we go along. We left at 0838 and an hour later we are getting on to South 127.

My cousin Mary Lynn gave all the brothers and sisters a Chihuly art quilt. Mine is the most amazing and beautiful one - It is a boat filled with glass globes - I hung it by the kitchen window where Paula's handblown glass balls are hanging. It looks great.

It is a beautiful Michigan Winter day. There are clouds but sunlight peaking through on the horizon. One time when we were camping a woman told me the blue sky peaking out through the clouds were sucker holes. Since then we are always willing to believe we are suckers because we always think the day will get better!

Retirement Party

We had such a nice evening. So many friends from old and new. My family surprised me from Tulsa and Phoenix and even a good friend from Milwaukee. I am so blessed with wonderful friends - family friends, church friends, work friends. Thank you everyone for your friendship.

Today

It was the day of the big flood in Saginaw - 24 years ago - the water came up over my ankles on my way into the City Manager's Office that September morning. We had just moved to Saginaw so the girls could start school, hoping that I would be hired in the new Office Support Center at City Hall. There were three of us that would be interviewed and only two jobs available. I had to have this job.

Well, today I retire from the City of Saginaw - it has been a very good career - I have met so many wonderful people and had the chance to work with many of them. These friends have been through everything with me and my life has been enriched by knowing them and loving them.

Thank you so much for being there for me - you all know who you are - if I started naming names I would miss someone and feel awful. I have told you over and over how much you mean to me.

The majority of my career has been at the Police Department - I know without a doubt these men and women go to work every day knowing the danger they face - it means so much to me and it should mean so much to everyone. They laugh and joke and complain and drive me nuts - but I love them - it has been fun. The civilians that make their jobs easier - well - you run the place - and I always appreciated all you have done over the years - you have all become such good friends.

I so enjoyed the Labor Management Leadership Team - the Payroll Team - setting up HTE - learning COGNOS - mentoring - teaching - slapping up the side of the head!!! You know you loved it!!!

Thanks mostly for your friendship - see you tonight at the Junction!

White House Correspondence

The last time I sent a letter to the White House I was 11 years old and I wanted to tell Mrs. Kennedy how sad I was that President Kennedy died.

Last night I sent another letter by email to tell President Obama how proud I was to be an American when he spoke of how we must honor those people slain and injured in Arizona last weekend by treating each other with respect. He said we must live up to newly elected student council representative nine year old Christina Taylor's emerging political dreams when she died as she went to a supermarket to see Rep. Gabrielle Giffords meeting with her constituents. He said "I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it."

He also said "We may not be able to stop all the evil in the world; but I know how we treat one another is entirely up to us."

I want to believe all of us were touched by these words last evening no matter where we stand politically.

Robbie Bowling

We went to see Robbie bowl yesterday. Bay City Western won and we were proud to see him help the team win. Last week he bowled a 231!

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Dinner Surprise

We were invited to dinner at Jim And Cindy's - and Michael cooked! We had a delicious dinner with homemade noodles. It was so good. And the wonderful visit was a heart warming evening. I just love being with family.

More Friends from the past!

Last evening several of us gathered at Olympia's to visit with a friend from Haiti. He told stories of the people, the culture and the earthquake. We all were so concerned for his safety when the earthquake hit and to hear him talk about that experience was fascinating.

He is a good storyteller and it was very interesting. It was so good to be at Olympia's again.

Visitors from the Past

This morning at our roll call two former deputy chiefs came to visit and they came with donuts. Arnie and Larry came to say goodbye to Robyn and me. We sat talking about old times and how much fun we all had working together. It was so nice of them to come see us.

Friends from the past are so good to see.

What I Will Miss

My friends
Roll Call
Finding solutions with coworkers
Writing Excel spreadsheets
Writing COGNOS reports
LAUGHING WITH, TALKING WITH AND ENJOYING MY COWORKERS

What will I not miss
Don't need that list at all

New Year's Eve

We of course will be home tonight - we leave the roads to the partiers. But we probably will go for a drive today to enjoy the heat wave we are expecting today!

I just sent my brother, Larry an email because we heard they had snow in Phoenix yesterday! This weather is crazy all over this year.

Larry told me about an app called Evernote - I love it. Using Trip Advisor and Evernote I have been planning our tripto Florida. It has been so much fun reading the reviews on Trip Advisor to find things to do and places to eat and stay.

Hope your evening is filled with friends and good sense - do not forget to designate a driver.

Surprises

When I came home from work I expected a nice clean house because today was the day Stephanie cleans our house. But when I opened the door there was a wrapped gift from her. I opened it and it was a beautiful painting she painted for our bedroom. It is a fabulous beach scene. She knows how much I love paintings and this one will fit right in.

Then I walked in the living room and found that Pat had put the Christmas decorations away. Yeah! Can I say how happy that made me?

What a great day.

Last Christmas Celebration for 2010

It was a full house last night. It was fun to have everyone here - even Crystal stopped by for a minute - making it the first time in two years we were all together.

I have to say it is time to get back to "normal" - whatever normal is it better start. Too much food and drink lately!

I finally made an appointment to get a haircut - I always wait too long and go crazy the last few weeks because it is usually a holiday week and I won't call last minute and then my hair REALLY drives me crazy.

Just a dozen workdays left until I RETIRE!

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Ayva Stole the Show

We had Pat's family over for Christmas - Ayva stole the show! Being the only child she got to help everyone open their present. She had such fun. She found the stuffed animal dogs and Sweet William doll and then Great Great Grandma and Grandpa got her a set of horses she can brush their tales - she was so fun.

She kept going upstairs and peeking through the shelves on the way up - she kept calling Caroline NuNu and Robbie Bee and Sheala Gee it was a great night.

It was nice to have everyone here - we usually go to Pat's sisters so it was nice to have them all here.

Delightful Christmas Morning

Pat and I went to Detroit to have breakfast with my sister, Kathy and her son, Brandon. We drove to their house and sat and chatted a bit -we even Skyped to Egypt to talk with Bryant's family. Then we went downtown to the Westin and ate at the Boulevard Room. It was very enjoyable. Then Brandon took us on a tour of his production company - Star Factory -it has a recording studio and a dance studio. We got to hear music he has written, recorded and produced. He has several artists he is working with that have great talent.

We were so happy to see his work and hear his recordings.

It was such a nice Christmas Morning.

Merry Christmas

Good morning and Merry Christmas to everyone. We went visiting yesterday and got to see all the Conklins. It was such a nice visit. We went to church last evening and it was very beautiful - everything gold and white - even though we helped decorate we were so focused on getting our job done that I never noticed how beautiful everything looked together. The music was niceand the people were overjoyed to see each other.

I hope you have a wonderful day filled with family and friends.

Christmas Begins!

I love beginning our Christmas celebrations. I even like the light dusting of snow - it makes everything look fresh and clean. Tonight we are going to help decorate church. Pat went over yesterday to use a lift we borrowed from St. Helen's and he put up hooks in the ceiling to hang stars from that church bought last year at Pier 1for 75% off. I can't wait to see it.

Taco Night mmmmmm. . .

Jesse and Caroline invited us over for taco night -it was delicious food. Rice, beans, tacos and the most yummy salsa. And we got to play with the kiddos! What a nice night.

Caroline, Sheala and Robbie and I went shopping earlier in the day. We had a nice time.

Swan Creek Road Lightshow

We went out to Swan Creek Road to see the lightshow. Homeowners put music to Christmas lights and we decided to stop by tonight to see it. Our friends, BIll and Amy told us about it -but they had not seen it yet. It was so much fun they did a great job. You can park in Boehler.'s parking lot, too.

Nice evening

Such a nice evening – Our nephew, Michael was in town and we went out to dinner at Outback with him and his parents. We had such a nice time chatting – he will be on his way to spend time with his wife in Budapest – they are both looking forward to a beautiful Christmas together.

We actually got most of our Christmas shopping done yesterday – YEAH! A few things haven’t made it by mail yet, however, Amazon said it would be here before Christmas – and I love Amazon.

We have a very busy week next week – decorating at church, eye appointment, dentist appointment, Pat’s choir party, baking, – lots going on – but then I think it will quiet down for the rest of the holiday season.

Team Ra-Ras Kicks Breast Cancer - Susan G. Komen for the Cure Philadelph...

Every time someone views this video United Healthcare donates money to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to fight breast cancer. Thanks for sharing Elise - even though it took me forever to find time to look at this.

Winter Weather

Wow – Winter hit with a slam dunk! We didn’t get it as bad as some places but 9 inches with blowing and drifting. The wind chill is -10 this morning and Pat went out and cleared the drive, scraped the windows and then drove me to work – what a nice guy!

Robbie called to say his JV Bowling Team took first place on Sunday in the playoffs. He bowled 177 – we are so proud of him.

It was really nice being snowed in yesterday. We went to church on Saturday so we never left the house. We got the Christmas decorations up and vegged out watching Hallmark and Lifetime schmooze all day – then CSI reruns – if that isn’t the opposite end of the spectrum.

shopping?

So some of the people at the craft show were buying for NEXT year. I have not even thought about Christmas! I think I will have to get serious this week!

Our lives are so busy we haven't been able to even find a time to celebrate Christmas with our own families. I think we all have to slow down a bit.

OK Maybe this week won't be crazy while we BEGIN shopping with all the other last minute shoppers. Maybe a prayer to Mom and Patsy - Master Shoppers of all times (you should have seen the buys they would come home with after the George Washington Day sales in downtown Saginaw back in the day where everything was. 22¢ or $2.22): I'm sure with the households filled with family they both did there share of last minute shopping!

So I'll whisper a prayer and get going today.

oops

The show was done at 3 today. I hope no one came after we were done! We had a very successful day and Robbie earned a good bit towards camp this summer.

I want to thank everyone for such a great craft show year. We met so many nice people - both buyers and sellers. We will start selling again in September. Thanks again.

Saturday Fundraiser

Do stop by at the Horizon Center on Saturday from 9 - 4. Robbie is helping me sell dishes with knives (a great Christmas gift). He is hoping to go to Cival Air Patrol camp this summer and this
will help fund that. Remember last year we raised money for Sheala to go to Boston -and as an update to that trip - - SHE LOVED IT.

Dinner with Olympia

At the last minute we invited Olympia over for dinner last night. It was Vince's birthday and we were so happy she could come over. I think it was the first time I cooked in ages. When I asked Pat to go to the store for potato soup and panini ingredients and then saw Olympia's email about stopping over for a minute I knew it was an impromptu dinner opportunity. We are so happy to have spent a quiet night talking at the kitchen table. Good friends, good soup, and a bottle of wine - is there anything better?

Altered Fingerprints

Well - I think I officially changed my thumbprint last night! I wrapped so many knives there is an indent in my thumb!

We sold so many dishes and knives in Clarkston that I had to wrap, wrap, wrap last night - I will be out of Christmas dishes by the 4:00 if I sell like I did yesterday. And I have one more show next weekend at Horizon!

I was praying to St. Anthony last night to find more dishes and we did - thank you, thank you, thank you. Now I have to start praying again to buy more for next weekend!

We are next to some really nice people - they sell metal fish bones! They are so cool - you hang them and they spin in the wind - some of them have chimes - some can go on the wall. They have lobsters and crabs and turtles - they even make their own sea glass and put those on the chimes - we really enjoyed talking with them yesterday - getting tips for our trip to Florida, too.

Gotta go - have to put those knives with the plates and pack them up to go back to Clarkston - don't forget that Grandy is still open today!

Grandy and Clarkston

Well - I worked at the Grandy Farm yesterday - it was a fun day - remember you have two more days to shop. One of my favorite items is still there - a woman named Tracy paints snowmen on different items - screens, chairs, buckets... The one I love is an old chair with a bucket on the seat with a snowman face painted on it - the bucket is filled with greens and it lights up and it all is wrapped in grapevines - $42!!!!! It is so precious - if I thought I could put it on my porch and it would be there the next day I would buy it - but instead I'm telling you about it - so go to Grandy's and tell them Mary Ellen sent you to buy Tracy's chair! (Peggy - I was thinking of you when I saw it!!!)

Also - Rene is there - I bought 8 jars of her Blackberry BBQ sauce - YUMMMM! I bought one last year and I just about cried when I realized I only bought one. She makes a delicious bacon wrapped chestnuts in that BBQ sauce and it is to die for.

Today we are on our way to Clarkston for a two day show at the High School - I can't wait to see everyone - hope to see you there!

The Big Weekend is Almost Here

I have two shows this weekend - a three day show at Grandy's and a two day show at Clarkston. I only have to work one day at the Grandy Farm which is at 12750 Frost Road in Hemlock, Michigan - so I will be there on Friday.

On Saturday and Sunday I will be in Clarkston at the High School on 6093 Flemings Lake Road. I'll be in booth 11 down the hallway this year.

We'll see how having two shows in one weekend works! YIKES! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can......

Catching up with friends

Pat and I went to the Outback for dinner - remember when the bar was first come first serve? Well, it's not! I found a booth and slipped right in - then Pat went back to give our notifier thingy to the hostess and when he did - he found our friends Pat and Bill from Midland. We haven't seen them in ages. So he invited them back to "our" booth!

Then the manager came over and told us we couldn't just take a booth - I protested enough to let us stay (can you imagine that?) So then we proceeded to have a wonderful night.

Our kids had gone together to Blessed Sacrament when they were in elementary school. Lynn and Sarah came over to our house to play and they were with them at their house a lot, too. It was so fun to hear all about the family and what they are doing and of course they wanted to hear all about Caroline and Joanna, too.

Oh my - good friends are a blessing - when you see them - even after years of being apart it is like you never were apart at all. Isn't friendship wonderful?

Estate Sale Where I Didn't Care if I Got Anything!

OH MY GOODNESS, on our way home from the Waterford Craft Show we were looking for an estate sale sign I saw on our way to the show. Sure enough it was still up - so we followed it. It was a $2.5 Million home!!!! The entrance was grand - we parked up at the top of a hill, took beautiful stone steps down to a magnificent leaded glass door.

When we entered there was a circular teak staircase and rooms off the entry. We were instructed to put on surgical booties - the floors were marble. Then we walked around - I am sure with my mouth hanging open.

There were Remington sculptures, a Picasso, a Matisse, and many more artists. The cut glass bowls were fabulous. I told the man I just wanted to cook in the kitchen! He laughed and told me the stove was awful to try to keep clean - HAH - you can't fool me - he didn't do any cleaning on that stove!!!

There was a pool out back overlooking the lake with a beautiful portico all around the back. Oh my goodness, it was just so much fun walking through the mansion. I wish I could have gone upstairs!

So - even though I didn't find anything to buy - I certainly enjoyed the estate sale!

Ann Arbor Quick Trip

So we made a quick trip to Ann Arbor to buy plates. We found some really cute ones. Then we stopped for a sandwich at Zingermans. Now we are on our way home to wrap more knives.

I am loving this Galaxy Tablet. So far the navigation is great. It took us around some wierd curves today without a hitch.

mad dash for more dishes

It seems as if I spend all my free time looking for more dishes. I found 15 this afternoon. I will have to go on a road trip after the Waterford show this weekend.

I do love finding just the right beads to match the dishes.

I took a little catnap after dinner and now I am wide awake. I already wrapped 30 knives more than enough for the night.

Great Day

We had a great day in Mt. Pleasant. This was the best one day show yet. It really is amazing that most of our sales happen before Noon then hardly anymore. So for 3 hours we never sit down. I am not complaining it just seems funny that it happens at every show.

We sold so much that I have been wrapping knives since 3 am. I can see the rest of the week wrap wrap wrap wrap.

new toy

Well matt at best buy sold me on the galaxy tablet and i got it last night. I have been going back and forth trying to decide what to buy and this is so much fun. It is just the right size and the keyboard is just right for my finger. When i told him i wanted to be able to blog he said hands down this is what to buy.

IT WAS FUN HAVING HIM SET IT UP. They just got these in yesterday and he had been researching it and he was so having fun that i was too.

It also has a great camera and i cannot wait to start using it.

Today is the mt. Pleasant show. Hope to see you there.

Fun Day Off

We stopped to see our friends, Noreen and Tom, yesterday – we have been invited to visit their home in Florida this winter and so we started planning our trip. We had such a relaxing fun visit. They have a lovely home on the Rifle River – we watched the birds at the feeders, the chipmunks under the feeders – the kayakers going down the river – it was a very nice day.



When we left there we decided to drive to Tawas and go home that way – of course – part of the way home I mentioned we could stop in Standish to gamble a bit. So we did. That was fun too. And for once we won! I played the Wizard of Oz penny slots and turned my 20 into 70, then on to the Gate one next to Zeus which I can never remember the name of – went down to 50. Then on to the Hot Hot Penny and went up to 103; cashed that one out. Then on to Blackjack with Pat, played that for awhile and then we decided to leave – we couldn’t find a cashout machine that was working so I took the lowest slip, for 2.65 and started playing a random machine I don’t think I could find again and pretty soon I was up to 28.00. We decided to get out of Dodge while the going was good! We haven’t left there a winner in a long time – so that was really fun.

Veteran's Day

Saying thank you just doesn't seem to be enough - serving our country - making our lives safe - going into the desert under harsh conditions - leaving your home and your family and loved ones - for us - it is too much to even imagine. Thank you.

To the Veteran's of old - thank you for all you did for us - going off to fight was such a patriotic thing to do - you were supported for all you did by all Americans. Thank you.

I remember when my best friend, Janet and I were volunteers at the Red Cross - we were on the youth board - and one of the things that we were asked to do was to say goodbye to the draftees at the bus station. It was a very difficult thing to do - this was 1969 - a different war - a different time. Some of the young men knew that serving their country was an honor - others didn't feel that way.

But no matter how they felt - I know that our being there comforted all of them as they began their travels to training then on to war. I always felt nervous going to the bus station - but coming home - I knew I had made a difference.

On this Veteran's Day - I want to thank those men that were drafted - they didn't have a choice but they went on to serve our country anyway - and then they came home to the same country that did not appreciate what they had done. I pray that they are at peace with that now - that they forgive the citizens that thought they were doing what was right but who gravely hurt them.

On this day - remember that you were chosen and that you are appreciated by many -thank you.

New Show

Visit my booth and 80 others, this Saturday, at the Keepsake Collection Folk Art& Craft Show, Mt. Pleasant West Intermediate, 440 S. Bradley St.
Show hours are 9:00-3:30. You'll love it!

I added another show - Waterford High School on November 20 and 21. I have found so many great Christmas plates that I have enough for one more show - I am so happy to be going to different cities to sell my plates.

Come to the shows and say HI - I love meeting my blog readers!

Burning Leaves and a Bright Day with Friends

We had our annual trek up to our friends house in AuGres - every Fall we rake and burn leaves. Since you can no longer burn leaves in the city this is our one opportunity to satisfy that burning (pun intended) desire to see the leaves turn into a pile of ash.

I have to say this was the fastest one ever - the leaves were very dry and after just an hour or so the only things left smoldering were the acorns. Those squirrels must have had a great time eating roasted acorns all night!

The best part of the day is spending time talking with friends. Oh and a close second is the wonderful dinner - lasagna, garlic bread, zucchini a delicious dry red wine, salad and for dessert peach and cherry pie - yumola!

I slept most of the way home! It was a beautiful Fall Michigan day - we watched a ship slip by on Lake Huron and the sun even came out for a relaxing wonderful visit.

Paco is Home

Pat was in the U.P. without me all week - it was a miserable week without him - I am so glad he is home. He worked on a house for a friend and he had to drive over 75 miles to get parts! There aren't many home building stores around Manistique - he had to go to Escanaba.

It sure is nice having him home again.

I looked into buying a few months of my retirement time (even though I would have had to fight tooth and nail to get it and I probably would have lost anyway.) I don't think it is worth it - it would take me over 15 years to make it up and I would only get $50 more a month out of it - I crunched the numbers and it looks as if I keep it in my deferred comp for those 15 years I will come out ahead.

Career Builder had an article "10 Signs Its Time to Quit" - 8 out of 10 were reasons I am leaving work!!!!! Such validation!

We miss you guys!

AAAWWW - this was so unexpected - what a great time at the ballpark for all of you - We really miss you guys - this was so much fun going through your pictures on facebook. Love ya - Aunt ME

Fun with Ayva Schmayva

Ayva and Caroline came over to go to the Junction for dinner with me - Ayva ate mostly popcorn! We sure had fun counting the popcorn in English and Spanish - looking out the windows - dancing in our seats - we had a nice time - of course Caroline has to go home and feed her something good for her!

Long day at work today - It was a struggle to not lose my temper - but I did it - and I'm glad Heather was working and answered her phone when I really needed her help - thank you Heather.

One of My Favorite Things!

I LOVE the new Dove commercial with Lea Michele and clips from the movie Sound of Music.



I remember going down to the Franklin Theater in downtown Saginaw waiting in the longest line I had ever been in for anything to see Sound of Music - it was worth the wait. I still love the movie and when I saw this commercial on Oprah the other day when the whole cast was reunited I fell in love with it, too.

Javier says we had a Halloween Dinner!

I had to steal this from Caroline's post on facebook! Aren't they darling?

Well - maybe - it was Turkey and dressing and potatoes and Kale salad and sweet potatoes - so maybe we'll call that Halloween dinner from now on.

Really the turkey we bought last week finally thawed in the refrigerator and we promised Robin a turkey dinner for his birthday dinner - so he and Robbie and Joanna and Sheala and Caroline and Ayva and Javier came for dinner. Jesse had to work - we missed him.

We had a great time - the kids got ready to go trick or treating so we got to see them sort of in their costumes. Javier was Darth Vader and he looked great - Ayva decided she only wanted her antennae on for her lady bug costume - she looked darling too.

It was a fun afternoon - looking at toy magazines from the Sunday paper and the Hammacher Schlemmer catalogs with the $65,000 robot listed! Sheala and Robbie still like to go through those catalogs and put their initials on anything that catches their fancy - usually several things on each page - we certainly know how to dream in this household!

Retirement Paperwork

I turned it in today! It is now official - I am going to be all done working on January 14, 2011! I cannot believe that it is almost here.

5 more payrolls

8 more Fridays

8 Holidays

80 Days all together

YEAH!

NHS PROUD!

Proud Grandparents! Sheala was inducted into the National Honor Society - we are so proud of her accomplishments - she works very hard to keep her grades up along with church and sports and lots of volunteer activities. We are so proud of all she does - this was such a good affirmation to her of her hard work.

There is a down side here - Carrollton Schools have changed their grading system - only test scores count - so even though Sheala does extra credit and homework it doesn't count. I am very angry with the school board - they are not teaching these students how to work at college or to go on in life to a job.

But I believe with Sheala that if continues to work hard good things will come to her - I am a believer in my friend Jan's favorite saying "What goes around comes around" - I know it will work here with Sheala.

Again - we are so proud of her!

Saturday at Home!!!!!

Yes - this is a first - I'm home alone. Pat is working for a friend so I am at my computer entering sales slips into Excel to get a headstart on tax information! It's fun remembering the trips we've been on by seeing what we spent.

My goodness the amount of garage sales, estate sales and thrift shops is amazing - I've been entering for two hours and I still have 1/4 of the slips left.

We've been so busy lately that this is a good day for me - when I'm done here I'll be wrapping beads for the rest of the day.

Everyone should have to stay home once in awhile, right?

And a BIG THANK YOU to my friend, Robyn - she was going to visit her friend and offered to pick up the glasses Pat forgot at the hotel last weekend. This saved us a trip (thank goodness since Pat ended up working today). It was very nice of her to do this for us.

Wine Country

After scouring thrift shops, retail stores and estate sales, we found lots of dishes for the next couple of shows - so the trip was a success. Then before we left Pat suggested we stop at the Peninsula Grill out on the East Peninsula. (I've blogged before about how much we like the spot!)
It was a beautiful trip out there with lots of blue sky - big puffy clouds - pretty colors. We at the window with the sun streaming in and enjoyed a leisurely lunch. I had a glass of the local Chardonnay - it was really different - it was from Chateau Chantal a winery just a short ways down the road so we decided to go over there. WELL - if we thought the wineries were busy a couple of weeks ago this time the parking was unbelievable and we decided to skip it. But.... we got some great pictures.





There were so many people taking pictures of the beautiful trees and the landscape that it was fun watching them take the pictures. My favorite one was when we stopped at a house on a side road to take a picture and a young woman jumped out of her car and started taking pictures - it was so much fun watching her that I had to take her picture. I wish I would have asked her for her email so I could send this one to her.




We really enjoyed our short trip - I have said this a million times - but again - we love Michigan.

Trip to Traverse City

Well - we are in Traverse City for the weekend - we stopped at the Sleep Inn in Acme and Lewis the person at the desk suggested we go to TraVino Traverse Wine and Grill - in Williamsburg - just down the road - it was FABULOUS.



The most surreal moment happened - we started out in the bar because there was a half hour wait and the people next to us, Ray and Nancy were from Saginaw and she recognized me from this blog! She knew when I was retiring and all about me! It was so much fun.

I have to say the trip from Bellaire to Torch Lake to Rapid City to Acme was the most beautiful trip ever - the sun was setting behind golden trees with the lakes in the background - it was really and truly the best trip ever - I'll post pictures tomorrow.



We had the BEST salmon dishes ever at the restaraunt - Pat had the salmon off the menu and I had the special. Mine was the Pumpkin seed crusted salmon with curried squash, Risotto hot apple cider reduction and sauteed spinach. I would have had pictures but we both wouldn't leave our food to go to the car for the camera!

I asked the waitress to give me the Chef's name - The head chef is Kevin Paveglio - it has to be an art to get the crust so crispy and the salmon perfectly cooked! I will NEVER eat anywhere else when we get to the Traverse City area. We would have had a half hour wait but we ended up staying in the bar - the bartenders were the nicest and the best anywhere.

Can I say how happy we are!!!!!!!!?????!!!!!!

New Delhi!

This is what I love about the Internet – I wanted to see how to use a wildcard with an if statement in Excel. I typed in the Google search:

wildcard if statement excel

The very first listing gave me the answer from someone in New Delhi. I love finding the answers so easily – right at my fingertips. This is what I will miss when I retire – finding solutions to spreadsheets!

1. Wildcard in an If statement - MrExcel Message Board
Wildcard in an If statement Excel Questions. ... work around using the left function - but still think the if statement should have worked. ...

http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26915


Search and Find in an if statement

Results
Find Search
Big ___________________ OK OK
RED ___________________ No OK
red ___________________ No OK
Next___________________ OK OK
next___________________ No OK
big ___________________ No OK

=IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH({"Nex","Big","Red"},B132))),"OK","No")
=IF(OR(ISNUMBER(FIND({"Nex","Big","Red"},C133))),"OK","No")

so if I want to find something exactly as it is typed I'll use find - if I want to find something that is not case sensitive I'll use search. AMAZING!

UP or bust

Well it was a bust - we didn't buy anything - I was sure that we would find some Christmas plates in St. Ignace but they weren't out yet! But we sure had a good time. We stayed at the Quality Inn in St. Ignace and had such a beautiful sunrise this morning. I love our remote control for the camera - we had to put a chair on the table inside the room to get the picture but it is fun trying to get one!

Then we drove to the Cut River and took the old detour that we had to take when the road was closed. It was so beautiful. This was the ONLY red tree we saw on our whole trip. Pat thought that the old detour would be the best viewing and he was right.



As we left the Cut River detour I saw this old truck - I asked Pat to back up and I loved the history - it screamed art to me!

Vince

Our good friend has gone to Heaven and I just want to mention how much we love him. He was a devoted husband and a wonderful father to eight great grown children. He died peacefully at home surrounded by a loving family.

A couple of weeks ago when they put out the "no more visitors" I just had to run in for one more kiss. I only stayed 2 minutes but I am so glad I went. I got to tell him again how much we love him and how much he and Olympia's love meant to all of his friends - to be friends with such a loving couple made such a huge impact on all of our lives.

I sent him an email after the visit telling him how much it meant to me to be friends with a man who would have been peers with my father. I wanted him to know how important strong, loving fathers were in my life. Along with him and Leo Novak, Mr. Slaggert, Mr. Quinnan, Mr. Witchger and Leo Lynch - they all meant so much to me as I grew up without a father - and then to be so blessed to have Olympia and him as our friends for so many years. I like to think that I would have been friends with my Dad if he had lived into my adult life and being friends with Vince affirmed that to me.

I just stopped over to their house for a minute - there is so much love all around that house - in and out - we all know this was the way we all want to go to Heaven - quietly with courage and determination with family and friends and all the love in the world pushing us right to Heaven.

Until we meet again our dear friend, Vince thank you for being such a good friend.

Weekend Travels

Well – St. Anthony came through – you all must have been saying prayers! We had such a great time on our shopping spree. We went to Traverse City, Charlevoix, Petoskey, Mackinaw City and all the little places on our way. We found lots of Christmas dishes so I’m set for the next show. Now I have two weeks to find enough for the December shows!

The colors are so beautiful in Northern Michigan. Lots of gold colors and a few bright reds spattered in between. Driving through the hills the sky looked so big – it was bright sky blue with tons of fluffy clouds – it looked crisp and clean. I love Michigan – but especially in the fall. I remember whenever we used to take my Mom out for a color ride every few miles she would say, “OOOOHHH look at that tree it is the most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen!” Now I do it – the apple didn’t fall very far from that tree, did it?

We stopped at a few of the wineries but there were so many people we only tasted at one stop. There was about a 45 minute wait to taste at Chateau Grand Traverse so we decided just to buy a couple bottles of wine and leave – we were so happy when we looked and found out that just that morning they had just put out their first bottles of the "Barrel Fermented" Chardonnay for the year. We didn’t even care that we hadn’t tasted it – we were positive we wanted some – and of course when we got to the register he mentioned we would get a discount if we bought a few more and I didn’t even wait for him to finish saying it before I went over and got them off the shelf. This is the only Chardonnay that I drink that is served at room temperature. It is YUMMMMM.

And we stopped at Turtle Creek Casino, too. I found two Wizard of Oz penny machines and I gotta say – I had fun losing my money! Since we got our hotel room for free with our Choice Privileges (we always try to stay at Choice Privileges hotels to get enough points to stay for free for a night) I didn’t feel so bad losing my money and having fun, too!

Going Shopping

Okay - say your prayers to St. Anthony - I'm going out on a shopping spree to buy Christmas plates - I just have to find them. I need LOTS - I have a list of estate sales and garage sales and several stores to visit. It's raining right now so it would be nice if the weather cleared a bit!

We had a very nice time with Bill and Amy last night - lots of renewed friendship and great food - the cards sucked - even Bill admitted that Amy and I got crappy cards!

I made my first apple crisp of the year - I bought a bag of cortland apples - our favorite. YUM. I put a batch in the freezer because I promised to bring a treat to my training day at City Hall. I also got bamboozled into bringing ice cream - sometimes you just got to bribe those people into learning!

Colds, yuk

We did so well at the show last Saturday - but we both had colds and our back hall is still filled with containers that need to be reassembled and put away for another month until the next show.

We don't often get sick but this cold has wiped us both out. Everyone at work has it so I didn't use up any of my PTO time at work - I figured they gave it to me I wasn't going to waste my days off being sick!!!

The weather here is perfect Michigan weather. In the 60's with blue sky and lots of clouds - it is so pretty. We are going to have our Maple tree cut down - I am so sad - it was the prettiest tree on the block. They said it might have been stressed by so much cement around it but just recently the two trees across the street are starting to look like ours did a few years back so maybe it was just sick. I know I have always killed my plants in the house but never a tree!

I've been trying to get so much done at work - I know they will never hire someone in time for me to train that person so I'm making a tickler file that has worksheets about anything I am doing. I would ideally like to spend two pay periods with the person but who knows what will happen.

SVSU

Well - I wrapped and matched knives to plates all week long - I'm ready for the show at Saginaw Valley State Univeristy at the Ryder Center tomorrow morning. I expect this to be a good show - can't wait to see so many of you.

I had lunch with Peggy and Shelly today - it was so nice to catch up with them. We stayed longer than we should have and we laughed louder than we should have and we ate more than we should have (or at least Peggy did after she went back to work and munched all afternoon!) It was so nice.

Joanna came over for a bit this afternoon - Sheala dropped her off when she was coming into town - then Robin came to pick her up. Robbie and Robin are going hunting this weekend - I hope Robbie gets a deer. Then Caroline came over later on and FORCED us to take her to dinner - just kidding - we had a nice visit too.

So - see you tomorrow at Ryder Center!

Frankenmuth Weekend

We sold over 100 plates this weekend - it was really a good show. Even though it rained and was really cold for most of Saturday we had great customers. We usually do not sell well on Sunday in Frankenmuth but this time we did - I think everyone was so happy to see the sun that they felt like shopping!

I met so many really great people - sisters outs shopping together - families having fun teasing each other - lots of dogs in strollers, just when you look in one to see a cute baby there is a little dog panting away looking up with big brown eyes at you - we had fun people around us selling, always a bonus!

I kept praying to St. Anthony for people to find my booth if they were looking for something small to buy for Christmas gifts. He keeps coming through no matter what I'm looking for (someday God will tell me I could have asked to find salvation and I spent all my prayers on finding stupid things around the house and selling plates!)

So this week I have to wrap until my fingers bleed in order to have enough knives for next weekend at Ryder Center at SVSU. So I better quit writing in here and go downstairs and wrap, wrap, wrap.