Tigers in Florida

What a fun day

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We had such a fun day. Woods, Kemp, Lollich, Wilcox, Bair, and more. . . They all had so much fun messing with each other. Having fun with the fantasy camp people. We sat in the first row next to the dugout by 1st base. We watched everyone come in and they were so nice to all the fans.

Woods

Terrel

Kemp

Wilcox

Bair

Heath

Hiller

Leach

Lolich

We felt like it was a Field of Dreams moment. The smiles never left our faces.

Lakeland Pigfest 2011

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Lakeland Pigfest 2011

We went to the Pigfest at the Lakeland Tiger's Stadium.

They have raised over $500,000 for the community since they began this festival. We tried the number one BBQ from last year and then another one - the second one we tried we thought was better.

They had a band, their Mayor, their Senator, the National Anthem, radio personalities - and great pork and fried pickles! We had fun walking around and enjoyed people watching.

Tomorrow is the second day - with the game with the Detroit Tiger Greats - can't wait to go tomorrow.

Galaxy Glitches and Verizon to the Rescue

Last night the Galaxy Tab started getting errors saying my personal memory was filled and it started freezing up - First thing this morning we went to the closest Verizon store. They had trouble getting into the system and finally told me they would need to reset it to the factory settings. I didn't care I just knew I wanted my Galaxy back!

Well - they got it working and we left Orlando for Lakeland. Before we got to Lakeland the errors started back up again so we headed for the first Verizon store in Lakeland. We were very lucky to have Eddie work on the tablet. He started researching on the Internet and found there is a glitch right now with syncing or something. So he turned off some checkmarks and it began to work right.

Then he asked me if I had seen the new keyboard for the tablet - I said no and he took me over to it - when I saw it was only $79 I told him to pack it up - the only down side to a tablet is the keyboard. Then he started to ring up the bill and told me that because I had to go to two stores he was giving me a discount - $20 off - that was so nice.

And finally, we brought our Garmin with us on the trip "just in case" and that has gotten us out of a couple jams when GPS was screwing up. So I have to say. I am glad we had a backup this morning to find the Verizon store and I am glad that Verizon worked on the Galaxy two times with no charge to me at all.

Animal Kingdom

We went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was fun and we saw animals we never even heard of before. We saw lots on the African safari. We were in line for about 45 minutes but we didn't mind at all because we stood by two women from Ohio that were very nice.

There was also a large family next to us that did not speak English but the father kept the children occupied by telling them stories. It was precious. The children had their eyes wide open listening to the tales he was weaving for them and his arms were waving in the air and the tone of his voice would go from scary to funny and the kids loved every minute of it. So did I!

We walked for almost four hours and I was happy to be done when we decided to go. Of course then we had to walk for a bit trying to find our car! I forgot that I have an app called Find My Car!

It's 1:00 in the morning. . .

And I can't sleep. Mmmmmmm. . . Could it be Pat snoring? Yes I think so. Oh well who needs to sleep?

We saw on the Lakeland Tigers website they have a big fundraising bbq contest each year and a game with the Fantasy Camp attendees and Tigers from the past. Willie Horton and Al Kaline and others that Pat knew but I didn't remember. So we are spending the weekend i Lakeland.

That leaves Wednesday and Thursday in Orlando. I think we may go to Animal Kingdom today - depends on the weather. We had huge rainstorms last evening with tornadoes all around us. I think it is supposed to clear up and be nice the rest of the week.

Tigers in Lakeland!

OK. . . OK. . . it was a Lakeland Tiger Camp - but it was baseball in 72 degree weather watching them play in Detoit Tiger uniforms at the stadium the Tigers have Spring Training at and it was fun.

We are on our way to Orlando - still not sure what we are going to do but there are hundreds of choices.

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!