River Roar

We went to the Dockside in Bay City yesterday afternoon and watched the practice runs for the River Roar this weekend - we had such a good time - lots of sunshine - warm wind - fast boats - and most of all sitting next to my Honey. I sure did miss him while he was traveling the past two weeks. Good to have him home.

Looking for......

Classmates addresses: Joe Schneider, Janice Sutter, Bob Wilcox, Margot Phelan, Ron Majewski, Rene Gaudreau. I am sending the flyers out for our 40th this week - I want to make sure everyone is invited.

Nice Dinner

I just had dinner with my son-in-law, Robin. We had such a nice evening - talking about family and church and life in general. He is so proud of his kids and it shows in the stories he tells. Joanna is in Hawaii and Pat is in New Jersey so I texed him and asked if he wanted to go out to dinner - it was very nice.

Pat will be home tomorrow - I can't wait - I miss him lots.

Long Weekend

The weekend in Frankenmuth was so hot - and really no one had purchases in their hands - I am really only going to do Fall and Winter shows. My plates are great gifts for Christmas and I'm going to stick with that for now. I certainly made enough to pay for everything but I am sure I could have spent the weekend with my family visiting from Tulsa and had more fun! Thank goodness for Patrick - what a good sport - he sat with me all weekend long!

I had my cousin over for dinner last night and we wrapped spoons and knives to match dishes she had. That was a lot of fun and very nice to visit with her.

I'm supposed to be getting out the class reunion flyers tonight - but I decided to wait until tomorrow! I never knew what a procrastinator I am! Going to work at 4 am yesterday really exhausted me - I had to work at a very fast pace trying to make up for Friday when the computers went down at work - I did make my deadlines but I am still paying the price - when I came home this afternoon I took a nap and I am sure I'll still sleep well tonight.

I talked to Sheala for a bit today - she had a WONDERFUL time in Boston. She made so many friends and really didn't want to come home. I am so happy she had a great time. Now they are visiting their cousins in New Jersey - what a fun way to begin the summer.

Family and Shows

We saw lots of family at the funeral this week - of course we all decided never to miss another year without getting together - but you know how that goes - weddings and funerals.

It was a nice time to see two of our nieces and my sister from Tulsa - we don't get enough hugs, smiles, and kisses from them. It was so nice to talk with them about their future plans and tell them we love them. Jim and Cindy showed us a slide show if their Mission trip to Cuba. Cindy has been at her sons house and then her mom's house for a few weeks and she was home last night - I like it when she is home! Mary Lynn went over to spend the night, too - I'm glad she stayed. I missed Kathy and Larry though.

The show in Frankenmuth was HOT HOT HOT yesterday - and it looks as if today will be the same - but at least all the storms were down south of the show so maybe when we get there today our tent will still be standing!

I Sold a good number of dishes - there was this really great cobalt blue bowl shaped like a fish and I was so glad it sold - it needed a good home - it was my favorite piece on the table. Today my goal is to sell the beautiful pink glass bowl with a spoon with beautiful Swarovski pink beads. I don't like having pieces that are so special to pack away.

Well off I go - time to find a few more dishes in the basement to take with me - I noticed I didn't have near enough glass dishes to sparkle in the sunshine.

Resurrection Sunday - Budapest

Thank you Maureen!

FRANKENMUTH

I will be in Frankenmuth all weekend long - starting today at Noon, Friday, June 18th through Sunday. I will be selling the hostess sets - $10 for one set and $15 for two sets. I found some really great dishes - perfect for the 4th of July!

We are hoping the weather cooperates - it sounds as if it might - I can't wait to see you all.

Prayers

My cousin, Mary Lynn, lost her son this week while he was out on his daily exercise run - he had a fatal heart attack at the age of 46. He was a good man - a fun uncle - loved by many. His obituary shows how full of life he was (Click on his name below to read it). Our love and prayers to his family and friends.

Fr. Damien

Jazz on Jefferson - What Fun

We saw so many people that we know at "Jazz on Jefferson" last night. We had such a good time. People from St. Mary's and St. Pete's and the City of Saginaw and Delta and we had our booth next to Jan and Jim - it was fun, fun, fun. We could hear Jean Marie singing over on Millard Street which was very nice.

We sold 20 plates and knives which was a great night when no one even knew there was going to be a vendor spot. It was such a nice evening. We hope to do it again next year.

This week

I had the week off from work - what a luxurious thing - to be off and not trying to recuperate from surgery! I have such good friends at work who pick up my job and get it done while I am gone - I can't thank them enough. Anyone who has been following my blog knows that I have been counting down until retirement - well - I'm under 500 days!!!!!!!!!

We started out our camping year on a great note - camping with friends at the Rifle River State Recreation Area - we had one really great day weather-wise and the others were okay. Pat is camping with his brothers this weekend so I've been shopping the estate sales and going to buy fabulous beads at Joanne's - they were all on sale so I bought lots.

Jan and I are excited about the Jazz on Jefferson on Wednesday evening - Her purses are so fabulous you will want to see them - we will be set up in the Team One Credit Union parking lot - hope you will stop by and see us.

Class of 1970 Reunion

Attention all Classmates of Saginaw St. Mary Cathedral Class of 1970 - we will be having a reunion dinner at classmate Tom Price's restaurant in Flushing on August 14, 2010.

Tom has an award winning restaurant - Fandangles' - even his bathroom at the restaurant came in 5th in the NATION! He was nice enough to offer to host our party - the food and atmosphere at Fandangles' is really fabulous.

It is only about 30-40 minutes from Saginaw and it will be a night to remember. More details will follow.

More Travels

We went to Traverse City Friday and came home yesterday. It was just a short buying trip - we went to garage sales and thrift shops and I found some great Christmas dishes as well as pottery and a medium sized blue bowl that is shaped like a fish - I couldn't leave it - I'll put a large serving spoon with blue beads with it.

Of course we stopped at Peninsula Grill for lunch before coming home - and to our favorite wine tasting school house - Peninsula Cellars. We bought a case of wine which we like to think saves us money - but if we didn't buy the wine at all we would save much more! But what fun would that be?

We took some fabulous pictures of lilacs - they were at the end of the season but there were so many and so beautiful.

Back to the mundane today - cleaning the porch, going grocery shopping and searching the Internet for grilled trout recipes for camping and a truffle recipe for dessert when we have friends that we haven't seen in years over for dinner this week.

Lots of containers filled

Well - I really worked hard this week on the dishes. I filled seven large containers with dishes and wrapped knives. It was hard work but well worth the time. I am sure I have enough for the Jazz on Jefferson on June 9th and the Frankenmuth Craft Show on June 18, 19 and 20. So now I can relax for a few weeks. Then I'll have to get down to business again because I have so many shows this year that I think I better stay ahead.

I must say when I went down into the basement I was pleasantly surprised to see how many dishes I actually have down there. We have been really concentrating on Christmas dishes and I do have lots - but I still think I will need quite a few more to get through to the end of the year.

I just don't think I can have too many Christmas dishes - however - I think Patrick may disagree! He's the one that goes down the basement to store my dishes and he keeps saying there isn't anymore room. But I made a major dent in it with the ones I finished this week and those are out of his way. I'll see if I can fill it back up for him today!

First time in a very long time

We were trying to figure out how long it had been that Patrick, Joanna, Caroline and I had all been together all by ourselves - no spouses, grandkids or great grandkids - I think we came up with 1991! Oh my goodness! We had a very nice time being with our original family. It just doesn't happen anymore.

I love the spouses, the grandkids and the great grandkids - wouldn't trade any of them for anything - but it was such a treat to listen to our children and enjoy each other's company.

Random Thoughts

Random because that drives Pat crazy - when we clean the house he likes to clean ONE room at a time - finishing every single thing in the room. I'll explain how I clean by telling you how I got to sign in and blog this morning.

Pat left to work on a job with a friend - before he left I asked him to bring up several of my containers with dishes in them. I thought I would begin getting ready for "Jazz on Jefferson" which will be on June 9th.

I started emptying containers - washing dishes, putting different knives with different dishes. I fill a couple of containers and put a post it note on them to tell what is in the container (my attempt at organizing before I leave for a show) Then I went downstairs to find dishes that have a Martini theme - thinking those Jazz people might like martinis! I found them - but there were no knives already wrapped that had the colors I needed.

So upstairs I go - while looking for beads, I think maybe I should get some spoons too because I have some cute Partridge in a Pear Tree mugs that would be fun to sell. I go to sit down to search in my bead containers and think that while I'm up here I might as well print out some labels for the containers because the post it notes look as if they might fall off.

So I turn the computer on and sit down to search out beads. (It takes awhile for the computer to do it's backup that I always miss because I don't go on the computer enough!) So then I find the beads and go to print out the labels. While I'm here I think - I might as well go online and see if I have any messages. Then I think - mmmmm - maybe I'll blog!!!!!!

Now Patrick would have worked with what was in the containers and finished the whole job already - I on the other hand have enjoyed doing a lot of different chores and got to blog, too!

Chihuly in Michigan

My friend Peggy, a great lurker on this site, sent me an article about the Meijer Gardens Chihuly Exhibit in Grand Rapids. We would have gone this weekend but it's FREEZING in Michigan this weekend. So we are looking forward to a trip in the near future. Our nephew is getting married in Croatia and then having a reception in Grand Rapids so - NOTICE TO ALL FAMILY AND FRIENDS GOING TO THE WEDDING - we'll organize a field trip to Meijer Gardens! YEAH!!!

I called my cousin Mary Lynn and told her she should contact the gift shop and have her quilts there for sale during the exhibit - now through September. They were inspired by our trip to the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix when we went to see the Chihuly exhibit there.

Pat and I went to a few estate sales today - I didn't buy anything at those but there was a church rummage sale (those are the best) and I got a bag of books and dishes for a dollar! Then I bought a few more items that were half off today. All in all - a great day.

Nice Weekend

We went to friends on Friday for dinner and cards - we had a great time. They had been on a trip and we missed them - it was good to have them home.

Saturday we went up north. I found some really great Christmas dishes both on the way up going to estate sales and at a store in Tawas. We stopped to see Julie at Finder's Keepers and she has my serving pieces displayed so nice in her area of the store. Oh by the way - it's her birthday today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE.

We did stop at a VERY SCARY estate sale on the way up north. I walked in and walked back out - it looked like something out of that new show about hoarders - even though I've never seen the show; I've seen the ads - YIKES - I walked back out as fast as I could and we drove out of there!!!!!! SCARY!!!!!

It was very beautiful up north - we stopped at Lumberman's Monument which is one of our favorite spots. The warm wind was blowing and we watched kids climbing on the logs. A couple of hikers with huge backpacks came up to the monument and they were taking pictures of each other so I offered to take one of both of them. They had just hiked from Iargo Springs - they are training for their trip to Isle Royale. I told them that our daughter Caroline had hiked there and she loved the Island. Then on the way out we were reminiscing about when we had a picnic at the park in the Lumberman's Monument when I was pregnant for Joanna so many years ago. We cooked ribs - it was early spring because I had on my winter jacket - it is one of our favorite memories.

We stopped to eat and while we were eating I had to call my sister to tell her the Kentucky Derby was on and Noble's Promise was a 24 to 1 bet - came in 3rd I think after our call. She told me that Liz and a friend were talking about "Patisms" at the dinner table - and they came up with "As useless as a screen door on a submarine" - Pat loved it! Isn't it amazing when you talk about someone or remember a great time how the person just pops up and surrounds you? What a nice thing to happen in our lives.

Then my best friend's son called and Pat and I laughed all the way through the conversation - he is a sweetie. It was good to catch up with him.

Then home - it was a really beautiful trip.

Yeah! Magglio!

I left work early today - not because my knee hurt - because we wanted to see Magglio hit #2,000! He was so happy - his face was one big smile - Pat and I went to the Junction at 1:00 to see the Tiger game - Magglio hit one his first time up but he was out - the second time up was the magic number. Caroline came in to watch with us after her interview. We had a nice afternoon - much - much - much better than staying at work!

A few good estate sales

We went to three good estate sales yesterday. Found some platters and some dishes. YEAH!

On Friday we went to pick up our trailer at Pat's brother's home in Lansing. Paula and I went to some thrift shops where I found some dishes and then when we got back to their house the trailer was all hooked up and ready to go. So we all went to the Draft House and played a game of pinochle where Paula and I WON! Then we had dinner and back home to Saginaw.

It's raining this morning which is really good because the trees and grass need a good soaking. I hope the weather is okay tomorrow for Sheala's soccer game.

YAHOOOO - 2 days in a row

I've worked 8 hours two days in a row! And when I got home this afternoon I was still feeling pretty good. My goal is for the whole week to be 8 hour days.

The wildlife is moving in all over the city. This morning when I got to work there was an injured fox in a cage that had been hit by a car and this afternoon there was a wild turkey that flew across Malzahn to our neighbors bushes. The poor animals must be scared with all the traffic and people.

We had Jesse and Caroline and Crystal and the kids over for dinner last night. Jesse and Caroline went to the disappointing Tiger game and then they all came over for fettucini - unfortunatley I don't think Caroline was happy with the meal - I floured the meat which made a gravy instead of au jus with the meat and the homemade garlic bread didn't measure up to Coles - but we had fun anyway. The kids were riding on Caroline's lap bumping down the stairs. It brought back memories of Brandon and Bryant sliding down the stairs when they were little with Joanna and Caroline.