Saturday, April 25, 2009

Wow - it's been a while...

I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd posted. I really have no excuse - I've just been a bit anti-social for a while. I feel like a bad friend - I really haven't been keeping up on my friends' blogs, and I haven't been on Croppers Cottage much, I haven't blogged, and I haven't really even been on Facebook. I guess I just needed some time to myself.


Since the last time I blogged, so much has happened. We had Christmas, along with all the attendant craziness, I turned 35 (I know - I'm officially OLD! LOL), then there was Easter, and some craft shows, and now here we are at the start of softball season again. We've been working 58 hours mandatory again, so it's been a bit hectic around here. Since my last post, I've experienced the happiest moment in my life so far, and also the saddest moment. I've seen butterflies at Dow Gardens, Broadway in Saginaw, and my good friend get hypnotized by Anthony Cools in the funniest show I've ever seen.

I've been contemplative lately - thinking about the future and what it holds for all of my friends. Two friends and two cousins are pregnant, and another two of the girls at my church have either just given birth or are about to. That's good news - I can't wait to see all the new babies. On the down side, we are still trying to sell the house that my in-laws rented from us, our renter just up and moved out in the beginning of April, and Brian is laid off again for the summer, just hoping to find a job. Those parts are not so good. I'm wondering if we'll ever sell the house or find a renter, and I'm starting to get a little worried about those prospects - I don't think all the OT in the world will pay my bills plus the bills of two houses. I'm also worried that we won't find a pitcher for our softball team, which will NOT help us win any games - not that I was really expecting to win any games, but still, the hope remains.

About the pitcher, I'm starting to think that the pitcher's position for our team is very similar to the position of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in the Harry Potter series. Those of you who have read the books or seen the movies are probably giggling at me right now. For those of you who haven't, let me explain (no, there is too much, let me sum up :). In HP, the DADA position seems to be cursed - none of the teachers in the series made it more than one school year. Our team has been a team in this league for the past two years, and we've had two pitchers. The pitcher from the first year took a batted ball in the shin in the last game of the year, and had a bruise the size of Cleveland on her shin for quite some time afterward. She has not recovered from the trauma and stress of the injury, and consequently declined to play last year (and this year, for that matter). Since she is also a coworker, I suspect the stress of the new system and all the OT we've been doing is a factor as well. I was planning on our pitcher from last year being able to pitch for us again, but she has developed tendonitis, and although she is still planning on playing, pitching is out for her. Soooo, we're looking for a new pitcher. Wish us luck!

Ok - clearly I need to blog more, because it seems that I babble when I haven't. I'll work on being better about that. Until next time, have a great day!


Wednesday, November 26, 2008

New meme...

Do it, done it.
Put the items you've done in bold. I've italicized things I want to do.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (in 5th grade - we made our own movie for a class project)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (post 9/11, so we couldn't go in - just outside)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Your turn. What have you done? What would you like to do? I'm starting a tag with this one - Jayne, Rita, and Jeanne. Have fun!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Stories to tell...

I've been taking the Stories in Hand class over at Jessicasprague.com (where taking equals reading the class e-mails while thinking that I really should actually do some of the assignments, but I digress). Although I haven't had any time to really keep up with the class, I have read all the class e-mails and gone through the many, many (over 1000) prompts that help us to remember what our stories are. During all this, I was reminded that although these "sparks" are meant to help us remember things that happened in the past, our stories are still happening. Every minute of every day, we are living the things that will become our memories, and how we tell them is up to us. Whether you blog them, write them in a diary, tell your friends verbally, or just pull them out to remember to yourself in a quiet moment, you will eventually tell them. This past week, instead of having time to record my stories, I've been living my future stories, and I'd like to share one of them with you now.



From Madonna Concert




Tuesday night, Kate, Kevin, Heather, and I went to see Madonna at Ford Field in Detroit. This story, however, does not begin Tuesday night. It begins way back in the dark ages (or approximately August-ish), when my friend Michelle received an e-mail for advance ticket purchases for Madonna through her credit card. We decided to go, we being Michelle, Jayne, Nancy, and myself, and Michelle ordered the tickets. Fast forward a couple of months, and Michelle, having had some family issues that are going to require her to save money, is the first to fall. So, I e-mail Kate and ask her if she is interested in taking Michelle's ticket. In the meantime, Nancy, who is a district manager, finds out that one of her stores is scheduled for an inventory on Wednesday morning after the concert, so she will have to be at that store by 5 am. This obviously makes going to the concert a very bad idea. I e-mail Kate again to ask if Kevin would like to go also. They agree, and Nancy and Michelle's tickets come to me to hold. Jayne, meanwhile, has been suffering from "contractor's disease", a very prolonged cough/upper respiratory something-or-other, and has been trying to find someone to take her ticket. She asks Shelly, who is considering it, but really doesn't want to spend the money or be out so late on a Tuesday night. The Saturday prior to the concert, we have a bazaar, and I mention that the concert is coming up to Heather. She is very excited about it, and says that she wishes she could go. I tell her that there may be a way, and let Shelly know she's off the hook and Jayne that if she's sure she doesn't want to go that Heather will take her ticket. In this roundabout way, the attendees change almost completely.



From Madonna Concert




Dateline: Tuesday, November 18, 2008. I rush out of work at 4:00, excited to be headed to see Madonna. I've always wanted to see her in concert, and this may be my last chance. The day is chilly, as a cold snap has just moved through the area after some unseasonably warm weather. The plan is to meet Kate and Kevin in Greektown for dinner, then take the PeopleMover down and walk to Ford Field, which is just a couple of blocks from our station. I have just discovered that my winter jacket has a broken zipper - a fact which I had forgotten when I put it away for the winter, so I have with me a fall fleece jacket, over which I will put my dress coat, which is warm, but not long enough in the sleeves for me. It doesn't look the best, but in 20-degree weather, I really don't care. To make the look even more fashionable, I have borrowed Mom's earmuffs. I pick Heather up in Aunt Rose's car, which we are forced to drive because my car was not ready to be picked up from the garage on Monday (a whole different story). I am very grateful that I was able to borrow her car, but I really hate driving it - it's not built for tall people. It also has only a cassette player and a radio, so we are forced to hunt for radio stations during our drive. We arrive in Greektown at about 6:00. Approximately 15 minutes earlier, we had called Kate and Kevin to let them know where we were, and they were waiting for a table at the Pegasus Taverna in Trapper's Alley. We park the car and walk into the restaurant to find that many, many other people had the same idea that we had. When Kate and Kevin arrived, they were told that we would be seated in about 15 minutes. In reality, it was more like 45 minutes to an hour. This has us a bit panicked, as the concert is supposed to start at 7:30, and we had determined that in order to get there in time, we should be on the PeopleMover no later than 7:00. Our waiter arrives, we order, and very shortly after, the food arrives. By 7:10, we have paid our bill and are ready to move. We debate the pros and cons of taking the PeopleMover anyway or just walking there and decide that we are OK with the PeopleMover, so we head up to the station. In a very short time, our train is there, and we hop on and sit (posing for a few pictures along the way). We depart at the Grand Circus station and start walking toward Ford Field. After hiking about half a mile, we reach the stadium, expecting to pretty much walk up to the doors, present our tickets, and find our seats, as the concert is scheduled to start in 10 minutes. Imagine our surprise when we see a line of people, 4 or 5 across, stretching all the way to the other corner of the stadium. We get in line and wonder why it doesn't seem to be moving and what this means for the concert's start time. After waiting about 40 minutes without moving very far, we decide to be line jumpers as most of the others before us have already done, and move to the front of the stadium where we join the throng of people attempting to enter and take a few pictures of the line along the way. By 8:15 we have gained access to the building and have found our seats. We think that maybe the concert might start by 8:30, but aren't very hopeful, given the state of the line outside. Around 8:45, someone walks by in the row ahead of us, saying that he has heard it will start at 9:30. We wait, somewhat dismayed by the prospect, as everyone but Heather has to work in the morning. I am not looking forward to the 2-hour drive back to Saginaw at this point, especially since I've heard that the concert features a 2-hour set list. We continue to wait.




From Madonna Concert






From Madonna Concert



At about 9:20, the giant "M"s to either side of the stage begin to glow pink and the concert is on. Madonna does not look 50 - she is amazingly toned, and I wish I have half of her energy. She sings and dances for almost all of the 2-hour show, barring time for a few costume changes. Her backup dancers are just as awesome. By the time the concert is over, Heather proclaims it the best she's been to. It definitely makes my top 10 favorites, but the 2-hour wait for it to start tarnishes the experience a bit.



From Madonna Concert



Once the concert finishes, we patiently wait our turn to file out of the arena, coming to the conclusion that Ford Field doesn't have very good crowd control plans in place, as we stand at the end of our aisle waiting to ascend the stairs for at least 15 minutes. Once we are finally up the stairs, it's better. In light of the crowds making their way in the direction of the PeopleMover stadium, we decide to walk back to Greektown. It's not a bad walk - probably only about 3/4 of a mile, and we make it back to the casino around midnight. Hugs are exchanged, and Kate and Kevin head for their car and home, while Heather and I decide to hit the casino for a few minutes to allow the traffic to clear out before heading northward.

After about a half hour, we are ready to leave. We trek back to the car, which won't start. It seems the interior light stayed on - I'm not sure if a seatbelt caught in the door or what, and the battery is dead. We go down to the attendant's station, where the lady in the booth tells us that they don't have cables and can't give anyone a jump, but gives us the number for a towing company that can help us. I call them, only to find out that their parking garage truck is not working at present, so they can't make it up to the third floor. We head back down to the booth, but they don't have any other phone numbers for us to try. We decide to go back over to the casino in search of a phone book. On the way over, we see two men and a lady walking back to the garage. Heather asks if they have a set of jumper cables, and they think they do. We follow them to their car, and we're in luck - he has a set. They drive up to the third floor and park next to Aunt Rose's car. I pop the hood, and luckily the two batteries are not so far away that the cables won't stretch. They hook up the cables and turn on their car, and a few minutes later, we are on our way. By 1:00 we're on I-75 heading north. By 2:45, I drop Heather off at her house, after a mostly uneventful trip, with the exception of a deer coming onto the road in front of us, then changing its mind and turning around. I take Aunt Rose's car to her house, as mine is now home for me, and, having waited up for me although I told her not to worry, she drops me off at my house. I fall into bed, exhausted, but having had a great time.

That's all for this story. I know there will be more. Some I will share here, some I will keep to myself. Some may end up in my scrapbook, others just as a folder on my hard drive, or a memory locked in a corner of my mind. But all will affect me in some way. Thanks for letting me share and have a great week.




Thursday, November 13, 2008

Skywatch Friday - the Wedding Edition

I haven't seen any interesting skies this past couple of weeks, so I thought I'd look for some from my pictures of prior events. When I opened up Picasa, I found that I was on the folder containing my cousin's wedding pictures, and I saw the first picture here. This was taken outside of the church where my cousin Candy's wedding was held this spring. I love the church because it's so picturesque, and there is a cemetery attached to it that is older and has some very eye-catching headstones. I also love this picture because of the way the clouds seem to be just painted across the sky like someone took a gigantic brush and put them there.

Once I found the first picture, I decided to see what other skywatch pictures I could find in my various wedding folders. The picture below was taken in August at my friend Kate's wedding. Once again, the day was overcast, and I thought the clouds were interesting, especially the way they seem to showcase the steeple? part of the church.

And finally, because I like to have three pictures - two would just feel incomplete - I was able to find one more sky picture from a wedding day. This picture was taken in Windsor, Canada as we left my friend Shelly's wedding. Guess what - more clouds! I really like the way the Bluewater Bridge looks with the clouds in the background and overhead.



That's all for this week. Check out Skywatch Friday here. Have a great weekend!
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Monday, November 03, 2008

Pet Peeves...

What are your pet peeves? I have many of them, but they can pretty much be condensed into one major theme - inconsiderate people. This morning I was reminded of a perfect example as I drove through Tim Horton's to get a hot chocolate. Someone had thrown their lit cigarette out the window as they waited in the drive-through line. Not only is that inconsiderate because of the whole littering factor, but also for all of us who followed whoever this person was through the line. I happen to be extremely sensitive to cigarette smoke, and waiting to get past the scene of the crime was torture, as the smoke was coming right into my car. Why, oh why, do people have to do things like that? If I'm walking somewhere and see a lit cigarette butt, I'll scuff it out so no one else has to deal with it, but that's rather hard to do in a drive-through line.

Another good example of inconsiderate behavior popped up today as well. My husband and I are landlords - we own a duplex and live in one side and rent the other half out. Our renters recently told us that they were going to have to move because the wife is pregnant, and they couldn't stay in a two bedroom house with three children. They gave us 30 days notice, and were supposed to have been moved out by Friday or Saturday morning. That was fine, because Brian had the entire weekend off, which would allow him to clean/touch up paint/anything else that needed to be done before the new renters moved in. Well, due to a problem with the electricity at their new place, they didn't move out until this morning, and of course Brian had to work today. He was able to get into the back bedroom (the walls of which the kids had written all over with crayon, meaning that he needed to paint the entire room) and paint and steam clean the carpet, but there was still a lot to do. When he got over there this morning, the floors were horribly dirty, and the refrigerator was disgusting! I ended up having to take time off this afternoon to help clean, as there was no way he was going to be able to do it all before he had to leave for work. I can't help comparing this situation to ours - when Brian bought the duplex we had been dating for about a year, and he was living in an apartment. When he moved, we spent an entire night cleaning the fridge, the walls, and anything else we could think of - the place was spotless. Evidently that's not normal for renters, as we have not had anyone leave the place very clean yet. This was by far the worst yet, though.

Anyway, that's my rant on pet peeves. Thanks for hanging in there with me. On a positive note, we had the best bazaar we've had so far this past Saturday. I'm hoping for more like that in the coming weeks! Don't forget to vote tomorrow, and have a great week!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Skywatch Friday

I said I was going to try to post more pictures for this, so here is another edition of Skywatch Friday. I can't believe it's already been two weeks since the first one I posted. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. The first two pictures for today were taken in Toledo. Last weekend we attended a handbell conference there, and since there weren't any classes that we wanted to take during the first session, the two other Jens and I walked down to the riverfront. It was very nice, if a bit cold, and I got some pretty neat shots out of it.




The final picture was taken at my in-laws' house. I love the way the clouds show through the tree. You can definitely tell fall is in the air!



That's all for now. Have a great week, everyone, and don't forget to vote next Tuesday!
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Monday, October 27, 2008

Sad Day...

It has arrived. The day I've been dreading for the last 5 weeks. My in-laws are moving away, and taking the kids with them (well, duh - they are their kids, after all). I knew it was not going to be fun, but I didn't think I'd be quite this sad. I actually cried tonight. I'm happy that Roger found a church, but I really wish it wasn't all the way out in Minnesota. It has been so nice having them and the kids nearby and to really have the chance to get to know the rest of Brian's family. I just about lost it today - I took a short break from work to go say goodbye to them, and when I said I had to go back to work, Anna kept telling me "No."

On a happier note, I attended a bell conference in Toledo this weekend. We all had a great time, and I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from it for now.


The park by the river. There were three or four fishermen, and I liked the way they leaned their poles against the chains and leaned back to relax.


5/3 Stadium, home of the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit's AAA team). This was the view from our hotel window.



At the jazz club. It was the pianist's birthday, as well as Jen B's, so after the band played and sang Happy Birthday to the two of them along with two other birthdays in the house, they brought out and cut a cake, then passed it around to the whole bar.


The big bells. I wish we had these at our church!




Have a great week!