A nice little surprise

Dragon Mood? -- happy for her

What a happy discovery! I learned on Facebook this morning that the young woman who lived with us for six months in 2007 got engaged over the weekend. Congratulations, Erin!

[And my goodness -- it must be my mindset, given Josh's recent engagement -- suddenly I'm so noticing so MANY MORE engagements and weddings! Hmmph!]

Two to the Fifth Birthday

Dragon Mood? -- happily remembering this momentous day!

Two to the fifth, that's how old my baby boy is today. Two squared is four, two cubed is eight, two to the fourth is 16 and two to the fifth is ... THIRTY-TWO!

Happy 32nd Birthday, Josh!

These are for me???

Dragon Mood? -- relishing being appreciated and celebrated

Look what arrived at our doorstep yesterday, completely unannounced and an absolutely lovely surprise!

The attached note said these are for both S and me, thanking us for all that we do.

I DEFINITELY enjoy being celebrated!

Yeah for moms!

Happy Mother's Day to ALL YOU MOMS out there!

Yeah for moms!

Earth Day 2009

Dragon Mood? -- celebrating and loving Mother Earth!

When I heard about "EARTH DAY" wa-a-yy back in 1970, I thought it was well-intentioned but kind of gimmick-y. Shows what I know, huh?

Happy Earth Day! Do your part! Let's all take care of sweet Mother Earth, whaddaya say?

Month-long hiatus

Dragon Mood? -- remembering in a travel-weary, but pleasant haze

Wow, it's been a whole month since I last posted. When I tell you what S and I have been up to, you won't be surprised! We have been scootin' around the Great Lakes area for the past three weekends. And I mean SCOOTIN'!

For Labor Day, S and I trekked to Madison to hang out with Carolina and the man in her life, Ron. We drove out late Thursday night, encountering construction, traffic delays (even at midnight) and the requisite Hi-we're-here-at-two-a.m. arrival.

Ron started off our Friday with delicious, tradition-creating omelettes. We poked around in a dusty, ramshackle place that could barely be called a store, filled with vintage record albums (remember those?). S found one after another that caught her eye, eliciting the comment, "Oh, put this one in the pile." I think she ended up with at least ten albums! It was fun to watch her excitement. We had other ambitious plans, but got 'sidetracked' and ended up in some bar called WTF (I thought it was you-know-what) but it actually stands for Weary Traveller F--- I can't remember what the F stands for. The rest of Friday afternoon is a bit hazy for me; I think we sort of drank our way through the afternoon.

Josh arrived Friday night. We celebrated by busting out the bar; Josh drank Manhattans, Ron, Lina and I sipped on dirty martoonis and Steph toasted with her favorite, Warsteiner beer. Friday was ANOTHER late night!

Saturday morning, Ron and Caroline toddled off to a tailgate party (beer, anyone?) before the first Badger game (cough-cough, ack-ack). Josh, S and I had a scrumptious breakfast at Marigold Kitchen in downtown Madison. Mmmm-mmm-good!

We managed to catch about half of the Farmers' Market and emerged with arms full and backpack loaded with veggies and fresh flowers and green things(!). I hit the Soap Opera (absolutely LOVE that place!) and then joined everyone else at the 'tree' bar where Corinne bartends -- honest to God, I don't know anymore about the place then that! [With the amazing power of the internet and Google, it's called Paul's Club ... and here's a review that captures what I noticed about it, as well:]

When you walk in it's super dark inside, carpeted (unusual for a bar), loungy couches, and a HUGE FREAKIN TREE in the middle of the place. Christmas lights round out the cozy vibe along with a killer jukebox.

Paul's Club most definitely serves up tasty drinks, nice variety of beers, and the BEST Bloody Mary I have ever had. Try it! Seriously.

Well, there is SOMETHING I would add: CORINNE, the very nice and very cool bartender from Seattle MAKES those BEST bloody Marys. They are truly the best bloodys I've ever drank. And believe me, I've drunk more than a few! All right, I'll quit mooning over the drinks; don't wanna sound like some LUSH or something! (chuckling)

Saturday evening we watched Michigan State get spanked by Cal. Darn!

Sunday was ALL about beer-brewing, watching little Abbey from next door and just hanging out with one another, relaxing. Oh yeah, and we all kicked in and fixed a killer dinner with marinated chicken breasts, S's Famous Celery Root dish, green beans roasted in olive oil and garlic, and Lina's oft-requested Cucumber Salad. It was a feast fit for kings and queens. Oh yeah, and we watched Cary Grant movies. Don't remember which ones ...?

Monday morning, Josh took off pretty early. S and I left by 2 p.m. for our journey back to Michigan. Thankfully, it was a pretty easy drive and with several stops, we were home by 11 p.m. We had Tuesday off which allowed us to sleep in, wake up slowly and do some errands in that neck of the woods.

While I had had some trepidations about Caroline having a man living with her now and how that would feel, it was a wonderful weekend. I felt like Caroline and Ron went out of their way to make both S and I feel welcome, comfortable and at home. Ron hit a home-run with S, with his recommending that old record shack. I was happy to see him be so attentive to my precious daughter and how happy she felt to me. 'Nuff said.

NEXT ... S's Family Reunion

AND EVEN LATER ... Dad's 80th Birthday celebration

Twin day

Dragon Mood? -- happy for them and whooped for me

Today is THE DAY, twenty-six years ago, that S gave birth to the twins, the identical peas-in-a-pod twins, Mark and Tim. Mark Wilhelm and Timothy Louis, to be more exact.

And on a far less important and non-personal note, the news is full of headlines today about the Brangelina twins, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marchelina. Wow, what do you think of those names? And I thought Sunday Rose (Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's just-born baby) was an unusual name!

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Mark and Tim!

More about our celebration of their birthdays in a yet-to-be post.

Not jaded

Dragon Mood? -- still quivering with momentary patriotism

Here in Motown, there is a curious tradition where we celebrate the Fourth of July BEFORE the Fourth of July. Like last night, on June 23rd, a whole ELEVEN days before the real deal!

Anyway, dear readers, I wanted to give you the good news: I am not jaded. Towards the end of the spectacular fireworks display over the Detroit River, with hundreds of thousands of Windsor and Detroit spectators watching (S and I comfortably ensconced in our plastic Adirondack chairs watching on the boob tube), the fireworks zooming and bursting and whizzing to patriotic music, I cried. My tears probably were due more to the music than the fireworks, but I thought, "This is a great country. I LOVE America. These fireworks represent all that is great about America and her people. I'm glad we didn't move to Canada when Bush became president!"

Life with its funny twists and turns

Dragon Mood? -- surprised at my surprise!

Between doing laundry, steaming straight creases on some incredibly rumpled new work pants and waiting for the televised fireworks, I had a realization.

Not just any realization, mind you, but a "Wow" realization: Today, June 23rd, WOULD HAVE BEEN my thirty-fifth wedding anniversary ... if I were still married. But that's not the "Wow" moment.

I had turned to S and told her that I was really glad that I was with her and that we are sharing our lives. She smiled and asked with that I'm-so-glad-you-said-that look, "Really?"

"Yeah," I replied. But if you had told me thirty-five years ago (when I was all of TWENTY!), that in 2008, I would be sitting with my PARTNER, a woman, whom I've been with ... uh, going on 22 years, I NEVER would have believed you. Thank God we don't really know what life brings us! We might find it unbelievable!

That was when my "Wow" moment hit.

In a word, "BYOO-TUH-FULL"

Dragon Mood? -- languorously remembering

BYOO-TUH-FULL is the word for this past weekend. It was a picture-perfect weekend in terms of weather, activities and enjoyment. Settle in and let me tell you ...

S and I had a leisurely leaving of the pied-a-terre on Friday evening. She and I putzed, her outside on our new picnic table, me on the computer. She drank a few beers, I polished off a bottle of Crane Lake Cab. She took a shower and a quick nap. I putzed some more, working on our neighbor, Jan's, resume.

We finally pulled things together about 9 or so and got on the road. S suggested we find a Big Boy and get a Number #1 breakfast. I was hungry myself but wasn't optimistic we would find a Big Boy en route. Amazingly, we did -- off the Novi exit and to the left. We chowed down like truck drivers.

We got back on the road and headed home to the pine trees, now with it quite late. The last half hour of the trip, I was really fighting sleep, a combination of fatigue and all those carbs elevating and then dropping my blood sugar, I'm sure. I had the windows open, the radio cranked up and I was lightly slapping my face just to keep myself awake! Sheesh! Scary drive.

Saturday morning, I slept 'til past ten. I guess I was tired. I showered and headed out to do some errands. I picked up coffee at Horrocks. I also hit their garden center and bought ten little pots of different ornamental grasses -- blue fescue ('Elijah Blue'), some porcupine grass, some grass whose name escapes me now but the variety was 'Karl Forster' and one maiden grass meant to be a specimen in our pied-a-terre backyard. I had fun picking those out! I hit a MacDonalds for one of their new southwest salads (pretty good!) and then headed back to the east side of town.

At Tar-zhay, I bought myself a cute little straw purse on sale ($3.74!), some black trouser socks with bamboo(!) in them and the new Harry Potter book, on sale, for $17-something. I also bought mundane things like toothpaste, a couple of pens and some baby wipes (for us fifty-something babies).

Mid-afternoon, I headed to the hair salon and got my hair cut -- FINALLY! It had been over ten weeks since my last one, and the hair was looking very mop-like. Now, it looks and feels better!

From there, I joined S and we met up with Mark, Lindsey and toddler, Preston, at Reno's outdoor dining area for a late afternoon birthday celebration to mark Mark's 25th birthday. It had been literally months since I had seen them last, so we had a lot of catching up to do. In the five weeks since I started my new job, Mark had lost his. We talked about that, Lindsey's job, as well as all the new and exciting things that Preston is learning or discovered. For a two-and-a-half year old, Preston did amazingly well at the restaurant.

S and I took Preston home with us for the night, while Mark and Lindsey headed off to a party with their friends. Preston and Grandma toddled around the yard, watering the grass, checking out the aluminum fishing boat as well as the kayaks. Preston was very excited and interested in "Grandma's TRUCK!," "Grandma's camper," "Grandma's BOAT!," and "Grandma's kayak." The caps tell you the level of enthusiasm.

Preston finally crashed between 10 and 10:30. After multiple starts and stops, S and I finally got to watch our new copy of "The Big Chill" DVD. Amazingly, that was the first time that S had ever seen the movie in its entirety.

All three of us slept until 9 a.m. Sunday morning. Preston came toddling out of the guest bedroom, looking for the "grandmas" and ready for action. I jumped up and made coffee while S pulled Preston into bed with her for a few minutes of snuggling and then a diaper change. When I checked next, Preston and Grandma were both running around naked, Preston sitting on the potty (and using it!), Grandma pulling on her nylon shorts and a tank top for the day.

We hung out on the deck until Mark and Lindsey showed up. We ate grapes and clementines (I had bought them at Horrocks the day before for Preston -- I didn't know you could get Clementines in summer!), Little Debbie Pecan Pinwheels and some Bob Evans little sausages that Preston insisted on stuffing into his mouth in one bite.

After they left, S and I snoozed on the couch for awhile. It felt like a relaxing, lazy Sunday. Mid-afternoon, we pulled things together and headed over to our friends, J & J, to take our kayaks out on the lake. Like I said earlier, the weather, the temperature, the sky was picture-perfect!

Other than my slipping right into the water on their concrete boat launch (slippery with algae!), and the pleasures of kayaking with a 70-lb wet furball in my kayak, our time out on the water was fun and relaxing. We paddled here, we paddled there, around the lake at J & J's house. We watched people, we watched birds, we listened to the breeze on the water, we heard frogs. Cisco was in dog heaven out there, ears up and on full alert!

We got home shortly after six, I immediately headed for the shower and washed off lake and dog fur. I was on the road to the pied-a-terre before 7. Upon arrival down here, Jan and Tom invited me over for a glass of wine, which I appreciatively accepted. About 9:30, I climbed into bed for a 'date' with Harry P. and friends. Lights out before 10:30. I never heard S come in.

In a word, this weekend was "byoo-tuh-full."

A jim-dandy of a word!

From Word of the Day:

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:
A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

Triskaidekaphobia is from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka, thirteen (treis, three + kai, and + deka, ten) + phobos, fear.

In Christian countries the number 13 was considered unlucky because there were 13 persons at the Last Supper of Christ. Fridays are also unlucky, because the Crucifixion was on a Friday. Hence a Friday falling on the thirteenth day is regarded as especially unlucky.

Some famous triskaidekaphobes include:

Napoleon
Herbert Hoover
Mark Twain
Richard Wagner
Franklin Roosevelt

 

Have a GREAT day!   And I mean it!

Thirteen!

Dragon Mood? -- aquiver

Do you know what tomorrow is? Do you? It's a Friday the Thirteenth! Whoo-hoo! I love 'dose THIRTEENS! My lucky number .... :-)

And Happy Birthday, Mark and Tim! Happy 25th! Love you guys!

Memorable Fourth of July nights

Dragon Mood? -- happy and tired

Ten twenty-six, Fourth of July night and things are a-boomin' and a-poppin' around here. Anybody and everybody who's got fireworks is out settin' 'em off! Happy FOURTH of July, everybody!

I'm back here at the pied-a-terre, gettin' ready to head to bed ... so I can be ready to head to WORK tomorrow morning. Driving down here this evening, I was reminiscing and remembering some memorable Fourth of July nights that S and I've had together.

Like the Fourth up in Copper Harbor, at the national park. We were camping in the playground of the park, it was so insanely full! We watched fireworks, drank beer and played cribbage until four in the morning. Then we hiked a ways to a park bathroom to pee, brush our teeth and get ready for bed ... and some weirdo teenage kid was peeping in the women's bathroom. Scared the sh*t out of us!

Like the Fourth, driving through western South Dakota on the freeway, observing one little rural town after another's fireworks displays from a distance. It felt intimate and distant at the same time and I felt so happy and proud to be American that night.

Like the Fourth last year. We were at Riverfront Park in Lansing, with two of S's three sons, two wives, one grandbaby. It was Preston's first Fourth as a toddler and Mark held him in his arms, oohing and aahing with each poof and pffft and fizzle of the fireworks.

Sweet memories!

And tonight, I'm thinking of my sweetie at home in the pines. And my sweet kidlets down on the farm in Texas, with my sister and my dad and my aunts and uncles and cousins. Ohh, I bet they're having a good time! Drinkin' and playin' Spite and Malice. Maybe shootin' off some fireworks? Maybe watching the stars in that Texas night sky that seems to go on forever and ever?

Whoo-hoo!

Dragon Mood? -- freedom-loving patriot

H A P P Y

F O U R T H

    of   J U L Y ! !

Hello, Goodbye

Dragon Mood? -- feeling the emotional highs and lows of beginnings and endings

Hello, July; Goodbye, June! I'm getting ready to head to bed and realized this will be my last opportunity to post here in June. This working stuff is seriously cutting into my blogging time!

Here in Motown, the-powers-that-be always have Fourth of July fireworks the week before the Fourth of July. Don't ask me why? Because people want to party with the Windsor folks while it's still June? I dunno!

Anyway, with S on vacation at our other house, I was here alone last night for the fireworks. I got my jammies on, turned off the lights and sat in the darkened TV room, watching the spectacular fireworks display over the Detroit River. Despite my 54 years, I felt thrilled and excited along with sentimental and patriotic and joyous. Imagine that -- all from fireworks!

Here's just one (small) sample of the stunning display we all got to watch!


This photo was taken by photographer, John T. Greilick, of the Detroit News.

A memory dummy!

Dragon Mood? -- chagrined at my sisterly faux pas

Duh ... sometimes, I am such a dumkopf, I could smack myself upside the head! I spoke to my sister, Ruth, an hour or so ago ... we didn't talk long, but I totally forgot to wish her and her husband, Paul a ...

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Happy 30th Wedding Anniversary!

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Summer Solstice!

Dragon Mood? -- welcoming this warm, wonderful season

And I would be totally remiss if I didn't note that today is the Summer Solstice, the first day of summer.

Solstice comes from the Latin (sol, sun; sistit, stands).
For several days before and after each solstice, the sun appears to stand still in the sky—that is, its noontime elevation does not seem to change.

Get outside!

Stare at the stars!

Howl at the moon!

Enjoy the summer!