It's Tuesday

Good morning.
Well, we didn't vacuum shop yesterday.
I let Craig sleep in, (until 9am) while I played on the puter.
We then went to the bank, post office, and stopped by the Salon to drop off checks. The newer stylists that joined our staff last March, gushed over the Christmas decorations. It feels good to think all my work behind the scenes is appreciated. :-)
We then went to Meijers for groceries and then back home.
Read the paper, had a light lunch, and while Craig did more bookwork and laundry, I did a little more work outside. I rearranged the side of the garage where he'll park Kia when the snow starts now that all the mowing and blowing are done.
I then spread mothballs around the tires of the mo-ho. Craig seems to think that well help keep the mice out, I'm not so sure, but it's easier to spread than argue. :-)
I think what has helped, is I put bait in the shed back in August, that's near the mo-ho. Mice always seem to make nests in there in the winter. I've gone through 5 trays of bait since then. And there's been no activity for nearly a month now. I'm thinking I've eliminated all the mice from the area. That's my thinking and I'm sticking to it. :-)
I also checked the water level in the mo-ho house batteries. We leave the mo-ho plugged in all winter because we have those sonic rodent repelers plugged in. Craig seems to think that well help keep the mice out also. I don't think they work, but again, it's easier than arguing. :-)
After 34 years, I know when to pick my battles. :-)
Anyway, I caught up on all my blogs while Craig made a tasty dinner of beef stir fry. It was yummy! And we ended the evening with cocktails and our Monday sitcoms.
And it look like our mild few days will end later today as a cold front is coming, bringing rain that well over night turn to that icky white stuff. But I can't complain. We haven't had any snow yet, and it's nearly Dec.
That's all I got for now.

Sunday update

Good morning.
First of all a great big congrats to the Michigan State Spartans for wining a share of the Big Ten Title! Yaaaa!
It was a great season for them even though they'll have to settle for a lesser bowl game. Even though the ended up #8 in the BCS, they won't play in one of the 5 major bowls. Their stupid rules say they can only take 2 teams from a conference and we have 3 teams from the Big Ten in the top 8. And Michigan State is behind Wisconsin and Ohio State. Oh well, maybe they'll win a bowl game for a change. :-)
Sunday turned out to be a decent day,
Sunny and 40. After I cleaned the Salon, got Craig up, Had our coffee and paper, we bundled up,
and finished the yard. I blew the rest of the leaves out of the mo-ho parking area and the garden paths, and Craig did a final mowing of the lawn.
We are now pretty much set
for the long winter to come.
Here's a couple of views of the back yard.
After that was all done, we maneuvered the mo-ho into it's spot between the garage and the fence.
As you can see in the pics, it's a snug fit.
It's nice to have him out of the driveway.
So it was a productive day.
And for dinner, we had Spicy, Sweet Pork Cutlets. I did this new recipe a few weeks ago. It was sooo good. And very easy! If you didn't get the recipe earlier, it over here. Though this time we pared them with Scalloped potatoes and Asparagus.

Today, we need to look for a new vacuum for the Salon. The new mats we have seem to be a softer rubber than the previous, and the beater brush on the vacuum has such hard bristles, it's putting marks on the mats. So we need to find a vacuum with softer ones.
And that's it for today!

We have a winner!

Good morning.
And a bitter cold one at that! currently 27 out. Yesterday's high was all of 29.
And here's the winner of the Appointment card contest.......

I ended up tweaking the layout a bit, thanks to all the helpful comments.
It was interesting that the staff picked mostly cards my readers hated. Shows the different perspectives from the public compared to salon staff. But between everyone, this card stood out the best. And actually, it was my favorite from the beginning. So a big thank you for every ones input. I really appreciate it
And, when I got home from work, I received an e-mail from Vista prints offering half off their ridiculous all ready low prices. So I ordered 1500 cards, with shipping, for $30.
And for dinner last night we of course had leftover turkey and fixens. It's just as good the second day!
And now I'm off to shower and another light work day.

no black Friday for me

Good morning.
And a happy Black Friday to those that partake in such stuff. :-)
We had a very nice, relaxing Thanksgiving. The Turkey was excellent as usual and so were the mashed potatoes and gravy, and scalloped corn and stuffing.
Of course, also as usual, I ate too much. But I do love my turkey! :-)
We watched the parade, and played on the puters. I checked out mo-ho's that I could never afford, and played games. It was a good day.
And back to work this morning. It's not real busy today and tomorrow, but I'd rather be there, then out shopping with the ridiculous crowds. I read yesterday that someone set up a tent outside Best Buy on Tuesday evening to be the first one to get in the store Friday morning. They obviously have way more time on their hands than money. I can't think of anything worth camping in this weather for 3 nights. Oh well, it's 6:30 am as I write this and there's probably thousands of people out at the stores right now. Not me!
And so, it's time for my shower and off to work.
Have a safe weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving

Good morning.
And a Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm not going to go on and on about everything I'm thankful for, but let's just say I'm very thankful for everything,
I've just returned from decorating the Salon for Christmas. It took me just over 2 hours and it went fairly smoothly.
Here's a pic of the tree with those lights I won on E-Bay.

I really like the large globe lights and am happy I was able to find more of them.
The staff seems very happy with the new mats also. I didn't realize how much the padding on the old ones had compressed until I stood on the new ones. They are really nice.
And today, is, of course Turkey Day and we are having a traditional meal. Turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, scalloped corn, and pumpkin pie.
Hope every one has a a safe tasty day!

Thanks for the help!

Good morning.
First, thanks for all the comments and e-mails. I'm getting a lot of good feed back on the business cards. If you haven't seen them yet, go back one post, check them out, and let me know what you think. I won't make a decision until the end of the week.
Yesterday was perfect work in the yard weather. It got all the way up to 64. Unfortunately, it also rained nearly all day. :-(
So I spent a good part of the day down loading more game to play this winter, while Craig did his usual bookwork and laundry.
The rain did let up around 3pm and I was able to do the final cleaning of the eaves troughs now that all the leaves are finally down. When I'll do the last mowing, I'm not sure. The weather is quickly going down hill. It was 44 when I woke up this morning, but the high is projected to be 39, so falling temps through out the day. Thanksgiving is projected to be only a high of 36. Yuk!
In other news....
Our new mats came in yesterday, and I went in at 6 this morning to take up the old ones and put down the new.


Our new mats above, and the old one below.
I really liked the old ones. The pattern is called Granite. They don't make this style anymore. It was very good at hiding tint spills and such. But as you see, they were starting to wave around the edges instead of laying nice and flat like the new ones. That was beginning to be a tripping hazard.The lighter color actually makes the Salon look more spacious. I just hope they clean well.

Now time for my shower and to get Craig up.

help me decide

Good morning.
We finished up another work week Saturday.
Craig ended up having one of his busiest weeks ever! He was so exhausted, he slept 12 hours Saturday night. He didn't get up until nearly 10am.
I don't know how anyone can sleep that long. I'm usually good on 6-7 hours.
Anyway, I cleaned the Salon as usual, but didn't get much done other than that. I think I know why, Dave over at Dave's World somehow channeled my usually boundless energy to him!
But that's okay, he put it to good use.
I ended up spending a good deal of the day sitting at my puter, trying to design a new appointment card for the Salon.
Here's my 6 choices.... A

B

C
D

E

F

So.... out of the 6, which one do you like? A,B,C,D,E,or F.

I'm also taking copies to the Salon for the staff to look over and give me Their input.

We use to get our cards at Kinko's, but there's this online company, Vista Print. If you register, they send you ridiculous specials of 250 business cards for $3.99. So Craig and I both got new business cards, with shipping, for only $14.31. They looked so good, we decided to use them for the appointment cards also. So give your feedback. I'll let you know which one we pick.

busy Friday

Good morning.

I had a busy Friday, but not a late Friday. I got home and decided it was to cold (46) and windy to work in the yard so i got on the puter and played. After about a half hour or so, I decided to get my lazy ass bundled up and get outside and get some work done. It's the middle of Nov. and the outside days are rapidly getting fewer. So I went out and did more blowing and mowing of the leaves. Our riding lawn mower has been not wanting to start with out charging the battery first. I had hoped to get through the season with it and replace it in the spring, but I couldn't get it to hold enough juice to start, so I had to use the push mower. I should probably use that anyway, burns more calories. :-)
So anyway, I got that done and the parking area for the mo-ho is ready. We'll maneuver it in there sometime this weekend.
And responding to a couple of comments....
Garret of Jim and Garret said...
"I've been a slug lately too. Worse is that I'm an unemployed slug. "
Keep your chin up Garret, something will come along for you.
and Mark and C in Newport Beach said,
"It's amazing what is offered for sale on ebay"
Yes, you can find just about everything on E-Bay if you have the time to look. :-)
Then after Craig got home, we relaxed with cocktails and chatted about work. Yes, we do talk about our customers. :-)
And for dinner, we tried a new easy recipe. Spicy Glazed Pork Cutlets.

Yes, they were as good as they look. We had them with fried potatoes and streamed broccoli. The recipe if you like is over here.

Without much on TV we watched a few more episodes of Hot in Cleveland. I'm really liking it!
And it's looking like time to get in the shower and get ready for my last day of work.

up to speed

Good morning.
Let's get us up to speed here since I've been gone a few days.
Tuesday was another one of those wash-outs. It was cold, windy, and the leaves aren't all down yet, so I didn't do a thing. Inside or out. I was a total slug!
Wednesday morning, I fired up the puter, turned on the modem, and nothing. No Internet. The Internet light on the modem wasn't lit. I thought maybe it didn't cycle right, so I turned it off, waited, and turned it back on again. Nothing. So I called tech support. They didn't say our area was one of the many experiencing problems so I waited for the next available tech. The recording said the estimated wait time was 25 minutes. Ugh! So I waited. Passing the time playing a game on the puter. After about 20 minutes, I got disconnected. Arg! So I redialed and waited some more. After another 35 minutes I finally get a live person. He apologises for the wait, (of course) and says our area is also experiencing problems and they are working on it. I hang up thinking why can't they keep their phone recording updated!
So after wasting all that time, and still no Internet, I get things ready for another work week. I clean and slice carrots and cucumbers to snack on during the day. And also some pineapple and cottage cheese. That's what I eat instead of going out to lunch. It's difficult to 'schedule' a lunch when you work with appointments that aren't always done in the time scheduled, so it's just easier this way.
The work day went pretty smooth, and I had Internet when I arrived home in the evening.
Thursday, work was busy.
We also received the light bulbs I got from E-Bay and they were exactly the ones I was expecting. We now have 3 boxes of lights to use to replace any burned out ones. These should last us quite a few years.
You can see from the second pic how large each bulb is.
Today and tomorrow are looking to be very busy in the Salon also. And I'm getting tired of customers coming in and wondering if we're going to be closing. This all started coming about when the management company decided to fix the mall up. They painted, mulched, and for some insane reason, decide to put white paper
on all the windows of all the empty store fronts.
Well, out of 22 storefronts in this mall, there are only 8 occupied right now, So that means a lot of white paper screaming how empty the mall really is. I personally thought it looked fine with just the empty spaces showing through the windows. I don't have a clue why they wanted to cover them all up, and especially with white paper. It would've look better if they had used brown paper.
Oh well....
We also haven't received the new chair mats we ordered on the 8th. They should have been here on Wed. or Thur. If they don't show up today, I'll have to call and see what's going on with them.
So now we're up to speed, and I need to hop in the shower and get to work!

Have a great weekend!

a day with Mom

Good morning.
I made it to the Salon, but didn't have time to try out the new wheels on the manicure table. Maybe I'll do that Wed. morning.
Instead, I dropped off checks, trash and picked up the paper on the way home. I showered, woke Craig up, fixed coffee while he showered, then we hopped in the car for a drive to Muskegon to spend the day with my Mom.
I put the cover over her air conditioner, and cut her hair. She also wanted me to take her to the bank. She went last Wed. to get some cash. After she left, she noticed on her receipt there was a lot more money in her account then there should be. I looked at the slip and saw my sister-in-law's name on it. I asked her why that was, and she said she hadn't noticed that. I said I think they took the money out of the wrong account. My brother Louie's name is on my Mom's account. I assume he and his wife have their account there also. Her name is Bonnie, and my Mom's name is Audrey. So before lunch, we stopped at the bank. Sure enough, they had taken it out of Bonnie's account. They were very apologetic. I imagine someone will probably get written up for this. Things like this happen quite a bit. Craig has to constantly watch his deposit slips because we have the business account and our personal account at the same place. They have sometimes deposited the money in the wrong account.
Anyway, with that fixed, we headed over to Applebee's for lunch. Mom had the portabella sirloin steak, while Craig had a burger and I had a club. They were all very good. We've eaten there many times, and the food is always tasty.
Then of course, we went to the VFW for cocktails and pull-tabs. She hadn't been there since I took her in August. The driving service she uses to get around, only does greater Muskegon and the VFW is in North Muskegon. It's only about a mile from her apartment, but not in the city.
Anyway, she was happy to see people she hadn't seen in a while. We ended up a little ahead on the pull-tabs since Craig won $70 on one ticket.
We then stopped at the store for some food supplies for Mom, and then back to her apartment.
We said our good-byes, and made it back to Lansing safely.

I got on-line to find my Christmas lights had been shipped,

and the seller even gave me a $1.60 refund because the

shipping was less than stated. I'll try to remember to take a pic of the tree so you can see these lights. With their large soft glow, they really look good on our 9ft tree.
Since we had a good size lunch, for dinner we had mini frozen pizzas. They were just right. And of course, our Monday night sitcoms.
And that's about all I got for now. Time for my shower.

I bought on E-Bay

Good morning.
Saturday ended up being the busiest day of the week. And the last nice day for a while. We ended the day with tacos for dinner.
Sunday, was a complete wash-out. It was cold(43) and windy. I cleaned the salon as usual, and when Craig got up, I fixed coffee and we read the Sunday paper. Went to Menard's to pick up some all purpose cleaner for the mo-ho. I used the other up doing the final cleaning. We also picked up some larger rollers for the portable manicure table at the salon. With getting new mats, the current wheels are to small to roll up over the mat. We'll see if the new ones help.
Back at home, I did pretty much nothing.
I bid on some Christmas lights for the Christmas tree at work. No one carries these types of lights any more and we really like how they look on the tree. I found an auction on E-Bay that had 3 sets for sale. The auction ended at 8pm Sunday. I waited until Sunday afternoon to bid, not wanting to let the 2 other bidders know I was interested. I like how you can bid the maximum amount your willing to pay, but it will only show the next increment on the website. Like the current bid was $3.25. I was willing to go as high as $33, but my current bid would show $3.75. Only if someone bid higher than $3.75 would it trigger an automatic bid from me. I ended up getting the lights for only $11. So even though I put in a bid of $33, I ended up paying just $11. That's the risk you take when deciding an auction over a buy-it-now price. The seller could have got $33 from me but had to settle for $11.
So I did that and played games. Craig did his usual laundry and bookwork, and as he does when it gets colder out, mad a delicious dinner. A slightly different version of his Cabbage Roll Casserole.

At it was sooo yummy!
You can find the recipe here. And his original one here.

With not much to watch on TV, I down-loaded the first 10 episodes of Hot in Cleveland. We watched a few. They were pretty good.

And now, I'm off to the Salon to try those wheels on that table.

our last nice day

Good morning.

The weather this week has been outstanding for Early November. It's been Sunny and mid 60's all week! To bad I had to work most of it. But it's coming to a quick end. Rain/snow showers are moving toward the area, and after a high of 69 yesterday, tomorrow is projected to be only 44.

I did get my hair done Thursday afternoon.

An hour gap was available, and that was enough time to get my hair cut and colored. And even as thin as it's gotten, I've decided to let my curl do it's thing instead of combing it straight.

On Friday we did manage to get out of work early. Craig's last 2 customers cancelled, and I was done at noon after starting at 8. So we took advantage of the last nice day we'll probably see this year, and Cut down more stuff in the yard. I'm about 90% done and very pleased with my progress.

I also went up on the roof to clean leaves and twigs off. As you can see in this in this pic of the house I took some time ago, we have a very low peaked roof. And, we have seven valleys due to the unusual floor plan. Soooo, leaves and twigs easily collect in those valleys and every fall, I have to get on the roof and blow them off.
Then I cleaned out the eaves troughs. I'll have to do that one more time once the rest of the leaves come down, but it should be a little easier then.

I also helped Craig change the tires on the Cruiser. He has snow tires for the winter that really help with traction.

Then we relaxed on the deck with cocktails soaking in the last of the warm weather.

And now it's time for a shower and my last day of work this week!

work

Good morning.
I'm slowly adjusting to the time change. I got up after 5 am this morning. I have a hard time changing my body clock, but I'm gonna see if I can push it to 6am. :-)
Well, I didn't get my hair done yesterday. The good news is that the phone rang a lot, and I filled most of my appointment slots. So no me, but money! :-)
I even got home much later than usual since my last appointment turned into a real process. This young girl came in for what should have been an easy color. She wanted the underneath edges bleached out blond from her natural brown. What I didn't know before I saw here is that she has colored her hair many times herself, so it ranged from light brown roots to nearly black ends. So besides taking longer to lift because of color build-up, I had to even out the rest of the mess. I didn't get home until after 8pm. I don't like to eat dinner that late because of an acid reflux issue I had some years ago. But since I cured that issue, (with no help from my doctor) I don't have that problem anymore, and if I eat too late once in a while, I'm fine.
We'll try to get my hair done again today. I have a busy morning, but the afternoon is fairly open, before a busy evening.
And my first appointment is 8am, so I better hit the shower!

another weekend gone

Good morning.
Progress on the time change. I actually slept until 5am.
And it was another beautiful day yesterday. Mid 60's and sunny.
I didn't do as much as planned, but I did manage to change the oil in the push mower, riding mower, and the snow thrower. I thought I had done the snow thrower in the spring, but Craig said I didn't. When I drained the oil, it look good to me, but oh well, better to be safe than sorry.
:-)
I then cleaned out the garage where the Kia will park this winter. With 3 cars and only a 2 car garage, it looks like cruiser is out and I'll drive him this winter, since I'm usually the first one to leave in the morning. His 1998 Honda Accord has never seen snow, so it gets one side, and the Kia is new, so it gets the other side. Poor crusier. :-(
I then stored all the stuff I took out of the mo-ho. It was all over the living room. Once Craig finished washing all the bedding, I packed that away in a closet. Since we have no basement, (our house is on a slab) I stored the rest of the stuff in big plastic bins, and set them by the front door in the living room. We never use that door, and actually seldom use the living room since we got that 32 inch LCD TV for the sitting room.
And that was all I did. We spent a good deal of the afternoon, enjoying cocktails on the sunny warm deck. We may not see any more weather like that until next year, and wanted to take it in as much as possible.
I cooked chicken on the grill, and Craig made his tasty Acorn squash with honey and bacon bits, and fixed some long grain wild rice on the side.
And of course, another episode of Glee. That show is really good! Love the songs! I even went online after, to watch a couple of older episodes on Hulu.
Another good day, and a very good weekend.
And now, another work week. It's looking slow this week, so maybe I can get a haircut and some highlights. I'm looking pretty dark and dull. :-)

I hate the time change

Good morning.
I'm still not adjusting to the time change well. I got up at 4:30 this morning.
But it was another beautiful day yesterday. High about 60, sunny and no wind.
Took the mo-ho in for an oil change first thing in the morning. Then it was off to Kroger for gas. We don't shop at Kroger a lot, but occasionally. For every dollar you spend, you collect points. When you have 100 points, you can get 10 cents off a gallon of gas. And with gas now over $3 a gallon, it adds up. Then we stopped at Target for Craig to drop off a prescription refill, then the bank to deposit last weeks checks.
Then to OfficeMax to use a coupon for $10 off $50 purchase. Craig needed 2, 12 column account books for next years bookkeeping. I needed another packet of business cards, and they had a 100 pack of blank DVD+R on sale for $17.99. It all added up to $53.47. And so we got $10 off that.
Than back over to Target to pick up his prescription, and over to Meijers for groceries. As we got to Meijer, the dealer called. On inspection, they discovered a radiator leak that required replacing a bad clamp. Of course they had to drain the antifreeze to do that so more costs than expected. I knew we wouldn't get out of there with just an oil change. :-(
After we got home from Meijer, the dealer called and the mo-ho was ready to be picked up. It was now 11:45, so back to the dealer to pick it up we went. Of course, it's on the other side of town so it's a 30 mile round trip.
Returning home, I made us sausage muffins with egg. We tried Morning Star Farms veggie sausage. It was pretty good.
I went online and ordered the new chair mats for the salon. And then went out to work in the yard, while Craig finished washing the mo-ho bedding and doing more paper work.
He then joined me in taking up the decking we put down over the cement patio in the spring.
And with such a nice afternoon, we relaxed on the deck with cocktails until the sun started to go behind the trees and quickly became cooler.
Then with the decking back in the garage, I hung the bikes on the ceiling, put away the gas grill and the deck umbrella. We're systematically getting everything ready for winter, one thing at a time.
Dinner was pork steaks on the portable grill with baked potatoes and ginger honey carrots, while enjoying our Monday sitcoms.
Another good day.

happy Monday

Good morning.
As expected, the weather yesterday was nice. Sunny, in the mid 50's, and not a cloud in the sky.
After Craig got up, I fixed us coffee and we read the Sunday paper.
We then ran out to get a few things for dinner.
Back home, Craig did his usual laundry and book work, while I gave the mo-ho a good thorough inside cleaning. While I did that, I ran the generator to get the stabil in the gas line, and I charged and stored the dump battery. Then, I washed the Kia and Cruiser. Then, I cut down more stuff in the back yard. Whew!
I also found time to vacuum. I was just like the little energizer bunny. :-)
I also added another year to my Tracfone. I tell ya, it's just the best bet for the money if you want a phone, but don't use it a lot. I get one year of service, no contract, no monthly bills for $99. Because of the phone I bought, I get double minutes for life, and they always are running specials for bonus minutes, so I ended up getting 1000 minutes. And since I never use them all up, they keep rolling over. I now have 2978 minutes. Wanna talk? :-)
For dinner, I cooked a turkey breast on the grill, and Craig made Julienne potatoes and asparagus.
Today is suppose to be 62, so I hope to get more yard work done.
So that's it for today....

Sunday

Good morning.
I've just returned from cleaning the Salon. Took me longer than usual since I've begun 'extra' cleaning that I don't normally do on a week to week basis.
Yesterday turned out to be the busiest day of the week. Didn't get home till after 4pm. But it was a good week money wise. :-)
Our Spartans won easily, and Craig made pizza for dinner.
It's going to take time to adjust to daylight savings time. Try as I might to sleep in, I still got up way to early this morning. It'll take about a week for my body to adjust.
And the weather is looking good for the next few days. Should hit 60 by Monday. Hope to get most of the rest of the yard work done. Today I'll do a thorough cleaning of the inside of the mo-ho. Then once we get the rest of the leaves down and cleared, we'll park him for the long winter.
Now it's time for my shower, later....

Salon maintenance

Good afternoon.
After 13 1/2 years in our Salon, things tend to start wearing out, and that's happening in now.
We use anti-fatigue mats around our styling chairs. They make standing on your feet all day less tiring. The current mats we have are starting to ripple along the edges instead of laying flat. That can cause a tripping hazard. Some of the mats surface is peeling also. It's time to replace them. I really liked these, the pattern is called Granite and hair and tint stains don't show badly. Unfortunately, they don't make this style any more. :-(

Soooo, I sent for samples of others and here's our choices....

3 shades of marbleized,

2 tiny texture,
and 1 large texture.

We immediately eliminated the large texture, although I really like the industrial look, but they would be hard to clean with all the raised edges, not to mention crud would eventually collect in the crevices.

So then that eliminated the 2 tiny texture for the same collecting crud reason. That leaves us with the 3 marbleized ones.


Now we also could have gone with solid black,
but that would really show the hair and such.

A pattern helps.
So out of the 3 marbleized ones, we eliminated the black. Some thought such a dark mat would make the Salon look smaller.

We then eliminated the gray marble since it looks to close to the floor color and would look like we were

trying to 'blend' it in.

So what was left, was Charcoal.

That actually looks good with

the stations and gives

the floor a nice contrast.

So with the decision made, I went

on-line to find the best deal.

The prices ranged from $67 to $98.

And when your buying 7, that can add up pretty fast.

I found a company in California for $67. But they only had 2 in stock. Next was a company in Minnesota.

They had them for $76.

But they wouldn't give me a shipping price until I entered my charge card info. I'll have to call them on Monday.
The other companies were a bit more expensive, so I'll have to wait until Monday, to see if I need to explore further.
Today was a busy day at work, and tomorrow is more so. It's also been ridiculously cold. A high today only 40. I've seen a few of those white things floating around in the air. Fortunately, there's no forecast for accumulation. We are suppose to get a bit of a warm-up early next week, so I hope to get more stuff cut down.
So, that's the latest. Craig is fixing turkey burgers tonight with oven fries and I just downloaded a movie called Grown Ups that I'm burning to disk to watch tonight.
Have a great weekend!

a Thursday post

Good morning.
It's been unseasonably cold this week and looking to stay that way. It's a good thing I winterized the mo-ho when I did as it's been getting below freezing every night. And tonight is forecast to be down to 24.
I got my teeth cleaned yesterday morning before work. It went fast. I wish I would have know 30 years ago that a couple of more minutes brushing would make the cleanings go quicker. :-)
I had a few breaks at work yesterday, so I took Craig's Honda in for an oil change and picked up some salon supplies. I also added some money to an account I have at a different bank than our usual.
Let me explain. I have a pay pal account I use to buy thing on e-bay and such. I don't want my home and business accounts floating around in cyberspace, so I opened an account at a different bank that I use just for that and only put money in there when needed. That way I don't have to worry about my account info getting stolen.
Anyway, we have a 9ft Christmas tree we put up at work. Last year when I decorated it, I replaced the few burned out bulbs with my last extra ones. Last year we looked and looked for the brand and no one carries them anymore. I was able to find a box on e-bay.
They are only red, but with some adjusting, I should be able to replace any bad bulbs and still have the tree looking good. Now if any of you see these anywhere, I'll gladly buy them from you.
They are quite large, nearly 2 inches across and come in assorted colors.
Well, the rest of the work week looks quite busy including a very busy late Saturday, so time to jump in the shower and get going.

the weekend recap

Good morning.

And now for the weekend recap.

After we returned home, Monday around 1pm, I checked my

e-mails and the weather forecast. It was to get down to 27 that evening, so I decided to go ahead and winterize the mo-ho so as not to use propane to keep heating it. And once I got the lines drained, the water heater drained, the by-pass switched, I filled the lines with antifreeze. I then removed all liquids from the inside and emptied the pantry, and bath cabinets. While I did that, Craig did his usual bookwork.

For dinner it was a quick easy Hamburger Helper.

Tuesday, after I cleaned the Salon, showered and woke Craig up I made our coffee, and we headed out to vote. We have to drive like 10 miles to our polling place since we live on the edge of the township.

The polling place was very busy as usual.

Then a stop for groceries, and home.

Fixed bacon and eggs for a late breakfast, and then I went out to blow and mow up all the leaves that continue to come down. I think maybe one more week and they'll all be down.

And then I removed the rest of the stuff from the mo-ho. Bedding, towels, DVD's, and also removed all the batteries from the remotes, clock, safe, flashlights, and smoke and monoxide detectors. We always put in new in the spring.

While I did all that, Craig continued his bookwork. See, there's a ton of bookkeeping involved in running a business. He discovered quite to his surprise, that he had forgotten to send in the rent check. We've been there 13 1/2 years and have never been late with the rent! So he quickly called the management company and offered to do an electronic transfer. They were very nice and said to go ahead and just mail it in. We're such dependable tenants, they seemed as surprised as Craig that they hadn't received it yet.

And for dinner, it was Chicken on the grill and asparagus.

And now, I have to go. I have a teeth cleaning at 7:45am.

trip #13, the details

Good morning.
Trip # 13 details.
We left early Friday afternoon, arriving at Indiana Dunes State Park around 2:30 their time. They are on central time, so we gained an hour.
We should have known with it being Halloween weekend, the park was having all sorts of goings on, including trick or treating on Saturday. We got settled in at our usual site, 83. We fixed beverages, and took a walk around the campground. It was all ready quite busy, and was completely booked for the weekend. The weather was cool with a high only around 50. There were lot's of people decorating their sites. It seems a bit silly to go to all that work for just barely one day. I mean, by Sunday afternoon, there were only about a dozen of us left in the campground. So most people arrive Friday afternoon, have one whole day Saturday, and pack up and leave on Sunday. But I guess it gives people something to do. Us, we like to sit and watch everyone else. :-)
Then it was time for dinner. With this being our last trip, it was a treat of Popeye's Chicken. There is one just down the road from the park in a truck plaza next to the interstate. After we filled our bellies with tasty spicy chicken, it was time for a walk to check out all the decorations. Some people were going all out. Of course, there was also a site decorating contest with the first place winner receiving a $100 dnr gift card and 4 bundles of wood. 2nd and 3rd gets a $25 dnr gift card and 2 bundles of wood.We didn't do anything which is good because the site next to us was going ridiculous with the decorating, and ours would have looked quite puny. :-)

Later that evening we watched a DVD, 10,000 BC. A really good movie!

Saturday, the start of our casino weekend began, we headed west to East Chicago, about a 20 minute drive from the park to the Majestic Casino. In Indiana, Casinos have to be on the water. This one is one of the older casinos and is actually on 2 ships connected together. So you have several floors of gaming. They had a Sabarro's in the hotel lobby where we had lunch. After an hour or so of not much luck, we headed 10 minutes away to another ship, the Ameristar casino. This is just one ship with 4 floors. Quite a bit smaller. As it was very crowded and we weren't doing well there either, we left after an hour. We decide to stop at the Meijer store in Michigan City just north of the park to pick up dinner extras, and of course, candy for the trick or treaters.

Back at the campground, I started a fire while Craig prepped dinner, which was to be baked potatoes, pork steaks and marinated Zucchini. I then saw early trick or treaters and set up a table near the front of the mo-ho. I set out 3 little plastic pumpkins and a torch to make it look a little bit festive. We sat around the campfire and watched all the trick or treaters in all their cute costumes thinking that after today, they'll all go home on Sunday, and get to do it all again. They'll be on a sugar high for a month!

At one point, we were both inside working on dinner, when I heard a little girl say, "there's no one here!" I look out the window as she and her friends grabbed handfuls of candy. That's what happens when you have an honor system, there's going to be some that will abuse it. So I went back out to sit at the fire and left Craig alone to finish with dinner. Most kids would come by and take just one piece, some would take 2, but most, one.

Another little girl came by with her parents, took a piece of candy, and as they were leaving, she said, "they aren't going to win, they have just 3 little pumpkins!" Kids are brutally honest aren't they?

We were in a bad spot for trick or treating, as we were in a corner spot between the 2 campgrounds. So the kids would come by us twice. going from their campground to the other, and then back. There were so many, I'm sure we were 'double dipped' :-)

But we had enough candy for all.
Later, after finding our spartans were killed by Iowa for their first and humiliating lost, we search through the channels and found one called My TV. It shows old sitcoms and was a fun watch for the evening.

Sunday, With our morning coffee walk, we saw people leaving, and others taking down their elaborate Halloween displays. We stopped by the office to see who the winners of the decorating contest were, and not to our surprise, site 84 won. That's the one next to us. Back next to our site, they had 5 people helping to take down their decorations. I figured they'd be their most of the day with all the stuff they had. I said our congratulations as we left for another day of gaming. This day took us north, 20 or so mile across the border to the Four Winds casino. The place was packed! Apparently some contest going on all day. We were there less than and hour and left. Since it was lunch time, we drove into nearby New Buffalo, and found a nice restaurant called the Stray Dog. All the workers had t-shirts with the a mangy dog on the front and the name of the restaurant, and on the back it said, SIT, STAY. cute. I had a very tasty hot dog. It was stuffed with cheese, wrapped with bacon and deep fried. Craig had a cheese casadia.

The wall in the bathroom, covered with dog pics.

Than a short drive back to Michigan City, and the Blue Chip Casino. This is a nice small cozy casino. It also was very busy and we were there only about an hour. We don't like going to casino's and not being able to play the games we like. The good news about that, is we don't leave as much money as we could have. :-)

Back at the campground, our winning neighbors were gone. I was impressed how quickly they packed. We fixed beverages and walked around the campground. There were more people there than I thought. We fixed a campfire, and sat and talked and watched as more stragglers slowly left.

Dinner was chicken kielbasa's and left over candy for dessert. :-) Monday morning, as soon as the sun rose, (about 8am Lansing time) we packed up, dumped, and left.

Arriving back in Lansing, and being the last trip of the season, we filled the propane tank, filled the gas tank and added Sta-bil, and did a power flush of the holding tanks. And next week, we'll take it in for an oil change, and gen maintenance.

We went, and arrived back safe, no incidences. It was a great trip to end a very nice season.

Now it's time to winterize, empty out everything, and park him for the long winter.

But it's not all sad. After getting through the busy holiday season, we'll be able to spend the winter thinking about, and planning, the next seasons trips. Some fun regular spots, and some new, interesting spots. Any suggestions?

trip #13

Good afternoon.
Yes, once again my absence has meant we've just returned from another trip.
This one, our last of the season, was back to Indiana Dunes State Park.
Details coming tomorrow morning.
I just know you can't wait....:-)