and it was good.

Good morning.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes here, on Facebook and e-mails. :-)
It was really a nice relaxing day. Let Craig sleep in while I washed the mo-ho and cars. Then we went out for the weeks grocery shopping. For lunch, I had a gift card to Red Robin. Never been there before. One of our stylist from the Salon who retired a year ago joined us. It was nice catching up. I had the Avocado, bacon burger, and Craig had the patty melt. Both were very tasty, but they were rather small for the $10 price. I guess they think the bottomless fries make up for it, but I'm not crazy about steak fries. To much soft potato and not enough crunch. Would not go back without another gift card. :-)
Back home we relaxed, read the paper, and I puttered in the yard.
For dinner, we cooked Craig's tasty wings! I must have ate over 2lbs by myself! Yummy!
Today will be filled with waiting. While Craig goes for an eye exam, I have Michigan Plumbing coming between 10 and 12 for an estimate on a new water heater, and Moore Plumbing coming at 1:30 for another estimate. Will be a good reason to clean . :-) I'll let you know where the estimates run....

oh no, not again!

Good morning.
Yep, it's that time of year again. The annual birthday. 58 years. Time sure does fly. And they seem to go faster every year.
No big plans today. I washed the mo-ho this morning. Did quite a bit of cutting back perennials yesterday while Craig mowed. The weather has been awesome!
Today, for my birthday, we'll go to lunch. I have a Red Robin gift card to use. Dinner will be one of my favorite dishes. A big plate of wings! Craig made up the marinade yesterday, and this afternoon he'll bake them up. He also got me a card and some smoked salmon. He's a good guy. :-)
If the mood strikes, I should do more yard work, but we'll see. :-)

the bug bit again

Good morning.
Another beautiful day yesterday, and I started off washing the mo-ho so it would have time to dry so I could wax it later. Then I showered, woke Craig up, made us coffee, and off we went. First the usual, bank, post office, then it was over to Walmart. We needed a new trash container for the salon ans saw the perfect one here. Stainless steel, with a step opening lid. It replaces an old white plastic thing we should have gotten rid of years ago.
Then we hit the salvage yard. Now that was quite the experience! Walking through a field of old and newer smashed cars in varying degrees of being slowly disassembled by whoever needed whatever parts from them. And here we were, looking to rip some cars face off. :-)
But, none was found that we thought we would be able to modify to fit. Sooo, we've decided on another grid type sheet we saw the other day. I'll try to remember to take pics of the process.
Back home, Craig mowed the yard and did laundry, while I did more waxing on the mo-ho.
Later, as Craig started dinner, I got the cleaning bug. First, it was the patio doors.
Craig thought it was cute to take a picture of me washing the windows. It was in reference to when I wash a Salon customers hair, I ask them to take their glasses off because I don't do windows. Now he says he has proof I do. Ha ha, very funny.
Anyway, I didn't stop there. I hit the bathroom next, followed by the vacuum.
Craig made a tasty dinner of glazed pork chops, fried rice, and broccoli.
Today, we'll get that grid sheet for the mo-ho. And now that it's getting daylight, I'm going out to finish waxing the mo-ho.

Good morning.
I've just returned from cleaning the salon, as usual.

It ended up being a very busy week in the Salon. It's good to see business picking up more after a slow 2008 and 2009. Craig actually said I had my best June in years. ;-)

And after drowning in our record wet spring, the rain has disappeared. Only 1/2 inch in over 6 weeks. Makes for nice weekends, but getting very dry. When we were in Toledo last weekend, the grass there was brown. It's been even hotter and dryer than here. I've been watering different sections of the yard daily in hopes of keeping it looking good for the wedding party pics scheduled for early August. Don't know if I'll be able to with such a large yard, and forecast temps around 90 for the next couple of weeks.
And here's my latest pic. The hair doesn't look as thin with it shorter. I should take a pic of the top so you can see how thin it is, but it looks pretty good in this pic so I won't. :-)
And now I'm going to work in the yard for an hour before my shower and wake up lazy bones. :-)

spared once again

Good morning.
We had a real good weekend. The rain held off during the day, and although a lot of storms went through the region during the evening and night, we were spared once again from severe weather. :-)
I finished staining the lats for the arbor, and Craig took some pics of me installing them....

And here's the finished look.

The back of the arbor is wider than the front, so the lats went on in a fan pattern.

And I swear the Pickerel Rush by the rock, and the water lilies in the front are nearly as large as last year! And I pulled out half of each this past spring!

Craig also mowed the yard, while I did more weeding and trimming. It never ends. :-)

And now, another work week begins.

lucky again

Good morning. And a happy Memorial Day!
We were lucky again. Yesterday evening, powerful storms ripped through Michigan. One storm with 80mph winds ripped through Battle Creek, just 45 miles south of us, taking out trees, a number of homes and taking out power lines. But we were lucky, no damage here. :-)
Yesterday morning, I trimmed some bushes because Craig wanted to burn up a pile of branches later. So i had a very large snowball bush that needed trimming back. The branches get very heavy and hang, so I cut them up.
Here's a pic of it. It's full of white pom-pom like flowers.
After I trimmed that and a few others, I scraped the main deck in prep for staining.

Then it was time for a shower and get Craig up. He decided he didn't want breakfast, so while he showered, I ran out for the Sunday paper. After our coffee and paper, I called for a burning permit. It was a pretty decent day weather wise. Got up to 80, but mostly cloudy with a chance of rain. The rain held off until the evening where we got just over an inch in barely an hour. It came down in buckets!

Here's a pic Craig took of me with the the Tree Peonies and the False Rhubarb. He wanted to show how large the flowers are and how tall the rhubarb was. Tree Peonies have much larger flowers that the herbaceous ones.

Thanks to the very wet spring, there are like 687,000 mosquitoes this year (really! I counted!). The only way to go out in the yard is with deep woods off! I have a can just outside the patio door. It's the first thing I do when I go out. :-)

While Craig burned, I took all the yard sale stuff out into the garage. Today or tomorrow, I'll get it all ready for next weekends sale.

Dinner was pork cutlets, baked potato, and coleslaw.

This morning, I've just sealed the driveway. It took about 2 hours. I'll get a pic when it's dry. It was a nice 62 out. It's expected to hit 90 today and tomorrow, before dropping back into the normal 70's.

Now it's shower time, get Craig up and go shopping. I need another paint roller to finish the deck, and something for the grill today. :-)

I'm feelin good

Good morning.
Just a quicky post before I run off to work.
I'm back to 100%! Just a little bit of a cough lingering. It feel so good to be 'alive'! :-)

one day at a time

Good morning.
Well, I'm feeling even better this morning, so I'll attempt to go back to work. Customers are starting to pile up. :-)
Craig, surprisingly has not caught anything yet. Let's hope it stays that way. Although he has been tired this week, working longer hours to help me out doing some of my customers.
So not a terribly long day today. Starting at 8am and should be done around 3pm. Wanted to keep the first day a little easier. Saturday is really booked, so let's hope I do okay today. :-)

I'm back

Hello,
I'm going to live. :-)
I'm actually feeling a lot better today, but am laying low and doing as little as possible.
This one really knocked the wind out of me.
I'm not used to getting sick, so I just try and suck it up and not let it get the best of me and continue on with life. Not this time, It just hit me like a ton of bricks. Ate me up and spit me out. Monday was the beginning, just an annoying cough. By Monday night, fever and chills. Tuesday, I was completely wasted, spending the day trying to rest in between the annoying cough I couldn't seem to tame. Wednesday, I felt a little better. Cancelled most of my appointments but my last 3. I had a 4:30 coming from out of town, and was going to be here just overnight. Felt I could go in and do her and the 2 after her. My fever had broke that morning, and I was feeling better. Bad choice. I actually felt pretty good when I went in around 3pm. I had a message that my 5:30 needed to change her appointment. I thought good, I'll be done early. Then my 4:30 called and was getting into town early, and could I do her sooner. I told her I could, but I had a cold. She didn't care, she needed her color done. All of a sudden, I wasn't feeling as good so I called my 5:00 to let her know I had a cold in case she might want to change and not be exposed. She said she could change, so that was good. My color came in and I got her done and came home. Just walking from the car to the house, I got so chilled, I took off my shoes, turned up the heat, and left my coat on and curled up on the easy chair with 2 throws. I spent the next 2 hours drifting in and out. Craig woke me up around 6:30 saying I needed to eat something. I forced down some hot dogs and fried potatoes. (is that what you fix a sick person?) I was completely spent, running a temp of 102 now. I just wanted to go to bed. Craig thought if I went to bed that early, I'd be up in the middle of the night. After all, I usually get by fine with 6-7 hours of sleep. I explained I was exhausted and my body just needed rest. I went to bed around 7:15. I awoke this morning at 6:30. I felt sooo much better. But I decided to take today off to regain my strength and make sure I truly get better. Instead of worrying about the customers and money, I need to take care of myself. I'm not use to that.
So I got up this morning, temp normal, and I was hungry. :-) Ate a bowl of soup. Woke Craig up and sent him into work to cancel my appointments. Watched a little TV, then took about an hour nap. Watched some more TV, (there sure is a lot of nothing on TV during the day) had some lunch. Felt up to doing a post, and now I think another nap is due. :-)
And that'll be it for the rest of the day, rest.

It's good to be alive!

Good morning.
This is a pic of the final clearing of the driveway, once all the snowing and blowing were done. This is about the most snow we have on the ground at any one time here in Lansing.

This was the parking lot at the Salon on the day of all the snow.

The PT Cruiser is mine. There were only 2 businesses that opened that day.

This is what happens when you heat your soup in the microwave a little too hot. :-)

And a pic of me to show I am still alive! :-)

Actually, I'm back to about 95%. The lymph nodes in my neck are nearly back to normal, and with them my sore throat. I'm even back to eating 'normal' food!

That was one nasty bug to have lasted a whole week!
Yesterday was busy in the Salon, and I'm working late today and tomorrow.

Yes, it's good to be alive, when you feel well. :-)

Doctor update

Good afternoon.
Ya, I'm sneaking in a little afternoon post.
Went to the doctor this morning and tested negative for strep, but because of the large area of my neck and jaw affected, decided to play it safe and give me some antibiotics. Filled the prescription, and hope that helps. My throat is about the same right now as it's been the last 2 days.
We also stopped at the salon to get our appointment books. They're calling this storm a whopper!



We are under a blizzard warning from 5pm today, until 7pm tomorrow. Possible 10 inches of snow tonight, with another possible 4 tomorrow. If that wasn't enough, there will be a strong wind that may cause drifts 3-5 ft. They're talking like no one will be able to get out tomorrow. If that's the case, we need to be able to call our appointments. We can check our messages from home to see if they call and cancel also. So far, I have 1 cancellation and so does Craig. 2 of the other stylists are planning to take the day off too.
Craig has been very good at fixing tasty meals that I can get down my throat.
Tonight, it's Swiss steak with mashed potatoes and gravy and steamed broccoli.

I asked him to smile for the camera. Look at the expression? He hates having his pic taken. I tell him my readers like to see people in the pics sometimes. Oh well. :-)

And I managed to get the puzzle done in just 3 days! Of course it was easy when you don't do much of anything else. :-)

Those trees were a bitch to do! :-)

So, the snow has started to come down, and time will tell what the end result will be. They're even saying the snow/wind combo might take out some trees, and thus power lines. Hope not. Although we do have a motor home next to the garage, and it does have a generator. :-)

I'll give an update in the morning, if we have power. :-)

Relapse....down to 65%

Good morning.
Things appear to be going the wrong way. I'm still having mild discomfort swallowing, although my throat doesn't feel very sore. Now the issue seems to be the swollen/discomfort in the throat region that has spread to the lower neck and up my jaw to my ear. I think I have a deeper infection going on. My temp is normal, so I don't know.
Craig thought I should have gone to the doctor a couple of days ago, but from what I read online, sore throats usually clear up on their own in a week. But I haven't found any info on the neck swelling thing, so I'll be going to the urgent care facility when it opens this morning at 9am.
We're under a blizzard warning, but less than an inch of snow has fallen so far, and the big snow is forecast for this evening, so I should be able to make it there and back okay.
Yesterday, I think cleaning the Salon wore me down a bit and didn't do much the rest of the day.
Read a little, played on the puter a little, and worked on the puzzle. Craig was in a strange mood. Me being sick seems to be very unsettling for him.
He did fix a tasty portabella stuffed ravioli with a meaty pasta sauce. I slowly downed it all. So I haven't lost my appetite. :-)
Being sick is sooo damn inconvenient!

back to 80%

Good morning.
I continue to be on the mend. Saturday morning, I was maybe at 20%. Sunday, 50%. Today, I'm feeling 80%. There's still some swollen/tenderness in the neck, and still a little soreness in the throat, but the energy level has increased markedly. I just returned from cleaning the Salon. :-)
So with me being at low wattage yesterday, no physical exertions. So most of the day I sat and worked on the puzzle. I'm not much of a TV watcher.

I just started this one yesterday, and have it about half done. It's a 1000 piece puzzle. Of course I've done the easy parts first. Now comes the palm trees in the background. :-)
I had an omelet for breakfast that went down pretty good, and a bowl of cream of chicken soup for lunch that went down real good. Craig made Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner with noodles Alfredo and steamed zucchini with butter and Parmesan. My appetite had come back and I carefully ate it all.
And they say a strong winter storm is heading this way. 7-15 inches. Yuk! Maybe it'll miss us. :-)

a Big Bad BUG bit me!

Good morning.
It started Friday afternoon, after I returned from Sparrow Hospital. I had gone there to cut a customer who had fallen, broke her hip, and was not going home soon. She was actually being sent to a rehab facility that afternoon.
Anyway, after I got back to work, I felt a little scratchy spot in my throat. By that evening it had developed into a massive, swollen, sore throat. I felt miserable. I could hardly swallow through the pain. I took some meds and went to bed around 7pm. I awoke at 9pm drenched and freezing. I was running a fever, sweating profusely and freezing at the same time. Craig threw a couple of throws on top of the blankets. I lay there curled in a ball trying to stay warm. Around 1am I crawled out of the wet sheets and layed on top of the bedspread and under the throws. I tried sipping on water to stay hydrated but it was very painful to swallow. I got up around 5am, took some more meds, gargled with warm salt water, and curled up on the easy chair with the throws. I drifted in and out for the next couple of hours, getting up only to gargle with the salt water. Around 8am, I crawled to my customer files and called my 8:30 and 9:30 to cancel. I could barely speak, but they understood. Craig wanted me to wake him early so he could go in and cancel them for me. I couldn't see waking him up any sooner than he needed to. One of us should get a good nights rest. :-)
I snuggled up back on the chair and dozed off. Around 8:30, Craig comes out saying, "don't you have an 8:30?" I told him I called the first 2 so he could sleep. He took his shower, grabbed my files, and went off to work. He had to cancel the rest of the days appointments. I dozed off and on in the chair for most of the morning.
Around noon, I felt well enough to throw the sheets in the wash. Then layed back down. Around 1, I felt I should try and eat something, so I fixed a couple of scrambled eggs. I was able to carefully swallow them. My throat was still sore, but not near as sore as when I got up. I was dozing in the chair when Craig returned home around 3pm. He took my temp. It was 100.9. I felt exhausted and worn. I kept gargling and medicating. By dinner time, I managed to get down some Salisbury Hamburger Helper. The sauce and noodles made it easier, and my throat was doing a bit better.
I went to bed around 8pm, hoping I'd awake better. I had some night sweats off and on and at one point put a throw over the sheets so I'd have something dry to sleep on. I managed to get some sleep and when I awoke this morning, my neck is still quite swollen and tender, but my throat is feeling better to the point I can swallow pretty good. My temp this morning is back to normal. So I appear to be on the mend. :-)
I'm going to skip cleaning the Salon today, as I don't want to over do it to soon. Even though I'm feeling pretty good right now, It may be short lived. :-)
I'll go in early tomorrow. I hope to be back to normal by then.
I was so tired of laying around yesterday, that I did manage to work on the puzzle later in the afternoon, and finished it.
This one was fun to do. Lot's of different colors and textures.
Since I'll probably take it real easy today, I'll probably start the next one.
And I'm feeling a little hungry. That's a good sign, right?

You look really good in the dark

Good evening.
Surprise! I'm doing an evening post!
Today has been cold and cloudy. A high of only 27. Yuk!
I got Craig up around 9, and we went to the Salon to drop off checks and make a list of stuff we needed at Sam's Club. Went to the bank, Post office, then out to Sam's. Picked up coffee and Windex for the Salon. Then to Meijers for more grocery supplies.
Back at home, Craig did more paper work and laundry, while I did almost nothing. :-)
I did put the faucet protectors on the out side faucets and closed off the water to the out side faucets. But most of the day I spent playing on the puter. :-)
And here's a pic of me modeling my new jacket. Garret got on my case for just posting a pic of the jacket. He doesn't realize it's like twisting arms to get Craig to take a pic. But I managed.
This coat is sooo warm! And damn! I look really good in this pic! And it's daylight!
And the reason for that comment is when we were at the cocktail party last Friday night, Craig at one point turned to me and said, "you look really good in the dark"..............................................
Okay, he hadn't had much to drink since he was the designator driver, but WTF!
I said "is it because you can't see all the wrinkles"? he said "No! That's not what I meant"!
I said sure.........ya right...............
It's a good thing we've been together all these years, because I know he meant I look really good with the bar lighting.
But don't we all? :-)
Anyway, the rest of the day was pretty low key.
Dinner was ham steaks, mashed potatoes and marinated broiled zucchini.
It was another good day.
And now I'm ....very ....very....tired.....bedtime......

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!

trip #8

Good morning.
My absence means we've been on another trip.
This one took us back to Indiana Dunes State Park. You'll recognise the name because we've been here 3 times this year.

Here's a pic of me on top of a dune overlooking Lake Michigan.
We've finally had a trip that was safe and incident free!
We arrived Friday afternoon, filled our fresh water tank, unloaded the car and car caddy, and settled into our site. Set up 'camp,' and relaxed and watched the continuous procession of campers that slowly filled the campground for the holiday weekend.
Saturday, after our morning coffee walk, it was off to Chicago, which is less than an hour's drive from the campground. We did our usual shopping, eating and sightseeing, but this trip, no Navy Pier. The temps were barely 68 with a very cold wind. Not a good time to be our on a pier in lake Michigan. We arrived back at the campground, took a bike ride, fired up a nice warm campfire, and relaxed for the evening.
Sunday, after our morning coffee walk it was breakfast.
Now we seldom eat breakfast because we usually have an early lunch. but today was hiking day, and we figured we'd need nourishment to get us through.

Ummm. Bacon and eggs and toast! Yummy!

See, even Craig liked it!
Then it was off to hike the dunes!

In all the years we've come here, we've never taken any of the hiking trails, and today was to finally be the first.

They have trails from 1.75 miles to 5.5 miles. We settled on the 3.75 mile trail that took us through the behind the dunes forest, then over the dunes and along the ridge.
People coming along the ridge, and me on top.

The pic below is called a 'blowout'. The dunes stretch all along lake Michigan, but occasionally a dune will become unstable and collapse. Remember, these are basically mountains of sand, kept in place by grass and trees. If you get a Storm that dumps a huge amount of water, that sand can get washed away and the whole dune can collaspe. What's left is a valley that fills with grasses which will start the slow process of becoming a new dune.

As sand is washed up on the beach, the wind carries it inland, where the grass catches it. That starts the rebuilding. As more sand collects, shrubs and trees start to grow behind it and allows it to grow taller and after hundreds of years we'll have another dune here.

Okay, that's your geography lesson for today.

People way down on the beach. The dunes are pretty tall!

And another pic of me on the dune trail.
It was an exhausting hike! It may have been only 3.75 miles, but you add climbing in the sand and it felt more like 10!

But we made it back to the campground, relaxed with the Sunday paper, and then we went down to the beach to soak up some of the last summer sun and people watch.

Later, it was another campfire, and chicken on the grill with a home made pasta salad.

Monday, it was pacing up and heading home where we arrived safe and sound.

It was a good trip.

And now I'm off to clean the Salon.

A wet sunday

Good morning.

Another weekend has begun! At least for me. ;-)

The weather has been very nice. I managed to work in the yard Friday and Saturday after work. Got one of the large perennial beds almost completely weeded. A good start. I should have dug, divided, and potted up some more plants instead because now it's raining, and the soil will be to wet to work. Oh well, we needed the rain, and I still have a couple of weeks to divide yet.

So today it looks to be a lazy indoor day.

Tomorrow I need to get 3 new batteries for work. On Friday, DeLau Fire came out to test and re-tag our fire extinguishers and discovered the batteries were dead in both exit signs and the emergency light. He was nice enough to tell us we can replace them ourselves and save us some money. So this morning after I cleaned the Salon, I took our the batteries so i know what kind to buy. They were very easy to remove.

And I was going to post some things blooming in the yard, but like I said, it's currently raining, so instead I'll gross some of you out with this pic....

Every year, while working in the yard, I somehow apparently get into either some poison ivy, or something like it. I'm never sure when or where it happens because the blisters don't show up until the next day. This one was particularly bad. The pic doesn't look so bad because I took this pic this morning, 4 days after it happened. Thank goodness for Ivy Dry. It really takes the itching away.

And that's my update for today.

puzzles and food

Good morning.
Another fairly lazy Sunday. I did manage to clean out some kitchen drawers, but not much else. Played games on the puter, and we did finish puzzle #7. This one was fairly easy and fun to do. Just 2 more puzzles, and it'll be spring! (we hope)
Also booked a couple of more camping trips. Cedar Point in August, (love the coasters!) and back to Holly State Park for the Michigan Renaissance Festival.

And Craig made a new dish, Turkey Tetrazzini casserole. He gave me the honor of putting it in the oven just so I couldn't take a pic of him.
I must admit, the guy knows how to cook! It was yummy! And plenty of leftover for the work week. And for the recipe, it's right here!

lazy me

Good morning. We got another dusting of snow last night. Not enough to shovel, but enough to make things messy. So that means going into the Salon early to damp mop the floors. And the week is looking busy. I have appointments from 8am to 6:30pm today. So I'll be a tired boy when I get home.
Yesterday, Craig made a batch of broth from the last 2 turkeys.

He snapped a pic of me scooping the broth into freezer containers. This stuff is sooo tasty! If you want to see the step by step process, look here!

Other than that, we worked on the puzzle, and I played on the puter. Made it the whole weekend with out doing much work. I'll have to do better next weekend.

For dinner, Craig cooked a box of garlic and butter flavored pasta. Cubed a couple of boneless chicken breasts, seasoned and sauteed them. Mixed them into the pasta, with chopped green onions and mushrooms, and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Had that with a side of steamed broccoli with butter spray and Parmesan. It was really good!

And now I need to get ready for work.
later!