Easter

Brunch at Shelly's.  Hooray!  It's always a treat to see all of the kids.  Lydia was missed - she was in Florida with her Dad.  Drew,  Izzy, Autumn and Brooke were all there.

And we got a present from the Easter Bunny

:)

The food was delicious, the conversation was interesting, and the Easter Egg hunt was such fun to watch!  

Thanks Shelly and Chris for a lovely holiday :)

Sing a Song

This song has been in my head all week, probably because of looking at the NCAA Tournament bracket and going over the names of all the schools.  This was a great party song in the 50s in Ann Arbor, and sometimes got really raucous and fun!


  Sing a song of colleges.
A dying mother said,
"Don't send my boy to Illinois,
     I'd rather see him dead.

Send my boy to Michigan,
  I know he'll do right well.
But rather than Ohio State
     I'd see my boy in Hell."

Sing a song of colleges.
I'll tell you where to go:
Oxford where the knowledge is,
     Cornell to learn to row,

Harvard for its blooming swells,
     Yale for pep and vim,
Northwestern for its pretty girls —
for good fellows,
             MICHIGAN!

My B-Day

A fun Birthday bouquet...

...from my fun family.

Hooray!

SOUTH FORK 5, FORT PIERCE WESTWOOD 2

At South Fork

Singles: 1. Alex Kee (FPW) d. Bret Munson 8-5; 2. Delmi Barrera (SF) d. Marc-Kendy Fenelus, 8-2; 3. Taylor Phillips (SF) d. Anthony Addington, 8-3; 4. Ethan Conrad (SF) d. Jack Thompson, 8-0; 5. Dylan Gillespie (SF) d. Josh Demko, 8-0

A Hardy Birthday

Tonight we went over to Adam and Melanie's house to celebrate Jim H.'s 72nd birthday.

Their home is so pleasant and homey.  It's a very comfy place and so nicely decorated.

It was especially fun to see the youngsters of the family - Drew, Izzy and Lydia.  We all enjoyed Barb's home cooked food, and the ham was delicious!

Evie's family was there too - Jim's nephews.  We hadn't seen Evie since forever, and that was a real treat.

It was really nice to hear the Hardy guitars.  They sounded so good!  It's a talented bunch.

We had a good time.

Go Blue !

Wolverines Complete Comeback to Derail Boilermakers

Site: West Lafayette, Ind. (Mackey Arena)
Score: #7 Michigan 80, Purdue 75
Records: U-M (25-5, 12-5 Big Ten), Purdue (14-16, 7-10 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 10 -- vs. Indiana (Crisler Center), 4 p.m.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team (No. 7 AP, No. 8 ESPN/USA Today) overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to defeat Purdue, 80-75, on Wednesday (March 6) at Mackey Arena. Sophomore guard Trey Burke (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half, in a game that saw Michigan lead by as many as 10 and trail by 12 with 12 minutes to play.
Freshman guard Nik Stauskas (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada/St. Mark's School [Mass.]) and junior guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (Miami, Fla./Palmetto Senior) joined Burke in double figures with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Cold Fusion

We arrived at the Infusion Clinic at 8:30 a.m. to get 2 units of packed red blood cells.  We left the Infusion Clinic at 3:30 p.m.!

The first unit went in without a problem, but I had a bad reaction to the second one.

 I had the shivers and shakes like you wouldn't believe.  It was horrible.  I was just cold all over, and shaking uncontrollably.  My jaw hurt from so much shaking.  Even with the wonderful heated blankets I could not get warm.

  This went on for almost an hour.  It was very scary.  My heart was racing - and I couldn't control that either. I developed a mild fever - 100.7. The nurses were very efficient and attentive, and they paged Dr. Burke.  He recommended 1 gram of Tylenol, and after 30 minutes it kicked in, and the shaking eased up. They repeatedly took my blood pressure and temperature.  We had to go see him when we left the Infusion Clinic.

Already cold but so far no bad reaction.

Shake, rattle and roll - just can't get warm - a bad reaction to unit #2

 Dr. Burke did an EKG and asked me a bunch of questions.  He explained that it's a common reaction to a blood transfusion. (!)  I must say it hasn't been common for me.  Finally he let me go home, but he wants us to come back at 8:00 in the morning to see what my heart is doing.

 When we got home, I went right to bed and slept until 8:00.  Dick made me a scrambled egg, and I felt so much better.  My heart rate is back to normal and I feel so much better.  See how much better I feel?  I said it twice.

I'm expecting to feel terrific tomorrow.  I've had 1 3/4 units of fresh blood, and I should be pumped up and full of energy!

Infusion, Transfusion, Confusion

Here we go again.

 Going to the Infusion Clinic tomorrow morning for 2 units of blood.

Hemoglobin is now at 7.6.

 Thank heaven for modern medicine!

The last transfusion was in November.

Mayo Clinic says:

Results

By Mayo Clinic staff

The normal range for hemoglobin is:

• For men, 13.5 to 17.5 grams per deciliter (135 to 175 grams per liter)
• For women, 12.0 to 15.5 grams per deciliter (120 to 155 grams per liter)

Lower than normal results
If your hemoglobin level is lower than normal, you have anemia. There are many forms of anemia, each with different causes. 

My own personal anemia is iron deficiency caused by internal bleeding.  Seems I'm sensitive to all aspirin products (acetylsalicylic acid),  and who knows what all.   Also, it seems my body doesn't do a good job of storing iron.

A Squeaker!

This was such a good game - a really enjoyable distraction on this cold, wintry day!



Burke Provides Heroics as Michigan Slides Past No. 9 Spartans

	Trey Burke

March 3, 2013
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Score: #4 Michigan 58, #9 Michigan State 57
Records: U-M (24-5, 11-5 Big Ten), MSU (22-7, 11-5 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, March 6 -- at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), 4 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After his steal and slam put the Wolverines ahead with 20 seconds left, sophomore guard Trey Burke (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) intercepted a pass on the Spartans' final possession, pushing the University of Michigan men's basketball team (No. 4 AP, No. 4 ESPN/USA Today) past Michigan State (No. 9 AP, No. 10 ESPN/USA Today), 58-57, on Sunday afternoon (March 3) inside a Maized-Out Crisler Center.
U-M prevailed despite not hitting a three-pointer all game and playing the majority of the contest without freshman guard Nik Stauskas (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada/St. Mark's School [Mass.]), who left in the first half after being elbowed in the head.

Glenn Robinson III

Burke finished with 21 points, eight assists, five steals and five rebounds. Freshman forward Mitch McGary (Chesterton, Ind./Brewster Academy) was the only other Wolverine in double-figure scoring with 11 points. 

Jana's Evening

How much fun is this? Jana had a great time last night, at the urging of her brother. They are both Amanda Palmer fans, and Jherek Bischoff often plays with and opens for Amanda. Last evening, he was opening for Efterklang (!) in D.C. Here's Jana meeting Jherek at a concert last September:

I may be prejudiced, but I think that Jana is a terrific writer, and here's another example that proves the point! I enjoyed reading it so much that I got her permission to put it on my blog! Lucky me :)

*************

First she wrote:

So, I'm about to head out for an evening of Danish ambient electro-synth with a complete stranger. This is what being an Amanda fan does to you, combined with being Tom's sister.

Here's what NPR says about Efterklang's latest album:

Inspired by a nine-day session spent gathering field recordings in the abandoned Russian mining settlement that gives the album its name — it's on an island situated between Norway and the North Pole — Piramida is full of strange and mysterious accumulated sounds. The vacant facility produced all sorts of ghostly and clamorous sonic emissions, many of which find their way into these 10 sweetly stately, somewhat uncharacteristically melancholy songs.

Why am I going to see them on purpose? Because their opener is the amazing Jherek Bischoff (attached), who, when he isn't being Amanda's bass player, does his own experimental music. And while that's not really my thing, I adore him.

And why am I going with a complete stranger? Because Tom tweeted that we should totally go together, and in a fit of Amanda-fan-inspired optimism, forgetting that I am a total social anxiety dweeb who does not meet people easily or do well in crowds of strangers, I was like hell yeah let's go!

Then came this followup:

I misjudged the traffic and got there ridiculously early -- the good news was I arrived exactly at the magic 6:30 moment when rush hour lanes turn back into parking lanes, and got the perfect parking spot. The bad news was I had a couple of hours to kill.

I thought there might be a place to have coffee or something and didn't expect much. But magically, right next to the Rock and Roll Hotel was a place called Biergarten Haus. I had brats and sauerkraut and listened to their polka tape make a couple of complete circuits, and felt like I was back at Metzgers or the Old German.

But the the place was starting to fill up, and I started to feel guilty about taking up one of their prime window seats when I was clearly done eating, but I still felt like it was too early to go into the venue. So I fessed up to the gregarious waiter, who turned out to also be the owner, that I was seeing a show next door and wasn't really ready to go over there yet so was it OK if I hung out for a while longer. He said sure, and asked who I was going to see, and told me stories about musicians who had eaten at his place.

Then I asked for some coffee, and what already felt way too friendly for a DC experience went right off the friendly charts. He said, oh darn, we don't serve coffee here, but tell you what, go ahead up the street to the pie diner and get some coffee, and you can bring it back here. I'll save your table for you. I said ... really? Do you want me to cash out first? He said, why, are you planning on running away or something?

So, I went up the street and discovered the oh my god pie diner. It's called Dangerously Delicious, and I've actually heard them interviewed on NPR, but I didn't know where they were located. All they do is pie -- sweet, savory and quiches. And coffee. Which they spell cofee on the sign for some reason, but anyway. I drooled over their menu as they poured me some, and decided I would have to have at least 3 slices if I ate there because I could not possibly choose. I Mean Look!! (note the cofee.) Except that is only a fraction of what's on the in-store menu. I was particularly intrigued by "pancake batter pie," with the tagline, who says pie's not for breakfast?

ANYway, I got my coffee and went back to Biergarten Haus and listened to the polka tape go another couple rounds (it was a very short tape) and bided my time until it was about 20 minutes before Jherek's set. When I couldn't put it off any longer, I went into the venue and staked out a spot by the wall. Then began the dance of the awkward.

The guy right next to me was giving off a very strong Amanda fan kinship vibe, but he wasn't wearing the trademark jacket Tom had described. The option of saying "Hey, are you Cameron?" seemed impossibly daunting. So, I got out my iphone and tweeted to Cameron that I was scanning the crowd for the famous jacket but no luck. Sure enough, the guy right next to me got out his phone and looked at twitter, and looked at me, and I smiled. He typed on his phone, my phone buzzed, and there was the tweet he had sent back to me saying he was wearing his trenchcoat. I hit him in the arm and laughed, and the ice was broken.

Jherek was great, and the crowd was polite about listening to orchestral arrangements for strings at a rock show. It was interesting being in a crowd that didn't know who he was or what to expect, and seeing how they reacted to things like "a song I wrote for a woman who walked really slow," and "once I almost died in a storm on a sailboat, and that inspired this song." They were good-natured, and smiled at Jherek's endearing geekiness, while I kept erupting into fits of adoring giggles every time he tried to explain what his music was about. And his song Eyes went over really well. It's fun because he used to be really self-conscious about singing it (it was a collaboration with David Byrne who did the vocals on the album), but he has really grown into it and he did a truly amazing job and all those people who had never heard of him loved it.

After his set, he walked by me and I hi-5'd him and said great job, and I thought that was probably going to be the extent of my fangirl moment. But then I had the thought ... pie diner. Suddenly I had the mental image of Jherek and Cameron and I eating pie and talking like normal pie-eating people who talk to each other without going all pink and stammery and getting starstruck. Pie, I thought, is the great equalizer. There are no stars and fans over pie! I asked Cameron what he thought, and he was game for asking him. So after giving Efterklang a polite 3-song listen, we elbowed our way through the crowd where coincidentally Jherek was directly on the path to the door. He smiled when he saw us coming, and I put on my best casual hey we're both people here voice and said "Hey, we're going next door for a slice of pie, you want to join us?"

Poor Jherek. He looked sincerely aggrieved as he explained that he would love to, but he had to go man the merch table, but thanks for asking, that's so sweet. And then I went all pink and stammery after all, so I said some oh, ok, maybe some other time then type words in a rush that I really don't remember and made for the door.

And then it turned out that Cameron has a gluten thing, so we didn't do pie after all. He walked me to my car (which was conveniently on the way to his car) and we talked about seeing other shows sometime, and all was well.

And then I came home, and now I can't sleep, and tomorrow is going to be brutal. But worth it!

Then came the postscript!

Surprise at Clinch

On our Tour Du T.C. this morning we were surprised to see a boat on a trailer by the boat launch.  It's not exactly boating weather - temp in the 20s, and a foot of snow on the ground.  What on earth could be going on?

Before you can launch a boat today, the boat ramp has to be plowed out!  They thought of everything :)

It turned out to be 4 Winns from Cadillac.  They said they were "testing" the boat - we're not sure what for.  They say they do this every year.  We're never seen this before - it was weird!

Another Coin Story!

This is a fun way to start the day!  The finder of our coin was born the day we were married!  So he's 55 years old!  A little scary, but still fun and interesting:

From: Geocaching
Date: Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 10:14 PM
Subject: [LOG] Owner: bcrockcrawler, xstitcher, & BMXer retrieved
Mission Accomplished! (Basswood Bend 50th Anniversary Geocoin) from
Made in Canada, eh!
To: basswoodbend@gmail.com


You are receiving this email because you are the owner of this listing.

Location: British Columbia, Canada
bcrockcrawler, xstitcher, & BMXer retrieved Mission Accomplished!
(Basswood Bend 50th Anniversary Geocoin) from Made in Canada, eh! at
2/23/2013

Log Date: 2/23/2013
Well this coin is a long way from Hawaii but it must be a destiny
thing as bcrockcrawler was born here on Vancouver Island (The Pacific
Ocean laps up on it's West coast) on the day you were married... We
will see if we can get it headed back to those other Pacific Islands..

Visit this log entry at the below address:
http://coord.info/TL4X2VDP

Visit Mission Accomplished!
http://coord.info/TB1VQYM

Profile for bcrockcrawler, xstitcher, & BMXer:
http://coord.info/PR9C3C

Made in Canada, eh!
http://coord.info/GC2Y8Q8

 

Quail Meadow is Ours! Plus Oscars

After 2 p.m. this afternoon we will own a condo in Florida :)  We have signed all of the documents, wired all the money, and the closing will be this afternoon.  Yaaay!

 

3624 SW Quail Meadow Trail #E

Palm City

FL  34990

 

Tom has published his annual Oscar picks :

http://tediousoscars.tumblr.com

 

 I'm so glad that Tom picked Silver Linings - I thought it was a terrific movie - especially loved all of the great characters - good story, good casting, good movie.

I pick Jennifer Lawrence as best actress, and DeNiro as best supporting actor.

Tom and I disagree about Les Miserables. I thought it was so gripping that I could barely blink. At the opening scene, the men pulling the boat, I was so spellbound that my hand stayed above the popcorn bag for about 10 minutes and then I forgot all about popcorn for the rest of the movie.
I pick Hugh Jackman for best actor. The man just oozes talent in every direction. 

It's an epic, a classic. Read the book by Victor Hugo. I saw it on stage only once, at the Fox in Detroit. I liked the movie better. I really enjoy the PBS production with the cast in costumes and no sets - just doing the music - wow. I'm not a fan of Ann Hathaway's portrayal of Fantine. Personally, I really enjoyed Samantha Barks as Eponine immensely.

Best Movie - Les Miserables

I would pick Sally Field as supporting actress.

Best director - Ang Lee

Life of Pi gets all of the technical awards .

Here's where I have to admit I haven't seen Lincoln.

Aha !

I just KNEW that playing this game was good for me  :)  !

psychology

By Robert T. Gonzalez

World of Warcraft could give your grandparents’ brains a boost

Next time you sit down to play some World of Warcraft (WoW), consider having a parent or grandparent take a crack at it, instead — new research shows that the MMO can actually boost cognitive functioning in older adults. Plus, there's a decent chance they'll actually enjoy playing it. What... you aren't afraid of getting your ass kicked by a senior citizen, are you?
"One day I had my grandma play WoW with me, and after two hours she told me she had to take a nap, because she hadn't had to think that hard in a very long time," explained psychologist Jason Allaire, co-author on a recently published paper describing the findings.
"So I thought, why don't we try to find a way to harness something like this so we can improve cognitive function?"
Allaire, along with colleagues Laura Whitlock and Anne McLaughlin, set about doing exactly that. The team started by recruiting 39 volunteers between the ages of 60 and 77 and testing their performance across a variety of cognitive skills, like focus and spatial reasoning. Test participants were then divided into two groups. Members of the experimental group had WoW installed on their home computers, and were asked to put in at least an hour of gameplay a day over the course of two weeks before having their cognitive abilities retested. Members of the control group were also retested in two weeks' time, but they did not play any WoW in the interim.
The researchers found that, as a whole, the WoW group saw a greater increase in cognitive performance than the control group, though improvements tended to vary on a person-to-person basis. Interestingly, the volunteers who saw the greatest improvements in cognitive abilities were those who had scored lowest on the initial, baseline test that had been administered two weeks prior.
In other words, explains Allaire, "the people who needed it most saw the greatest improvements."
Allaire and McLaughlin are co-directors of North Carolina State's Gains Through Gaming Laboratory. In 2009, the two received a million-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation to study how video games might improve cognitive abilities in the elderly.
Allaire and McLaughlin have looked at the cognitive benefits of various video games in the past, but WoW was a particularly attractive option. Players can learn the game at their own pace, it's socially interactive, and gamers can play for hundreds of hours and still find themselves presented with novel challenges.
Of course, you can't dismiss the fact that the game is also pretty fun.
"We had two or three participants who asked if they could keep the game, and as far as we know they've kept playing," explained Allaire. "Most people gave us really good feedback." He continues:

Older adults do like to play video games, and with baby boomers all turning 65 and older in the next ten years, we're soon going to have more people over the age of 65 than under 20. Older adults belong to a demographic that video game companies often overlook, but our research shows that they will play the game, that they're interested in the games, and that they can benefit from them, as well... even in just a couple weeks' time.
Video games get such a bad rap. Just go online and you'll find [a lot of forums saying] Warcraft is addicting, that games ruin marriages, or that they're rife with violence — but this study reveals that there is a measurably beneficial aspect to games, as well. We hope our findings help people see them in that light.

The researchers' findings are published in the latest issue of Computers in Human Behavior.

MiGO Winter Social 2013

The flashmob before the event.  It felt like 20 below - so cold!

Will, Leslie and Jay braving the cold.

Laura LightPeople   Dick got a big kick out of this shirt!

Working on MiGO Bingo - a great ice-breaker :)

basswoodbend

Premium Member

3538

Attended

02/16/2013

The Winter Social has always been our favorite MiGO event. We anticipate having a great time, meeting old friends and making new ones. This year's event did not disappoint. The fun and food was outstanding. We want to express our appreciation to those folks who give of their time and effort to make this event the pleasure that it is. We would also like to thank the members who have served on MiGO's boards and offer our thanks and congratulations to those newly elected. Congratulations also to the Silver Medal winners, we are aware what an honor that is.
                                                          ***************

Yes, it is our favorite MiGO event.  A whole roomful of caching buddies - it's outstanding.  Our table this year was full of  4Lmbr Jx:

"4LmbrJx

Premium Member

1511

Attended

02/16/2013

We signed the log and did the 1,500 finds (294 consecutive days) dance. What a great way to celebrate with lots of caching friends. We would like to thank all who helped organize and run this event. Congratulations to the newly elected officials and the silver medal recipients. We had a great time at the winter social and can't wait for the next gathering."

and DinoDuo: 

 "DinoDuo

Premium Member

5816

Attended

02/16/2013

Many thanks to everyone who helped to make this another premier event. It's always great to see old friends meet a few new ones and chat about caching. Congrats to all the newly elected officers and VPs and Silver Award recipients! Well done."

                                                            *****************

And how much fun was it to see Peter, Melissa and the girls come in!  It's so great to see geocaching extend to other members of the family!  What a treat.

"kzoootters

Premium Member

288

Attended

02/16/2013

Had a fun road trip today here today. Glad we made it. Next year we will get here early."

                                                            *******************

All in all it was another great year.  I did think that the silent auction was a little disappointing, but all of the great people made up for it :)

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=0d7c5819-6093-4415-b631-944a805a06fc

Champps Lansing

http://www.champps.com/

Drove down to DeWitt on a cold, blustery day.  Winter is trying to recapture us after the bliss of sun, sea and sand!

Checked in to the Sleep Inn - oh yes, we remember this one - no bathtub, just a funky shower.  No room for really moving around, the whole room is a very tight squeeze!  But it's warm, and the beds are comfy.  And it's just for 2 nights!

We met Sharon and John for dinner at Champps - it's right by the Town Center shopping area, only 4 miles or so from the motel.

They are just back from California, so they had super pictures of their pride and joy, Maya and Ella - a real couple of cuties!  We heard all of the news of Tom, Kevin and Amy, Joyce and Richard, and the whole California "shirt tail" family:)  We spent a great couple of hours eating, chatting and taking up space while the lobby filled with people waiting for a table!  Hehehe.  Thanks, John and Sharon for a great evening.

The Omelette Shoppe

Now we're officially back in Michigan.  The gym, followed by breakfast.   We really enjoy going to the Omelette Shopppe. 

But is it because of the delicious, hot, nutritious food?

Or is it because of the great people watching...if there are no cute babies to watch, there's always the Coast Guard!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Festival of Foods

We spent the day at the Oleson Center of Northwestern Michigan College for the annual Festival of Foods.  This event was a Christmas present for me from Laurie, and what a great day we had.

The first group was Country Breakfast - the highlights were quiche and granola.

Stephanie from Black Star Farms.  She's making a quiche for us.  She was Miss Personality :)

The second class was all about bread, presented by the owner of Bay Bread.  We sampled crostini, bruschetta, and a spinach dip with pumpernickel - scrumptious!

  This picture shows bread as a centerpiece!  It was very attractive.  When the diners want a roll, they can just tear off a piece!

Stacy, the owner of Bay Bread.  She knows everything about bread making - she answered every question from the group.  I was very impressed.

Stacy and some of her beautiful breads.

She brought each of us a cinnamon roll !

One happy hubby :)

The third group was Vegetarian Tarts.  It was just like watching a show on the food network - Chef Cheryl made one from scratch while we watched and sampled.  People asked a lot of questions, and she answered them with good humor and enthusiasm.

Chef Cheryl Janz - she teaches at the college.  She really knows her stuff.

Chef Cheryl going over her recipe.  She had a very warm personality, and a great knowledge of cooking.  She made a yummy, spicy vegetable tart with a great poppy seed crust.

Our last group was like a class - very educational - and for me, a little disappointing.  We sampled chocolate made from beans grown all around the world.  Some chocolate was good, others only so-so, and at least one not very good. Our favorite was made from Tanzanian beans.