Saturday With Dylan

Dick made pancakes and bacon for breakfast - Dylan doesn't really eat much, but he loved the pancakes. Mine were banana pecan - I wouldn't have traded them for anything.

We played Sly Cooper for quite a while - found the 30th bottle on level 4 and moved ahead - he's really good at it, and I'm really good at watching him.

Went geocaching out across the Saint Lucie River. You have to go across huge bridges to get anywhere east from here. We found two caches in the Veterans Memorial Park, and met a sweet veteran of the Korean War who was sitting in the park meditating. Then we went across another huge bridge to Jensen Beach to Riverside Park - and found another cache.

About then, I was experiencing another low sugar event - the second one this week. I think my medication may be too strong. I'll have to check that out. Anyway, low sugar means it's time for lunch, so we started looking for a good restaurant.

We went back across the bridge to Stuart, found Shell's, which we know is good. But Dylan said he doesn't like their food. So on we went - winding up at a place called The Deck. You order your food at the bar, and if it's grillable, you grill it yourself on one of the three built in grills in the dining room. Unique, and a little down-at-heel. Any port in a storm, they say.

Got home with the help of a good map, and a good memory. We were all a little wind-blown and sun-parched, so we had kind of a quiet time. Dylan and I looked at the Everquest book that Mr. Joe gave him. Then we watched the movie "Brother Bear" - really cute, and right at Dylan's level. He had seen it before, but he enjoyed it immensely.

Now he's outside in his cape with his sword with Grandpa, and I can't imagine what they're playing. I can hear the action, but I can't see it.

We enjoy this so much - wish we could come here every weekend (except for the travel).

Happy Anniversary Laurie and Chip!

Today is Laurie and Chip's 10th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary!

We rode along with Laurie to drop Dylan off at school this morning. He has to get there around 7:50. We're responsible for picking him up after school today, so we had to see where to go.

Laurie and Chip left around 1:30 for Orlando - so we had time to "play" with them before they left. They had clothes to wash, and errands to run, and bikes to ride before they left. Laurie made great sandwiches for us for lunch.

We picked Dylan up around 2 p.m. Palm City Elementary has a great system for dropping off and picking up. It works very smoothly and safely. Each child is escorted by an upper grade student who walks them to the car and even opens the car door for them. I was impressed at the orderliness of it all.

When we got home, we spent some time just talking for a while, and Dylan wanted to color at the table. So Dick took a nap, and Dylan and I colored. Then we got out the Crayon Maker machine and made some crayons - a new experience. We had to spend some time playing Sly Cooper because it's just so much fun.

Dick did hamburgers on the grill, and we had a nice supper - even though Dylan really doesn't eat much.

Laurie and Chip were just starting to see Cirque du Soleil in Orlando while we were eating dinner in Palm City. The performance they were at started at 6 p.m.

When it was bath time, Dylan said he knew how to give himself a bath, so that's what he did - totally unassisted. Then it was time to read a story before bedtime. Right now, they're reading "Peter and the Star-Catchers". It's kind of a pre-quel to Peter Pan. Very much fun, and amusing for me as well as for Dylan.

Travel Day

Wake up call at 3:45 a.m., Continental breakfast in the lobby, shuttle to the airport at 5 a.m.
Is this the way to start the day? Ye Gods.

Used the e-ticket to check in, checked our bags, went through security. Jackets off, shoes off, all metal objects in bin, and then get dressed all over again. Flew to Chicago, where we had quite a wait until the flight to Fort Lauderdale. We were lucky enough to get to the food court before there was a big crowd - so we commandeered a table, and camped out for 2 hours, reading books and eventually eating sandwiches.

Flight to Fort Lauderdale was really full, so we felt lucky to get on. There weren't a lot of stand-by passengers. The flight seemed long to me - I dozed off and on and felt really groggy because of lack of sleep last night.

We waited and waited at the baggage carousel for our baggages, but they never showed up. A man came over and called our name - he had the bags back in a corner - they had come in on an earlier flight. Hallelujah!

Laurie picked us up, and we drove about an hour to get to Palm City. It's definitely worth the trip! We got there just in time to change clothes, play a little with Dylan, and go out to dinner at Flannigan's. Then Laurie was off to a Pampered Chef Party. We played with Dylan and talked to Chip and went to bed early.

Travel Day is my least favorite day of any trip. It's tiring.

Off to Palm City

We're off to Palm City by way of Grand Rapids, Chicago, and Fort Lauderdale.

We left the house around 10 a.m. and went to visit Mother before our big expedition. I took her some pictures she had requested, a Blair catalog, and some pictures for her locket. The catalog is because she seems to have a renewed interest in her apparel for Spring, and she wants new things. I think that is a very good sign.

She seems fine with the fact that we're heading out of town for a week - and we know that she will be well looked after. This is such a big improvement in our lives - I just can't tell you. Of course we'll call her each day just to touch base. We had a good visit, put the pics in the locket, left our contact number with the powers that be, and then we were off to G.R.

It was a weird off and on rainy day. It would rain hard for 5 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of sunshine, and it went on like that for the whole trip. We stopped at Bennigan's in Big Rapids for lunch - it's our favorite stop on US 31- good menu, good food, good service.

Checked in at the Airport Comfort Inn - arranged for shuttle to the airport in the a.m., free parking in their lot for the duration, and a room for the night we return.

Went geocaching in the immediate area of the motel, and we were very lucky. We found 5 caches and had a great time. Ate dinner at Arnie's, which turned out to be really much nicer than we expected. I had Swedish meatballs. Dick had a Reuben panini. The service was excellent, and there was live piano music - delightful.

Early to bed with a 3:45 a.m. wake-up.

No Worries

Haven't posted for a while - just not in a writing mood I guess. Anyway, everything is fine - we're fine - Mother's fine. The weather has been horrible, but it's on the upswing now.

We're leaving tomorrow for a week in Florida. It's Laurie and Chip's 10th wedding anniversary, and we're staying with Dylan while they take off for the weekend. They're going to Orlando to see Cirque du Soleil. Grandma/Grandpa and Dylan get to do anything we want to.

Glorious Day

Tuesday being cheap popcorn day and all, Mary and I went out to lunch and then to the movies. Her sister-in-law Shirley came with us. We saw Fever Pitch with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore. It was chosen because it's just what we love - a cheesy romantic comedy. Except for me it wasn't that cheesy this time. It touched me on several levels.

First of all , it's set in Boston. So every time there was a cityscape, it brought back all kinds of memories of the times we visited Tom at MIT - the Pru, the Charles River, etc.

Secondly, it's a story about avid sports fans. Their team, of course, is the Boston Red Sox. The male lead is such an avid fan he has season tickets, plans his life around the Red Sox schedule, has been offered $100,000 for his tickets, etc. He's had the same seats since he was 7 years old (he inherited them from his uncle). He knows all of his seatmates for rows around in the ball park. It was so reminiscent of Michigan Stadium and our seatmates, and the "avidness" of some of them, I can't tell you how much fun it was for me. Of course a college football season is much much shorter than a MLB team's season, but there were a lot of parallel happenings.

Thirdly, it's a story about being so thoughtful and caring of your significant other that you're willing to make a big sacrifice for the first time in your life to be with them. I can truly identify with that! (Last year's Michigan-Michigan State game).

Fourth, the Drew Barrymore character made me think of Jana. She played a highly successful corporate entity who was so involved with her job that she was working overtime way too much, and not really allowing herself to have a life. She was either at work or in the gym. She met her boyfriend at work when he was bringing his students for a field trip.

I really enjoyed Drew Barrymore in this movie - she was believable and funny. Jimmy Fallon did an OK job, but he wasn't as appealing to me...likeable, but not appealing. So I enjoyed the movie for all of those personal reasons, and besides, I'm a pushover for a happy ending.

Dick spent a glorious day geo-caching with Tim and Susie. (See above link and scroll to Basswood Bend.) They had a marvelous time tromping over hill and dale in the 83 degree weather, wearing out their shoe leather. Different strokes.

Visited Mother, wrote some checks, and gossiped!

On the world scene, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope today. He has chosen the name Benedict XVI. Some are calling him a Nazi because he's German, and served in the German army in his youth. I personally think that he was very, very young at the time and most likely had no choice. He and his brother both became priests, and that does not sound very Nazi-like. Mother thought that he looks like a very friendly person, so there you go!

Mail Those Taxes!

Why wait til the last minute. The deadline's not til tomorrow, but we put the taxes in the post today like good little citizens!

I'm working on requests for genealogy information that I'll be sending to selected relatives tomorrow. If I don't get a response within 2 weeks, I'll send another request to the next person on that branch of the family tree. I'm so organized it's scary. I'm anxiously awaiting more info to put in. My subscription to this Family Tree Program is only 1 year! (Kanitz family)

Dick and I went to Mother's house with 2 laundry baskets full of books and other items for the Estate Sale. Dick cleared out the paint and oil (toxic material) from the basement. I sorted through some more memorabilia, and I think we left with as much stuff as we took. We had a chance to talk to neighbor Jeff, so now he knows that the house is up for sale, and we told him the price.

Houghton Lake

Off to Houghton Lake to help Bill cut up the tree that fell in his side yard this winter. Well, actually, Dick helped him cut up the tree with his chain saw. It was an oak tree, and they got some nice oak logs out of it. Bill didn't want the wood, so they stacked it out by the road hoping that someone would pick it up.

Jan and I got bored with watching and went to sit in the beautiful warm sunshine.

When the work was done and the gossip was all gossiped, we went for a ride to go geo-caching. Sniders are so nice - they don't really like to go (I think) but they go anyway because they know we like it so much! We found 3 easy caches - Bill found one, Jan found one, and Dick found one.

By then it was dinner time so we went to that great place Coyle's with the wonderful buffet. When we got back to their house, the oak wood was gone! It worked!

It was a wonderful day to be out and about - in the 60s, but with nice warm sunshine.
We had a great time. Got home around 7:30 p.m.

Memorabilia

First of all, I cleaned out the book shelves in my bedroom - an ambitious project!

Then I went to Mother's house and gathered up all manner of items (including a sheepskin and a harmonica for Dylan). I packed up all of the financial records, the famous "metal box" where all the important papers are, pictures pictures pictures, etc, etc, etc. I wore myself out going up and down the stairs and sorting through everything.

So now I'm twice worn out. Plus, having just cleared out my book case, I now have more chudda to put there.

Then I went to visit Mother - to give her a report and to pay her bill and balance her checkbook. She looks great - had the beauty shop treatment this morning. They do a nice job!

Next it was the dental appointment - thank you Dr. Kevin (I love my dentist). So now I'm home looking through all of the family memorabilia. Did you know that we have an actual audio tape of Dad's funeral? Who knew? It lasted 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, here at home, the slabwood was delivered this morning. This was also the morning that Dick put on his waders and went into the river to start up the sprinkler system for another season. He spent the rest of his day stacking the slabwood, and was very grateful when the sprinklers came on and he had to quit! So now we're both exhausted and I think we're going to order pizza. Too tired to even go to Rico's.

It's another gorgeous day - blue sky and sunshine - slightly chilly and windy, but so pleasant it's remarkable, which is why I'm remarking on it.

Tomorrow we're driving to Houghton Lake to see Sniders and Dick is taking his chainsaw for cutting up the tree that fell in their yard this winter. I'm glad we got so much done today!

Jim

Dick worked at the Area Agency on Aging this morning. It turned out to be a marathon session - 14 phone calls, and a walk-in. He didn't get home until after 2 p.m. From 9:30 til 2 - almost like a regular job!

Ran the Roomba all around the living room, kitchen, and dining room while I folded clothes and sorted pictures for Jim. Cleaned and dusted, and all of that good stuff.

Jim came around 3 p.m. and we had a great visit. We discussed the details of the sale of the house, and the Estate Sale. He signed the estate sale contract. We listened to the CD of Mom and Dad that was recorded 10 years ago. Dick cooked pork chops on the grill and made a terrific salad. It was all good.

Jim is going back to Saginaw tomorrow morning.

Sweet Sunday

This was a home day - we went grocery shopping first.

Then Dick hopped on his tractor and proceeded to de-thatch the entire southern half of Grand Traverse County. Well, almost.

Inside, it was laundry, fixing a foot elevation box for Mother, etc. etc. It was a nice day for working outside, and I did a little cutting back in the garden, too. Our spring flowers are finally blooming. We have crocuses, daffodils, and narcissus - very beautiful against the brown of everything else. We're anxiously awaiting green-up.

Jim drove up from Saginaw today to visit Mother and to take some things from the house. And also bring some of their crystal for the sale. We invited him to dinner Monday night so we can discuss all of the real estate/estate sale business.

I've been scanning pictures for my Kanitz Family Tree project - I have a lot of historic pictures from Mother's house. The Family Tree is on hold - I'm waiting to hear from Lisa and Jeremy so I can compare my tree to theirs. It's a very enjoyable project.

Tour of Torch

This morning we met with the Estate Sale people, Antiques Appraisers. They toured Mother's house from top to bottom, and agreed to run the sale for us. Because Mother's possessions are modest, they'll be bringing in consignment items to kind of punch it up a bit. The Appraisers do everything - cleaning, washing, rearranging, displaying, selling, wrapping, and the clean-up afterwards. We don't even have to be there during the sale. In fact they encourage you to stay away. It's an absolutely painless way to handle the closing of Mom's estate. I'm so glad that she is agreeable to doing this.

Everybody seems to agree that the time to sell the house is around the time of the Cherry Festival because of the volume of people through the neighborhood that week, so we're moving things up a bit. The Festival is early this year - July 2-9, so we'll want to have the sale towards the end of June. The house will be empty and clean after everything is over and done with, and it will be ready to be shown.

In the afternoon, we went caching around Torch Lake. It was an absolutely gorgeous day - we had a great time. We found a great new natural area with nice paths, and boardwalk and overlook. We want to bring Dylan back there this summer. It's off M-88 down Traverse Bay Road. There was a multi-cache at Barnes Park, which turned out to be a really nice campground. We walked in the woods at Hayo-Went-Hah - I just went in a short way, but Dick went the whole distance, and up a huge hill to find the cache. Meanwhile, I was back at the car meeting the man who put out the cache! He was returning home, which is just across the road from the trail head. He was very interesting - quite new to caching but enthusiastic. He is TeamMotivated. We both enjoyed meeting him.

On the way home we checked out our Rocky and Porky cache and everything was in order.

Evaluation of House and Body

We met with John, the real estate salesman, at Mom's house so that he could begin the process of establishing a reasonable price for the house. Everybody agrees that the location of the house is going to make it a fast sale. Whoever buys it will have to spend lots of $$$ to bring it into the 21st century as far as wiring and plumbing are concerned. It was a productive meeting and John helped us decide that we had picked the right outfit to run the estate sale. He has worked with them before.

We ate a late breakfast at the Hard Luck Cafe (get the patties, not the links), and took a drive around town to kill time until Mother's doctor appointment.

It takes two of us now to get her to the Doctor. Thank God for Dick, who is in charge of the wheelchair at both ends of the expedition. She had a good visit with the Doctor, and had a blood test. We picked up a new med at Thompson's, and deposited her safely back at Concord Place none the worse for wear, although tired.

Perm Day

Finally got a perm and a trim today - long overdue. Not overly happy with the result - I think Colleen wound everything too tightly this time! I like a more natural look - oh well - this too shall pass.

Dick got a haircut - power of suggestion!

Visited Mother.

The Leelanau

Took a nice ride today to do cache maintenance and to have lunch at the Friendly Tavern in Empire.

The caches were all in good shape - we just replaced the log books so they're ready for the new season.

It was a nice day for a drive - warm temps - around 70 - but there's still snow in the woods, although not as much as last week. Lake Michigan was pretty. At the Empire Beach they were cleaning up the sand that had blown into the parking lot over the winter. They were using a front-loader and a dump truck! The amount of sand was amazing.

Drove to the Dune Climb - there were actually 6 or 7 people up on top In April! In Glen Arbor there were shoppers that looked a lot like tourists - but the season can't be starting already!

We have an appointment to take Mother to the doctor on Friday - it takes both of us and a small boy to get her wheeled out of her building and into the Doctor's.

We have an appointment on Saturday with some Estate Sale people to look through Mom's house and give us an estimate.

Tomorrow I'm finally having a perm, about 14,000 weeks overdue. Can't wait!

Miss Congeniality 2

Mary and I went out to lunch at Applebee's and then to the Mall to see a movie. The reason we go on Tuesdays is because it's cheap popcorn day if you bring your own container. I forgot my container. What's the reason we go on Tuesdays again?

We saw Sandra Bullock in the above mentioned film. It is not Academy Award material, but there was really only one part that I didn't like, even though it did get off to a slow start. I thought it was funny and entertaining - it had a nice turn at the end. Nothing special, really, but a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

Errands

A Day of errands - pick up shirts, go to Library for Mother, visit Mother, etc., etc. Not much exciting - except the weather was beautiful.

North Carolina won the NCAA mens' basketball tournament. Darn it - we really wanted Illinois to win - the Big Ten and all ya know. Oh well

Aloha !

Aloha!
There was a big luau today at Concord Place for all the residents and their families and friends. The community room was decorated with all kind of Hawaiian paraphernalia - they really went to a lot of work getting ready.

Mother agreed to participate - we took her on the elevator in a wheelchair, so moving her was relatively easy. She seemed happy to be there - made an effort to socialize with others at the table, and ate everything in sight. And here I thought that she didn't like a party! (jk)

Mother was anxious about when she was going to be served some food. She asked the Director's husband what was on the menu, he told her, and she said, "How do we get it?"

The food was really quite good - she kept remarking "It's not always like this."
The Director's brother was there to entertain with his singing and guitar. He was actually very good. But Dick and I almost fell off our chairs when he started singing "Detroit City" because the chorus is "I want to go home, I want to go home, Lord how I want to go home." !! A good choice for Assisted Living? Maybe not. But it certainly entertained Dick and me, and Mother couldn't hear it anyway, so no harm done.

We were glad that she agreed to go, and she really tried to enter into the spirit of the thing. She recognized most of the other residents, and remembers their names. Except that she keeps calling Mrs. Lather "Mrs. Luther". No big deal. Mrs Lather probably can't hear anyway!

She stayed at the party for 2 hours, and then we wheeled her back to her room for a rest. Then she was worried about maybe not getting any supper because of all the food at the party! For a woman who is very slight she really does like to est!

It was an experience. I think they have parties like this 3 or 4 times a year, so now we have something to look forward to!

Aloha!

Dismal

This has been a dismal week in the world. Pope John Paul II died, Johnnie Cochran died, Howell Heflin died, and so did Michigan State.

Like Terry Schiavo, State needed life support to stay alive, and didn't get it. They lost decisively to North Carolina, 87-71.

They have proved themselves to be the 3rd or 4th best team in the entire NCAA. I hope they realize that and hold their heads high.

Monday night Illinois will play North Carolina for the Championship. It should be quite a game.

Living Will

Haven't been in the mood for the past couple of weeks - don't know exactly why, but here we go again .

The big news as we speak is that Pope John Paul II is reportedly dying serenely, Terry Schiavo has died from lack of life support, and tonight the Spartans play North Carolina in the Final Four semi-finals.

The Pope has been so ill for so long that it's really not a shock that he appears to be on his deathbed. The Terry Schiavo case is something that was never any of our business, but evidently became the business of the federal government somehow. If you didn't have a living will before, it's definitely time to do it! Otherwise, it seems that it's possible that the media will show you in your most vulnerable situation to everyone on the planet. Everybody should read the extremely satirical column linked to the above title. It really reflects the way I feel about the whole scenario.

Las Vegas says that North Carolina is favored to win the NCAA basketball championship. I'm of course rooting for Michigan State. Originally I picked Illinois to win it all - I think a State vs Illinois final would be the most fun - an all Big Ten championship game.

We had a very pleasant Easter. We went out to brunch at Freshwater Lodge and it was delightful. We spent the afternoon with Mother and had a great visit. She has decided that she wants to sell the house and the contents. We're thinking that in late July or early August we'll have an estate sale and sell the house. The next door neighbor has asked long ago to be informed if we're planning to sell, so we'll offer it to him first. Our friend Kathee said her husband would be glad to check it out and come up with a price. Jim's family and our family are busily trying to decide what we want to keep from the house. We already know that Kris and Dan get "Laugh, Laugh Phonograph"!