Our New Sink

Our New Sink 

This is the sink we ordered today. It's by Elkay. The one we ordered is oriented just like this one. Ours has a deeper bowl on the left, and it will have the disposer installed on the right bowl. We bought strainers too, and a great faucet with a pull-out sprayer, and a new In-Sink-Erator.

Visited Mother - she seems fine - she needs some diversion, but she rejects every suggestion. Betsy thinks we should try to get her out more - at least out of her room and down the hall - but she always resists. My philosophy has been to just let her do what she wants, but maybe I should be more pushy about it. I don't know what to do - I can't really see forcing her to do things at this stage in her life. I just do what I can by visiting and bringing her flowers and managing her affairs. She always says she doesn't want anything and doesn't need anything and seems annoyed knowing that I have gifts for her for Mother's Day. But she always likes what she gets. It's a dilemma for me - after she's gone I'm going to wonder if I did everything that I could have done - but I do realize how lucky we are to have her in a nice place with constant care. And we're also lucky that she's not at all demanding, as some old people are. I just want to do right by her.

Jim Beam

That's the name of our plumber! No kidding! We're just so glad to have a plumber, and he seems like a very nice person - we enjoyed talking to him. He's with Bob's Furnace, Heating, and Plumbing.

We have an appointment with Michelle at Ferguson's tomorrow to order the sink, faucet, strainer, recirc. pump, filtration, system and who knows what all. This is all new to us - where you have to have an appointment to buy a sink. Cheesh.

That Sinking Feeling

Do you think putting in a new countertop and kitchen sink is easy? Think again. Picking out the countertop and the installer was the easy part. The hard part is getting the sink - On line maybe? From Home Depot maybe? It seems that the first thing we need to get is a plumber. At every showroom the question was "Who's your plumber?" The days are gone where you buy a sink at Lowe's and have the local plumber put it in. There are showrooms requiring an appointment, wholesale showrooms, retail showrooms, suppliers who only work with contractors, suppliers who only work with plumbers, lists of plumbers, and no guide for beginners.

Did you know that to buy a sink you have to figure out what dimensions you want, what shape you want, how deep you want it, what gauge you want, what finish you want (stainless or Corian for example), how wide you want it, drop in or undermount, and blah blah blah. Then, you think you're on top of things because you have selected one sink out of dozens. But wait - did you think that a sink came with a faucet? Or a drainer/strainer? Wrong. Evidently a faucet is an accessory which can cost just about the same as the sink! And the drainer/strainer recommended for our sink is around &50. Give me a break!

OK, so say that you've selected a faucet and a strainer....(which hasn't happened yet). Then you have to decide which disposal you want, whether you want a recirculating pump in your water system for hot water, or a booster tank under the sink. All set, right? Wrong. How about filtration for our well water. System filtration, or localized...blah, blah, blah.

OK, so say that everything is selected - it all has to be ordered, and you have to wait for it to arrive. Not until then can the countertop people come and make a template for cutting the new Silestone countertop. Then you have to wait for that job to be completed.

Wait! We still haven't interviewed any plumbers, although we have a list of 25 or so to choose from. We have recommendations for four of them. Then there will most likely be a wait for the plumber to become available to get under the new sink and hook everything up.

Don't get me wrong - I'm thrilled to be updating our kitchen. But I just never expected such hassles and hoops. I like Nike's motto - Just Do It. Right now our motto is Just Deal With It.

UPDATE: 9 P.M.
I'm calling this Hit the Deck, or Why We Went Out To Dinner Tonight. Dick wrote:

I haven't fired up the wok since last fall. I have a special propane hot plate out on the porch that I use with the wok. It is much hotter than the inside burner and, since it's outside, it doesn't smoke up the house. Nancy purchased some beef, asparagus, broccoli and other suitable veggies and at about 6 I went down to chop stuff up. The beef I cut up in to bite sized pieces and marinated in a mix of oil, vermouth, soy, and stir fry sauce and put it in the fridge. After I had the veggies chopped, I assembled everything on a tray and took it all out to the porch. I heated the wok and added the oil.
I did the beef first, there wasn't that much, just enough for the two of us so I did it all in one batch. It cooked up nicely and I wanted to return it to a dish while I cooked the vegetables so it wouldn't become overdone. Keep in mind that this is the first time I've used the wok since November and there are some operations that I've forgotten. This wok was new last year and has two handles, one is the traditional wooden hand grip and the other is like a fry pan handle. I picked it up by the fry pan handle and was maneuvering it to empty the meat into a dish when the handle spun and dumped the meat on the cement!
Since we are not vegetarians, we went out to dinner.

I was just glad it was him and not me!

Windfall Day

This day started out like any other day - dishes, laundry, vacuuming, computer games - and then Dick suggested going out to lunch! From then on, it was an ideal day, a lucky day, a real windfall of a day!
Here we are eating lunch al fresco at Amical. I felt a little under-dressed and under-coifed, but it was very pleasant. Dick had a good time watching people parking on the street, or attempting to park! The Asian Chicken salad was very nice - spicy and delicious. The dressing was very gingery.
Traverse City's own "bistro"!
Then we were off to Walton Junction for some cache maintenance. People have been reporting that they think the cache is missing, so we had to check it out. This cemetery sign is a bit optimistic - it would lead you to believe that the cemetery has been updated and refurbished when in reality there's nothing there - no headstones, mounds, plots, fences or anything. The area is outlined with stones, and that's the extent of the updating! Anyway, it's an interesting place to put out a cache.

It's a little alarming to be in the woods when everything is so dry. Our area is under a red flag warning from the National Weather Service because fire danger is extreme until we get some rain. The leaves are really crunchy, and the trails are very dusty - it's obvious that rain is badly needed.
Basswood Bend himself, engineering a replacement Walton Junction cache container.
This windblown tree is quite near the cache site, so Dick thinks that the cache just blew away in a big windstorm. It definitely was missing.
This large branch is more evidence of recent windfall.

From Walton, we went to find the Greenwood cache. Dick couldn't remember the hint at first, but with some nagging from me, he came up with enough of the hint so that we were able to find the cache.
We attempted to find the "Splatacular Cache". We had to log a DNF (Did Not Find), but the scenery was worth it.

Geocaching is a great motivation to drive these obscure, intriguing North Woods roads, cache or no cache!

T.C. Travelogue

During our Subaru Cruise today we stopped to look at this new sculpture at the marina. It's in a beautiful new setting - a big brick circle with plantings along the TART. It's a nice addition to the waterfront.



Front St. looks so beautiful with the trees in bloom. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It's gorgeous.


The new fountain in the Jay Smith Walkway has been turned on. It's small, but very pleasant. It will be beautiful when the flower beds are planted. In the background you can see the pedestrian bridge over the river. To the right (East) of the fountain there will be a new downtown pizza place - Pangea's Pizza. In addition to the indoor restaurant, they'll have a walk-up window on the street for buying pizza by the slice, and a small area for eating outdoors - not to mention the whole new mini-park right next door with lots of seating, complete with fountain! We met Phyllis, the owner, who was busy painting the interior, but was very willing to tell us all about it. They'll have a liquor license which will allow them to sell drinks on the premises, and also to sell six packs to go. She was an interesting person - very ambitious - and we wish her well. I predict the little walkway will be very busy this summer with Kilwin's on one side and pizza on the other!



Off to Concord Place for our ritual Sunday afternoon visit with Mom.



We took her some sweet-smelling flowers from the yard.

Science vs. Religion Steigerwise

Dick sent the article at the link above to the family.

On May 5, 2006, at 3:49 PM, Dick Steiger wrote:

"Religion needs science to keep it away from superstition and keep it close to reality, to protect it from creationism, which at the end of the day is a kind of paganism - it's turning God into a nature god. And science needs religion in order to have a conscience, to know that, just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do." (See link above)

Here is Tom's response, which I think is very rational and well thought out. I agree with Tom. We're all of the opinion that religious fanaticism is responsible for most of the grief in the world.

I reject the proposition that religion provides a conscience. "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" is a brilliant moral principle, but it is NOT a religious moral principle. It is a humanist moral principle. Note that it is not "Do under others as God would have you do unto others."

The basis of the Golden Rule is that we can't know the minds of others and so we can't know how they would want to be treated. So the best we can do is to recognize that we are all human and use ourselves as a model to predict the wants of others. It is this recognition of our common humanity - with all of the emotional baggage that entails - that gives the Golden Rule its power, not some blind groping toward an unknowable supernatural force.

If you examine them closely all worthwhile moral principles in the end make no reference to God and are inherently humanist in nature. Religion actually impedes the development of a moral conscience. No one will ever come to the rational conclusion, based on humanist moral principles, that the right thing to do is to crash an airliner into a building, or shoot a doctor at a women's clinic, or celebrate at the funerals of American soldiers, or start a nuclear war in the Middle East etc. etc. etc. ad nauseam.

The bottom line is that science doesn't need religion for anything. Human compassion tells us that just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do. Religion tells us not to eat shrimp and to kill our children.

Morning in My Home Town

Subaru to Marathon Automotive to remove snow tires...
Breakfast at Randy's Diner...
It's a male-dominated diner...
They do allow females to eat there...
But not many come..
Cruise down Front St, which is absolutely beautiful...
Lined with blossoming trees...
Drive past the Bay, which is totally flat...
Hardly a ripple...
Sometimes we say it looks like a mirror...
This morning it looks like ice...
It looks like you could skate on it....
Stop at the Visitor Center to ask Kathee about plumbers...
She likes Bob's Furnace or D&W...
Off to Home Depot to discover what kitchen sinks we like...
Home Depot is not my favorite place...
I get claustrophobic in the way back where there are no windows...
And no natural light...
We were disappointed in their displays of sinks and faucets...
(When Friendi drove past Home Depot for the first time...
Branches obscured the sign...
He thought it was Bomb Depot...
You have to be from Albania to think that...
Now calling it Bomb Depot is a family joke...)
Stopped at Hallmark to get cards...
Kristen is graduating from MSU...
Graduations cards were so nice I couldn't decide...
So I bought two...
And a Mother's Day card for Mom...
Off to Lowe's to continue our quest of discovery...
Kitchen sinks at Lowe's are also in the farthest reaches in the back of the store...
Lowe's has better sink and faucet displays...
We think we know what we want...
Stopped in at the Riverside Resale store...
Dick wants a desk in his bedroom...
Nice rolltop, but it needs repair...
We negged it...
Noticed a Kohler plumbing showroom on S. Airport Rd...
We'll stop in there on our next outing...
Dropped Dick off to pick up the Subaru...
Went to the scrapbooking store...
Such delight...
I walked around the store with a silly smile on my face...
One of life's great pleasures...
Choosing papers, stickers, ribbons, and embellishments...
Opposite of Bomb Depot.

Emanuel Swedenborg

Talking with Mother today, I mentioned that whereas her Father had been very churchy, her Mother was just the opposite. Mom related that her Mother never went to church, and never attended church functions, but that Grandpa was very understanding and never reprimanded her because of it. Then Mom said she remembered her Mother reading Swedenborg in the evening. He seems to have been a 17th century genius - I'll be interested to learn more about him. See link above.

Notable persons influenced by Swedenborg include Johnny Appleseed, Honoré de Balzac, Henry Ward Beecher, William Blake, Elizabeth and Robert Browning, Thomas Carlyle, S. T. Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Inness, Henry James Sr., Carl Jung, Allan Kardec, Helen Keller, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Joseph Smith Jr., Coventry Patmore, August Strindberg and Jorge Luis Borges.

And my Grandmother, Mary Blanche Rice Geib (MBRG).

Blue Tractor?

Gorgeous weather - the lilacs are ready to burst into bloom. The daffodils are hanging in there still, and the tulips are such a brilliant red that they look fake. Dick mowed the yard for the first time today - looks great - the tractor works.

Speaking of tractors, I heard on WTCM this morning that Dill's has been purchased, and its new name will be something like The Blue Tractor Cook House. Seems like a weird choice, doesn't it? Can't wait to see it it's true.

Time to take off the snow tires. We think it's safe now! Did Marco today, and doing the Subaru tomorrow. Visited Mother - she seems good - took her some more Tylenol for Arthritis - she likes it and it seems to work for her. We talked about Dylan and the old days when she was a child. I got her a couple of nighties for Mother's Day (which will be in a couple of weeks). I think she'll like them.

We did a Subaru cruise - downtown is beautiful with the trees blooming. The cherry orchards are blooming too - it's a nice time of the year.

Blog Withdrawal

I'm still having blog withdrawal...just don't feel like writing everything down. Today...Alden, Wild Onion, found 1 cache, beautiful day, feels like summer.
Moussaoui sentenced to life in prison, Tiger Woods' Dad died.

My favorite quotation:

For Everything There Is a Season

For every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.
From Ecclesiastes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another version, just as lovely:

Artist: The Byrds Lyrics
Song: Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season) Lyrics

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time of war, a time of peace
A time of love, a time of hate
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time of peace, I swear it's not too late!

Tuesday

Here's an outline of our day: Breakfast with Tim and Susie at the Hard Luck Cafe; found the Jars of Clay cache; we split up - I went home, they went caching all day and found 5 or 6 together; we went to see how the National Guard folks were doing, didn't see anyone. Got a nice phone call from Civilian. Watched Gilmore Girls.

May Day

Cut some daffodils for Mother - put them in a pretty vase and delivered. Had a nice visit.

Crystal

I just realized I haven't posted for a week! Everything is fine here - we've really been enjoying the glorious weather. Sometimes you feel like posting, and sometimes you don't, that's all.

Dick had a presentation this morning at Crystal Mountain for a group of mental health professionals. Crystal is a beautiful facility, and we enjoyed being there. Our workshop was small - 5 or 6 people, but it was a good group, and Dick did a beautiful job - his best ever. Plus - we got a free breakfast!

The day was so spectacular that we couldn't just come home afterwards. There were quite a few caches in the area so we did some Betsie River caches, and had lunch at Dinghy's in Frankfort - one of our haunts.

It was such a terrific day to be out and about - and we split the finds - 2 for Dick, and 2 for me. Don't you love it?

Avuncular Tom

Laurie and Dylan are safely back home from California. Mary's wedding was in a unique home on a steep hillside with a terrific view of Catalina. The wedding was small and intimate. Laurie had her first taste of "buckeyes" because Brandon is from Ohio.

Tom and Dylan had a marvelous time at Disneyland. Here is Tom's report:

We had fun. Dylan was amazingly well behaved. I was especially surprised at the end of the day when he simply said he was tired and wanted to go home. I was kind of expecting a meltdown. It was a tough trip for him schedule-wise. They got up at 4:00AM (1:00 PST) on Thursday morning and flew out here. I didn't get up to their hotel until 7:00 and then we went out to dinner so Dylan didn't go to bed until 8:30 - that's a 19.5 hour day! Then he woke up at 4:00 Friday morning because he was still on Eastern time. We got to Disneyland around 8:30AM and by 7:00PM he was done. Then the poor kid had to get up at 4:00 again the next morning to fly home!

We went on all his favorite rides (the Mountains: Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain) and on several rides that are only at Disneyland, not Disney World. The big hit here was the Matterhorn (another mountain). He went through a bit of a phase where we would get in line and then he would decide that the line was too long so we'd get out and go get in another line for something else then he'd decide that THAT line was too long too. I put a stop to that pretty quickly.

There was a bit of trouble over the Indiana Jones ride. For some reason he got it in his head that it was too scary and so started pleading to get out of line. I told him it would be fine. He was persistent, but never started really whining or throwing a fit. We got on the ride and he spent the whole thing with his head down and his eyes shut. I couldn't discern any appreciable difference in scariness between this ride and the rides he loved so I was a little perplexed. I was expected a tirade afterwards about how could I make him go on that and how horrible it was etc. etc. but he just cheerfully exclaimed, "That wasn't scary at all if you kept your eyes closed and your head down!" Whatever.

The old Carrousel of Progress has been turned into something called Innoventions, which is sort of a cross between a science museum and an ad campaign for the latest techno-gizmos. You walk around and look at exhibits and the outside of the building where you used to sit still revolves around the inside, but there's really no point to the spinning. Anyway, they had this touch-sensitive plasma screen TV with one of those fish-tank screen savers on it. If you touch a fish something would happen to it. Sometimes it would get big, sometimes it would get small, sometimes it would change into another kind of fish. Then sometimes when you touched the screen it would produce little food pellets on the screen and all the fish would swarm over to eat. It was pretty cool, you know, for 30 seconds or so. But Dylan was mesmerized. I think he would have stayed there all day if I had let him. My feet were tired and there was nobody else around waiting to play with it so I just sat down and let him go at it until some other kids showed up then I told him it was their turn. This morning Laurie said it was about the only thing he would talk about. Weird kid.

Overall it was a pretty flawless excursion. There was some difficulty getting home because I got a bit turned around. Then Dylan fell asleep in the car and I didn't know what to do about dinner since he hadn't eaten yet. But I went to a drive thru and got him some chicken strips and french fries and he woke up halfway up to the hotel room. (He looked around and said, "Where am I?") I made him stay awake long enough to eat something and take a bath and then he zonked.

It was fun, but next time we definitely need to schedule more time so things aren't so hectic and he doesn't get so tired.

Dick and I visited Mother today - she seemed slightly more out of it this afternoon - I think she must have been in a deep sleep when we arrived - usually she's just dozing. We stayed for about an hour, and then she began drooping again.

We stopped at Ellis Lake on the way home and couldn't find RGH's new cache.
Dick cooked dinner - yaay

Googling Richard

Googling Richard Just for Fun:
Here's an item from the consent calendar of the T.C. City Commission meeting of December 6, 2004. This is the approval that allowed Dick to set out his Park Series:

The request from Richard Steiger, 888 East River Road, to allow use of City parks for Geocaching, an adventure game for global positioning system users, as recommended by the Parks and Recreation Commission be approved.

This one is from mytraversecity.com (see link above):

At the Traverse City Visitors Center, I explain my “color quest” to volunteer guide Dick Steiger. Happy to help, he perks up and suggests two postcard-pretty overlooks. One is Inspiration Point on Route 616 south of Glen Arbor, which takes in the aquamarine sweep of Glen Lake, nestled among the trees like a Caribbean lagoon. The other is a hilltop on M-37 halfway up the Old Mission Peninsula near the Chateau Grand Traverse winery, where you can catch a rare glimpse of both East and West Bay at once. Steiger is nice enough to pinpoint the spots on my map.

“You know, of course, that Torch, Glen and Crystal lakes are considered the third most beautiful lake in the world?” Steiger says with a chuckle. National Geographic once bestowed the distinction on one of the lakes – or so the story goes. Now all three claim the title. “What are the first two?” he says, rhetorically. “And who cares?” The point is – they’re all world-class breathtaking.

Piles of Leaves

Dick had a meeting with the visitor center volunteers this morning. Chamber of Commerce and Cherry Festival Office - he enjoyed meeting Tom Menzel, the new director. From Dick's report, it sounds like the discussion was mainly about funding and budgeting.

I moved all my 9 piles of leaves and so the yard is slightly more picked up than it was before. There's still a lot of work to be done - doing some fine tooth comb raking, and beginning to weed the bed. The weather just draws me outside - it has been perfect.

We went for another great ride this afternoon - we went to pick up Dick's computer, and some shirts at Progress. Gas is $2.95.9 - I was totally in shock.

Got a call from Mary G. - Uncle Fritz is having a pacemaker installed. I want to check that out, and go tell Mother so she'll be in the loop. Evidently F&R have more financial problems than I thought. They lived quite a lavish lifestyle - they had me fooled. Thank God for Dad's prudence.

Lovely Day

Such gorgeous weather we're having! The grass is greening up, and the trees are definitely ready to burst.

The perennial garden is all raked out, and today it was a lot easier. Some of the plants are already sending up shoots - some green, some purple. It's fun to see. I had a list of perennials to plant this spring, and I can't find it. They were all plants that should thrive in our climate (zone 5) - I haven't given up looking for it yet.

Dick is still working on polishing up all of the park caches - new logs, double checking for dampness, etc. So we had a great ride all around town - it was the perfect day to be out and about. We love to Subaru Cruise! We stopped at the brand new Oleson's - it's very nice, and it's a convenient stop for us on the way home from town.

Tomorrow Laurie and Dylan fly to California. Laurie's going to Mary's wedding, and Tom is taking Dylan to Disneyland.

Indie Flix

Weather prediction was for a beautiful day, so I planned to rake out my perennial garden. It was, and I did. Sort of. I have some really good days and some not so good days, and today was not so good. I did rake out two big piles of leaves, but then I was done. Or done in, take your pick. The rest of the day I just sat around.

The highlight of the day was going to Kejara's Bridge Coffee House in Lake Leelanau in the evening for coffee, snacks and movies (indie flix). Their food is yummy, and the coffee was excellent. The decor is garage sale/flea market. The tables are all old fashioned kitchen tables, all different. The dishes are all from the yard sale - cups, plates, and flatware. The dish that Dick got was like our very first set of dishes - the yellow dish with the big daisy in the center. It was freaky.

The movies were Mark Fiore cartoons (some funny, some very unfunny), and a film about culture jamming. It was about people who hack billboards and posters, and a one-man crusade against Disney because of the sweatshop merchandise. (Rev. Billy from the Church of Stop Shopping)

When we were kids, we used to hear about Solle's Bookshop near Suttons Bay. Folks used to say that he was a commie, or a pinko, or at the very least a leftist. We think that the movement is alive and well in Leelanau County!

It was an interesting evening - I've always wondered what Kejara's Bridge was like inside. It was very pleasant and friendly, and a little strange.

Geo-Brunch

We decided that a geo-brunch is like a geo-breakfast except later, and like a geo-dinner except lighter.

We met at the Omelette Shoppe with Kim (Major K), Carla (Civilian) and Darcia (Tootsie Roll) who are known collectively as the Sucker Sisters. They all work in Grayling for the Army National Guard in the Environmental Programs Division. There will be a National Guard convention here in T.C. at the Resort on May 2, and they have promised a geo-caching outing for the evening entertainment. They've chosen Dick's 10 stage municipal park cache series. They wanted to double check all of the locations, code numbers and coordinates to make sure they're on top of things before the big event.

Kim is a SCUBA diver, and she was here yesterday for the underwater egg hunt down at the marina. She's planning to dive with sharks in the Bahamas next. Carla is a mountain biker. She and her family biked across the country 8 years ago when her son was 12 and her daughter was 15. Her son is now on a Belgian bike team - amateur not pro, but he wants to be pro eventually (ala Lance). This summer she and her husband are planning to bike the Continental Divide. You meet the most absolutely fascinating people geo-caching!

Hop, Hop Bunny Bunny

Happy Easter Everybody!

Sniders arrived around 10:30 this morning, and it was great to see them. We haven't gotten together all winter. We caught up on all of the latest stories and jokes, and Belleville gossip. There's nothing better :)

We had a reservation at the Freshwater Lodge for brunch, and it was as spectacular as usual. The best part was the dessert table (blush). We had good appetites, good food, good friends and good conversation. It really wasn't that crowded, so we could sit there as long as we wanted and just talk.

It's such a beautiful day that when we got home, we all just sat out on the deck and watched the canoes and kayaks go by. The temp was around 65, but the sun was really warm. We enjoyed hearing on all of the latest news of the children and grandchildren.

I wasn't sure that I should mention Kim's health problems here - but Dick wrote a letter of explanation to our kids and I thought it was well done - so here's his letter:

We had brunch with Bill and Jan today. They are on their way from Manistee to Houghton Lake and then back to Canton. Bill has to go to the U of M hospital Tuesday for tests. The reason he has to have tests is that Kim has some very serious health problems.
First, she has gastrointestinal problems caused by an inflammation of the stomach. As a result she has a problem keeping food down and has lost over 10 pounds. That doesn't sound like much for us but Jan says she is really skinny.
Second and compounding the problem, she has a chronic sinus infection and cough. The coughing apparently is severe at times and has resulted in a hernia.
The above are her minor medical problems, much more serious and the cause of the tests on Bill is that she has developed neuropathy in her legs. Due to some auto immune attack, she has lost all feeling in her feet. Jan says she can no longer walk but just shuffles along. It also seems to be spreading to her hands. She goes to A2 every two weeks for an infusion treatment at 10K a pop but they don't see any results yet. Bill is being tested because of his leg problems to see if there is a genetic component.

I'm not sure that we reported that they are moving to California. Mike has had it with the "small town hospital politics" in Manistee and wants to start fresh. They have put $ down on a small house near Reiko. They have the Manistee house listed at 1.5. They are buying less than 1/2 the house for more $.


As you can imagine, Bill and Jan are extremely concerned. It's one thing to get creaky and achy at our age but it's not fair to have it hit when you are so young. We feel lucky that all we have to worry about with our kids is their job stress.

The infusions that she gets are called IVIG. It's gamma globulin to boost the immune system. It's a treatment often used for MS, but they haven't actually diagnosed her with MS at this point. You can google it. The neuropathy is advancing upwards to her calves also. Her friends are all doctors too, and she comes to T.C. regularly to see other doctors (gastroenterologist and hematologist), and she goes to Ann Arbor for her infusions. Plus she has access to the entire staff of West Shore Hospital in Manistee. Tons of doctors are involved and they can't figure out what the problem is. She's still trying to see patients part time, but she's not very mobile. Whoever first said that Life Is Not Fair was right.

New Mission

This was an absolutely gorgeous Spring day. We picked daffodils for Mom, and drove past our beautiful bright blue bay. Mother seems fine - she loved the flowers, and we had what she likes to call "a good visit". She learned all about the latest happenings. She enjoyed hearing about L, C & D camping in Florida - we told her about the raccoons and the bears, the canoeing and the geo-caching, but we left out the story about the tics!

After our good visit, we drove over to Lake Dubonnet, and located a possible site for another Shore to Shore cache. The trail really meanders around through there - and it's a beautiful area, although spring is not it's prettiest season - lots and lots of dry leaves.

I have a new mission in life - I'm going to try to avoid artificial sweeteners because I believe they make me feel ill. Over the past 10 years I've consumed just about every type of sugar substitute that there is, and I certainly can't notice any positive results. I've been reading about them on the internet, and some of the case histories are downright scary. Some people are seriously affected by the chemicals in the sweeteners. After my aspirin/internal bleeding episode, I believe I probably am "some people"!

There's a long list of physical problems associated with most of the fake sugar - even Splenda, which I had thought was going to be the healthy choice. Check out the link above, and scroll down to "side effects". Maltitol is my biggest bugaboo - my system can't tolerate it - and it's in so many things I've been eating - the diabetes food bars, sugar free cookies, fake chocolate, even hard candies and sugar free gum. I found this paragraph which graphically explains the biggest problem:

All authorities recommend using caution and definitely moderation is key. Because they are not completely absorbed in the bowel, they have a nasty reputation of holding onto water, and promoting diarrhea, gas and bloating. This is politely termed the "laxative effect". Sorbitol and mannitol are the worst offenders, maltitol and lactitol less so. The label should indicate the serving size. This is the amount considered safe to eat before the laxative effect takes over. So beware that overeating these foods can have serious effects. Especially for children, who of course will experience the effect from an even smaller amount.

Those substitutes mentioned in that paragraph are all sugar alcohols, and I'm learning that we really don't want to be putting these substances in our bodies. Reading labels is going to be my new hobby. Even Diet Pepsi is on it's way out - I think I'll start drinking more iced tea and sparkling water. Water si, chemicals no.

Happy Birthday Barb

This was the Big 6-0 for Barbie, and so her kids organized a birthday dinner at Schelde's, and we were invited! It was really a good time, and it was great to see everyone.

Barb and Jim, Melissa and Peter, Autumn, Brooke, Shelly and Chris, Adam and Melanie, Dick and Nan - it was a lively group! Of course, Autumn and Brooke are still the cutest little girls that there ever were - and they look so much alike - blonde hair, blue eyes, and those charming dimples that they got from their Grandma Barb.

Barb looks so good - she's doing great. She's going to start working full-time on Monday, and she really feels ready! It's a miracle.

Afterwards we all went over to Shelly's for cake and ice cream - it was such fun to be with everybody. Her house is small, but very comfortable and charming. I loved it. Shelly has a new puppy named Ranger - a collie and shepherd mix - looks like it will be a big dog! Peter had his police dog in a dog crate in the backyard- Jim said it looked like it could hold a wildcat!

We left with a smile because Autumn and Brooke called goodby from the upstairs bedroom window, and yelled "Happy Easter"! Fun.

Happy Birthday Barb

Foothills

These Medicare presentations are always a new and different experience. The meeting this morning was at 9:30 at the Foothills Cafe on Dunn's Farm Road over by Glen Arbor. We must have driven by this place a million times over the years, but neither one of us ever noticed it. There's a small Mom and Pop motel, and the Cafe is about the size of a two-car garage. We were expecting 22 people, and I was wondering if we would all fit in there. It turned out to be a fine place - it was open and airy, because there were huge windows on two sides. The food was good, and the servers were friendly and pleasant. The Leelanau COA paid for our breakfast.

We didn't feel that this group was really interested in hearing about Medicare Part D. They seemed to be all set as far as their prescriptions were concerned. I think that the program director just lined up somebody to give a program without considering the needs of the audience. It was a nice group, and we sat next to retired teachers - that's always fun.

We're still working on finding spots to hide caches for the Shore to Shore trail series (called by those in the know "The S2S"). So after the meeting we drove to Empire and explored the riding/hiking trail. Dick found 3 or 4 good possibilities for cache sites, and we had a great ride around Leelanau/Benzie.

Friendship Center

Well this was the oddest presentation for Medicare yet. The set time was 6:30 p.m., and we were there early. By 6:30, no one else had appeared - we were expecting about 20 people, and there were 6 of us counting Dick and me, the Leelanau coordinator, and the event organizer. So that left 2 people who came for the presentation. We just sat and talked to them for about an hour and fifteen minutes - it was a unique event!

Afterwards, we went to the Olive Garden for dinner - it was OK. It's not as great as the Olive Garden in Ann Arbor - that one had a lot more atmosphere, and was more comfortable. Tonight, the first table at which we were seated was freezing cold - there was a definite draft from somewhere - it was almost like they had the air conditioning on. We moved to a booth, and it was much better. The servers were well-trained and the service was good. The food was OK - Dick really enjoyed his seafood pasta. My baked ziti was average. It seems to be a very popular restaurant, and I'm not really sure why - the prices aren't particularly cheap, and I just wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. The view out of the window by our booth was the Williams Kia dealership.

Easter is Coming

Dick had an appointment with Dr. Tim first thing this morning - then he went to the Agency for 5 or 6 hours. He handled 30 phone calls, and one Medicaid application.

I went shopping at Tarjay to get some Easter things to brighten up Mother's room. I really waited too long - their Easter items were almost all gone. There were still some very nice things there, though, and I was pleased with what I got. She seems fine - she liked the Easter stuff. She enjoyed hearing about our trip, and telling me about the goings on at Concord Place. I wish they would come up with a dependable staff on a regular schedule. She never knows who will be coming in the evening to bathe her and help her get ready for bed. It's a little unnerving for her to never know who's coming. They do seem a bit short-handed. I keep saying that she can go to a different place, but she won't consider moving at this point.

Our week is shaping up - we're quite the social butterflies! Tuesday evening Dick has a presentation in Suttons Bay at 6:30 p.m., so he's taking me out to dinner. Thursday morning he has a presentation in Glen Arbor, so he's taking me out to breakfast. Friday evening we're having a family dinner in T.C. Sounds like an eventful, fun week.

Jiggety

Breakfast with Bob Evans!
Dick did 6 more caches and then it was time to head for home. I was still totally wiped out from yesterday, so I just sat in the car or did short walks.
We had a nice drive home - found our mail - thank you Barkers!

New Record

We spent the day in Marshall doing urban geocaches. Usually 7 or 8 in a day is satisfying and enough for us. Today we did over 25!! A brand new experience. The first one we found was our 900th find.

A bonus was meeting other cachers. In town, we ran into Hog Islanders (Jim Needham) and that was fun. At the Coffindaffer cache we met up with Geopigs (Sally and her husband).

When we got back to the motel after dinner at a Denny's that looked like a diner, Dick sat right down and logged them all. It took him approximately 2.5 hours.

Tired and sleepy - ho hum.

Turtle Update

So far: Turtle 1 - 3 votes - (Dick, Sharon, Bob)

Turtle 5 - 2 votes - (Nancy, Mitchy)

Chapter 899, In Which I Go Solo !

This was conference day for Dick at Burnham Brook in Battle Creek. I kept myself busy cleaning out the car, getting iced tea at Burger King, and reading my book at Burnham Brook. I was a guest for lunch, so we were able to eat together. We should have gone to Burger King! The food was slmost inedible. It gave me renewed respect for Mother, who says the same thing about the food where she lives.

We had noticed on the GPSr that there was a cache quite near the conference center. So after lunch, I went on a quest, and I was successful! (My first solo find - and the coordinates were right on!) Whoop, whoop! It was our 899th find.

Ten Caches

We did a leisurely drive from T.C. to South Haven, and did 10 (count 'em) ten caches in one trip. We are very proud of ourselves.

We stopped for lunch in Rothbury at the Country Kitchen. The food was really good, and the eavesdropping was spectacular. It seems that local gossip has it that Cabela's is considering putting a big sports center near Rothbury on a huge (642 acres) parcel of land. It's not a done deal, but it was fun listening to all of the conjecture!

Once in South Haven, it was recommended that we eat dinner downtown at Clementine's. Well, Clementine's was over-crowded, so we just ducked into Captain Nemo's. It was kind of a combination ice cream shop and sub shop. We saw a lot more local color than we really wanted to!

UsTwo

This morning we were treated to breakfast at the Omelette Shoppe by UsTwo (Doug and Edie of Lansing). We had a great time and a yummy breakfast. The air was filled with cache talk - that's always such fun. Thanks for breakfast, UsTwo.

We're leaving tomorrow (Thursday) for Battle Creek by way of South Haven. We're heading for the MMAP Volunteer Recognition Conference. It's always enjoyable. Of course, we're planning to do a lot of geo-caching before and after.

This year I think that Dick should win at least 14 different awards at the conference because he has worked so hard! The Traverse City office has been hit by a plague of locusts (well, not really). The boss is in Florida for the winter and not returning until May, the vice-boss has breast cancer and is responding poorly to chemo, the Social Security contact has colon cancer, another counselor has just has heart by-pass surgery, and then there's Dick. So whatever gets done in Traverse City - medicaid applications, Part D drug Plans, presentations to groups, general medicare questions - gets done by Dick. One year we both won the Medicaid Specialist for the State of Michigan award, and we didn't work half as hard as he has worked, and there were two of us.

Turtle 1 

Turtle 5 

Vote for Your Favorite Turtle

Which picture do you like best, Turtle 1 or Turtle 5? I'll use the winning picure on the geocaching cache page for a new cache I want to put out. Please vote!

Sam's Club is so great - we go there every month or so to get large quantities of things like toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, olives, etc., etc. We spend a lot of time and money there this morning.

Dick knew of two new caches in T.C. - the first one was at K Mart, and that was fun - and while we were there we went to the dollar store. I'm searching for turtle items for my new cache.

As long as we were at the Cherryland Plaza, we went to The Big Eazy for lunch. Yummy and fun.

Second cache was at the new County Building on LaFranier Road - we had lots of fun finding the trail that took us within 200 feet of it instead of walking 14,000 miles from the parking lot.

Weirdness in Wonderland

An adventure like this only happens to the "lucky and the strong".

First of all, we stopped for lunch in Alden at The Wild Onion. Alden sits on the shore of the beautiful and famous Torch Lake. Searching the menu for yumminess, I almost burst out laughing. For breakfast at the Wild Onion, you can order an omelette called "Torcher"!! No kidding! Want a little Torcher for breakfast? Weird. This reminds me of a sign we saw on another day - it was outside a small ranch. Near the gate, the sign said "Oleo Ranch - The Cheaper Spread"!

Our caching adventure began over in the Jordan River Valley, near East Jordan. There are marvelous trails there, and the conditions on the dirt roads weren't too bad. We parked by a sign that said "Congested Area" at the convergence of three dirt trails! Weird. Dick went off down the gated path to find the Crossing Jordan cache, and to put out the Michigan traveling cache. After he left, I got out my ski-walking poles, and went to investigate the great looking bridge over the river. The trail was superior, the bridge was so attractive, and the river scenery was very unusual. There were hummocks the size of hassocks all through the river, and some other hummocks the size of picnic tables - it was most picturesque.

The trail was so inviting, it drew me on down the way until I came to a fork in the road. I didn't know which way Dick had gone, so I stopped to reconnoiter. I noticed a set of railings at the top of a steep hill, and I was drawn once again to investigate. The ski-walkers made it possible for me to scramble right up the hill with no problem. At the top of the hill was a campground for backpackers. I walked down another hill to another road, and back to the car. This is unusual behavior for me - you have no idea how I surprised myself by doing it. Weird. The ski-walkers are going to change my life!

The second cache was down Bartholomew Road. There's a lot of weirdness in the world, and we found quite a bit of it today! On the way down the road, we came to a junkyard with junk cars on both sides of the road. The thing that was interesting to me was that on one side of the road there was a long wooden wall, and written on the wall were Biblical scriptures - there must have been 15-20 quotations. The interesting part is that the lettering was absolutely beautifully done - a really professional job. It was most incongruous in a junkyard. Weird.

We wound up in somebody's front yard, so we had to back up and look for the right trail. There was a two track back to a picnic area, and the ruins of a house and barn. This cache had been placed by a Boy Scout Troop, and it was very different and weird. The cache container was a red thermos jug just sitting out in the open with no camouflage.

At the Bennett Creek cache site we ran into Whitard and his whole family! How weird is that! It was really fun to see them - we'd like to have them come out to the river sometime. The little girls are so much fun.

The next adventure out-weirded the rest. In search of the Ouachita cache, we took off down Pesek Road, which was a quagmire of mud at the berginning, and then changed to frozen and icy, and then returned to muddy quagmire. There were houses along the way - we couldn't believe that! Dick had to really go fast through the mud so that we wouldn't get bogged down, and mud was splattering everywhere. That road would make a great ride at DisneyWorld! We were both all tightened up and tense by the time we got to Marvon Road. To us, it looked like a super highway. Pesek is short for Pesek Cake (piece of cake) NOT. This is what Dick wrote when he logged the cache:

Thanks for the cache Nanalulubug, we made it into quite an adventure. We were coming up from the south and our auto routing sent us up Pesek Road. We bet that is a real pretty drive in the summer but it's pretty hairy in the spring. We couldn't believe that folks actually live back there. By the time we got to the end, our little Subaru looked like a swamp buggy. We're too old for this stuff. By the time our knuckles were pink again, we were ready for a nice friendly cache. We signed and stamped the log and left a little ducky finger puppet. Then we drove off to find a car wash. Yee Ha!

The Scenic State cache was last. Whew! I was reaching the saturation point.

On the way home we passed through Central Lake, where we saw a man out in his front yard sitting by a campfire playing the guitar. Later we saw a man straight out of Monty Python, doing the silly walk down the side of the road. Weird!

A quick stop at the car wash and at KFC and then home to watch George Mason lose to Florida in the NCAA semi-finals. So now, do we root for UCLA because Melanie chose them, or for Florida because at least they're East of the Mississippi... Weird.

Taxing

Today we worked on getting our income taxes ready to send. No sense waiting until the last minute! (snort) We managed quite nicely - we were able to come up with every scrap of paper that's required, and to jump through all of the hoops from the IRS and also the hoops from TurboTax. It's basically finished - Dick just wants to go over it again before we submit it.

We had time afterwards to finish fixing up the Let's Go Moo cache, and stopped at Moomer's for ice cream - which will turn out to be our dinner!

Not the Best of the Rest

We had fun driving around today trying to fix up our Let's Go Moo cache, which was in dire need of maintenance. We got it partially finished, and we'll do the rest tomorrow.
Each year, the winner of the NIT is called The Best of the Rest, meaning the best of those left out of the NCAA tournament. Michigan played in the championship game tonight, but came up short, so they're the runners up. I guess we could say that they are the Best of the Rest of the Rest.

Bidding for its second NIT championship in three years, the Michigan men's basketball team fell behind early and never recovered as South Carolina captured its second straight NIT crown with a 76-64 victory Thursday, March 30, in New York City. The Wolverines (22-11), who trailed 10-2 early and were down 39-27 at the break, made a late run to cut the margin to nine points but could not get any closer. Daniel Horton closed out his brilliant senior season with 18 points, while Brent Petway and Chris Hunter added 12 points apiece.

T.C. Geo-Lunch

We started out the morning geocaching in Mother Gen's old backyard - no kidding! A cache has been hidden near the TART behind Gen's lot. We couldn't find it, so we'll have to go back. The other one we couldn't find was at the Civic Center - so we'll have to go back there too.

We met Frank and Peggy for lunch at Scott's Harbor Grill - we had a great time - sat and talked for two hours...very much fun indeed. The four of us have a lot in common - kids, geocaching, teaching, Ann Arbor, Boston, etc. We ran into Janet there, too. It really is a small town!

In the afternoon we went to Benzie County for two new caches, and we were FTF (First to Find) on both of them - so that kind of made up for the morning.

It was a beautiful day to be out and about - the weather has been very mild this week - we shed our jackets early. The bay was simply gorgeous - it's fun to see the ships at the Maritime Academy - the big one is docked there (The State of Michigan) along with two little tugs - a lot of local color.

We found a new place in Inland Township, Benzie County - Turtle Lake on Miller Road. It's quite small, but it's in an area that would be very pretty in the summer time. Just makes me want to place a turtle cache there! (see link above)

Exactly So

Laurie found a video in Arabic with subtitles. (see link above) The speaker captivated us all with her bravery, her passion, and her rationality. Dick found a transcript of the interview:

2/21/2006 Clip No. 1050

Arab-American Psychiatrist Wafa Sultan: There is No Clash of Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentality of the Middle Ages and That of the 21st Century

Following are excerpts from an interview with Arab-American psychiatrist Wafa Sultan. The interview was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 21, 2006

.
Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.

[...]

Host: I understand from your words that what is happening today is a clash between the culture of the West, and the backwardness and ignorance of the Muslims?

Wafa Sultan: Yes, that is what I mean.

[...]

Host: Who came up with the concept of a clash of civilizations? Was it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden. I would like to discuss this issue, if you don't mind...

Wafa Sultan: The Muslims are the ones who began using this expression. The Muslims are the ones who began the clash of civilizations. The Prophet of Islam said: "I was ordered to fight the people until they believe in Allah and His Messenger." When the Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to start this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels.

My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. What civilization on the face of this earth allows him to call other people by names that they did not choose for themselves? Once, he calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma, another time he calls them the "People of the Book," and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or he calls the Christians "those who incur Allah's wrath." Who told you that they are "People of the Book"? They are not the People of the Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative thinking. What gives you the right to call them "those who incur Allah's wrath," or "those who have gone astray," and then come here and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the beliefs of others?

I am not a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew. I am a secular human being. I do not believe in the supernatural, but I respect others' right to believe in it.

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: Are you a heretic?

Wafa Sultan: You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human being who does not believe in the supernatural...

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: If you are a heretic, there is no point in rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran...

Wafa Sultan: These are personal matters that do not concern you.

[...]

Wafa Sultan: Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me. You are free to worship whoever you want, but other people's beliefs are not your concern, whether they believe that the Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary. Let people have their beliefs.

[...]

Wafa Sultan: The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.

How to Enjoy a Saturday

Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Glen Arbor needed a Medicare Part D presentation at 10:30 this morning. Dick did a great job. It was a small group but very friendly. Afterwards we had a great lunch at Art's Tavern, which we always enjoy.

We also enjoy driving around Leelanau County! We drove past the Dunes Climb and were surprised to see 4 people up at the top with backpacks. We drove into Pierce Stocking drive, but it's not open yet. We went to Empire to find the end of the Shore to Shore Trail, and to scout out possible locations for caches for the new cache series.

After resting at home for a while, we took the other car to the dump and recycling. We had a great time driving around unusual roads out near Holiday Hills, and behind the Timber Ridge campground. I was amazed at the new houses out that way. We did the Subaru Cruise downtown except we were in the Ford Explorer - so I guess it was a Marco Explore, not a cruise. Downtown was busy - the marina area was deserted - the bay looked dark and angry.

Beef stew in the crockpot.

Second Place

I've been bumped into second place in the GenFamily bracket challenge. Melanie is now # 1. My pick for National Champ (Villanova) had a really tough time beating Boston College so now I'm biting my fingernails about the final outcome!

Dick worked at the Visitor Center from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. - an unusually long stretch. He was covering for Kathee, who is on Spring Break. The Agency had 2 people call him with Medicare questions - I think that's out of line. At least they didn't show up in person the way three of them did last week.

I had my C-T scan - they said it takes 3 to 5 business days for me to get the results, so it will be the end of next week. I was there from 12:30 to 3:30 - the test has a prep similar to the prep for a colonoscopy, but less so, thank goodness! But I did have to drink three large cups full of "stuff". We got pizza from Mancino's so that the day shouldn't be a total loss! (wink)

Coyle's, Caching & Companions

The DinoDuo are back up north, so it's time for a geo-get-together. We met in Houghton Lake for lunch at Coyle's, and to catch up on some caches not done in the past. It was a real cache catch-up. (Sorry) We also caught up on all of the latest news, told most of our favorite jokes, did some pre-planning of the Shore to Shore cache series, and did some caching in the rain. My favorite was the Ospreys Soar- I wasn't afraid to do the reach-in! Dick and I did 8 caches all together.

The weather was miserable - we got rained on and snowed upon, and went down a couple of two-tracks which weren't very vehicle friendly, but that's really fun for us. That's about as adventurous as we get!

On the way home we agreed that it was our favorite kind of a day.

Have you tried frozen Bertolli pasta dinners? Yum! We had that for a late dinner, with polenta.

B-Day

This was a Very Nice Birthday! It began with a call from Tom - we had fun talking about kitties, and his job. He's a little stressed out because he has an upcoming deadline, and he doesn't have his xenon-fluoride chamber perfected yet. And you know how frustrating that can be. (!) I got gorgeous yellow tulips from my offspring, a lot of really cute birthday cards from Dick, a lovely, lush azalea plant from Tim and Susie, and a phone call from Jana.

I spent most of the morning playing guilt-free games on the computer - Did you know that today is National Goof Off Day? (see link above)

We went to the movies and saw Eight Below, which is a dog story about lost sled dogs in Antarctica (http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/8below/). The dogs were really good actors, and displayed a surprising amount of human compassion for each other. But seriously, folks, we really enjoyed it. The dogs were beautiful, and the young, mostly unknown cast was quite good. We were especially impressed with Jason Biggs, the comic relief. He was funny without actually scene stealing the way it sometimes happens. Dick was able to detect some flaws in the technical aspects of dog sledding, but I was enthralled by the drama and the pathos.

We went out to dinner at the Hofbrau in Interlochen, and I had a marvelous time! They have one of those interactive games where you answer trivia questions at your table and your score shows up on the TV monitor. I won, because no one else was playing.

To top it off, Michigan won their 3rd round NIT game against Miami - so it was a perfect birthday. This from mgoblue.com:

The Michigan men's basketball team earned a return trip to Madison Square Garden with a 71-65 NIT quarterfinal victory over Miami (Fla.) Wednesday, March 22, in Crisler Arena. The quartet of Daniel Horton (19 points), Chris Hunter (16), Lester Abram (15) and Dion Harris (15) combined for all but six of the Wolverines' points as U-M gained an NIT semifinal berth for the third straight season (two postseason, one preseason). Graham Brown added 10 rebounds for Michigan, which will face Old Dominion next Tuesday, March 28.

Google Images / Life Story

This idea came from another blog. The project is to do a pictorial autobiography using only images from searching "Google Images". No other pictures or images are allowed. It's a real adventure to see what you can come up with! Some are absolutely appropriate, some of the images are a bit of a stretch, but all in all I'm happy with the way it turned out. So here's my 70th birthday Google Images Life Story:

Grand Traverse Bay. My family moved to Traverse City in 1941 - I was in 1st grade. Dick and I were lucky enough to be able to retire here after living in Wayne County for over 30 years. 

Who could be happier? I was amazed to find this picture on google images. I'm using it to represent Dick - it's a great photo. 

Dick and I both graduated from Traverse City Central High School, Dick in 1954, and Nancy in 1953. 

Dick and Jane (Nancy Jane, that is) 

The University of Michigan continues to be a big part of our lives. We enjoy all of the sports activities, and even better than that, all of our children hold degrees from Michigan - they are all 4th generation Michigan grads. 

After High School I was off to Ann Arbor for four years at the University. BAed'57 

And so after college we established the Steiger Family, which follows: 

Laurie - of all the choices available when you google image Laurie, I liked this one the best because it's sweet and beautiful. 

This is for Dylan, the world's best grandchild. Since we were destined to have only one, it's a miracle that we got the best one! 

Tom, the middle child - graduate of MIT, University of Michigan, and physicist with Cymer. I thought this was especially appropriate because Tom once did his own version of a tour of the Pacific Rim. 

Jana Louise, our youngest child. She is now a corporate barracuda and a cat lover. 

I completed a quilt this year - no one is more surprised than I am - it was a fun (if somewhat nerve-wracking) project, and the best part about it is that it's finished. 

Scrapbooking is an absorbing, colorful, entertaining hobby. I love to sort through all of the available stickers and ribbons and tags and papers - it's very satisfying. I'm not sure for whom I'm doing the scrapbooks - nobody is really overly interested - but Dick says it OK to just do it for myself, and so I continue to enjoy it. 

Pogo.com, my favorite online activity (after e-mail and blogspot, of course). 

Geocaching - Our hobby for the 21st Century ! 

One of our signature cards 

If You Seek a Pleasant Peninsula, Look Around You

If You Seek a Pleasant Peninsula, Look Around You, or Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circumspice. This is the well-deserved motto of the State of Michigan. The link above has interesting trivia and important facts about Michigan - I recommend it.

I really have to start taking my camera with me in the car. Today the bay was indescribably beautiful, and the sky was blue and pink and gray - I was really missing my camera. Words just can't describe the scene. That's what made me think of the "pleasant peninsula" thing.

First thing was a visit to Dr. Burke to discuss my latest complaints and to get a blood test. I can't figure out why it is that I always feel better after I talk to him, no matter what he tells me. This time he wants me to have a C-T scan on Friday because he thinks something is "worrisome" (one of his favorite words). I'll do it because I always do what he says, and it's working so far!

Ran some errands, dropped in on Dick at the Agency, and went to visit Mother. She has a new neighbor just moving in today - her name is Onie. Mother reports that McLenithans have been to visit, and she was thrilled. She seemed in a marvelous mood today - quite unusual for her.

Michigan beat Notre Dame in double over-time tonight. Not what you would call a commanding performance!

Dion Harris'catch-and-shoot three-pointer as time expired in the second overtime gave the Michigan men's basketball team an 87-84 win over Notre Dame in the NIT second round Monday, March 20, in Crisler Arena. The Wolverines, who trailed by double digits in the first half, played catch-up in the second period and finally pulled ahead on a triple from Daniel Horton, who finished with 29 points. Harris, Lester Abram and Chris Hunter each had 15 points for U-M, which hosts Miami (Fla.) in a quarterfinal at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Spring arrived at 1:26 EST today. Snow is predicted for the next three days. Go figure. Happy Spring

Bright Blue

Another crisp, sunny, blue sky day. Visited Mother, tried to find a cache, watched basketball.

Mother and I looked through catalogs and picked some spring clothes to order- that was fun.

The cache eludes us still. Dick thinks that it's gone.

In basketball, the upsets continue.

I'm Number One!

For at least a half an hour, I'm all alone in First Place in the Gen Family Bracket Challenge! This is so hard to believe, I can't even tell you. It won't last, but it's fun for now. (See link above.)

This morning we went for a ride to the Fife Lake area to scout out a hiding place for a cache. We're working on a Shore to Shore cache series which will consist of 12 caches along the Shore to Shore Hiking Trail from Empire to AuSable. We're doing the four western caches, DinoDuo will do the middle four, and James and Sheryl the eastern section. It's an ambitious project, and we'll all have all kinds of fun doing it.

Ate lunch at the Fife Lake Inn - came home to watch basketball!

FTF

Hey! We went for a ride and wound up being the First to Find a new cache. That's always fun. The cache was at the Acme Park.

It was also fun to drive around downtown and watch the St.Paddy's day pub-crawlers crawling from pub to pub. The craziest thing was that even though the temperature was in the 30s, these folks were walking around with no coats on - and some of the pubs aren't that close together! Oh well, everyone looked to be enjoying the activity, especially the girl with the foam beer mug for a hat, and the people with green everywhere - necklaces, leis, hats, and clothes. We were there quite early, and I can just imagine how things picked up afterwards! We came home and staidly ate our corned beef and cabbage.

Michigan State was blindsided by George Mason U.(?) in their first round tournament game - it's really a shame because State has the talent to go farther in my opinion. It's upsetting everyone's brackets, too. It's a big shock. This from msuspartans.collegesports.com:

3/17/06
Michigan State Falls To George Mason, 75-65
George Mason sure proved it belonged in the NCAA tournament. Despite critical comments by some experts that it should not have gotten an at-large berth, the 11th-seeded Patriots used hot shooting, a balanced attack and a surprising rebounding superiority to upset sixth-seeded Michigan State 75-65 Friday night in the first round.

Morale Booster

My High School girlfriends keep in touch by way of a round robin letter. It takes almost a full year for the letter to make the rounds. There are 13 in our group, and the name of our club was the SLGs. This time, Freda emailed her letter in addition to sticking it in the mail, and the first paragraph really got to me - Freda always did have a way with words! Anyway, these are words that mean a lot to me on the eve of my 70th birthday! Please pardon my sentimentality.
Here's Freda's first paragraph:

I was really struck this time, even more than usual, as I read the wonderful Robin letters, by just how awe-inspiring you all are! And what a fascinating privilege it has been and is to witness and participate in the life journeys of the SLG’s -- girlfriends still, after all these decades. Our letters show deep interests, vibrancy of living, compassion, love, caring, diligence, lots of humor, appreciation of all that we have, and a mental balance and depth of character that get us through the really tough times in our lives (these seem to increase as we age). Three Cheers for the SLG’S!!!

A Day for Errands

Just a few good errands to run today - recycling, library, cruise downtown, visit Mother, Staples, and groceries. It might not sound like much, but it took all afternoon!

At the library I got a passel of genealogy books - I'm working on the Geib family tree - and I can't go back farther than Nicholas. I think I'll have to visit Germany.

It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny late winter day. The bay was deep, deep blue, with whitecaps - a beautiful sight.

Mother's world is shrinking before our very eyes. She sits in her chair in the corner of her room all day long every day. She has no interest in socializing or venturing beyond her door. Her conversation revolves around which caretaker is on duty, who is out in the hall, and how horrible the food is. She's not interested in very much else.

Dick fixed ribs for dinner - what a treat. I think that was the end of the ribs from the last use of the smoker. When the weather gets a little more spring-like I hope he'll do some more.

It's fun watching the first round of March Madness. I'm watching the Michigan game on my laptop. They're leading by 10 at the half.

Update: Final - Michigan 82 UTEP 67

Michigan plays Notre Dame Monday @ 7 p.m. @ Crisler.

This from mgoblue.com:

Chris Hunter scored a team-high 20 points, Dion Harris added 18, and Daniel Horton had 14 as the Michigan men's basketball team handled Texas-El Paso, 82-67, in the NIT first round Thursday, March 16, in Crisler Arena. With Harris and Horton each hitting three triples and combining for 21 points in the first half, the Wolverines owned a 44-34 lead at the break, and Hunter took over in the second half, scoring 14 of his points. Brent Petway added 10 points for U-M, which will host Notre Dame at 7 p.m. Monday, March 20.

Clean and Shiny

My dental hygienist did her thing today, so my teeth are in pristine condition. It was fun to hear how her family is doing, and her plans for St. Patrick's Day. Dr. Kevin wasn't there today, but fortunately we really didn't need him.

Dick had a Medicare presentation this afternoon at Central Methodist. This group seemed more informed than any other group we have seen. There were 25 people there, and most of them were very elderly. One lovely lady was 95 years old. Dick is still feeling the effects of his heart cath somewhat, but he did a great job, and he's glad to be home now!

Jana called on her way to Philly for a conference. She wanted directions from mapquest.

Yippee!

Dick had the angioplasty today with the best possible results! He has a slight enlargement which can be treated with medication - so no surgery and no stents! The Doctor said that he had a strong heart. Yippee!

He's happy to be back home,and he's feeling well. He has to avoid exerting himself for the next week, so we'll be taking it easy.

I picked my brackets this morning. The team I picked to win the championship is not really my favorite, and the Big Ten didn't fare too well in my brackets either, so I'll be making some adjustments - probably right up until the last minute.

Michigan is a #1 seed in the NIT (see link above). Their first game will be Thursday
at Crisler @ 7 p.m.

Blue Sky Day

Right after lunch we went to visit Mother. She's fine. I got her to talk a little bit about some family history - mostly Aunt Nellie Geib and Uncle Frank Geib - siblings of my Grandpa. She has such a good memory of days gone by.

We had a chance to visit with Julius, the 102 year old who lives across the hall. He wheeled in to say hello. He was reminiscing about the big flu epidemic of 1918! He would have been 14 at the time. Margaret, who we think suffers from dementia, wandered in to say hello - she wants to go home to West Salem Ohio, which she says is only 4 miles away. I told her that this was Michigan, and she looked at me like she doubted my sanity. She said, "My mother dropped me off here, and I'm as mad as the dickens." Or maybe as mad as the March Hare.

It was a gorgeous day - temp was 45+ most of the day - blue sky and lots of sunshine. We did a couple of caches in town and then went out on the peninsula to check out the Peninsula Twp. Park and to do another cache. Dick is checking out all of the local parks which have pavilions to help prepare for the MIGO Fall Fun Day next October. He thinks that Chad has already decided to use Camp Greilick though.

We tried to find a cache at Muncie Lakes, but we struck out. We found a decoy cache that said "You're getting warm", but we couldn't come up with the real one.

By this time we were getting hungry, so we went to Peegeo's and had the steak special - it really hit the spot. We were sitting where we could see the TV - I was stunned to see that Iowa had beaten Ohio State this afternoon to win the Big Ten Championship. Those OSU fans are probably crying in their beer.

The brackets for March Madness were just chosen, and Michigan is nowhere to be seen. (See link above.) Oh well, it's just as well - we figure they wouldn't have gone far at all. So now we're crying in our beer, too! Maybe they can win the NIT. (heavy sigh)

Third Weekend of Socials

For the third weekend in a row we were off to a geocaching meet and greet. Today's event was in Houghton Lake (see link above). This one was particularly fun for me because eight of our favorite geocaching buddies were there - four terrific couples -Tim and Susie, Marty and Don, Frank and Peggy, and James and Sheryl. There were lots of other really great old friends there too and several new (really young!) friends.

The potluck lunch was enjoyable and delicious, the kids were cute, the babies were adorable, and a great time was had by all. Dick especially enjoyed watching everybody bowling, or trying to! I think he had more fun than anyone!

We found five caches on the way home, and we were back here by 6:30. A very pleasant day.