Knoxville

We ate dinner at Famous Dave's (Home of the Big Slab).  Our waitress was Famous Emily - a cute introduction :)  The food was good, but Famous Emily seated us in a back room, sort of all by ourselves.  We really like to be able to see the other diners - you know, the people watching thing. We had a good time anyway, and Emily was fun.

http://www.homeofthebigslab.com/

 

04/28/2013 You found Chewin' a cud Visit Log We thought there would be a plaque explaining the bull but drew a blank. The restaurant was not open at 6PM on a Sunday, maybe it's out of business. We went to the rib joint instead - good food. The log is too wet to sign. We used a scrap of note paper. Thanks for the cache but the log should be replaced. 04/28/2013 You found Out Back - A Tribute to Wascalley Wabbit's 1K Visit Log Just passing through on our way back to the Northland. We have a cute little TB that wants to visit. We would have had dinner here but wanted ribs. TFTC.

Quail Meadow, Palm City, Florida

Disclaimer:

These pictures were taken too early in the morning, by a very, very amateur photographer, with an iPhone.

Our front door

My bedroom with bed and nightstand

My "tropical" dresser and great mirror

The loverly leather sofa and loveseat

TV and coffee table - only slightly blurry, and the superfine console

Our rattan seating area - so comfy

Dining area - love this table and chairs

View out the back - the big tree is a carrotwood tree - an invasive plant not native to Florida, but it's not doing any harm in our backyard

We were only there for 5 days, but we're totally in love with it, and we'll be back in the fall.  Still plenty of work to do, but lots of time to do it :)

Thank you Laurie and Chip !!

Laurie and Chip have painted, cleaned, strippped walls, shopped, shopped, inspected and shopped.  They have really worked their buns off, and here are the results!  Thanks, L&C.

Ours is Unit E, behind the three palms.  You can see our car parked in front of the garage,  Don't you love the palm trees?

The great, great room :)

Seating area, looking out at the sand trap on the third hole.

Dining, anyone?

Kitchen of the South - it has everything we need

Dick's bedroom

Dick's bedroom again

Bathroom - rather obvious

National Runner Up + National Player of the Year

NOT SUCH A BAD SEASON !

Not in the Cards: Men's Basketball Unable to Complete NCAA Title Run

4/8/2013 -

Spike Albrecht scored 17 in the first half to help U-M lead by as much as 11, but Louisville came back to take the 82-76 victory, forcing the Wolverines to settle for national runner-up.

Dick Wrote This Blog :)

basswoodbend
Premium Member

 3542
  Found it 04/07/2013

We stayed up late last night watching our guys send Syracuse home from Atlanta.  (You know, the NCAA Final Four...)

 We were both pretty keyed up after watching The Blue come through so sleep was hard to come by and this morning we were both pretty groggy. (Are we getting too old for this? Why is it that the last five minutes of the game always seem to take an hour?)

The weather this morning when we finally got up was a nasty mix of rain and snow, cold and damp. Good day to sit by the fireplace with the lap tops and read the sports pages. When the weather finally cleared, cabin fever set in and I decided to celebrate last night's Wolverine victory by looking for this nearby cache.

I approached GZ and spotted a likely hiding spot, a large dead oak with a good sized opening in it facing away from the trail. The perfect northern Michigan hiding spot, maybe large enough for an ammo can. I walked up to it and, before reaching down in to feel for the cache, I took a peek to see if I could spot it.

WHOA!!! It looked back at me. Rocky lives there. Cute little face. I thought to take his picture but the noise he was making did not sound friendly and I was not wearing gloves. I backed off and waited to see if he would pop his head up and pose but he stayed hunkered down in his lair.

The cache was spotted less than 10 feet away. Signed the log and decided to let the raccoon do the dance. Thanks for the adventure! This is not one I'll forget. Maybe the next to find can get a picture of him.

Final Four

YEEHAW!

We stayed up until the last click of the game clock (yawn..)  So excited. Couldn't sleep!  I think it was 2:15 a.m. when I turned off the light.  I told Dick we're too old to play championship basketball :)  My neck was really stiff the next morning - I know it was caused by the tension of the game!

GO BLUE!

Michigan Downs Syracuse, Will Play for National Championship

April 6, 2013

Site: Atlanta, Ga. (Georgia Dome)
Event: NCAA Tournament (National Semifinal)

Score: #10 Michigan 61, #16 Syracuse 56

Records: U-M (31-7), Syracuse (30-10)
Next U-M Event: Monday, April 8 -- vs. Louisville in NCAA Championship Game (Atlanta, Ga.), 9:23 p.m. (TV: CBS)

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Making its first NCAA Final Four appearance in 20 years, the University of Michigan men's basketball team received a big lift from its bench in defeating Syracuse, 61-56, in the national semifinal round Saturday (April 6) before a crowd of 75,350 at the Georgia Dome. The Wolverines (31-7) will play No. 1 overall seed Louisville (34-5) in the national championship game Monday (April 8) at 9:23 p.m. on CBS.

Mom in 1914

My cousin Rick has unearthed another historic picture.  This one was taken in 1914, at the 92nd Street house in Grand Rapids.  I have to admit that I never knew about the 92nd Street house.

It's fun for me to see Aunt Jessie and Uncle Arthur Weitz - they were my favorites.

 Just think, this photo is almost 100 years old!

We think Mother is on the left in front (age 6).  Grandma Geib (Mary Blanche Rice Geib) is holding the hand of baby Cas (age 2).  The older child in front is Mom's oldest sister Dorothy (we think).  Dorothy later died in childbirth.  Grandpa Geib (Fred Peter Geib) is the farthest right.

Spring Break in London

Last year, Japan - this year, London.  In Japan, it was just Laurie and Dylan.  This year, Chip was able to go too.  Their Spring Breaks are very international.  It's funny, because everyone else goes to Florida for Spring Break!

Chip and Dylan admiring this Ram in a Thicket at the British Museum.  This was Dylan's favorite .
From From Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600-2400 BC

Our guys in front of Windsor Castle!

An 800 pound egg at Harrod's.  It didn't weigh 800 pounds, it costs 800 pounds!  That's about $1200 American!  We figure that it must be hollow, or else it might actually weigh 800 pounds...

Changing the Horse Guard at Buckingham Palace.  Evidently one of the horses didn't really want to be there on this day - he just kind of ran around in circles, while the other horses stayed very calm and carried on :)

Dylan in Westminster Abbey, standing by what is billed as Britain's Oldest Door.

Laurie was delighted with the Hobnobs.  Dylan thought they were just some sort of cracker, and he wasn't very impressed!

Overall, Dylan said his favorite thing was the Tower of London.  I'm glad they had a chance to go there and see the Crown Jewels.

They also took a day trip out west to Stonehenge and Bath, but the weather was cold, windy and rainy, and so it wasn't as enjoyable as it should have been.

Easter

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

And we got a present from the Easter Bunny

:)

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

Thanks Shelly and Chris for a lovely holiday :)

Sing a Song

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


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

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

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

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

My B-Day

A fun Birthday bouquet...

...from my fun family.

Hooray!

SOUTH FORK 5, FORT PIERCE WESTWOOD 2

At South Fork

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

A Hardy Birthday

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

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

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

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

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

We had a good time.

Go Blue !

Wolverines Complete Comeback to Derail Boilermakers

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

Cold Fusion

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

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

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

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

Already cold but so far no bad reaction.

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

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

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

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

Infusion, Transfusion, Confusion

Here we go again.

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

Hemoglobin is now at 7.6.

 Thank heaven for modern medicine!

The last transfusion was in November.

Mayo Clinic says:

Results

By Mayo Clinic staff

The normal range for hemoglobin is:

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

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

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

A Squeaker!

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



Burke Provides Heroics as Michigan Slides Past No. 9 Spartans

	Trey Burke

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

Glenn Robinson III

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