Retiree's Breakfast 2013

It seems as though we go to just one Belleville Teachers Retiree Breakfast every year, even though they meet once a month!  This year was especially fun for some reason - lots of good friends and good conversation.  We really enjoyed Bill and Jan, Ken, Jim M., Kirk, Dan, Dorothy, Kay, Dian, and Hunch.  So good to catch up with everyone - except they're all beginning to look old.  Why is that? 

After breakfast we went caching - it was the perfect day for it.

05/01/2013	You found Old Denton Cemetery		Visit Log
This winter got to be too much for us so we took a couple of weeks to hunt for Spring and visit our new winter home in Florida. When the temp broke, we came back to our old haunts (pardon the pun). We lived in Belleville for over 40 years and recognize many of the names here, parents and grandparents of some of our students. Thanks for many memories.
05/01/2013	You found Vernal Equinox 8		Visit Log
This year we discovered what Seasonal Affective Disorder is. A couple of weeks ago, our yard was mostly clear when a storm dumped1 1/2 in of frozen rain and sleet on us. That was it! We loaded the car and went in search of Spring. We didn't find it until Ky. We continued on and drove through the Smokies to find May Apples and Trillium. When the weather cleared, we came back north. We lived and taught in Belleville for 40 years and this park was in our back yard for 20 of them. Our girls worked here summers. Today was a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky and the temp in the 80's. We spent our day reliving memories. This cache popped up on our iPad map and when we saw it was placed by Stan and Ruth, we had to go for it. Thanks for placing it and giving us the motivation to park the car and walk through the flowering Trout Lillies. This entry was edited by basswoodbend on Thursday, 02 May 2013 at 00:11:51 UTC.
05/01/2013	You found Birthday Celebration		Visit Log
We are in "da Ville" for the monthly retired teacher's breakfast, staying at a nearby motel. When we saw who placed this baby and why, we had no choice but to snag the smilie that goes with it and shout out our congrats as well. Thanks for the fun!

Farewell Piqua

Ohio is just plain not our favorite State in the Union.  Sooner or later, when we travel, we have to stop over in Ohio.  On the way down to Florida we stopped near Lima, and now on the way home, we stayed in Piqua.  We picked this motel because it's connected to a mall.  We stayed here once on the way down to Florida at Christmastime, and we really enjoyed it.  The motel and the mall were beautifully decorated for the season, and there were lots of people around.

In April, not so much.  The mall was almost totally empty.  We walked around just to see what was there.  They have Penney's and Sears, and something called Elder-Beerman.  And shoe stores - lots of shoe stores. 

The mall echoed with our footsteps - there was hardly anybody around.  We got coffee in the food court and sat down to people-watch.  It was really more of a hall-watch.  We did see about 5 others in the area and that's it.

We went geocaching, and had rotten luck.  More DNFs than finds.  So farewell, Ohio.  We love to leave you.

04/29/2013	You found Cat Toy Exchange		Visit Log
Stopped for the night on our way back home. This is a fun cache! Took nothing, left our card and flashlight. Thanks for the fun.
04/29/2013	You found Clowning Around With Diamond		Visit Log
Stopped for the night on our way back to God's Country. TFTS

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!