Rain, Rain, and Then Some Rain

Our day was brightened by the Michigan game, which Michigan finally decided to win after a dismal first half. This from mgoblue.com:

The No. 14-ranked Michigan football team scored 20 unanswered points to rebound from a seven-point halftime deficit and defeat Illinois 30-19 on Saturday, Oct. 16, in Champaign, Ill. Michael Hart turned in another workhorse effort, carrying the ball 40 times for 234 yards and U-M's final touchdown, while Chad Henne connected with Tyler Ecker for a touchdown through the air and scored the go-ahead TD on a two-yard quarterback draw. Scott McClintock had a pair of interceptions, including one that clinched the win.

Meanwhile, State was scalding Minnesota 51-17.

But it's still raining, it's windy, and all of the leaves are falling down like snow.


Dark and a little bit dreary.

We have to make our own sunshine today.

VisionInGTC

Dick spent the day at the visioning meeting (9-3).
http://www.visioningtc.com/

He'll have to write about what went on there.
I stayed home with the construction crew and the dishwasher repairman. We had a party. Well, maybe not. At least now we can use the dishwasher. A wire had burned out somehow.

We got a great picture in the mail - thank you Dylan. He drew a picture of our property with all the paths and everything. It's a masterpiece.

Oak Wood

Six cords of oak wood were delivered today by Lake Ann Hardwood (Mark Gabrick). It's all cut and split! Hooray!
Barkers came over so I could proof read some labels.

A-Kayaking We Will Go

Dick ran errands all morning - got his haircut, went shopping, etc, etc. I was at home doing laundry and washing all of the dishes that were in the dishwasher when it quit working. Yes, that's right - our fancy new Bosch dishwasher that we've had for just a little over a year, quit working. Max's Service said they would come out on Friday. So meanwhile we're hand-washing everything. It's like camping out in the kitchen !

The construction crew didn't show up until almost 11 a.m. - I was surprised. But they have a good start on our new porch roof, and I think we will love it when it's finished.

When Dick got home, he loaded up the kayak and we drove over to Torch River to get a cache that's out in the middle of the river. I kid you not. It's called the Torch River Paddle In. I think it took Dick about 5 minutes to go out there and back from the boat launch. It was another absolutely gorgeous fall day.
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=ec4c79d9-d5db-419e-ac38-ba61997e59cd

We decided to drive home by way of Elk Rapids. At the corner of Aarwood and Crystal Beach, Dick spotted the most spectacular wooden carved gatepost! It has a porcupine on top and a raccoon peeking out of a hole on the upright. It's almost hidden because it blends in so well with the background. We visited a couple of boat launches on Elk Lake to check them out for possible cache hiding purposes. Found at least one really good one.

We were too tired for debate watching. I watched Lost on TiVo, went to bed early and listened to the debate on the radio. Didn't learn anything new.

Back to Old Mission

There was a new cache placed North of the village of Old Mission, so after Dick talked to the crew chief on our construction project, off we went to find it. It was a gorgeous day - cool temps and warm sunshine. We hiked on a trail in a new park, and it was beautiful. The cache had 3 stages, and it was an interesting and enjoyable hide. We were the First Finders.

This is what Dick posted on the geocaching website:

October 12
What fun! You could drive back here when we were kids, haven't been back in many years. We loved the various methods of conveying the coordinates to the next stage. We found the cache with no trouble (After rereading the instructions and then following them.) and started a first finders dance but decided that it would be best if we dispensed with our arthritic efforts and replaced them with a simple "high five". We took the Blue Jays energizers, (Thanks, we needed that.) and left one of our Michigan quarters, (In a pinch, call for help.) the Lone Ranger, Tonto, and Scout, (In dire straits, they'll ride to the rescue) and Thumb Buddies Dream. (Give a man a fish ... ) Next we checked a TB in and out for some miles. We then signed and stamped the log and headed to the Grill for lunch. Thanks Blue Jays for a fun adventure.

Finished Blowout by Catherine Coulter, my new favorite author.

What a Squeaker!

Michigan was finally victorious but it wasn't easy. 27-24 (by the skin of our teeth)

This from mgoblue.com:
It didn't take freshmen Michael Hart and Chad Henne long to make a mark in the Little Brown Jug series. Hart rushed 35 times for 160 yards, a U-M freshman record, and one touchdown, and Henne was 33 of 49 passing for 328 yards and two TDs as the No. 14 Michigan football team earned a 27-24 comeback victory over No. 13 Minnesota on Saturday, Oct. 9, at Michigan Stadium. Henne completed 5 of 6 passes to march Michigan 87 yards for the deciding score with 1:57 to play, hitting Tyler Ecker for the 31-yard game-winning TD.

87 yards in less than 2 minutes - it was amazing. I almost couldn't watch because I was so afraid they would make a mistake! We love Tyler Ecker. Whew! State won big over Illinois, so it was a good football Saturday. Go Lions.

To celebrate, we went into town to mail some bills, and get coffee and iced tea.

Driving into town along US 31 North, we noticed that all of the motels had no vacancy signs - and even the smaller motels closer to town had no vacancies - is it the fall color, do you think?
Downtown Traverse City looked like the middle of July because of all the people out walking around. I don't know exactly what was going on, but people were swarming all up and down Front St. A lot of them were carrying shopping bags too - hooray.

At the Division St./Parkway intersection there were three police cars lined up behind a car that was being searched by an officer - we couldn't tell what was going on. Strange happenings.

We drove out to Old Mission Point because the cache that was out there has changed ownership and been moved, so naturally we had to go find it. It was easy. We couldn't believe how many people were out at Lighthouse Park - it was really a busy spot. It was a gorgeous day to be on the peninsula - the water was bluer than blue.

Tom called while we were on the way home. He was at a Porsche auto event - hoping to come in third. He's going out to dinner tonight with Kevin Washington - they'll have a great time. Tomorrow he and Todd are playing Fantasy Football with the Koss brothers. What a good old Belleville group is that!

Rain Followed by Rain, Brightened by Jana

Dick saw Dr. Nelson this morning to check his scratchy throat. He got a good report. The doctor said he couldn't see anything wrong, but just to doublecheck, Dick is scheduled for a procedure on Oct. 26 (Tom's birthday).


We went out to breakfast at The Harbor Watch, a new place out on West Bay Shore Drive. It's a nice looking new restaurant - it looks like a lighthouse. The food was excellent.

This was a good day to make veggie soup, read a good book, and play on the computer. It rained all day, and then at night we had a thunder storm.



Talked to Jana in the evening. CQ has won two prestigious awards, and she will be attending the awards ceremony in Hollywood. Jana's site was nominated for General Excellence. This is her award-winning site:
http://www.cq.com/corp/login.do;jsessionid=3FDB86CA91EF95C800CACB9E0148FADD.monhegan?jumpto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cq.com%2Fhome.do

Excerpt from announcement article:

LOS ANGELES -- The finalists for the fifth annual Online Journalism Awards (OJAs) were announced Thursday by the Online News Association (ONA) and the USC Annenberg School for Communication. The contest, which honors excellence in digital journalism, was judged by a team of distinguished journalists during a two-day event on the USC campus on Oct. 1 and 2.

The winners will be announced at the OJA Awards Banquet during the fifth national conference of the Online News Association, which will be held Nov. 12-13 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles.

"The finalists for this year's Online Journalism Awards represent the finest work being done in online news today," said Doug Feaver, President of the Online News Association and executive editor of Washingtonpost.com. "The finalists show us that online journalism is maturing. Sites large and small are learning how to tell compelling stories, cover the news, give advice and investigate wrongdoing through the use of text, audio, video and graphics brought together with increasingly creative designs."

Jana brightened up our rainy day!

Tear Off the Siding

The workers have arrived to re-insulate the house and build a porch roof. Today all they really did was to remove the siding, so the house looks like a tar paper shack. It may rain tomorrow, but the weather looks good for the next several days, so they should be able to make steady progress. The crew chief is a talker, very friendly. One of the crew is interested in buying Dad's old Pontiac.

During the summer, we left our John Deere at Classic Motor Sports to have the transmission repaired. We haven't heard anything from them, so Dick called - and they don't know where it is and they can't find a work order. This could get interesting! It's a good thing that we have the second tractor.

Finally got around to cutting back the flowers in the perennial garden. There's a lot more work to do out there. Some of the weeds are very healthy looking! And I need to rake out the leaves, too.

We drove into town for a look-see and to fill up the tank after yesterday's trip. There was another cruise ship in the bay - it's getting to be a regular occurrence. We saw it starting its way north on its way out. Driving home on River Road, it's apparent that fall is here. This weekend would be a good weekend for the dinner train to do a color tour.



Dick has been having a scratchy throat lately, and tomorrow morning he's going to see Dr. Nelson (ENT) to check it out.

Road Trip

Walters and Hemming showed up and declared there was nothing wrong with the furnace. He did clean up a few things, but didn't have to repair anything.

When he left, we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted, so we went on a remarkable road trip, lasting from 11 a.m. until 8:30 p.m.! Of course we were out geo-caching. The adventure began at the Bottle House in Kaleva, and ended in the Manistee National Forest with six caches in all.
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=d1c4c48e-a34e-4e60-84f6-c6cfb11b1dd1

We found two caches on High Bridge Road. It was an enjoyable drive through the National Forest. The North Country Trail winds around through that area, and one of the caches we found in the forest was right on the trail.
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=4fd7da5c-78d7-4422-b51d-7a95be0019da

We ate lunch in Manistee at Four Forty West. It's a challenge driving through Manistee these days because the U.S.31 bridge is under construction and traffic is detoured through the town. The town is not designed for highway traffic, and the lines were horrendous.


So once we got through that, we decided to keep going and not try to return on 31. We found some great caches southwest of Manistee, and while we were there, we went down Sugar Grove Rd. to check out Bill and Jan's old cottage on Round Lake near Fountain. It brought back lots of good memories, and it looks great.
Ate dinner at the Hofbrau House in Interlochen - very nice as usual.

Off To See The Wizard

This morning Dick noticed that the furnace was coming on erratically. He researched the problem and decided to call for service. Walters and Hemming are coming tomorrow. In the meantime, the wood stove is doing a great job of keeping us cozy.

Mother and I went blithely off to see Dr. Auer, forgetting that it was an appointment for her annual physical. Oh well - she refused almost all of the exams except for stethoscope for heart and lungs.

We told the Doctor about her bad reaction to the neurontin 300 mg., so he gave us a new prescription for neurontin 100 mg. She didn't want to get it filled today, so it's filed away in her purse.

Mother is extremely short of breath and has lots of spells of dizziness. Dr. Auer's nurse (Brandi) put an oxygen test device on Mother's finger and took her for a short walk, and it revealed that her blood oxygen was very low. Brandi did an EKG, which showed little change from last year's results, so her heart is not the problem. Dr. Auer thinks it may be that Mom's lungs are not working properly. He said she needed a chest x-ray, and a test at Munson to determine lung function (using a peak flow meter). He recommended home oxygen to ease her shortness of breath. Mother's responses: chest x-ray - No; test at Munson - No; home oxygen - I don't want to do that. Dr. Auer put each recommendation on her computerized chart, followed by "politely declined".

Mother did agree to go to the lab for blood tests. He's testing for thyroid function, because of her sleepiness and for anemia because of her low oxygen level. She also got her flu shot.
She's a real trooper at the Doctor's office. I know it's hard for her to get around, but she won't hear of a wheelchair or a walker. She just leans on my arm and holds her head up. She weighed 105 and was 62 inches tall (both while wearing shoes).

So I guess things will go on as they are now indefinitely - she's happy just being at home. Dr. Auer told her to take it very easy, and don't bend over or do anything that might make her light-headed. We were there for 2 hours, and most of that time, Dr. Auer was with her. He is very considerate of her and talks about Dutch and I think she almost enjoys it!

In the evening we watched the Vice-Presidential debate. It was very absorbing and we watched every word for the full 90 minutes. We feel it was most likely a draw. We would have liked to hear Cheney explain Halliburton a bit more, and answer some of the charges Edwards made. For instance Cheney voted against Headstart and the Department of Education among other domestic issues when he was in Congress. This is shocking to me and I would have like to hear the explanation. I also thought it was alarming that he would back the President on the Constitutional amendment against gay marriage, even though he disagrees with it. Sometimes loyalty can be carried too far, especially if it goes against your personal beliefs.

Fall is Definitely Here At Last

Yesterday Dick built a fire in the wood stove and it felt so good. This morning he did it again, and I think our wood-burning season is definitely here. That wood fire feels terrific!
Dick spent the day at the Agency - had 2 appointments and a walk-in together with all the phone messages - he had a very busy day.
I went to the Let's Go Blue Shop to pick up the money from the Iowa tickets, and left the Minnesota and Northwestern tickets for them to sell. Dick has decided he's going to stay home with me and watch the rest of Michigan's season on TV.

I'm really sorry that we have to miss all the fun of the stadium, but I'm happy to have him stay home with me. Yesterday we sent State tickets to the Washingtons and the Lichtenbergs.
I drove down to the marina, intending to walk a bit on the TART, but it was so cold and windy that I changed my mind. The wind was out of the north, and the waves were crashing - a really chilly day.

TCL&P, NFL, and Mother

Life on River Road was extremely frustrating this morning: Dick was trying to use his computer; I was trying to watch something on TiVo (the end of Apprentice). Between 7:30 and 8:30, the power clicked off 8 times. It would come back on within 2 minutes or so, but the thing is - the computer has to reboot each time and go through all of the security features, etc., so it would just get back up and running, and the power would click off again. And as for the TiVo, it takes several minutes to power up also. So over and over again, we kept thinking - there - it's all fixed now...but no! I tried calling L&P to see if they were aware of what was happening, but the line was busy, so I guess they were aware. Finally it quit altogether for a while, and when it came back it was a brown-out situation, so Dick flicked the master switch to protect our motors.


Eventually we got back into total power and it's been OK since. Cheesh. Later in the day we went into town via Keystone Road, and there was a lot of equipment sitting around those new poles along the railroad track. Dick thinks that they switched off the power each time they connected a new line. He's probably right.

There was a lot of soccer-doccering going on at the TBAYS fields - they were only using the new end.

We watched some football - Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for a while and later, Denver and Tampa Bay. Football is fun. Tom Brady beat the Buffalo Bills 31-17. Brady hasn't lost in 53 weeks.



We went into see Mother - I took in some chili for her supper, and some cans of beef stew for later. She was in her drowsy mode - very weak, couldn't keep her eyes open, slurred speech- for most of the visit. She took a Neurontin last night, and I think that drug just wipes her out for hours and hours. It must be way too strong for her. Luckily we have a doctor appointment for her on Tuesday so I can check with her doctor to see if there's a smaller dosage, or if she could take just half a pill. I'm convinced that it's not her, it's the drug that causes this reaction. Dick removed the air conditioner, put away the hoses, turned off the outside water, changed the furnace filter, took out the trash and the recycling, and removed the plants from the dining room. Mother didn't want them any more. After we got home, I called her, and she seemed much better - more alert and more like her old self.

The Creamed and Crimson

In the morning Dick dug up all the bushes that he wants to save from in front of the house. The workers are coming sometime this week. I changed bed linens (scrubby scrubby) and went grocery shopping.

An older man in a kayak dumped in front of our riverside deck. The air temperature was around 54 - the water must have been chilly to say the least. I suggested we ask him if he wanted towels and cup of tea. But Dick went down and offered him the dry shirt off his back! The man had been wearing a sweatshirt, and he had taken it off, so Dick gave him the sweatshirt he was wearing. After the football game, when we were eating our chili, the man drove up and returned the shirt.

Then (ta-da) in the afternoon we watched football. First, Michigan State lost their game with Iowa by kind of a large margin. (38-16) But Michigan did much better against Indiana! (Whose colors are Cream and Crimson. I'm not kidding.)

This from mgoblue.com:

Two long kick returns and career-best days from Chad Henne and Braylon Edwards powered the No. 19-ranked Michigan football team to a 35-14 win at Indiana Saturday, Oct. 2, in Bloomington, Ind. Leon Hall returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown to put U-M up 14-7, and Grant Mason returned the opening kickoff of the second half 97 yards to set up Michael Hart's one-yard TD run. Henne competed 17 of 21 passes for 316 yards and three scores, and Edwards caught eight balls for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

It was a very nice, relaxing, fun game. Not really a nail-biter.

Happy October

Today it was my turn to go have a perm and a haircut. Hooray!

Then I picked up Mother, and we went to the bank and Tom's. She stayed in the car, and did not walk around. When we got back to her house, she was very weak and short of breath. She really hasn't felt like herself all week. Perhaps it's just a minor bug of some sort.

When I got home, Dick and I took a ride to Northport to find a geo-cache. We found it in a really nice park west of Northport, on a high hill. Then we went to North Country Gardens, the best gift shop in the universe. Bought several unique greeting cards, and some small items for Dylan.

It was a very pleasant day, and the weather was perfect.

Smokin'

Dick smoked ribs today for about 5 hours - the ribs need tending every 45 minutes so we stuck around home. He was in "end of summer" mode, preparing to put away all of the summer deck furniture, umbrellas, picnic tables, etc. I guess it's that time of year again.
We watched the so-called debate with interest - John Kerry was the clear winner. W just keeps repeating himself - I guess he can't help it.

Cut and Curl

Today I took Mother to Sally Sue Kurtz Lagerman (age 72) at the Cut and Curl for a haircut and a perm. Sally's not a really fast worker - it took almost three hours. But Mother looked great at the end of it all.


I had fun too, running errands, Library, Post Office, walking around down town. Finished Hemlock Bay, by Catherine Coulter. That author really know how to write a gripping story, with great characters. Not overly realistic, but highly enjoyable.

Stormy Bay

After doing some more housework and "computerizing", we drove into town to do errands. We ran into Shannon at Sam's Club.

The most interesting and exciting thing was that there was another cruise ship in at the Maritime Academy. There was a fierce wind out of the north, and that always makes the bay full of white caps and high waves. The cruise ship was using two small shuttle boats to ferry passengers between the ship and the shore. The wind was so strong, and the waves were so high that these shuttle boats were really rocking and rolling around out there. It did not look like a pleasant ride at all! I felt sorry for the passengers. The cruise ship kept turning to try to shelter the small boats from the wind so they could load and unload safely. Dick took some pictures, and I was glued to the binoculars. It was quite exciting for our little town. The cruise ship was named Columbus, out of Nassau.


We ate lunch at the U and I - most enjoyable.

All is Well

Dick worked at the Agency this morning and didn't get home till almost 3 p.m. He had a very busy morning with phone calls plus a meeting with a client.

At home I vacuumed and dusted and cleaned up the kitchen - housework is easier at the moment.

Laurie called on her cell phone - it's back in service. The land-line is not working still. They came through the whole hurricane with flying colors. At midnight, during the eye of the hurricane, the neighbors were all out helping to keep the drains clear of debris so that the street wouldn't flood...and it didn't. Laurie and Dylan slept on the floor of the closet with the door closed to shut out the noise (from about 3 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.) The wind howls so loudly and it's so strong...she said the glass of the windows was bowing inward. The shutters protect from impact, but they're not air tight. Dylan said he was not scared. He thinks that a hurricane is probably not worse than one of our blizzards. Hmmm. I'm just thankful that they have power - millions of homes don't - they are really lucky.

Hurricane Jeanne

Dick left Belleville around 8:30 a.m. and got home at 6 p.m. He did quite a few geocaches on the way home! He says he did about 18 in all. He's a dedicated geo-cacher for sure.

Here at home, the Ponitac died in the driveway, so I couldn't go to the store and I couldn't go to town (obviously). I put whatever I could find here in the crock pot, because I wasn't sure what time Dick would get home. It turned out to be chicken stew, and it was good.

Laurie emailed that the hurricane blew over them all night and they lost power and phones - and their cell phones didn't work either. But by some miracle, their power came back on at 10 a.m. I'm so glad! They say that there are millions of homes with no power in Florida, so they are the most fortunate people in the State. Their paper says that there will be no school until further notice. Their phones are still not working.

Mother fell today and hit her forehead on the carpeting in the dining room. She says she's fine and has no bruises or anything. I called her throughout the day to keep checking on her. I couldn't get the car started to go see her. If I had thought it was serious I would have called a cab or Enterprise. Where there's a will, there's a way! But I think she's OK.

We Win, We Win

Michigan finally got its act together and beat Iowa 30-17. It's fun watching it on TiVo because you can watch other things for a few minutes, and then switch over to the game and only watch the plays - missing all the commercials, commentaries, and sideline stuff. Seems to make it go much faster.

This from Mgoblue.com:

The No. 18 Michigan football team won its Big Ten opener for the 23rd straight season as the Wolverines forced five Iowa turnovers and quickly turned four of them into touchdowns for a 30-17 victory Saturday, Sept. 25, at Michigan Stadium. Braylon Edwards (left) put Michigan ahead for good with a 58-yard TD catch from Chad Henne with 8:28 left in the first quarter following an Iowa fumble. U-M also had two two-play scoring drives after Hawkeye turnovers, and Grant Mason returned an interception 25 yards for a score.

It's also nice that Michigan State beat Indiana 30-20. This is one weekend when everyone did well.

Talked to Laurie and Dylan. They are expecting Hurricane Jeanne sometime before midnight tonight. They have done everything possible to prepare. I think that Dylan believes that everyone lives like that - storm after storm. Laurie is expecting to be without power for an extended period this time - the repairs done after Hurricane Frances were temporary. Now all the repair crews are over on the Gulf trying to clean up after Hurricane Ivan. Florida is obviously not ready for this kind of an assault by Mother Nature. Chip's trip was cancelled, so at least they are all together.

Dick called from Belleville. Belleville beat Fordson last night 14-7. They are having a great season so far. He doesn't think they are that good, they're just lucky.