A Shower for Amy

The picnic is over - long live the Shower! Barb, the hostess, changed the venue from her home to an air-conditioned restaurant. We met at 11 a.m. at South City Limits for Amy's Bridal Shower. It was just charming. There were eight of us who all survived GenFest together, and were ready for brunch: Barb, Sharon, Melissa, Shelly, Laurie, Melanie, Amy, and me. The private room was blessedly cool, and the brunch was the best I've seen in a long time. The company was great, the gifts were fun, and it was a good time.

Then it was time for the Concord Place family picnic - Mom was proud to have the biggest family group in attendance - Dick and me, Chip, Laurie, Dylan, and Tom. The food was OK, the games were stupid, but we all hung in there. Laurie and I were full from the great brunch earlier, but the men enjoyed the hot dogs and beans and such.

Afterwards it was time to go home and put our feet up and relax after our Big Weekend.
We had to ration water use - no washing machine, etc. because of the septic failure yesterday.

July 15, 2006

GenFest is here at last! Odette and Jana were the two who couldn't make it this year, and they were missed all day long. We had Tom, Laurie, Chip and Dylan, Sharon, John, Derek, Kevin and Amy, Barb, Jim, Melissa, Peter, Autumn, Brooke, Adam, Melanie, Lydia, Shelly and Chris, Doug, Dave, Beth, Lauren, Sue, John, Kris, Molly, Roger, Megan, Fay, and Jackson, Dick and Nan for a total of 34.

The dining room table was groaning from all of the delicious dishes. John and Adam were the intrepid cooks laboring over hot grills in 95 degree heat. We couldn't have done it without them.. Thank you John and Adam!











The food was delicious as usual, and I think everybody got what they wanted, even Lauren, who didn't want grill marks on her hot dog!

My favorite picture of the day was the father/daughter Lichtenberg picture of John and Kris.

The coolest spot in the afternoon turned out to be the umbrella table because of the breeze and the shade from the umbrellas. It started out to be a hen party, but then others joined us to enjoy the coolness.

We didn't get any pictures of all of the activities. Tubing and canoeing were popular because of the heat. The river temperature is always refreshing to say the least! The trebuchet was a lot of fun - we lofted quite a few water balloons and it worked perfectly. The activity soon turned into a water balloon fight though, which was really quite predictable! Nobody enjoyed it more than Dylan.

Volley ball was great fun - people played until the game was called on account of darkness. The volley ball observers gallery was fun, too. The kids had fun playing with the old fireplace and the spring water - they pretended they were cooking. That bodes well for future reunions, don't you think?

I didn't go to the campfire, but I hear that there was one and that it was good, and some people went home to put the kids to bed and then came back! That means it had to be good!

So another memorable GenFest is over. I think I'll remember this one especially because of the heat. It has to be the warmest on record (if we had records).

Set Up

This is the day before GenFest - when the rubber hits the road! Merry Maids came in the morning.

We had all kinds of last minute things to do. In the evening, family came to help set up for tomorrow. Dick and I left to go pick up Tom at the airport. He's sporting a big blue cast on his broken arm. He says it will come off in two more weeks. Tom's luggage did not arrive with him, and is scheduled to arrive around 11:30 p.m.

When we got back to the house, the folks had the tent halfway put up already.
We had pizza for everyone as we usually do, and I had a great time watching everyone else work hard moving tables, etc.

(In actuality, the luggage arrived at midnight, so I didn't really get my beauty sleep the night before the big event.)

Inaugural Blaze

The first campfire of the summer happened last night. Adam came out, and he and Laurie, Chip and Dylan had a great time burning old stuff like a ladder, a table, a bench, and pallets...quite an inaugural blaze. After Dylan's bath and bedtime, Laurie went back out to the campfire and nobody came back in until 2 a.m.

Shelley, Autumn and Brooke came over around 10 a.m. to play with Dylan and Laurie. Dick and I went to the hardware store for flag brackets, and to GFS to get the burgers and brats for the picnic. When we got home, the kids were playing in the river. Laurie fixed hot dogs for everybody. She wasn't feeling very perky, so after lunch the kids watched Hoodwinked, and Laurie took a nap. I went to do recycling and to return cans and bottles.

Dick is valiantly trying to finish the trebuchet with Chip's help. They've been working on it for a couple of hours now, and so far there's been only one trip to Menard's. My job is to make the sling/pouch - I think I've found the perfect fabric.

Chip has found a house he loves 4 miles away in Mayfield. He is totally excited about it - Laurie seems less than thrilled. She's concerned about where Dylan would go to school, etc. They have just gone to take a look at it.

Cousins and Then More Cousins!

Dick painted everything in sight - all decks and porches and even the dock! Chip and Dylan washed and scrubbed and disinfected (not really) the playhouse to prepare for all of the little girl cousins who will be coming on Saturday or before.

Laurie and I made brownies for the Official Brownie Competition this Saturday - she used a heritage recipe from Mother for her famous frosted brownies. I made brownies from a recipe titled Knock You Naked Brownies. We ate some, but we kept our clothes on. In the first unofficial taste test, Dylan liked his Mommy's better than mine.

I went to Glen's and ordered little sandwiches for our evening meal on Saturday. We did that last year too, and it was a big hit. Bought some stuff for Mother, and went to visit her. We cleaned out her sock drawer - thrills a minute! She's fine.

The Gillespies went to the Bounce Arena with Shelly, Autumn and Brooke. They had a great time. We met them for dinner at the Mongolian Barbecue. The kids were all flushed and had wet hair from bouncing for an hour and a half! Dylan said that Mommy was a wimp because she didn't go on the Space Bounce-a-tron. (I don't know, either.)

Adam met us at M.B. just for a drink and a visit and plans were made for a campfire tonight! More plans were made for Shelly, Autumn and Brooke to come over in the morning to play and maybe have hot dogs for lunch.

The Chipster

Chip is here!! Hooray! His plane landed shortly after noon, and they all went out to lunch at Apache. I was at home helping Uncle Danny, the handyman. He is doing odd jobs around the house, inside and out. He's very handy I must say! He'll be back on Thursday to finish up.

When they got back, I went to Glen's and did the big shopping for the rest of the week and for the picnic on Saturday. I got all the stuff for brownie-making and for Laurie's black bean salad. Thursday we'll go to GFS and get the meat.

We finished the Nancy Drew game, and we're starting on Syberia. Dylan seems to like it just fine, but he's still disappointed that we can't load EverQuest.

We all went for a ride again to look at subdivisions and houses. Laurie saw a green one that she liked quite a lot. Some of the new houses are absolutely huge!

Dick did steaks on the grill, and Laurie and Chip made a great salad.

Superman

Grandma and Dylan love to play games on the computer. I don't know which one has the most fun!

In the morning, Dick worked at the Agency, and Laurie and Dylan met Shelly, Autumn and Brooke for bowling. It sounds like a great time was had. After bowling they went to McDonald's Funland. What could be better than that?

In the afternoon, we finished the Old Mission Tour - yaay - . Here is Laurie's log (they are Sharkie Crew): .

July 10 by sharkie crew (101 found)
It's our 100th find!! I think Grandpa planned it that way!
We took two days to discover the clues. The smallest member of sharkie crew gets grumpy after awhile in the car. Our group had lunch at Bad Dog Deli, very yummy sandwiches. We had fun finding the cache and listening to Grandpa's stories. Small sharkie enjoyed driving past the cherry place where Grandpa once worked. We love you Grandpa!!

Then we stopped in at the Old Mission General Store for ice cream. Dylan was having trouble deciding between Mackinac Island Fudge or Superman, so the scooper gave him a little taste test, and Superman won, hands down.

Back in town, we drove through a couple of subdivisions looking at houses for sale. It happens every summer!

We've been playing the Nancy Drew Secret of the Old Clock PC game, and it's a blast. It has many puzzles and games need to finish the whole thing. We've all been stretching our brains over this game! Dylan is almost always at the controls, of course. He's a very good thinker and problem solver.

Bad Dog

We got a good early start on the Old Mission Tour. Dylan figured out all of the clues, and we had a great day. We didn't do it all - we saving the grand finale for tomorrow!

We had lunch at the Bad Dog Deli, a new favorite of ours. Everybody really enjoyed it. Dylan had fun drinking root beer out of a bottle.

We stopped at Haserot Beach to see if he would enjoy swimming there, but the water was way too cold for him. He says, "You know, I'm from Florida!"

He did want to get in some beach time, so we called it quits and went to East Bay Park where the water is shallow and warm. I think he was in the water for an hour!

We all trooped up to see Mother - she was anxiously awaiting us. She was happy to see us all.

The Arrival

Laurie and Dylan arrived a little after noon today. They had good flights, and we were so glad to see them! They both have a case of the sniffles, but we're hoping that it will be temporary! Dylan chose to bring Sheepy along on the trip - Laurie said that he had to dig Sheepy out from the bottom of the toy box where he's been for months! I think he associates Sheepy with us. Obviously.

We went to Scott's for lunch - it was a gorgeous day, but quite windy, so we sat inside - it was great.

We planned to do the Old Mission tour tomorrow.

Just For Fun

This meme was totally stolen from friend Mitchy in the UK ("Scribblings From the Mitchy Side" - see link above). I'm absolutely thrilled to be Wuthering Heights. Give it a try!

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

On the other hand, I was stunned to find out that I'm emaciated! I'm willing to be emaciated of course, but in reality.....not so much!

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Laundromats I Have Loved - NOT

Since our washer flooded the laundry room floor last weekend, the laundry has been piling up. Max's can come and fix it, and they should come Thursday or Friday. But laundry waits for no repairman.

So off I went in search of a laundromat. I nixed the one by Tom's 14th as being too much in the middle of Festival traffic. Aha, I thought, there's one on Garfield over by ex-Oleson's. Well that one was full of men for some reason - not just any men, but toothless men with long scraggly oily hair and dirty hats - at least seven of them. I didn't want to spend a hour with them - call me picky.

There's a "nice" laundromat by Tom's East Bay. It was not bad at all, unless you count the three screaming children who kept running around the place, and in and out of the door. They would run out, and open their car door and get things to play with. The problem was that I had inadvertently parked next to them, and their door was occasionally hitting my car. I said, "Please don't bump my car" in a very pleasant voice, which is when I found out that they didn't speak English.

I think the last time I was in a laundromat was in 1991 in Sydney Australia. We carried bags of our laundry through The Rocks area and walked a long, scenic way to the laundromat. Those were the days when I was still a walker! That laundromat was owned by an Asian man, and was OK, but not much.

On our trip out west we went to many laundromats, but two are memorable. One was in Coos Bay, Oregon, a fishing community. The whole town smelled like fish. The laundromat was particularly fishy. I was afraid that our clothes would never be the same. In actuality, it was fine, and our clothes did not have aroma-of-the-sea.

The other memorable one was in Yellowstone Village, in the national park. I couldn't believe my eyes! The sign said we could leave the laundry and pick it up tomorrow washed, dried, and folded. Oh what a deal - we were planning on staying in the area for five days or more - I was in paradise! The next day we picked up our clothes in paper sacks, very nicely laundered. It was a vacation inside a vacation!

When we were living in Belleville, I was teaching full time and we had three kids who each insisted on using one towel a day. I was overwhelmed with the laundry. I could handle the teaching, cooking, shopping, taking kids to activities, the dog, the cats, yard work, etc. But I just couldn't keep up with the damn laundry. Then I discovered that the Monarch Laundry in Romulus would do it for me! I would drop off a huge laundry bag full every week, and pick it up the next week. It wasn't perfect - they didn't do much sorting, and the folding was iffy, but it really saved my bacon. We did that for almost three years.

Looking back, I guess that laundry has always been kind of a bugaboo for me. I enjoy it much more in retirement! I still hate laundromats.

The day began with two hours of sitting at the computer trying to satisfy the requirements of Sony/Everquest technical help so that we can run EverQuest when Dylan is here. I've tried everything to get it going, but I keep getting error messages. After the first help letter didn't help, I asked again and the second letter had a list of information that they needed to figure out what the problem was - find some obscure files and then zip them - such a pain! It took me two hours and it'll probably be days before I get a response.

Then I went to get a perm at BoTangles, and to visit Mother. I took her a couple of different types of lotions for itchiness. She seems in fine fettle.
On the way to the laundromat, I stopped at the cemetery to check on our geraniums. They were in bad shape - totally dry. I was generous with watering them and I'm sure they'll revive.

Meanwhile, back at 888, Dick was cleaning out the garage and taking chuddah to the dump, closely followed by mowing the entire yard. So we're in great shape - we feel like we each accomplished a lot today.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY !!













Bessie has the 4th of July spirit, ready to greet canoers and kayakers. As a matter of fact, right this minute there is a group of people smack dab in front of our house, beached on the sand across the river, and swimming in the hole. We seem to have the prime location for a beach party. Another group did the same thing yesterday.









Photographic evidence of the Beach Party across from us! They settled in - they've already been there for 45 minutes!






We helped Mother celebrate the Fourth at Concord Place. I was surprised that she let me take her picture - she's usually opposed to having her photo taken.




It has been a lovely day. After we visited Mother, we went downtown and parked in the parking deck, and strolled around town. We had coffee at Horizon - great people-watching during the Cherry Festival. We had a slice and a Coke at Pangea Pizza and sat out on the sidewalk. There are so many people in town, and such a lot to see - it was fascinating. We may not be very racially diverse in T.C., but we certainly have a lot of Caucasian diversity - everything from the tattooed, pierced and dyed to the elegant and upper class - and all things in between. Everybody comes to town this week.

Dick is walking in the Heritage Parade tonight with the Visitor Center Volunteers. They will be Unit 41 - keep your eyes peeled! The parade starts at 7 p.m.

9 p.m. Update:

Laurie and Dylan are on the beach at Delray Beach waiting for the fireworks to begin. She sent these cell phone pictures. They're not the best quality because it's twilight there, and they're phone pictures, but it's another part of the 4th of July :)

Round Robin 2006

Here are the SLGs, TCHS Class of '53. This picture was taken fifty years later in 2003. There are only nine of us here because of the others, one is down with a stroke, one was unable to make it here from Montana this year, and 2 have not come to any reunions although they do contribute to the Round Robin.From left to right: Betty, Nan G., Sandy N., Sandy M., Nola, June, Me, Freda, Mary. 

The SLG Round Robin came today - such fun reading the letters and looking at all of the pictures! Here's the letter that I'm including this year:

Another year has gone by already. Doesn’t it seem like they go by faster these days? This has been a good year for us. It’s been a year of surprises, good luck, fun, and family contacts.

I finished the Kanitz Family Tree Project in time to hand out the books at the annual Kanitz Reunion in September. It was a huge project, and I thoroughly enjoyed working on it.

In September we drove to Washington, D.C. to be with daughter Jana on her birthday. Dick’s birthday is the day after hers, and we celebrated his birthday by packing up Jana’s office and putting everything in crates to be moved to her new office. We were just glad to be there to help out. Her boss gave her tickets for all of us to go to a Nationals baseball game. Our seats were really good, and it was an eventful evening. We sat by Tim Russert, James Carville, and Jesse Jackson, and we saw Barry Bonds hit a homerun. Not our typical T.C. type of evening!

Geocaching remains a big part of our lives - it’s a most satisfying hobby. It takes us to places we would never see otherwise and really helps us explore our world. One of the most interesting things we came across this year was in the Brundage Wilderness Cemetery in Benzie County. It’s accessible only by two-tracks, and way out in the middle of nowhere. We strolled around and came across the grave of Dr. Thomas C. Hall, class of ‘53. It was very strange coming upon his memorial by accident. He had a most unusual life, and his resting place is also most unusual.

Sometimes, visiting Mother can be a very interesting experience. She begins to reminisce about her childhood, and it’s just charming. My favorite is a story about the funeral of her Grandmother. All of the children in the family (her sibs and cousins) were seated on a stairway during the funeral, and they got the giggles. Mother says that they couldn’t help it, and the adults were mortified. She still feels awful about it after all these years. She would have been 13 or 14 at the time. Another memory was of the privy. It was completely surrounded by lilac bushes and really smelled terrific in the springtime when the lilacs were blooming. She can crack me up, too. During the Olympics, I asked her if she had watched the figure skating. She said, “Yes, and a lot of those girls are foreign.” So hard to keep a straight face!

This is the year that I made a quilt! It’s quite a joke, because I’m the furthest thing from a seamstress that you can imagine! We had all of Mother Gen’s living descendants provide quilt squares with their names on them, and my job was to sew them all together. It’s not perfect by a long shot, but it’s finished, and if you examine it from 20 feet away, it doesn’t look too bad. If it looks bad to you, just back up a little bit more.

Dick spent months helping seniors with the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit. He made presentations all over northern Michigan, and he did a great job if I do say so myself!

He became acquainted with some new doctors and every test known to modern man this year. We were very lucky because his heart problem could be treated with medication, and his latest echocardiogram was almost totally normal. (Big sigh of relief)

My health is stable - three chronic conditions, all under control. Of course I’m still way too big, but I can have a good time if I’ve a mind to (to borrow from an old country song).

In January, we visited son Tom in San Diego and had a marvelous time. We did all the San Diego things - Balboa Park, Old Town, GasLamp District, Wild Animal Park. Dick and I couldn’t decide which was the most fun. The whole trip was really delightful.

Laurie, Chip and Dylan are still in Florida. We haven’t seen Dylan for a year, but we talk to him every day on the phone, so we feel like we’re keeping up with him. He’s the best grandson that there ever was - he just can’t help it!
Soon the three of them will be arriving for the month of July - a month that all of us look forward to every year.

Today is the first day of the 80th National Cherry Festival. The Blue Angels were flying around all afternoon, and will again tomorrow. The town is all clean and shiny for visitors - the flower beds are all freshly weeded and the grass freshly mowed. Traverse City really does show itself off nicely.

Sandy N. - You look so great in your red hat! There’s a Red Hat Society in T.C., and one of their big events is a tea at the Opera House. They’re in the Cherry Festival Parade, too. Looks like a fun way to be social.

Nola - I always enjoy the pictures of your grandchildren. This time, the picture of Jacob and Caleb is priceless! Hope you’re enjoying your summer at the cottage.

Nan/Annie/Rosie - What could be better than a new grandchild! Congratulations! I understand that you’re sad that you’ll only have 5, but even though I understand, you’re not getting any sympathy from us, proud grandparents of one! So glad to hear that Jim is back in good shape. And you, too, of course.

Freda - How sad to lose Oskar…I know how much he meant to you. I’m sure it leaves a big hole in your life. “Quite a lot of travels” is putting it mildly! I think you win the “itchy feet” award! I love looking at your fabulous pictures. It’s great to see your Mom - and the last I heard from you, she’s improving - so hooray for her. (And for you, too!)

Donna - It sounds like you have made an interesting and exciting life for yourself! It’s wonderful to have companions to travel with and enjoy life with. I certainly do hope you get to Greece! Hope your health remains stable - we’re all pulling for you. Can you feel it?

June - Have you decided where to settle down yet? We’ve seen some spectacular log homes in this area. I kind of agree with you that having built 4 homes in your lifetime might be enough! But then Jerry has to follow his bliss too. Your grandchildren are adorable, and I loved the pics of Mitchells and Wetherbees at Griffiths. Looks like a great time.

Betty - So nice of you to mention our neighbors Tom and Mary. They speak highly of you also. Too bad that you were brought together by the passing of your friend Warren. I think you folks all have a mutual admiration society!

Margo - I still treasure Sherm’s last solo visit with us. We really hit it off, and we had so much in common. I value that memory. Your grandkids are so precious! Jackson is around Dylan’s age, isn’t he? Dylan is 8 ½. What a thrill for Jackson to be ball boy! He’ll remember that the rest of his life.

Mary - It’s comforting to see that other people have computer problems too! Sorry to say that, but we’ve had computer nightmares here ever since Christmas, and are just now getting back to normal. Your ultra-interesting life continues to be an inspiration! You went to Spain, Italy and France for your 70th? I went to the Hofbrau House in Interlochen! Thanks for telling us about Justin - none of us knows what may crop up in the future for any of us.

Sandy M. - We didn’t know Cuyler as well as your Western friends did, but we’re glad we had the chance to meet him at our SLG picnics. It’s nice to have good memories. We were so sorry to hear of his passing. He was lucky to have you be his nurse at the end of his days. I hope all is well with you and yours, and that you are getting stronger every day.


Yes it is fun going down memory lane - and it’s fun getting the Robin, and reading the letters and looking at the pictures. Seeing the grandchildren is like getting a peek at the future. So we’re at a great stage in life - we can look backwards with fondness, and forward with hope.

Great Times

Beautiful day today - not a hint of rain clouds. Good morning to clean the house (Merry Maids)! Dick went shopping for deck paint and ran across a good deal at Lowe's after waiting for some service, and then waiting some more. He got a 5 gallon can of the stuff for less than half price. Such a deal! I think he's planning to paint every deck in sight. I plan to paint picnic tables for GenFest. Let's hope the rain holds off!

Tim and Susie (DinoDuo) came to town today to try the new Old Mission Tour - and they were the first finders! I think they enjoyed it, even though they did wind up doing it the hard way instead of the "easy" way. This is their log:

We had heard through the grapevine that this cache was "in the works" so were on the lookout for it. When it was published we headed off this morning to seek it and a few others on the peninsula.
We started our journey at 9:00. Took a slow gawk-filled drive up, down, and around the fabulous scenic route. Saw cherries, beautiful blue water, hills, vineyards, did we mention cherries, and several places that we had never visited before. Had a little trouble at two of the stages, but finally gathered the required info. At the final we headed off down the trail and through the woods until we came to a tall obstacle. We scaled that with some difficulty not to mention sweat and screaming quads, and after a few minutes DD-ette found the nicely hidden container. (We also found the trail)
Sorry that we didn't meet up with the BlueJay Team along the way. We really appreciate all of time, effort and troubles to place this cache. Another Basswoodbend Gem. T-FF Prize (Thank You)

When they were finished, they headed out our way, and we had a picnic on the deck. Dick made humungous hamburgers, and Susie brought great beans and a totally scrumptious low-fat low-sugar dessert (are you buying this?). We had an afternoon of great times, relaxation, good food, good company, tall tales, and beautiful weather.

Utility

Annual eye exam this morning - everything is fine. The only unpleasant part of the exam is the eye drops. Too many eye drops, some of which really sting quite badly. My eyes were dilated for about 2 hours - not so bad.

Washed Mom's "best" sweater and returned it. Had good conversations about Julius, finances, family issues, GenFest, upcoming visits, new trailer, etc. The main extended family issue is that one of my first cousins once removed has died by his own hand. He lived in Georgia. I don't remember him at all, but I certainly knew his late Mom and Dad. I'm very sad for the two remaining sisters, the only ones left from their immediate family. That has to be hard.

Picked up Dick's brand new shiny utility trailer at Kelley's. It's a great looking trailer, and I'm sure it will be put to many good uses.

Old Mission Finally Accomplished

First we went to the dump. We dumped many, many things, such as the lamp I broke and the old ironing board. In fact we dumped everything including the kitchen sink!

A problem has arisen with our Old Mission Tour. We submitted it, but the final stage was too close to another cache. That involved changing the coordinates for the final, and changing the clues. But the worst part was having to find a new place for the final stage. We needed a place that was easily accessible and yet was a good hiding place. It took my waiting for 3+ hours, and Dick walking for 5+ miles, but it was finally a done deal. Now we just have to wait for Rusty to approve it.

So the day shouldn't be a total loss, we had lunch at the Bad Dog Deli - a really delightful place. We didn't feel like a sit-down, wait-for-service lunch, and the Bad Dog was the perfect spot...casual, friendly, and yummy.

While we were on the Peninsula, Traverse City was having a severe thunder storm complete with hail. They said that the hail was deep enough to shovel in some places. We did get about seven drops on the windshield, but that was it.

Picnic on the Muskegon

A most congenial group:

Dar & Terry,
Rusty & Libby,
Dick,
Frank, Peggy & Cricket,
Gary & Donna



Mother came first this morning because we took a road trip today. I took her some pictures and some more toothbrushes. We had an abbreviated visit, and then we headed for Paris to take TeeShirts to Coychev's beautiful spot on the Muskegon River.

It was a very congenial group, with congenial hosts, and a yummy picnic - thanks Gary and Donna!

The tee shirts look great on everybody - we were really happy. Dick said we should have taken a picture with everybody facing the other direction so you can see the back too. Next time, we'll do that.

Goodbye Houghton Lake

The desk arrived this morning on schedule, and it really wasn't too difficult to get it upstairs. (Of course, I only watched!) Dollies are a wonderful invention. The desk looks great in Dick's room

After the exciting desk arrival, Dick and I set off for Houghton Lake. We had shirts to deliver to Tim and Susie, so we went by way of Grayling. We knew they weren't home, but we stuck the shirts inside their camper.

We had lunch at Coyle's, and then went to see if we could help Bill pack things up. Bill had really moved most of the stuff into the garage already. As it turned out, there was more furniture to be moved to the garage, and doo-dads to be packed in boxes. Tammy and I did the doo-dads. Tammy actually had almost the entire kitchen packed up by the time we got there. As a matter of fact, the only time these folks stood still was for 10 minutes to have a sandwich, and then to pose for me out in front. Otherwise, it was a constant blur of activity!

We're glad to hear that Jan and Kim and the boys arrived in California in one piece, including the trailer. This is an eventful summer for the whole Snider tribe. In California, Kim is moving in, Reiko is moving in, and back here Jan and Bill are moving out of northern Michigan...we're waiting for Eric and Tammy to move - just kidding.

Good luck to everyone in all of your moves and in all of your endeavors.

The Kitchen Remodel

It was another glorious day in Northern Michigan - 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We are having a great summer so far.

Today was the day! The countertops are in, and we are very pleased with the way it went. We have some minor repairs to do, but Dick is confident that he can do it. The workmen were here from around 9:30 until 4:30. Nobody said it would be easy. We will be without water in the sink and gas for the cooktop until Tuesday, when the plumber will come and hook everything up.

After everything was done today, we went to JenTees to pick up the S2S shirts. We made a stop at Thompson's to check on Mom's meds, and then we went to Scalawags for fish and chips. Cute fishy decor, and yummy hot, hot, hot fish.

Tonight we sorted the T shirts out and packed them up. We have to mail some, but Sunday we're driving to Paris to give a bunch to CoyChev, who will then take them to the next GeoBash and hand them out.

Last Look. Our old kitchen - the way it was. Good-bye yellow laminate, hello Blanco Maple Silestone.