Such a Disappointment, Wolverines - Happy Birthday Jana!

Seventeen Unanswered Power U-M to Victory at UConn

9/22/2013 - Postgame: Hoke | Gardner/Toussaint | Morgan | Photo Gallery
Seventeen unanswered points -- highlighted by a Desmond Morgan leaping interception and two rushing TDs from Fitzgerald Toussaint -- propelled No. 15 U-M to a 24-21 win at UConn. More [+]

Dick and I were really appalled at the incompetence of our team tonight.  It was so painful to watch the first half.  We watched in disbelief.  Dick kept rewinding to watch the plays again to try to figure out what was going wrong.  The blocking was atrocious - looked worse than high school.  Oh sure, it's a W, but it's nothing to be proud of.  I hope they all have a good bye week, and will be looking halfway decent when they start the Big Ten season.  Heavy sigh.

 

Happy birthday Jana!  We had fun on the phone, and she liked her present and cards - so in that way, it was a very good day!

A New Development

We found out today that the biopsy showed that I have liver cancer, stage 1,  caught very early.  One of the blood markers for cancer has a normal result of 6.0 and lower.  Mine was 6.1 - so that's really early.

 Have an appointment Monday with oncologist for consultation about treatment options.   Dr. Ruch is relatively new to the area, and starting a new practice.  He was highly recommended by a colleague of Dr. Burke's, my primary care physician.  Dr. Burke thinks that this new Doc will be up to date on all of the latest techniques and treatments.

Dr. Burke recommends surgery to remove the cancer if I can qualify for it.  Because of my anemia,  low platelet count and diabetes it may be a moot point.  It depends on how risky the surgeon thinks it might be.  It will be interesting to see what the oncologist says.

 We are optimistic and hopeful - all other test results have been normal, and we are convinced of a positive outcome.

I don't really know how to do this living with cancer thing - I suppose you just do as you're told, cross your fingers and hope for the best.  What helps me the most right now is having  a great life partner such as Dick who is caring, willing and effective :)

I am mentally using Barb as my inspiration for overcoming - I want to be a survivor, too :)   And also my Kanitz niece Pam, who is battling breast cancer with such humor and fortitude!

 It's really amazing how fast things are moving and how lucky I've been to get immediate appointments.  Stay tuned :)

It's OVER!! We DID IT !!

Yesterday Dick had a consultation with Dr. Recchia which turned out well.  He is to cut one of his meds in half daily, and go back for a stress test followed by an echo cardiogram  on next Wed., Sept. 25th.

Today I had the liver biopsy at Munson with some of the nicest people you can imagine.  Dr. Broder was the main man, and Michelle was the CT operator and make-the-patient-comfortable person. 
I spent a most uncomfortable and sleepless night in anticipation of this biopsy.  What a waste of time!  I felt nothing during the entire procedure.  They are very careful to numb the affected areas, and one needle is inserted and the other needle just goes in and out of the stationery needle.  No pain.

There is a long recovery period - checking vitals, checking band-aid, etc. There was a great male nurse, and Nurses Merry and Chris.  We were at the hospital from 7:30 until 12:15.  During that time we had our own TV, and chose a meal, and had our own private room.  I can resume regular activities Friday.

Now we're back home and glad that all of this is over for now.  Dick has his tests next week, and Dr. Burke should have the biopsy results next Tues. or Wed.  Hooray!  I think we're both headed for a nap soon :)

Hooray For Meds

I left a couple of voice mails at Munson radiology yesterday saying that I was unable to keep the appointment, and I'm so impressed with their efficiency - they called me at 8 this morning! They were very sweet and understanding...whew! My biopsy has been rescheduled for this Wed., the 18th. My medication has begun to kick in.  I'm still a little limpy and gimpy, but at least I can walk!

Another Gout Post

On Friday the 13th I had the worst gout attack ever in recorded history. (Well, maybe)  The bottom line is that I literally can't walk.  It's agony just making it into the bathroom.  Consequently, I have cancelled my liver biopsy.  It was supposed to be tomorrow - there's no way I could get there. 

 

 Dick's heart procedure is still on, and I'm hoping that by Tuesday I'll be able to drive him home - it's my left foot, so driving shouldn't be a problem.

Nice Win !!

This is just about the only thing in the world that would have us staying up past midnight!

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  • Yahoo

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	Jeremy Gallon

Sep 7, 2013
• Postgame: Press Conference | Highlights
•Box Score | Quotes | Notes | 
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Stadium)
Event: Under the Lights II
Score: #17 Michigan 41, #14 Notre Dame 30
Records: U-M (2-0), UND (1-1)
Attendance: 115,109
Next U-M Game: Saturday, Sept. 14 -- vs. Akron (Michigan Stadium), Noon
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior/junior quarterback Devin Gardner (Detroit, Mich./Inkster) accounted for 376 yards of total offense and five touchdowns, while fifth-year senior wide receiver Jeremy Gallon (Apopka, Fla./Apopka) set career highs in both receiving yards (184) and touchdowns (three) to guide the No. 17-ranked University of Michigan football team to a 41-30 victory over No. 14 Notre Dame on Saturday (Sept. 7) in the second-ever night game at Michigan Stadium. The win is the program's 400th at the Big House.
Right before kickoff, Gardner was awarded the No. 98 jersey, the number designated to newly minted Michigan Football Legend Tom Harmon. The U-M quarterback is the first player to wear that number since Harmon in 1940, a span of 73 years. Officially, Gardner went 21-of-33 for 294 yards and four touchdowns through the air, adding 13 rushes for 82 yards and one touchdown. Michigan fifth-year senior running back Fitzgerald Toussaint (Youngstown, Ohio/Liberty) carried the ball 22 times for 71 yards.
Shining under the lights defensively, junior cornerback Raymon Taylor (Detroit, Mich./Highland Park) led the team with 11 tackles, while junior/sophomore cornerback Blake Countess (Owings Mills, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) had six tackles and two interceptions.

Good One

I hope you can read this - it is priceless!  Good old Julie!

Letter to Emilie

Tomorrow we're having an open house for real estate agents - we're hoping that somebody will come to that!  It is really hard to keep the house ready for anything at all times - but we're getting better at it.  The first couple of times we were really stressed.  Now it's just kind of a ho-hum thing.  

Our GenFest reunion was a huge success.  It was a bad day - cold and rainy.  But it didn't matter - we all had such a good time.  The weather was not conducive to river sports at all.  We had an outdoor scavenger hunt between the raindrops, and the big hit of the day was Jana's "Not-So-Newlywed Game" where we found out how well we know our spouses!  The children always enjoy a golf cart tour (or three) around the property, and that was fun, too. While the 60+ set kept busy catching up on the latest family news, the younger set was downstairs playing cards and watching the littlest ones be so cute :)  We always have a picnic at one o'clock and a reprise at around 6, and then a campfire at night with s'mores.  By campfire time the rain had pretty much stopped, and everybody had jackets, so it was a successful campfire too.  I was very pleased that all of our offspring could be here.

Tom is still job hunting - he has a terrific resume and really good connections in many places, so we're not worried about him yet.  His age may work against him - he'll be 50 in October.  I'm not sure how much that counts these days.

Your cottage sounds like more fun than ever!  It's wonderful that both of your kids enjoy it so much - it's such a big part of your lives.

I just don't know what to say about Pam's situation.  It's tragic that she has to go through all of this in the prime of her life - with such a great husband and those two lovable boys.  I did not know that she's having a double - I know we're all hoping that everything goes well and stays well.  She seems strong enough to handle it all, but doggone it - it's not fair.  Thank goodness for the advanced medical procedures available now, and thank goodness for caring people who help patients get through everything they have to endure.  

Skunked

Nobody came to our Open House.

We do have a really clean house now, though :)

It's a bummer for us, of course, but as Scarlett said - "Tomorrow is another day".

Open House

888 E. River Road will be open to the public from noon to three this afternoon.  This has me a little worried, thinking of strangers walking around the house looking into closets, etc.  On the other hand, we do want people to come and check it out and maybe get interested!

We've never done this before.  We just hope that we've done everything we could to prepare for this event.  The saddest thing would be if no one even came to look at our house.  It has taken quite a bit of preparation, and we would really like to have somebody take an interest in it.

We don't actually know much about what's involved - I've heard from several sources that:

1.  All of the lights in the house should be turned on.
2. We should not be here during the hours of the Open House.
3.  The house should be "staged" to look its absolute best.

Number 3 is the one that has me worried.  I know nothing abou how to "stage" my house.  Anyway, most of our decorative item have been packed in boxes all ready to be moved.  So I guess we just make do with what we have left, which is not a lot!

Want to buy a riverside home?  Please?

Wed. - Lunch with Dick and Linda;

Thurs. - gym, clean house, mail ebay orders;
Fri - physical exam, organize house;
Sat. - more house cleaning, errands, meet and greet;
Sun. - Open House with realtor from 12 to 3.
A busy life, a busy week...anybody want to buy a house on the river?

http://www.cbgreatlakes.com/beccy.janis/Property/MI/49686/Traverse_City/888_River_Road

Upcoming Open House

Lunch with Dick and Linda at Art's.  While we were there, realtor Jim explored our house to get prepared for the Open House on Sunday afternoon. We are keeping busy with more downsizing to help us get ready, too.  Next comes "staging", and I don't have a clu After lunch at Art's with friends, we had a DNF in Glen Arbor and decided to give this one a try. The find was quick, sat on the bench to log and a young couple came and sat on the dock and stared at me. There was another couple enjoying the view and breeze behind me. I waited and waited until a jet ski buzzed into action and drew their attention and then rehid the cache. Not as well as I would have liked but it got the job done. Left nothing, took nothing, just signed the log. Thanks for giving us our souvenir for Day 21.  08/21/2013 You found Stick Around   Visit Log After lunch at Art's with friends, we had a DNF in town and decided to give this one a try. The find was quick, sat on the bench to log and a young couple came and sat on the dock and stared at me. There was another couple enjoying the view and breeze behind me. I waited and waited until a jet sky buzzed into action and drew their attention and then rehid the cache. Not as well as I would have liked but it got the job done. Left nothing, took nothing, just signed the log. Thanks for giving us our souvenir for Day 21.
08/21/2013	You couldn't find  CRO- Turtle Cove		Visit Log
The GPS was off today, searched but blanked
08/20/2013	You found  No Outlet		Visit Log
We had a busy day and my attempt at a dash and grab earlier was a fail. I'd been saving this one for just such a situation as this. Made a quick find of the unique hide, signed the log and replaced as found. Thanks for giving us our Day 20 souvenir.
08/19/2013	You posted a note for August M&G at BC Pizza		Visit Log
We will be there, that brings us to 11, please let us know by Wed so we can alert the staff at BC
08/19/2013	You found  Go Ahead and Log It!		Visit Log
We were out in the neighbor hood at the Dr's office (Geocaching is what we do between Dr's appointments) and wanted to get a cache for Day 19. Decided to hustle over before the anesthetic wore off. Thanks to the hint, previous logs, and work on "Bring Something Home for Dinner" it was a short walk and a quick find. This is definitely our kind of cache and hide. Since we were treating it as a P&G, we left and took nothing. Signed the log and replaced as found. Thanks for giving us our Day 19 souvenir.

Mr. Marshal, Lake Ann and Black Bear

Marsh stopped in for a visit this morning.  He was on his way home from kayaking in the U.P.  We had a nice lunch and a great visit.

Our 18th August find was over in Lake Ann.  Another great day for a ride.  We have had a series of splendid days!  Heat is on the way, though, so we're wnjoying being temperate while we can!

 08/18/2013    You found  Lake Ann Needs Another Cache!         Visit Log
We went for a ride around the lakes and wanted to earn our souvenir for Aug. 18. Thanks for giving us an opportunity to claim Day 18. Signed log and replaced as found. TFTC

On the way home from Lake Ann, we drove past 4805 Black Bear Lane, another condo prospect.  It's in Black Bear Farms, off Cedar Run Road.  Nice location, nice neighborhood, although not very woodsy, but nice.

http://www.traverseareahomesource.com/property/4805-BLACK-BEAR-DR-Traverse-City-MichiganBLACK-BEAR-DR-Traverse-City-Michigan

International Geocaching Day

Today is International Geocaching Day.  There are events all around the world to celebrate the day.  We just decided to participate by finding a cache for Day 17 of the August challenge, and by turning Basswood Bessie into a Travel Bug and giving her a good home.

Yesterday we headed west to Manistee, so today we headed east to Grayling.  Here are Dick's logs:



 08/17/2013    You found  Apples to apples 
      
On our way back from Grayling we didn't want to just drive through town without one more find. Signed log and replaced as found. TFTC


 08/17/2013    You found  SWS - Grayling on the M&NE
       
We were out caching in the area today and had to stop for lunch. If it's lunch time in Grayling, where else but at Spikes? Afterwards, we wanted to grab a quickie before we left town. This was it. Thanks for the cache. Took nothing, left our card and flashlight. All was well until I started back to the car, tripped on a branch and took a header. Oh well, nothing that a bit of ice and an elastic wrap won't take care of.

 08/17/2013    You found  Paul Bunyan's micro         Visit Log
Out caching on a fantastic August afternoon. We made the find, signed the log, and replaced as found. TFTC


 08/17/2013    You found  Mystery Spot II         Visit Log

We were getting ready to go snag a cache when Bessie announced she wanted to come with us. She also said she wanted to go for a ride. We all got in the cache mobile and aimed for Grayling. When she saw the river she told us that she wanted to sit and watch for a spell. We found a good spot and left her sitting on the bank while we came on to find a cache for Day 17. This was the perfect spot. With some research it would make a great Earth Cache. We made the find, signed the log and traded our flashlight for a duck. Thanks for bringing us to such a neat spot and for giving us the cache that earned us our Day 17 souvenir.

This is Bessie of Basswood Bend sitting next to Richard.  She loves her new location and she would like to participate in some geocaching, and to visit events, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Facebook Fun

Morgan's canning plant

You Know you are from Traverse City, Michigan when....

Anyone know this whereabouts ?  You should.
                                                               ****************

Brian Thomas:  It is now the open space. I moved here in 1973 and it was there still but very briefly...in
fact I think they took it down right after that summer.

Nancy Steiger : My Dad, Dutch Kanitz, was the weighmaster there for several summers in the 40s. Teachers were always looking for summer jobs!

Cinda Kinney Simmons Nancy Steiger - I remember your dad from JHi. Did he also coach football?

Judith Keller Albers:  Nancy, I also remember your dad. He was my 8th grade math teacher at Central Elementary when it was the Jr. High.

Shirley Weller Martinek:    Nancy Steiger...my dad also worked at Morgans and was a friend of your dad.  Mr Kanitz was my math teacher in 8th grade and it was my favorite class (I loved math). Also, we purchased a set of World Book Encyclopedias from him.

Charley Green:  I had Mr Kanitz for math in 1958

Nancy Steiger:   Shirley Weller Martinek, Judith Keller Albers, Cinda Kinney Simmons, Charley Green - yes to all of you  That was my Dad. He taught 8th grade arithmetic and coached football and baseball. Selling World Book Encyclopedias was another of his summer jobs. Nice to have him remembered. :)

Day Tripper

On a gorgeous Friday morning, we headed down M37 to do some caching around Manistee.  Haven't been down this road in a coon's age.  It really hasn't changed much - not much development going on around these parts.  The forest is dense and lush, and it makes for a beautiful, relaxing drive.

The new Douglas Park on Lake Michigan right in the town of Manistee is a well planned, fresh new facility.  It's right on the shore, of course - with a sugar sand beach.  There's a terrific playground for kids, great picnic opportunities, brand new bathrooms - just an A-1 place to visit.  Today the Lake was smooth and deep blue - such great scenery.

We had lunch at The House of Flavors - an old favorite.  I wish we had one in T.C., but they're just in Ludington and Manistee.

We got the cache for today - number 16 for August....plus a few more :)

08/16/2013	You found Treasures of Frankfort #7		Visit Log
This was our second find in town and our last of the day as we were getting tired and decided to just head straight home. Thanks for the cache.
08/16/2013	You found Treasures of Frankfort #6		Visit Log
We drove over today to view the Lake and harbor. We couldn't resist grabbing a couple of caches while in town. Made the find, signed the log and replaced as found.
08/16/2013	You found Turkey Trot Series 9 - On a Seasonal Road		Visit Log
We are on a driving tour "Down Memory Lane". Down 37 and back up 22 with a break for the occasional cache. We haven't been able to catch the Turkey Trot event the past few years because of scheduling conflicts so it was fun for us to combine our love for the back roads with the grab of this cache. Made the find, signed the log and traded our flashlight for a small hand sanitizer. Thanks for the fun.
08/16/2013	You couldn't find Sledding in Manistee		Visit Log
Not today, couldn't even spot the tree.
08/16/2013	You found Cricket's Favorite Park		Visit Log
We came down to Manistee today for two reasons. One was a trip down memory lane, we had many visits with our friends who were here have since moved on, and the second was to log Day 16 of the 31 day Challenge. We have been having a bad week caching, on Monday we logged 4 DNF's before we made a find. Since our kids gave us an iPad mini with the geocaching app for Christmas, it, and the iPhone have been our GPSr of choice. However, this past week it has let us down a bit and so for this trip I went back to the old faithful Garmin as backup. While loading it with caches, we spotted the caching wonderdog's favorite park cache and highlighted it. Thank the Lord I had loaded the Garmin because we could not get enough of a signal from Verizon to work the Apple devices. We waited out the friendly lady with the puppy but our hunt turned out to be under the supervision of the frisky fellow who arrived just after she left. We kept our back to him and told his human that I was looking for bird signs. Thanks for placing the cache here where it added to our day of memories and gave us our souvenir for Day 16.

If At First...

08/15/2013	You found Trail Starter		Visit Log
We came out the other day and were using the iPad. We had to claim a DNF. As I was posting it I saw the log by Boxman Crew with the revised cords. I don't know how or if you can adjust the cords on an iPad so I came back today with the revised cords loaded into the Garmin. Bingo!! This gives us our souvenir for Day 15 of the 31 day challenge.

Another Day in Paradise!

It was a little strange driving through town this morning.  There was significantly less traffic than we've seen all summer.  Couldn't figure out why those left turns were so much easier today!  There did seem to be a lot of touristy foot-traffic on Front Street, just less traffic over all.

 Then we were off to get a cache for today - the 14th day in a row!  We wanted to capture the Glen Haven cache that we couldn't find the other day - we still couldn't find it.

It was another gorgeous day for driving around Leelanau County, and we really enjoyed it.  Lunch at Art's is a firm tradition - today we had good timing and were seated right away.  The tavern was full of families with small children - we always enjoy watching the antics of the kids - and then we enjoy driving away without them ;)

08/14/2013	You found CRO- Canoe Portage		Visit Log
The 31 days of Geocaching gave us an excuse to head up to Glen Arbor and have lunch at Art's. Chicken Jalapeno soup! YUM!! After lunch we claimed this find. Thanks for placing it here, it gives us our Day 14 souvenir and a great lunch stop.

August 13

This was Mother Gen's birthday.  It's also the birthday of our sister-in-law Emilie.  So Happy Birthday, then and now :)

08/13/2013	You found Rest In Down		Visit Log
We are working on the 31 Days of Geocaching challenge and need to score one for 8/13. It's my mom's birthday. Traverse City's citizen of the year in 1962, she would have been 118 today. Yesterday was our worst day of caching in our 10 years. Four DNF's before we could make a find and that one the owner practically led me by the hand, they sent a picture for Pete's sake! My puzzle for today is - Why can I find Peppermintpatti's evil hides but not Team*Churinga's? Oh well, maybe tomorrow. Anyway, made the find, signed the log and replaced as found. Thanks guys for giving us the souvenir for Day 13