wedding anniversary; everyone sick; crazy weather

Thursday was mine and Dan's twenty second wedding anniversary. We both had to work, and had planned on celebrating Friday and Saturday.

Well, Dan came down with a tummy bug on Wednesday, I got it at work late Thursday night, and Bill got it this morning. Yuck.

The weather was crazy yesterday anyway, so it was a good day to stay at home (for me - Dan worked, and Steven did some volunteering stuff at the school). First it was foggy and cloudy. Then it snowed. Then it sleeted. Then it rained. Then it got icy. Then we had a wind storm.

If I am going to be sick on my day off, that was a good day to be sick, and snooze in bed, and drink lots of hot tea.

Today Dan and I did go out for awhile. But we did not go to Frankenmuth as we had originally planned. Instead we spent a day in Ann Arbor. We went to Arborland Mall for a quick trip to the bookstore, then headed downtown. We went to that old institution, Treasure Mart, a resale shop. I saw a couple of old nice china serving pieces, but did not feel like paying the $6 a pop for them. We then went to Kerrytown, where we checked out the specialty food markets and bought some spices from the spice merchant. We ate lunch at the Thai restaurant (called Siam Cuisine) at Braun Court. The food was really really really good - and they brought out a huge platter for each person - a bowl of their lunch entree, a salad, thesewonderful noodles, and this really good fried rice - for something like $5.59. Unbelievable. I couldn't even eat everything. Then we went to Zingermans Deli where we bought a loaf of braided challah.

Then we went to Main Street, where we bought a lovely onyx bowl from Pakistan at Ten Thousand Villages, and did some other light shopping.

So we had a great afternoon, did not spend a whole lot of money, and were close to home in case the kids had an emergency.

There are much worse ways to celebrate an anniversary, even two days after the fact.

We might or might not go out to dinner - we will see how Bill is doing first.

Tags: Kerrytown, wedding anniversary, Siam Cuisine, Spice Merchant, Ten Thousand Villages

foggy morning foggy night

This morning we woke up to a freezing fog. It was coating all of the trees with a coating of ice.

The roads were fine, though, so Dan and I went about our days, both working.

Tonight I drove home in another thick fog, though it is not quite cold enough for it to freeze yet!

I got to talk to my dear friend John, who loved out to Vegas. He will be back in town tomorrow, and we hope to get together with a group of friends for lunch on Sunday. That will be lovely!

Tags: freezing fog, fog

peaceful Christmas

Yesterday was a lovely quiet day spent at home with Dan, Bill, and Steven.

It was glorious!

For dinner we had four cheese mashed potatoes, French cut green beans, cornbread, crescent rolls, macaroni & cheese (which I made with a full three pounds of Pinconning), and the pork. Dan sauteed some fresh garlic in olive oil and then added rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage. he used that as marinade for the pork steaks (a full three inches thick and relatively unfatty).  I do not eat pork, but it even smelled good to me. The others ate it right up. We had very few leftovers, in fact.

We did watch Harry Potter V.

Dan got me this wonderful warm homemade suede and lambs wool hat.  I had wondered why he had asked a couple of weeks ago to borrow my Tigers ball cap. It was so he could give my head measurement to the seamstress!

 

Tags: Christmas

Christmas Eve

Today was a quiet and peaceful day at home. I curled up in bed with a good book by Georgette Heyer, and the kids popped in occasionally for hugs.

Work was busier than last night, and I ended up staying for the whole eight hours of my shift. I had hoped to leave an hour or so early again, but what can you do?

Driving home was bad. There was a freezing drizzle, most unpleasant. I made it home safely, though, and hopefully so will everyone else out on the roads tonight!

Tomorrow Dan and I can both be home. I hope to have a quiet day, including a long hot bubble bath! I got the kids the new Harry Potter movie on DVD (Order of the Phoenix)  and I am sure we will watching that at some point as well.

I read a wonderful and heart warming book called Three Cups of Tea , about an American nurse who has built more than fifty schools for children in the mountainous border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. I have passed it on to Bill to read. For more about the organization which builds these schools (and clinics and clean water systems for these remote villages) go visit http://www.threecupsoftea.com

Tags: Christmas Eve, Three Cups of Tea

the weekend before Christmas

Yesterday Dan and I went out shopping for Christmas dinner. Bill had wanted a goose. I think this is because one of his main jobs last summer was to remove goose droppings from a bank parking lot in Ann Arbor. As he put it "I want to have some revenge on those feathered fiends". However, after going to three grocery stores, we were unable to find any geese. So we got some huge thick pork chops instead. So we will have that and homemade macaroni & cheese and cornbread and biscuits and all sorts of other things. It should be good.

This morning for breakfast we had apple and cinnamon pancakes, homemade with real apple pieces. It was wonderful. For lunch we had toasted bits of pita bread dipped in humus. That was also delicious.

Dan and I both have to work on Christmas Eve, and are both feeling sad about that.

Steven seems to be doing well right now. Hopefully by the time school restarts after the holidays, his concussion will be largely healed.

Work had quieted down tonight. In fact, I took a bit of vacation time and came home early. I am really tired. Dan has a cold and has been snoring loud enough to shake the walls (or keep a wife awake) the last two nights.

I am looking forward to Christmas. I love so many things about that day. If nothing else, I am looking forward to being with my family and being able to eat dinner with them on a week day.

Our wedding anniversary is on Thursday, and I will be working, as usual. But on Friday Dan and i have tentative plans to go out for a nice dinner date followed by live jazz in Ann Arbor. And on Saturday we might go up to Frankenmuth for the day. We are looking forward to a bit of time together. We are even talking about going to Chicago for a weekend together next summer - with Bill a junior in college, surely we can leave the kids here for a couple of days.

 

Tags: Christmas, wedding anniversary, Frankenmuth

the week before Christmas...

Man, last week was busy at work. Just a butt kicker. The patient census was pretty full, and as soon as we would get a bed empty through sending someone home, another person would be admitted via the emergency room right away.

I'm glad that week is over - from the horrifying drives to and from work last Sunday on the foot of new snow to the crushing work load.

Steven missed Thursday and Friday from school. He was getting headaches again. Now he will be home for the next two weeks, and can hopefully start feeling a lot better.

It is great having Bill home, even though he has been pretty grouchy off and on since getting here.

Dan hired a photographer to come out and take family portraits yesterday. We took some outside in the snow with the dog, and some inside by the Christmas tree and fireplace. The one I especially love is of the boys sitting next to the tree with their kitties. Matty was frantically trying to escape, and the picture is hilarious. Today she brought them here, and will give Dan the wallet sized ones next week. It was so convenient having her come here rather than heading into a studio. And this way we could include the cats and the dog, who are all part of the family.

Last night we had yummy guacamole and chips for dinner, followed by bean and cheese enchiladas, which were just plain good. Yummy! Tonight we will have tacos.

Dan and I will be going to go grocery shopping when he gets home and pick out Christmas dinner. We might try a goose for the first time ever this year.

I have decided that from now on, I will just make book reviews at Amazon for everything I read. That way this blog can be more about family activities again.

Tags: family pictures, busy week

big snow storm; new computer

Well, it has been a busy weekend.

On Friday we got the new computer equipment and the broadband installed. That was an all day endeavor, waiting for the various people.

On Saturday morning we got about an inch of snow; just enough to make everything pretty slippery. I got to go grocery/holiday gift shopping in the middle of that. No fun.

On Saturday night the big snow storm moved in. It also snowed most of the day today. We got about a foot, but with high winds, so the snow was blowing around like crazy.

Driving to work was really bad - I had to use four wheel drive the whole way. I am not expecting a much better drive home - since my main direction will be south, the snow will be blowing from the west and covering the roads. There were not many people out on the drive to work - hopefully there will be even fewer people out there at midnight.

I am really tired.

But Bill is home and Steven is doing well. he had a bit of a headache yesterday, but seemed fine today. Tomorrow morning he goes to the doctor, but not school, as school has already been canceled for Monday.

Tags: snow storm

last few days

Well, it has been a long few days.

On Wednesday night, while I was at work, Steven was wrestling at a meet at Carlton Airport. In his match against a kid from Sand Creek, he was slammed head first into the mat and got a concussion.

Dan called me the emergency room at UM hospital. I left work and sat with him and Steven until they cleared him to go home after the CT scan. That was a long night for all of us. I think that Dan got about two hours of sleep. Steven obviously felt like hell warmed over.

We are keeping him home until after he sees his doctor on Monday morning.

So yesterday we parents fretted and worried about our little son, though he was showing no symptoms beyond a bad headache.

Today was computer day. Dan and I are getting a new computer and broadband for the entire family for Christmas. Dan's computer guru dude set up the hardware in the morning, then the broadband guy came out in the afternoon. The new computer is working fine, but the computer guru is coming back out tomorrow to make sure that the router is working right, and that we can use the internet on the old computer (which is networked to the new one) and the wireless part works right so Bill can use his laptop up in his room. Hopefully this will all work out, and that everyone will be happy with it.

Bill is home for three weeks, which makes me happy (as well as Dan and Steven, of course)!

I'm glad that there was a gap in the winter storms for him to drive safely home from central Indiana. The next storm will hit tomorrow night. We are only due for five inches of snow, but Muncie is due for a round of freezing rain and a foot of snow.

Today was a very bad day for the dog. Four urine cleanups and counting...

 

Tags: concussion, new computer

the Blood books by Tanya Huff

I read these books by Tanya Huff:

Blood Price

Blood Trail

Blood Lines

Blood Pact

Blood Debt

Blood Bank

Smoke and Shadows

(there are two additional books called Smoke and Mirrors and Smoke and Ashes which I have not yet read, but may someday)

These is a series set primarily in Toronto, with the Smoke books being set in Vancouver.

Vicki Nelson use to be the best homicide detective in the city of Toronto. But then she got an incurable eye disease that is slowly stealing her vision, forcing her to retire. She now works as a private investigator.

Mike Celluci is her former/sometimes lover, who still serves on the force as a homicide detective. he is sometimes abrasive due to the stress of his job and is sometimes possessive of Vicki.

Henry Fitzroy is the royal bastard of Henry VIII, currently works as a romance novelist, and is a vampire living in Toronto (later Vancouver). He is also cheerfully bisexual, and has Vicki and a street kid named Tony as his lovers.

The three main characters get together to solve crimes. Together they face down demons, the executioner of innocent werewolves (who only want to be left alone on their sheep farm in the Ontario countryside), ancient powerful mummies, and mad scientists. In Vancouver they face down ghosts and invaders from other worlds.

Lots of fun! Good urban fantasy! Henry is great!

Blood Bank has some great short stories set in Henry's past. Particularly cool were the stories set in Regency London, and in Italy, where Henry fights a solitary war against the Inquisition.

 

 

Tags: Tanya Huff, Blood Price, Blood Trail, Blood Lines, Blood Pact, Blood Debt, Blood Bank, Smoke and Shadows

several short mystery novels

from Nancy Fairbanks' Culinary Mysteries:

Mozzarella Most Murderous

Bon Bon Voyage

French Fried

Turkey Flambe

This mystery series follows the adventures of former housewife, now food writer, Carolyn Blue. Her husband is a scientist who often travels to conventions and she often travels along to experience good food and to broaden her horizons. Unfortunately, murder seems to follow Carolyn wherever she goes. In these books she travels to Italy, tales a Mediterranean cruise (Morocco - yum!), Lyon in France, and New York City. These books always make me hungry, with their lovely descriptions of delicious food. The mysteries are a bonus.

from the Bear Collector's Mysteries by John L. Lamb:

The False Hearted Teddy

The Crafty Teddy

While there are only three books thus far in this series, it is quickly becoming one of my favorites (these are the second and third books, and I loved the first one, too). Brad Lyon has had to take a medical retirement from the San Francisco police force after he was badly wounded on the job. This tough guy moved back to his wife's childhood home in rural Virginia, and has started helping out his wife with her business - creating teddy bears and stuffed animals. Quite a contrast in life styles. And when mysteries arise at bear collector's shows, Brad has the skills to help solve them...

from the Flower Shop Mysteries by Kate Collins:

Mum's the Word

Slay it with Flowers

Dearly Depotted

These are the first three novels of this mystery series. They are set in a college town in northern Indiana, and feature a law school dropout named Abby Knight, who has bought the local flower shop. Someone I love now lives in a college town in Indiana, and I love flower shops and flowers. But something just does not quite click for me in these books, and I am not even sure what that thing might be. Is it Abby's meddling? Abby's truly obnoxious family and ex-fiance? The fact that only a few short weeks have taken place over the course of the books and corpses are stacking up in what must otherwise be a quiet and nice little town? I like them enough that I would be willing to read more of them if I find free or used copies, but did not like them enough to eagerly set out to hunt the additional books in the series down.

from the Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle:

Through the Grinder

Latte Trouble

I have fallen in love with this series. I liked the first book but the series really takes off in the second and third. The characters are deeply developed and interesting, and the setting - an historic coffeehouse in New York City's Greenwich Village - is both interesting and charming. Clare Cosi runs the business with the help of her sexy and charming ex-husband, Matteo. The business is owned by his mother. Their daughter is also in NYC, going to cooking school. So there are all sorts of interesting family dynamics going on, in addition to the mysteries. The second novel deals with the New York dating scene, and the third with the fashion industry.

Tags: Bear Collector's Mysteries, John L. Lamb. The False-Hearted Teddy, The Crafty Teddy, Culinary Recipes, Nancy Fairbanks, Mozzarella Most Murderous, Bon Bon Voyage, French Fried, Turkey Flambe, Flower Shop Mysteries, Kate Collins, Mum's the Word, Slay it with Flowers, Dearlu Depotted, Coffeehouse Mysteries, Cleo Coyle, Through the Grinder, Latte Trouble

some recent reads

Not feeling well over the past couple of weeks, I have been doing a lot of reading.

Kasserine Pass by Martin Blumenson tells the story of the epic WW2 battle in North Africa. Unfortunately, it could have used some maps and a brief list of people appearing in the book with a brief synopsis of who they are and what they do. It was sort of confusing, and in some cases, the author does not even give the first names or nationalities of some of the important leaders of the battle. Perhaps because it was written many years ago, the author assumed the names and places would be familiar to his readers.

Dearly Beloved is an historical romance by Mary Jo Putney. Now then, I love some of her historical romances - River of Fire, Shattered Rainbows, and One Perfect Rose are among my all time favorites Regencies. But this book was a little too grim for my tastes. The fact that the hero rapes a very young virgin in the opening chapter was a big turn off. The fact that this isn't even the darkest thing in his life was an even bigger turn off. I kept hoping that the heroine would find a nicer guy...

Taming the Heiress  by Susan King was a nice surprise. As far as I know, I have not read anything else by this author, so wasn't sure what to expect. As it turns out, I liked both the hero and the heroine, as well as the Scottish legends and setting that are a part of their story. The heroine is more than a little annoyingly stubborn about a lifesaving lighthouse being built, but she does eventually come to her senses.

Murder is a Girl's Best Friend  by Amanda Metetsky is the second book in the Paige Turner Mystery Series. The book is set in New York City in the 1950's. Both the glamour and the horror (if you are female or African American and therefore subject to second class status) are shown. Paige Turner works for a True Crime sort of tabloid. While she is probably the brightest person in the office, as the only female she is subject to sexual discrimination and harassment. Because of her job, an army buddy of her deceased husband asks her to investigate the murder of his sister, and to find out how the sister got thousands of dollars worth of diamonds in her apartment. Paige is spunky and the book is a lot of fun. If I run into the other books in this series, I will gladly read them.

Holiday Are Hell is a collection of four novellas by four different authors.

Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel is by Kim Harrison, and part of her Hollows urban fantasy series. This is a well written back story of Rachel Morgan, a young witch, and one of the three main characters of the series. her dream is to become an officer of the supernatural police force like her deceased father. But she is a bit too young, and still recuperating from a near fatal disease. Her older brother promises to sign the permission papers if she can cast an advanced spell. What happens when Rachel tries the spell is unexpected, and leads to all sorts of problems.

Run, Run Rudolph by Lynsay Sands is a light hearted and funny novella about a woman who suddenly gains the ability to shape change, and the mad scientist who is determined to capture her for study. Helping her out is her big crush, a sexy local businessman.

Six by Marjorie M. Liu is the story of a Chinese government agent who must join forces with a necromancer to fight vampires. I wasn't too sure about his one - or its message that good sex with a near stranger is something worth holding onto life to get.

The Harvest by Vicki Petersson is part of her Zodiac urban fantasy series. This one did not do much for me, as I did not particularly like the main character or the world - an alternate Earth where super heroes fight on the part of good or evil. But I know that I probably would not like the series, so am spared a bit of time and/or money in reading the full length books.

Tags: Kasserine Pass, Martin Blumenson, Dearly Beloved, mary Jo Putney, Taming the Heiress, Susan King, Murder is a Girl's Best Friend, Amanda Matetsky, Paige Turner Mysteries, Dates From Hell, Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Marjorie Liu, Vicki Pettersson

getting over a sinus thing

Well, today was the first time I have left the house (other than to let the dog out) since I got home from work on Thursday. I had (and still have) a nasty sinus thing going. I pretty much dozed in the big overstuffed chair in the living room over most of the weekend and watched old movies. What is it with the classic movie channels and Doris Day? I can see some of her films being considered classic - Pillow Talk coming to mind immediately - but these were things like Move Over, Darling and The Ballad of Josie. I also got see a pretty good Elizabeth Taylor movie I had not seen before called Butterfield 8 and a really cheesy Esther Williams movie called On an Island With You. Is there anything in the world more cheesy than an Esther Williams movie? And when I was not watching old movies I slept in bed a lot.

Sunday Steven and Dan got the Christmas tree up, and I helped put on some decorations in between naps. That was very nice - I love the holidays. It helped my spirits quite a bit to see the tree going up!

On Saturday Steven wrestled at Linden, and I was not able to go. Dan told me he wrestled up a weight class all day and finished 2-3.  He worked hard, but just ran into larger better kids.

On Sunday we had a light ice storm. Nothing like what they have been having in Oklahoma. My heart really goes out to the ice storm victims out on the plains. It is horrible to lose power and heat in the winter. Miraculously, we did not lose our power this time. Another ice storm is supposed to be coming through tomorrow, a heavier one. I hope to make it to and from work safely.

Bill will be coming home later this week. I hope this nasty weather clears out before he is on the freeway!

No wrestling tournaments the next two weekends, though there will be practices. It will be grand to have the whole family home for the next two weekends!

Here's hoping we will have power tomorrow!

Tags: ice storm, Doris Day movies, Esther Willams movies

and the windstorm follows...and then an Alberta clipper

Well, after the weather mess this weekend (which killed at least three people locally on the bad roads), we got a big windstorm as a followup. A tree got knocked down in our backyard and got tangled up in the electrical lines. By some miracle from God, we kept our power. Sadly, the neighbors all lost theirs. So that was a mess on Monday. Took Detroit Edison hours to fix it and get the live wires off of the ground and back up into the air.

Tonight it is snowing again. It is a fast moving little storm of the sort called an Alberta Clipper. We should only get an inch or so of snow, and all should be well.

Dan finally went to the doctor today about his bad knee. I have been telling him to go for weeks. They think he has some sort of ligament damage, and he will start physical therapy next week. I told him that even though my knee aches every day, that the physical therapy I had helped a lot, and kept it from hurting a lot more. Hopefully it will do the same for him.

The Tigers are in the middle of another blockbuster trade. They have picked up some great players in this off season, but they are giving up some great young pitching prospects to get them. And that worries me a lot. Jerrjens and Miller are going to be fantastic Major League pitchers someday, and it will be ulcer inducing to see them in Atlanta and Florida uniforms rather than proudly wearing old English D's.

Tags: bad winter weather, bad knees, Detroit Tigers

first tournament; first winter storm

Well, on Saturday Steven had his first official high school tournament out at the Hudson team tournament on the other side of the Irish Hills. He won three matches and lost two matches. One of the ones he lost was to a senior wrestling at his weight, and the other to a junior when he was wrestling one weight class up. And he beat a senior at his weight class. So he did very well for a freshman! On the season he has a 4-3 record, and has not yet been pinned. And all of those defeats were to upper classmen, and two when he was wrestling in weight classes above his weight. So he is doing very well, and is well on the way to earning his varsity letter as a freshman, as his elder brother did.

The morning was beautiful, though very cold, and we had a pleasant drive out to Hudson through the Irish Hills. But when we got out it was snowing. It was windy, so rather than sticking, it was forming snow snakes on the road in the wind.

We came straight home to let out the dog (and clean up after him), and ate dinner.

Then Dan and I wanted to drive back to Saline. We had passed through Saline in both directions, and saw what looked like some sort of craft fair downtown. (We looked in the paper and it was a German style Christmas craft fair, with German food and beverage booths). It had looked very nice. But when we got back outside, it was snowing pretty hard and sticking - and some sleet and freezing rain was starting to mix in. So we decided to do the wise thing and stayed home.

We napped and heard a crash. A car had come off the road and crashed into our neighbor's yard. The road is raised a few feet from the ground there, and the person crashed pretty hard. No one was hurt, but it took the police and tow truck a long time to get the car back out onto the road.

The freezing rain was coming down pretty hard and the roads were awful.

While we were sad to miss the fair, we had made the right decision.

Today it is warmer and raining like crazy. At least it is melting the snow and ice!

Tags: Hudson team tournament, bad winter roads