the death of Sparty

When my father died, four years ago in January, we got his truck keys (and his truck). He had a little plastic Sparty (Michigan State mascot) doll on the key ring. The kids decided then and there to destroy the little thing.

On the return trip from Arkansas when we cleaned out his little house, we stopped at a ginormous fireworks place called Boomland to the south of greater St. Louis. We normally do not stop at places like that, but a friend begged me to pick up some fireworks for him that are illegal here in Michigan.

We picked up some small fireworks for ourselves.

The kids lost Sparty, and I have not felt up to having fireworks - until this year.

And I found Sparty in the bottom of the fireworks bag!

So we taped Sparty to the top of a stack of magic ropes, and lit them all at once.

Can you say toasted marshmallow????

Hilarious!

 

Tags: the death of Sparty

Fourth of July weekend

The Fourth of July was on a Friday this year, which gave most people a three day weekend, though I only had my usual Friday and Saturday off. I am not complaining, though, as I got holiday pay (double time) for working Sunday!

We had had bad storms on a nearly daily basis working up to the holiday weekend, so it was a huge relief to have beautiful sunny weather for the weekend!

So we did yard work for three days!

Yes, I know - we are remarkably boring people!

We weeded and thinned out flower beds, and Dan built some stone retaining walls across a flower bed on a hill.

The work needed doing...but...

Tags: Fourth of July, yard work

Road Trip of Your Life

The Road Trip of Your Life

You see life as precious and special. Heritage and family are very important to you. You live a life of leisure. You take your time in every aspect of life and enjoy it to the fullest. You're willing to take a few risks in life. You may not take the road no one travels, but you're happy to take the road less traveled. You are able to find a fairly healthy balance between work and play. You work when you need to, but you never let yourself burn out. You could have owned an indie bookstore or boutique in another life.

Or share this Blogthing with a direct link:

http://www.blogthings.com/theroadtriptest/

Tags: road trip of your life

Tigers vs. Rockies

A couple of weeks ago we went to Comerica Park on a rainy Saturday night to watch our beloved sucky team, the Detroit Tigers, play the defending national League champion Colorado Rockies. Well, they suck against AL teams, which is unfortunate as we belong to the AL, but usually rock against NL teams!

After a great meal at Cheli's Chili Bar, we found our infield box seats, and hoped like heck it would not storm! We were under a severe thunderstorm watch the entire night...

Justin Verlander was the starting pitcher that night. Something is going on with him this season, and no one seems to quite know what it is. The kid is still pitching well enough to win most of his starts - many of his losses have come when the team did not give him any run support, and he cannot be blamed for them. His record is much worse than his actual performance says it should be. All that said, something is still off with him. While he is letting very few runs score in the games he pitches, he is throwing way too many pitches, and usually cannot get beyond the sixth or at most seventh inning. The game we saw was one of those games. He did a good job in letting few runs in, but threw a ton of pitches.

And he should have been the winning pitcher - except that out closer, Todd Jones, blew the save.

Luckily, Cabrera actually earned some of his huge salary that night, and won it in the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk off hit for the Tigers.

Some highlights and lowlights:

Our former Dark Lord of the Sith, Jason Grilli, pitched for the Rockies for one lights out inning. He rarely pitched like that for our team - he was a terrible pitcher for us - and was roundly booed for his effort.

One of the people sitting in front of us works for the Rockies, and was wearing his NL championship ring. I have never seen such a huge hunk of precious metals and diamonds on a human hand in my life! LOL!!!!

The rain held off until the ninth inning, and the heavy rain held off until we were driving home on the freeway.

One of the fireworks misfired and slammed into the windows of the high cost luxury restaurant in the stadium!

 

Tags: Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, Comerica Park, Jason Grilli, Justin Verlander, Todd Jones, Miguel Cabrera

cheli's chili bar

A couple of weeks ago, we went to a Detroit Tigers game at Comerica park.

We went to a restaurant we've been wanting to go to for quite a long time - Cheli's Chili Bar - which is right across a side street from the stadium.

http://www.chelischili.com

The restaurant is owned by Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings, and is a sports bar as well as a restaurant. Jerseys and banners of teams Chelios has played for hang from the walls and ceiling, including NHL All Star teams.

Now then, there is something very special about a great sports bar next to a great stadium. As an example of this, you can look at the Cubby Bear Lounge, right across the street from Wrigley Field in Chicago. I love the Cubby Bear! A simple menu of basic food, very well prepared, and it is wonderful to sit up on the second floor and watch the crowds gather at the stadium before the baseball game.

I was hoping Cheli's Chili Bar would be just such a place, and I was not disappointed. Great sports bar, with a menu of well prepared and simple bar food such as sandwiches and the like (the waffle fries might well be the best french fries I have ever had in my life), with a great view of Comerica Park and the gathering crowds near the stadium from the windows on the second floor.

Like the Cubby Bear, there can be quite a wait for a table before game time, so you want to get there early! We got to Cheli's about two hours before game time, and found an hour wait for a table. they took our cell phone number, and called us when the table was ready, so we could wander freely about the area of the stadium. We were finished eating and in our seats at Comerica just before the opening pitch of the game.

I highly recommend Cheli's Chili Bar before a baseball game at Comerica!

Tags: Cheli's Chili Bar Detroit, Comerica Park

Tigers woes against non-NL teams continue

I wonder how many quality starts which should have been wins will be destroyed single handedly by Tigers relief pitcher Fernando Rodney before they actually do something about it. If there was a projectile vomiting smilie, I would be using it right now, after last night's game with the Mariners.

Tags: Detroit Tigers, Fernando Rodney

what sort of weather are you?

You Are Lightning

Beautiful yet dangerous People will stop and watch you when you appear Even though you're capable of random violence You are best known for: your power Your dominant state: performing

http://www.blogthings.com/whattypeofweatherareyouquiz/

 

I actually cannot imagine anything more opposite than what I am! LOL!!!!!!!!!!

Tags: what kind of weather are you?