Jonesin'

Ever get a hankering to do something and not be able to stop thinking about just doing it - even though it's really impractical?? I used to think that bungee jumping sounded like one of those things. But ok, sometimes the hankering is wrong.

Lately I haven't been able to stop my inner "Traveling Jones". I was raised on road trips. Hey ~ I was raised in the Motor City, folks! I love to road trip. I crave road trips. Singing in the car. Seeing the sights. Playing license plate bingo. Pillows in the back seat. Watching the scenery change out the window.

My family used to drive everywhere. Mom and dad piled us girls in the car and off we went to: Florida, New York, Maryland, DC, Wisconsin, Ohio, northern MI.

The tradition continued with my kids as we traversed from AZ to MI and back by car, camping all the way. We took them to every city of any interest in AZ, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah. When you live 80 miles from anything ~ every jaunt is a road trip! We took camping or cottage vacations in Interlochen and throughout northern lower MI. *sigh* I mean, what's Michigan without the obligatory road trip to Call of the Wild???

I even road trip at destinations to which I fly! When I went to England my BFF drove us to Wales, London, Nottingham and Keswick. On choir tours we either bus or fly to our destination, but then it's coaches everywhere. Some of the most incredible driving I've ever seen has been our coach drivers as they navigated the narrow winding roads of New York, London and Wales.

For the past few years most of my tripping has been short distances. I drove to Columbus, OH alone for a conference (4 hrs), Went to Toledo with V to see a fave band together, went to Cleveland with a friend (3 hrs) to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. But that's about it. (insert pouty-pout here)

I need a road trip! And I'm jonesin' for it... bad. Case in point: Yesterday on the way to work all I could think about was to keep on going! Destination? Yesterday it was Delaware.

Where would I usually end up? Some days I have a list of destinations in mind (Minot, ND and Gaithersburg, MD feature high on the list), others it simply doesn't matter. I'm the crazy woman who wants to see the world's largest ball of twine, Cadillac Ranch, and The Crazy Horse monument. And look out AF Moms ~ I want to see your wonderful smiling faces... in person!

There's just something about being in contact with the ground that makes me feel like I am THERE ~ wherever there is.

You never know. One day, after I have new tires (hopefully soon), I might just end up on your doorstep. But really? I may just honk and wave from the car as I go by!

BTW: I was prompted (even more) to write this post by ShaysMa, who is chronicling her cross-country road trip adventure with Shay as I type. **Jealous!**

YOU are the only answer

I'm too lazy to change the caps. This is how I clipped it and I am moved to post it. Enjoy.
*****
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE LOVED, NOT AT THE COST OF YOURSELF.

THE SINGLE RELATIONSHIP TRULY CENTRAL AND CRUCIAL IN A LIFE IS THE RELATIONSHIP TO THE SELF.

IT IS REWARDING TO FIND SOMEONE WHOM YOU LIKE, BUT IT IS ESSENTIAL TO LIKE YOURSELF.

IT IS QUICKENING TO RECOGNIZE THAT SOMEONE IS A GOOD AND DECENT HUMAN BEING, BUT IT IS INDISPENSABLE TO VIEW YOURSELF AS ACCEPTABLE.

IT IS A DELIGHT TO DISCOVER PEOPLE WHO ARE WORTHY OF RESPECT AND ADMIRATION AND LOVE, BUT IT IS VITAL TO BELIEVE YOURSELF DESERVING OF THESE THINGS.

FOR YOU CANNOT LIVE IN SOMEONE ELSE.
YOU CANNOT FIND YOURSELF IN SOMEONE ELSE.
YOU CANNOT BE GIVEN A LIFE BY SOMEONE ELSE.

OF ALL THE PEOPLE YOU WILL KNOW IN A LIFETIME, YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE NOR LOSE.

TO THE QUESTION OF YOUR LIFE, YOU ARE THE ONLY ANSWER.

TO THE PROBLEMS OF YOUR LIFE, YOU ARE THE ONLY SOLUTION.

ADVICE FROM A FALURE by: JO COUDERT

A Meme

Stolen from Irisi, who stole it from blue_sky_48220.

Sarah Palin married her high school boyfriend, Todd Palin, on August 29, 1988. The Palin family lives in Wasilla, about 45 miles (72 km) north of Anchorage. The Palins have two sons (Track, 19, and Trig, four months) and three daughters (Bristol, 17; Willow, 14; and Piper, 7) [ages as of August 2008].

Todd Palin has said Track's name came from the interest Sarah's parents had in the sport and the fact that he was born in the sport's season; Bristol was named after Bristol Bay in Alaska, where Todd grew up and where he does commercial fishing; Willow was named after Willow, Alaska; Piper got her name because it is uncommon and "a cool name"; Trig's name is Norse for "strength".

1) Your first-born will be named after your parents favorite sport.

2) Your second-born will be named after a nearby area that you're not from but you like the sound of part of the name, and maybe you have nostalgic memories of said place.

3) Your third-born will be named after another nearby place, for no reason other than you already have two children and don't have time to put much thought into another name.

4) Your fourth gets a "cool" name.

5) Your fifth gets something mythological, possibly straight out of Lord of the Rings.

WHICH MAKES MY KIDS:
Tiger, Petoskey, Salem, Dharma and Titania

(Had the first child been named after my FIL's fave sport, #1 would have been named, INDY.)

Your turn!

ND Sunset

Happy SkyWatch Friday!

Let Them Eat... PIE!

At the moment, Joshua would like to think that I exist to sell...

yes, delicious, fabulous, PIE - one of nature's perfect foods - on behalf of his HS Choir (to travel to and pay fees for competitions and tours. And yeah, they're that good.)

SO! If you live near me and want to order PIES that will arrive in the two days before Thanksgiving so they're FRESH for your holiday table...

Here are the details.

PIE comes from heaven, and these are no exception. They're made by the angels at The Grand Traverse PIE Company.

Available in: Cherry ~ Apple ~ Pumpkin ~ Lakeshore (think bumbleberry, all from Michigan. Their most popular PIE.)

PIES are $15 each with no limit on the number of PIES you can order.

Orders and payment (cash or check) are due by Oct 29th.
Checks can be made to: Groves HS Choir

That's all for now. Look for a SkyWatch pic compliments of V tomorrow. It's a pretty one!

Call me weak-willed

but it was irresistable!

Don't look too intently, it just keeps repeating ad nauseum.

Obama, Llama, Duck!

LOL

Story Time

Once upon a time, on a day early last week, our sweet and virtuous Airman Avivah was at work. Airman Avivah is very good at her work. She is well liked and respected. On the other hand, she can be "one of the guys", too.

This particular work day, a note of alarm was sounded as a herd of

wandered blithely across the flight line. This was not good. Not good indeed.

"Oh No!", cried Airman Avivah and her Wingmen, for they were concerned for the safety of the deer and for their beloved airplanes.

Suddenly there were airmen out on the flight line trying to "shoo" the frightened deer, who really only wanted the delicious grass on the lush, well-mown open fields that the USAF creates.

One poor creature must've been devoid of a sense of direction, common sense, or something, for she, like several football players of blooper fame, ran the wrong way. The thicket of barbed wire and fences that surround the far end of the 'line' was to be her final foible.

Springing to action, our heroic airmen, knowing that shooting a gun on base would be the wrong thing to do, ran for the private weapons lock-up, where Airman Cody produced his beautifully crafted

"I can't." Said Airman Cody, "I'm afraid I'll miss and she'll be in pain."

Seeing his concern, and knowing that our doe was out there terrified and potentially making a bloody mess of her carefully tended flight line, Airman Avivah took the bow from his hands and said bravely, "I'll do it."

This was a remarkable fete as our darling princess has been target shooting on a range, but has never picked up a bow to take aim at live game. Ever.

She took out an

and fitted it with a special
She steadied herself, exhaled and drew back, taking very careful aim... and in one perfect shot, the frightened deer was felled.

Airman Cody and the others rallied around our triumphant heroine. "HUZZAH, for Airman Avivah! HUZZAH! HUZZAH!"

Those with more experience than she (which is none) showed her how to hang and prepare the doe. This is the point in the story where she chose to send her mother a picture of her first kill.

Isn't it precious?! Just what you want to see when you open your phone and note that it is a picture from your beloved daughter, right?

Well her open-minded mother was surprised, but took tremendous pride in her daughter's (ahem) accomplishment, and was clucking proudly about it to anyone who would listen - and not be grossed out.

Later in the week the airmen would feast on venison to their heart's content.

They will always remember the day their colleague, a 5'1" female, inexperienced in bowhunting live prey, nokked her arrow and took aim at a frightened doe, and single-handedly cleared the flight line.

The End

SWF double header

It's the end of the morning glory season, as our first cold snap hit and the first frost 'bit' them. I was lucky enough to catch this shot the day before that happened.

Today's second offering was taken early this week at the park. I looked up through the oak leaves and couldn't resist capturing the medley of blues and greens.
Happy SkyWatch Friday.

Mystery Solved

After two days of a complete freak out thinking I had hundreds of infantile spiders, or worse yet - bedbugs, climbing around the house, the mystery of the itchy red bumps has been thoroughly researched and solved.

It may be gross, but... Thanks to my friend M and I who together noticed that the red itchy bumps had little "white heads". AHA! This took them out of the bug realm and into something else. But what?!

Research continued until I found something that piqued my uh-oh button...

Think back a couple of days ago when I wrote:
The cough from my cold is still here, my inner ears are still itchy and I have this lovely little wheeze when I get in cold air or breathe hard. In light of that I went to my friend's house Saturday evening and spent over an hour in their hot tub! Sheer heaven. The humidity and bromine really helped my lungs and the hot water relaxed the day's stresses away.

Well that was my downfall. The fact that I had been sick and not sleeping well for days caused me to be more susceptible to a little known thing called Pseudomonas Folliculitis, or Hot Tub Rash. And I have it. Bad.

"Folliculitis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa typically appears about 72 hours after exposure in a hot tub or spa. Many small pustules appear on the trunk and sometimes the arms and legs. You may have a mild fever and feel ill. This type of folliculitis usually goes away on its own within 7 to 10 days."

Yep, Saturday night to Tuesday morning - right on schedule. And I do have a slightly elevated temp, but I was feeling ill anyways so who knew?! LoL

Best part is ~ It's not contagious and ~ thank the Gods ~ IT'S NOT BUGS!

First things first: I need to call my friends and have them "shock" their hot tub.

Next: I am off to get something serious (like a wire brush, or ok, calamine lotion) to treat this infernal itching!!!

The eensy-weensy WTF?!

I was thinking of titleing this post "Bizarre", but I didn't want it to get the wrong kind of attention!

On Monday I wore a white wrap front shirt under my grey velour "walking suit" (it's not really, but I can't bring myself to call it a running suit when I do not run). I was cozy and comfy and it was befitting of an autumn weekday off.

I went for a short walk in the park, I exchanged a pair of slacks that were too big, I did dishes and laundry. Nothing too far out of the ordinary or stressful as I'm still recovering and congested.

I slept, not so well, as usual.

Tuesday morning I awoke to this:


All the hell over my torso!!!
Little red bumps that don't itch very much, but they do itch, and the "bites", if that's what they are, were painless. Just on my torso, not my arms, or neck, or legs.

Weirder yet, yesterday morning at work there was a tiny spider on my desk. Oy vey.

I hadn't worn that white shirt or the grey outfit since spring and I'm thinking that my body heat warmed up one of the little sucker's egg sacs and poof, I was their first meal. But for goodness sakes... This is weird!!!

Get yer tickets!

If these roads are anywhere near you... Southfield, Telegraph, M-5, Woodward, from 8 Mile to M-59... or you want to take a drive (it's worth it)...

Come one! Come all!

Tickets are on sale now

for the Groves HS performance of

Anything Goes
(for which Joshua is the Stage Manager)

Friday-Saturday 11/7-8
Friday-Saturday 11/14-15
Sunday matinee 11/16

Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for children/students.

This school is renown for excellence in theatre and music production. This is Joshua's fourth musical and his Senior year at Groves. He is in a key role (THE key role) behind the scenes. I can't wait.

Call, e-mail or comment here if you want tickets, how many and when.

Recap

I may get behind in recording my thoughts here, but I'm not behind in living them so, no apologies!

Friday night was a great time at Joe Louis Arena where the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3. The most fun? I went with a Leafs fan! We chanted "Let's go Red Wings" and "Go Leafs go" in perfect opposition. LoL It may have been a pre-season game, but it was my first Red Wings game and I got to watch Franzen score two big goals. I had a blast!

Saturday morning brought an event for work my colleagues and I have been preparing for a while now. We were there early fussing over every detail. In the end it went off very well. Here are a few pics...

The tent as food arrived...

The house...

The family...

I don't, and likely won't, write too definitively about work here, but you can infer, or you're welcome to e-mail me and ask. Rest assured, I love what I do and the people for whom I do it.

After the event I came home to NAP!

The cough from my cold is still here, my inner ears are still itchy and I have this lovely little wheeze when I get in cold air or breathe hard. In light of that I went to my friend's house Saturday evening and spent over an hour in their hot tub! Sheer heaven. The humidity and bromine really helped my lungs and the hot water relaxed the day's stresses away.

Sunday morning brought another trip to the Farmer's Market in Birmingham. This time J and I started with a breakfast (we oogled over last week) of freshly made stone ground wheat and oat waffles with rhubarb, elderberry and other delicious jams. I got a steaming cup of fresh, fairtrade coffee from a vendor named Cheeky Monkeys Bistro, and we ate sitting at a picnic table with other locals.

I wish I could find a website for Cheeky Monkeys Bistro (the only one that comes up is the wrong one in a different city). Marti and Alex, the owners, are wonderful people and we had a great chat.

This week's farm market gleanings included four new perennials, all of which Jand I planted yesterday, a cabbage that must have relatives in Chernobyl it's so abnormally huge, onions, peppers, acorn squash, and raspberries for snacking on while we shopped.

I got so excited about this ginormous cabbage that I HAD to make my moms recipe for Miracle Soup. Search though we may, neither Joshua nor I could find the recipe. All the recipes online called for soup mix and are not the one mom always made. So I called mom, only to find that she's got the same nasty cold and cough that I do (and her hubby too). :( She couldn't find her recipe card for it either! We put our stuffy heads together and came up with what we thought would work. Feel better, mom & pops!

Joshua and I went grocery shopping (for the first time in almost a month) to get - well, everything! - and a couple more soup supplies. Once home I chopped and simmered and seasoned to my hearts content. The resulting soup is simple but divine. Perfect for October meals. I fridged some and froze some. I suspect it has too much fresh cracked pepper in it, but I can't taste much these days so I loved it!! LOL

By the evening I'd just about 'cooked' myself for the day. I curled up next to Joshua and we watched two episodes of House before it was bedtime.

I'm happy to have today off to be home and rest. I have things to do but I can do them in my own time and I find that relaxing.

I hope it's a good Monday for you.

SkyWatch Friday

Happy SWF! This is J's friend Ryan as he begins to rapelle down the three story Police Training Center tower. The sky may be dark, but it counts!

I'm not sure if this will work, but it's a video of Joshua rapelling - starting by turning upside down just perfectly - off the same tower.

Joshua is an amazing kid, and I'm tickled that he's taking a liking to this group and the police work they teach. It opens a world of opportunities to a young man who is very intelligent, but wants a really active job.

And YES! The video works! Look for more now that I know I can do this. Believe it or not they are 15 second clips from my phone. LoL

*****

I made it through yesterday ok, even if I had to take a breathing [read: nose blowing] break every now and then. Got home just after 11pm and fell dead asleep.

Tonight I get to go to my very first Detroit Red Wings game. Excited! And tomorrow morning is an event for work that I've been helping to coordinate. I'm happily busy!

~~ TGIF! ~~ (even if I do work this Saturday)

Surfacing

Whew! I know I BWO (blog without obligation - see logo bottom left) but this time it's because I've been down with whatever creeping crud Joshua had last week. Yuck. It started on Sunday evening. I totally missed Rosh Hashanah and hearing T sing. Instead I slept, sniffled and coughed and made my own 'music'. heh... or not. Tuesday? Double yuck.

As of yesterday afternoon I seem to be coming out of it a bit. I spent a few hours at Copper Pom's house spackling walls, had hot soup for lunch and came home to rest. Big day, huh?

Today is my first real day of work this week... and a 10 hour work day! My poor chapped, pink nose and I will be spending a few hours this evening with a colleague working a room at a networking event. This event happens to be a five course meal and wine tasting at an 8,000 sq. ft. mansion/museum on the lake. I know, rough life, eh?

Besides trying to hide my nose under makeup, the worst part of tonight is that I don't DARE have wine with a cold like this. Not only would it stuff my nose up even more, I have a feeling it would hit me like a ton of bricks. Some networking event. I can see it now... "Hey, weren't you the gal on the floor?" or weeks later, "Didn't recognize you without the lamp shade on your head." Oy Vey.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and if you'd like to follow this lovely randomness I call my blog, feel free to join Shay's Mom in being one of - the few, the proud, the fans - on the lower left. I'm sure she feels lonely. So G'head... Click and become a "follower".