Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween

Halloween is always so much fun in our neighborhood. There are always plenty of kids, and they don't seem to mind posing for pictures.

They know there will always be candy at our house. And the adults don't mind stopping by either, cause they know there will always be a beer or two.

Some years it has been so warm we have sat outside the whole time, just visiting with everybody. This year, I thought it was a little chilly. The Hubs offered to bring our space heater out front so I would be more comfortable, but I decided to let the boys sit and enjoy their beer, while I stayed in the house where it was warmer.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Being Offline

As I mentioned, we have been doing some painting. The real challenge has been the home office. This is a room with a large corner unit, with a computer desk, bookcases, etc. It is a real monster to move, so we have been putting off painting this room as long as we can.
Moving the furniture was bad enough, but that also means we had to unhook the computer. I didn't think too much of it, figuring I still had my laptop to fall back on. Surprise, we had to unhook the wireless router too. So, while I was able to play much solitaire, the internet was out.
And, since we have our computer and phones through our cable service, unhooking the computer also knocked out our phones. Other than our cell phones, we were completely "unplugged" from society!
Last night we were finally able to put the furniture back in place. That took a few hours of sorting through a mass of wires, figuring out what connected to what. Then we pushed the heavy units back to the wall. I told the hubs that we could wait to move the rest of the furniture until today. Of course, today we realized the phones still don't work. Ah well....

Sunday, October 17, 2010

End of Season Golf

I am always happy when I can golf in Michign in the fall. Today was a beautiful day, so despite all the work I have to do at home, I insisted that we get out to play 18 holes. I am pretty sure it will be the last round for the year. We played at the Springfield Oaks course. The colors are a little past peak now, but they were beautiful just the same. We had a great time (and I did manage to beat the Hubs by a few strokes...always a bonus!)

Saturday, October 16, 2010

A Saturday at the Mall

Today, I went shopping with my BFF. We are old pros at this, having been shopping buddies for some 45 years now. It always goes the same way. We meet about 10AM, make the rounds of our favorite stores, then stop at Hudson's (OK, Macy's) for lunch. It's important that we do that. I happen to love their Maurice salads, and the only time I get one is when I'm shopping with her. Over lunch we laugh and talk, share stories about what's going on in our lives, and catch up on our friends' lives as well. Then it's back to the stores. She loves to shop. But, she doesn't like spending too much money, so usually she shops for me. I end up leaving with all the bags, and she has the satisfaction of shopping all day. We are a great team!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Greektown Craziness

We went to visit my sister yesterday. After spending a couple hours (and several games of Yahtzee), we decided Greektown sounded great for dinner on the way home. Unfortunately, our timing wasn't the best. The Lions game had just ended, and everyone was walking from Comerica Park down to Greektown to celebrate (the Lions won...still can't believe that!).
On top of that, there was some sort of "ghoul party" going on. I don't know if they were at the game, or just happened to arrive in Greektown at the same time, but everywhere we turned, there were people walking on the streets dressed like ghouls. It was kind of cool, as Halloween themes go, but there were people everywhere! We just had to hide out somewhere, so we ducked into the casino (convenient, huh?). We spent the next couple hours playing the slot machines. The good news...we won enough to pay for dinner at Pegasus, and still come home with some in our pockets.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Paint and Window Treatments

When we moved into our brand new house, I decided some inexpensive mini-blinds were all we needed to cover the windows until we could afford something permanent. We also decided the upper floor didn't need the final coats of paint until we had more time and money. After all, it is just the two of us, and with a first floor master, why would we need to worry about the upstairs right away?
That was over 12 years ago, and the upstairs is still "builder's white". So I spent some time this weekend picking up paint for the house. While I was at it, I dragged the Hubs to the local Home Depot to order some roman shades for the windows in the den. He has pure sticker shock right now, but in a few weeks the house will have had a nice face lift. Can't wait to see it!

The Fishing Vest

Our friends gave the Hubs a fishing vest for his birthday. He had not used it yet, so this morning he decided to go off fishing with his brand new vest (and a couple of good sized cigars).

He went to a local inland lake, where he has enjoyed much fishing in the past. When he got there, though, he noticed lots of duck hunters all poised and ready to begin their hunting. He sure got out of there fast!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Autumn Decorating

My neighbors are all decorating their homes for Halloween. I really enjoy looking at the pumpkins, cornstalks, and big cardboard ghosts and cats when I drive down the street. Unfortunately, I have been working so man hours that I haven't even had time to hang some indian corn on the door or pull some weeds to make the yard look presentable. Oh well, maybe this weekend.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

My Brave Sister

I have been thinking a lot of my sister lately. After battling cancer for over 9 months, she has just received a stem cell transplant, in the hopes of extending her remission. The whole thing is pretty daunting from where I sit, so I can only imagine how it is for her. I do know that, while she has been taking everything pretty well in stride, this last step of the journey has really been a lot for her to handle. A badly timed cold has prevented me from going to see her, in her immune-compromised state, but I did talk to her by phone yesterday. She was very groggy, and said she had not slept well since she got to the hospital (new bed and all, she said). I know she will improve as time goes on, and she strengthens from the procedure. But, I can't help thinking every day how brave she must be to face all this.