Hooray! We have a new dog!

Hello again,

I figured I'd add a post while I was sitting at this here computer adding some pics of our new dog to Facebook. I'm so geeked! I REALLY missed not having a dog since Miss Becky died at the end of November. There's been a huge hole in my heart, and an empty space on the loveseat, that just needed to be filled by a dog of our own.  :-)

Before I get to dog pics tho, let me say what a pleasure it was to meet one of my fellow bloggers, Judy Walts-Miller, today. My sister-in-law, Jeanette, and I thought it would be nice to meet Judy and offer her our support and some hugs following the death of her best friend and love of her life for the past 7 years--Fred. Visitation at the funeral home was this afternoon, and since it wasn't too far from home, Jeanette and I met there, and were greeted by Judy with a warm smile and some hugs. It was unfortunate that the 3 of us had to meet under such sad circumstances, but nonetheless, it was our pleasure to be there and offer support to a super nice lady. Love ya, Jude!

Also, Angela's pregnancy has been going really well so far. She's been feeling great for the past 3 weeks, and it's nice to see her so joyous and healthy now after a tough first trimester. She will be going for her "big" ultrasound at the high-risk doctor's office at a nearby hospital on Monday. We continue to pray that the baby is just fine (and we believe he/she is), and Angela & Jason are really looking forward to hopefully finding out the baby's sex so they can share that news with everyone. The baby has been very active the past 3 weeks, and Angela thinks it's hilarious when it kicks and moves around. A few days ago, the baby wasn't doing a whole lot, so she decided to put her headphones on her stomach and play some classical music. Well, that baby started kicking and moving around like crazy which probably means one of two things: he/she either loves classical music, OR he/she was thinking, "Turn that crap down, I'm trying to sleep!" LOL If you all could continue to keep Angela and her baby in your prayers until she delivers sometime in mid-May, I'd really appreciate it.

OK. Back to the new dog. He is a 1.5 year old dachshund/chihuahua mix that looks like a mini version of Angela's American Dingo dog, Tiesto. It's crazy how much the two of them look alike, and yet they are totally different breeds and sizes. The dog came to us named "Poindexter" because he was so smart, and his nickname was "Dexter." However, we didn't like that name, he didn't respond to that name, and we've always wanted a small dog named "Rocco," so now his name is Rocco. He started responding to that name immediately, which is great! Here's his story:  He was a stray that was picked up by the Jackson County dog catcher in September. He was extremely emaciated, flea infested, and barely lifted his head--his spirit was broken. He was in such bad shape that he was scheduled to be euthanized. A volunteer at the dog shelter stopped the euthanasia by announcing that he deserved a chance, and that she'd be willing to take him in as his foster mom. She was granted her wish. He is now at a healthy weight, has no health problems, and is one of the friendliest, comedian-type dogs you'd ever want to meet. It makes me sad to know that he was minutes away from losing his life, but I'm glad we've given him a second chance in life, and HE SEEMS GLAD TOO!

He LOVES going for rides in the car, and he even did a great job at going for a ride in a shopping cart when I took him to Pet Supplies Plus with me tonight to buy him a new collar and food bowls. LOL And he loved everyone in Pet Supplies Plus, and they loved him! It is such a good feeling to look over and see a dog sleeping on our loveseat again.  :-)  Pics are below.

Rocco!

Angela's dog, Tiesto (left), and Rocco (right)

Tom holding Rocco.

Was Absent for a Time

Hello, Blogspot Friends! Long time, no talk to! Well, at least for those of you I'm not "friends" with on Facebook, anyway.

I have a few days off work for the Christmas holiday, so I thought I'd take some time to sit here and make my Blog active again. I know....it's about time, right? You probably think you're seeing a "ghost" Blog or something, but no...it really is me.

I apologize for being absent so long. Life hit us with some unexpected curveballs starting in July, and Tom & I were just too bummed out to have anything joyful to say on our Blogs. And as my mom always used to say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," which is what I chose to do. In any event, things seem to be on an even keel for now, and we're grateful. Let's hope they stay that way for a while!

So what have all of you been up to these past 6 months? I'm finally at a point where I can share some of what we've been going through since July, but believe me when I say that it's taken me quite a while to get to this point!

Angela moved back home from the Veterinary Assistant/Technician job she had so happily accepted in June in Naples, FL. The company wasn't on the up-and-up like she thought it would be (they currently are being sued by 2 animal owners and 1 former employee), and when she couldn't find another job in that area after a 2-week search, she ran out of money and had to move home. She was DEVASTATED because she loved living in Florida. We were bummed out too because we had hoped she'd finally found her niche in Florida. She had been so happy there.

Once Angela returned home, she suffered from terrible depression, and her chronic anxiety returned. We were very worried about her, and worked to get her into the University of Michigan Psychology Clinic in Ann Arbor thinking they could help her with depression, anxiety and excessive alcohol use that started when she returned from Florida.

In September, Angela went to see her first U of M medical doctor so that they could refer her to the Psychology Clinic. I went with her in order to ask questions and make sure the referral happened. BUT, I got the shock of my life when Angela's blood and urine tests (that were taken and examined right there in the doctor's office lab) showed that she was pregnant! Apparently, she had an idea that she might be pregnant for 3 weeks before that visit and didn't say anything to Tom or me. As you can imagine, Tom & I were shocked, disappointed, embarrassed, and angry too. However, with lots of prayer, and great support from our families and church, we eventually accepted her pregnancy and are now looking forward with great joy to our first grandchild next May 17 (or so). We're grateful that at least Angela is an adult (age 24), and that the father of the baby, Jason, is truly a great guy--very responsible, respectful to us, and he treats Angela like a queen. We really like him! They have plans to get married after the baby is born (don't know the date yet; one big event at a time, ya know? LOL). We are also grateful that as a Christian, Angela never once considered NOT having the baby, and we're proud of the way she and Jason have taken responsibility for this child.

Jason came to live with us in October so he could be closer to Angela and give her support throughout her pregnancy. He used to live way east of here, maybe 45-50 minutes east. He has since gotten a job as a stone/brick mason and is working very steadily. He is 23, spent 4 years in the Army, and has a background in construction and home modeling. We are SO happy that he has been so supportive to Angela during this time.

In mid-November, we had to put our beloved Becky down because she had become very sick. She was 12 1/2, but I was EXTREMELY close to her, as was Tom, and our hearts were broken when she was gone. I sobbed like a baby after I left the vet's office that last time. We haven't gotten another dog yet, but I hope we will soon. Becky's absence has left a huge hole in our house. Her presence is greatly missed. We thank God for the gift of Becky in our lives as she gave us so much unconditional love, kindness and companionship. I hope our next dog will be just as wonderful.

We've also had some financial difficulties in trying to support Angela in Florida and since her return. She was supposed to be collecting unemployment starting July 17, but our ignorant Michigan unemployment office has messed up her file so badly that she hasn't seen a dime yet! In the meantime, no employers want to hire an already pregnant employee, so she's still unemployed. We continue to battle with unemployment and hope to have that resolved soon so that she can receive back-pay from July 17. In the meantime, the janitor at our church, who is a good friend of ours, insisted that Angela take her church cleaning job in November so that Angela could earn some money. She told Angela that she can keep the cleaning job until her pregnancy prohibits her from doing it anymore. Jason goes to the church each week with Angela to handle all the heavy parts of the cleaning job--emptying the garbage, mopping the floors, etc. We're thankful for our friend's generosity in sharing her job with Angela, and to our Church Council for approving this temporary personnel switch.

We actually had a very nice Christmas, and we are so thankful for the gifts of the baby Jesus, our families, and...good food!  LOL  On Christmas Eve, we attended church and I sang in the choir. Then, Tom, Ang, Jason and me went to Tom's sister's house in Canton (thanks, Jeanette!) for dinner and a gift exchange. We'll be getting together for Christmas with my family this Saturday evening to do the same.

During the past few months, Angela's stomach has "popped" out some, and the baby inside is growing like crazy. Some of her earlier blood tests showed that the baby has a 1 in 418 chance of having one too many chromosomes which would cause severe medical problems which would probably result in the baby's death. We have chosen to ignore this "ratio game" which is really all it is, and instead, continue to pray with our families, our church, and our friends that our Lord will let the baby be born healthy with no problems. So many pregnant moms have the same blood tests with same results only to have healthy babies. There are way too many "false positive results" for us to have much faith in these results.

On January 9, Angela will have her 20-week ultra sound. Her doctor is having the ultrasound performed at the baby high-risk department at Huron Valley Hospital nearby because this department's ultrasound magnification is 3 times stronger and would be able to see if the baby has any physical abnormalities. Again, the odds are that the baby is fine, and we are praying and hoping for the best. In the meantime, Angela has started to feel the baby "fluttering" in her stomach (early kicking) on a regular basis, and this is very exciting.

I apologize for not having any pics to post from Christmas. We totally forgot to take some! We are becoming more absent-minded the older we get.

If you guys could keep our unborn grandchild in your prayers, we would greatly appreciate it. The more prayers, the better, ya know? Thanks for "listening", and I'll try to start posting on my Blog regularly again, I promise!

Blessings to you all on this wonderful birth of our Lord, Jesus!

Boating on Lake St. Clair

Blue-green water...the sun glistening off the surface,

boats, large and small, everywhere

people trying to stay cool in the hot, humid sunshine.

Swimming and floating on the waves

not a care in the world,

laughing and joking with family.

Enjoying a simple lunch of sandwiches, fruits, cold veggies and ice-cold bottled water.

Heading back to the boat slip with smiles on our faces at the end of the day.

My brother's 24.5 ft. boat tied up in its boat slip on Lake St. Clair.

Tom on the left, my silly brother, Bob, on the right.

Tom, me and my brother off the back of his boat.

My dad on the left with another huge boat at the marina in the background.

On the sandbar. An hour later, there had to have been 200 boats parked on this same sandbar with us, but they were all spread out over maybe 1/4 mile, so it wasn't insanely crowded, thankfully.

We were in awe of this super expensive, fancy house located on one of the canals. They had fake palm trees everywhere, a thatched-roof cabana with an outdoor fieldstone bar, an inground pool with TWO twisting slides going into it, a "cigar boat" that had to be 40 ft long parked in front, and a maid running around outdoors picking up after the 3 young kids that were swimming in the pool. Where DO people get that kind of money???

My sister-in-law, Leslie and hubby, Tom, sitting in the back of the boat while it was parked on the sandbar.

Heat Wave, Graduation and Meat Pie

Hey, who the heck turned on the STEAM MACHINE this weekend? Whew! The temperature in Michigan today was 97 (110 in the sun, as this thermometer in our backyard shows) this afternoon, with the heat index being over 100. That's extremely hot for us in this area, and we aren't used to it. AND I noticed on the weather report that this entire week is supposed to stay in the 90's with Thursday's high being 100! Holy heat wave, Batman! I can hardly wait to see our a/c bill next month.  :-(  

I know a lot of my blogger friends are also suffering from the heat and, in some places, drought too. I feel for you guys, and hope you're able to find ways to stay cool. We're definitely in the Dog Days of Summer now.

Last week at work was busy-crazy and fun as our church sponsored Vacation Bible School. The kids had a blast and, as always, the staff was amazed at how much, and how quickly, they learned! This week will definitely be much quieter as our Pastor will be in Indiana on Monday & Tuesday for a Pastor's conference, and I'll be in the office alone on those days. As long as my a/c wall unit keeps working, I'll be just fine.  :-)

Saturday Tom and I put a lot of miles on our car, and we were never more than an hour and 15 minutes from home! Early in the morning, we drove to my hairdresser/friend's house so that I could get my hair touched up (blonde highlights). She lives on a canal in Algonac, just off Lake St. Clair, and that area is totally gorgeous. Yes, it's a long drive, but she's been doing my hair for 25 years now, and I get a color, wash, cut and style for only $25, so it's worth it. Plus I get to catch up with her on things going on in both her family and mine.

From Algonac, Tom & I drove to at least 3 or 4 other places, none of which were close to home. It seemed like our errands were never-ending, but we actually had a nice time sight-seeing and going to areas of Metro Detroit we hadn't drove through in years. It was like we made a huge "square" from our house, all the way over to the east side (Canada was across the river at that point), down to 8 Mile Road (the northern border of Detroit) all the way back to the west side (home), and an hour later to southeast Redford for our (future) niece's graduation party. We had gotten on the road at 9 a.m., and didn't get back home for the night until 11 p.m. Man, that was a long day.

We had a nice time at our (future) niece's graduation party, but it was certainly VERY WARM sitting in her parents' backyard, and there was only shade in half the yard at any given time. They had a pool, but we didn't bring our bathing suits, and besides, the pool was filled with screaming, splashing kids, so we wouldn't have gone in anyway. I did, however, use water from the pool several times to wet down my arms, shoulders, neck, back, etc. to help keep me cool until the sun went down. I think that's the only thing that made Saturday evening bearable. Anyway, we were so happy for Megan (our nephew, Jeremy's, girlfriend of the past two years) that she graduated from high school--one of the first in her family, if you can believe that. She's already been accepted to Schoolcraft College near her home, and will start in the fall. She hopes to become a bakery and pastry chef. Yum! Sounds good to me! Megan got held back a year in school when she was younger, so she actually graduated at age 19. Jeremy is 21, and we can totally see them getting married some day, which is great, cuz Megan is a doll. And she's such a sweet, pretty girl!

Today, Sunday, we went to church, then  Bible Class, and then decided to stay home in the a/c. We haven't had much rain either, so we've been having to water our garden every few nights, but as you can see, our plants--3 tomato, 2 zucchini, 4 cukes and 2 bean pole plants--seem to be doing well.

Oh, and lastly, we had a special treat for dinner tonight! Tom decided to experiment, and he made us a homemade meat pie for dinner. Inside, he included meat, potatoes, corn, red peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic and brown gravy. It was SOOOO good! And look at that light-brown, crispy pie crust!   I love that man's cooking. Heck, I think I'll even keep him around for a while. LOL

Have a great week, and STAY COOL, ya'll!

River Tubing and Nature

Last weekend, Tom and I drove to our friend's property on the Rifle River (about 2 hours north of our house), meeting 2 other couples there (including the property owners), and we all had a really fun and relaxing time. As a matter of fact, we had SO much fun laughing, joking and telling stories Friday night that before we knew it, it was 3 a.m.! We couldn't believe we had all stayed awake that long!

The weather was perfect and the water, although still a little chilly, was very refreshing. We took 2 trips down the river--one Saturday, and the other midday Sunday before we all left to go home--and during each, we stopped at the halfway point for a swim at a bend in the river where the water is deep and the current gently floats you maybe about 60-70 feet before gently sitting you on a shallow sand bar. Lots of fun.

Anyway, I didn't take any people pictures this time, but I did take a few nature photos which I've included below.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope your weekend was wonderful too!  Hugs!

Red sky at night, sailor's delight! We arrived at the river at sunset, and the reddish sky was gorgeous!

One of 3 large frogs living in the teeny pond near our fire pit area. They croaked and sang all weekend for us!

A dragonfly stopped for a few minutes on an unblooming iris plant that was growing alongside the teeny pond.

Various types of wildflowers were growing all over our friend's property, as well as along the river banks and dirt roads. I'm not sure what type of flower this is, but they sure were pretty!

As I've said before, the neighbor next to our friend's property has a lot of animals including a male and female peacock. Here, the male poses on a fence post. I wish he would have spread those beautiful feathers out for me, but apparently, he wasn't "in the mood." Earlier that day, Tom accidentally came upon the female and her 2 chicks while taking a walk, and she hissed and honked at him (sounded like a goose!) until she and the babies moved off a bit.

BBQs, Fireworks and Hot Temperatures

Well, here it is at the end of the long, July 4th weekend. Tom & I were just saying (on our way home from a fireworks show at a nearby lake) that this was one of the nicest, most relaxing weekends we've had in a very long time. It was actually a PERFECT weekend, and those are pretty hard to come by! Thank you, Lord!

We were thrilled, and thankful, that our nephew, Jeff, came over Saturday morning and cleaned out the gutters on our house. We used to have a family-owned company that automatically cleaned them twice each year, but they went out of business, and when I called around to get prices for other companies, I found they were 3 times as expensive, which is why it's been 2 years since we've had them cleaned. Anyway, thank you to Jeff! He did a fantastic job on a VERY hot and steamy day.

Our nephew, Jeff, cleaning our gutters. Yes, those are 12 - 18" high saplings growing in them. How embarrassing!!!

Later on Saturday, we went over to Tom's youngest brother's house (Jeff's parents) and spent the afternoon with them lounging around in their pool trying to stay cool. They also BBQ'd some fine-tasting burgers for dinner. Since the temps were in the high 90's, and the humidity was RIDICULOUSLY high, staying cool, even in the pool, was certainly a challenge. The pool thermometer read 92 degrees! Yep. It was hot in Michigan on Saturday! Later in the afternoon, we had hours-worth of thunderstorms and nasty-looking black clouds go by their house, but all they received were 2 bursts of rain showers. Other cities around theirs weren't so lucky and had hail and high winds up to 70 mph! Thankfully, all was quiet back at our house (1/2 hour north of theirs), and our garden was happy with the rain showers it received.  :-)

I also have to add here that Tom & his brother had a lot of fun hanging out with each other, and by the end of the night, and several Tuscan lemonades and Coronas later, neither was feeling any pain. LOLOL

Look how happy Tom and his brother are here! Can you guess why? LOLOL

Sunday we went to church, then Bible Class, then hustled over to Tom's nephew and soon-to-be niece's new home for a BBQ.  (Their wedding will take place in September.) Quite a few of Tom's family were there, as well as a few old friends from days past. The food was good, the company was awesome, and the farmhouse that they bought was absolutely COOL to the max. It was over 100 years old, and had been very nicely maintained. You can find more pictures of it on my sister-in-law, Jeanette's, blog at "Net on the Net."

Mike & Sarah's first home. Isn't it gorgeous???

I just LOVE this photo of Sarah rocking on her front porch. I was telling her that she looked like she truly belonged there in that rocker!

After leaving Mike & Sarah's BBQ, we went home and prepared to have a deck-full of our "river camping" friends over to visit and see the fireworks on our lake. We have an open spot between the trees in our back yard and our neighbor's back yard where you can see the fireworks perfectly. We were surprised at the number of river family that showed up, but happy as punch to see them all. The fireworks were awesome and afterward, we all sat around a campfire in our backyard just talking, telling stories, and laughing. It was a nice ending to our day.  :-)

Today was a day of rest for Tom & me. We watched some TV, I sat here at the computer and read all of your new blog postings (I swear, that took me 3 hours since I haven't been on Blogger in almost 10 days...lol), then he & I took naps before eating some dinner and then heading over to another friend's house who lives around the corner on a different lake in order to watch more fireworks. This guy lives right on the lake, and is a mutual friend of the river family, so they all came to watch the fireworks too. It was another great time, for sure.

Before the fireworks began, the guys were lighting off these tall, colorful things at water's edge, and they probably shot 10' into the air. In the background you can see red flares lit all the way around the lake by the lakefront home owners. It's blurry here, but when you see it in person, it's neat because the flares turn the entire lakeshore red. I have no idea how this tradition got started, but it's pretty neat, and it happens every July 4th on every lake around us that has a professional fireworks show. Fun, fun!

This came out a little dark, but it's the flag that our friend, Jay, had flying on his flagpole near the lake tonight, and there was just enough of a light breeze to make it fly proud.  :-)

Now it's late, and I should be in bed, so I'll stick a few photos in this posting and head upstairs for some shut-eye. Hope all of you had a wonderful July 4th weekend also. We are free to do fun stuff like watch fireworks and visit with our friends and family because of the hard work and dedication of so many service men & women, both past and present, and I am SO thankful to be living in this great country of ours. Happy Birthday, U.S.A.!

Strike up the Band, Baby!

Boy, I had a wonderful time this afternoon listening to my youngest brother, Mike, play guitar and sing with his old bandmates. It's been 8 years since those 6 guys played together, but they quickly got up to speed as probably 40 friends and family looked on, clapped and thoroughly enjoyed the music. My oldest brother, Bob, put on the event, letting the band use one of his newly cleaned-out auto shop garages, and Bob also supplied all the food and pop/water for everyone. He's really good about doing stuff like that, especially when it comes to family, and I know our youngest brother REALLY appreciated it. Halfway through the event, my niece, Riley, went up to the microphone and sang a solo, a capella, mind you, with words to a song that she had written herself--very complex words, I might add. She has a beautiful voice. I had no idea! Also, toward the end of the night, I got brave and grabbed a tambourine and jammed with the guys.  LOLOL  Mike was shocked and kept giving me "high fives" saying, "Dang girl, you're GOOD with that thing!"  ROFL  I had a riot, no doubt.

Photos from the event are below. I also took a video of the band playing/singing "Smokin' in the Boys' Room," but I'll probably have to post that in a different post since I've never tried posting video on my blog before.

On a side note, Angela's life is moving along at the speed of light, as usual! (If I don't talk to her at least once a week, I could miss really exciting events in her life like:  she has shaved her head bald, is working at a morgue, has moved to Australia, has made plans to climb Mt. Everest in December, etc.)  LOLOLOL   Today's surprising news? She picked out a 4-month-old puppy from the Humane Society! She'll pick it up Tuesday and will have to keep it at her work until Friday because that's when she gets her first paycheck and also moves into a 1 bedroom apartment (Yep, that's my kid! She's already moving into her own place.). Let's just say that her landlord wasn't keen on her bringing a dog into the house, and with Angela, NOTHING comes between her and her love of a pet. "No dogs? No problem. I'll be moved out of here by the end of the week then."  ~Angela~   LOLOL  Anyway, stay tuned for photos of the new pup and new apartment.

Toodles!

The band. My brother, Mike, is the guy on the right playing bass guitar in a black t-shirt.

Mike (right) and his best friend and drummer, Carl. They've been best buds since middle school I think.

Riley singing her solo.

Some of my family: (l. to r.): Sister, Sandy; Aunt Betty; Mike, Debbie & Riley (center); and cousin, Brenda.

More family (l. to r.): cousin, Mary; sister, Sandy; Aunt Betty; and my dad. (Don't know who the young boys are.)