Xmas at the Ruthenbergs

Here are some pictures from Xmas Eve at Dave's parents.

Dave and his lovely mother, Joanie
Grandma Helen
Aunt Emily
Diana, Dave's sister
Good ole' dad, Les.

Xmas 2006

Well, the first real family Xmas with all my children together in a long time turned out to be a lot of fun. I have been lucky to be able to see all my kids a lot this year. Here are some of the pictures that didn't turn out too bad.

Charly pondering why cameras are always stuck in her face.

Mindy and Kari just hanging out.

Mark pondering why Charly is pondering.

Mike - chilling.

Mindy - chilling

Brett and Charly checking things out.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Oh, boy....the last holidays of the year.

The year has been eventful. Dave and I moved to a house. Yes, we are now homeowners.

My youngest daughter gave birth to a lovely baby girl in May and my other daughter is pregnant and due in May next year.

Brett started a new job and I am excited for him, as I think there will be more room for advancement at this job, besides all the opportunities to increase his knowledge.

This will be the first year that all my children are in my home at the same time since......since, hmm, it has been a while. I think that all three were at my apartment when my dad and his girlfriend, Inky, came up from Florida to visit. Not sure what year that was. I enjoy my sons-in-law and look forward to continuing the tradition of having everyone over for Xmas each year. As time goes on, the group will become larger and that will be exciting.

Dave's parents will also be there. They had a little taste of how my family interacts with each other in August, so hopefully they will not be too overwhelmed.

The menu is a little crazy, macaroni and cheese, italian meatballs and sauce, ham and mustard sauce, vegetable, salad, and desserts. I will be using the best dinner ware that the dollar store had to offer. (time washing dishes will be reduced - always a plus).

The whole affair is meant to be relaxing and fun, not a showcase for fancy things.

Well, have to go clean the toilet and vacuum the floor. (don't want the baby crawling all over a dirty floor) Then later I will be starting the appetizers and get the mac and cheese ready to put in the oven tomorrow.

sleepless in dearborn heights

Yep, I am sleepless again. Not sure what causes it. Too much sugar, caffeine, not enough exercise, too many thoughts? Could be any of those things, but I am not willing to make any changes, so I have to put up with the sleeplessness.

Watched The Office. Michael the office manager creeps me out. The Validity Committee was a riot, the marking the girlfriend was funny, and the CIA running gag was priceless.

>>You have been compromised>>Abort mission>>Destroy phone - Dwight is a dork.

Looking forward to 12/23. All the family coming to the house. It will be a "real" Christmas as a family in a long time. What movie should we watch and tear apart? Maybe we should watch Princess Bride and give Grandma Joannie and Grandpa Les a taste of the McMillan/Selleck sense of humor.

what did he say?

Last night Dave got out of bed to relieve himself. He woke me up as he got back into bed. I was still half dreaming, half awake. He was messing with the pillows, trying to get comfortable and I thought I heard him say, "I got a quarter". I thought it was odd that he would have found a quarter in bed, but who am I to question. But I did question. I asked, "Did the tooth fairy leave it?"


PS: Actually he was saying "I got a corner." Still not sure what he was talking about.

football championship press conference

I always tag along with Dave when he goes to the press conferences after the football games. I always feel uncomfortable for the team that lost. Here they are in front of all the press and they have to explain why they lost. Whereas the winning team comes in and the mood and atmosphere change noticeably. The air even feels lighter after the losing team leaves.

I was trying to remember how I felt and how my team felt after losing gymnastic meets or swim meets, but I don't remember that far back. Must be it didn't scar my psyche, so I guess the football teams that I have been seeing will not be scarred either.

comment overheard

I overheard this comment while at the MAC Championship game. Three people, two males, one female, were watching the TV screens. There was a break in the football game and the Fan Cam was scanning the crowd for interesting people. One fan had brought a sign that said: I had to sell my plasma to come here.

The female watching this turned to her co-workers and said: "You mean he had to sell his plasma TV to come here?"

Oh, my, gosh......did she really not know? Well, I overheard this as I passed them, and I turned to say: "He had to sell his blood plasma." My comment was returned with confused stares. Yikes.

Our new feathered kid - Riley

This is Riley, our new feather kid. He is 14 weeks old. He is a green cheek conure.

Thanksgiving

I wish I could take better pictures.

Kari and Mindy
Mark, Ashley and Charly
Dave and Charly
Brett and Mindy
Mindy and Mike

I am very thankful for my family. My children are all grown and they are a joy to be with. My husband and his family are the best people to be around. I wish I had gotten a picture of my mother-in-law with the new baby. I don't know why I didn't, but it made tears come to my eyes to see Charly sleeping on her shoulder.

Memorial for Sparky

November 21, 2006

Yesterday afternoon Sparky passed away. He was being taken to the Vet for his monthly beak trim. While being held by the technician, he suffered a heart attack. The doctor tried to resuscitate him, but to no avail.

Sparky was at least 12 years old. He had lived with Dave for most of his life. They were best pals and he will be greatly missed.

I didn't realize how much I would miss him. I knew that Dave would have a hard time, and that is the case. But even though he was a pain in the butt sometimes, he was very much a part of our lives.

weekend projects

Well, I got quite a few projects down this weekend. We didn't have any football games to attend. Just watched them on the telly.

I regrouted bathtub. I think there is a small leak somewhere need the seam of the bathtub and the shower door framework. I need to figure that out. We also need to get the hot water faucet washer fixed. Not sure how to do that easily. Maybe we need to get all new fixtures for the bathtub. I think we have to go through the access panel that is in Dave's office to get to the other side of the tub. Sounds like fun. (not).

I also shortened the curtain that was in the bathtub window. It hung down and sort of got in the way when taking a shower. Plus it was getting discolored on the bottom from the little bit of rust in the water. This will last until I get a new one.

Lastly, we had bought some throw pillows for the living room. We picked up four of them on sale. Well, they are falling apart. So I got the bright idea that I would just recover them or make new covers for them. I am still trying to figure out how to put the old braid on the new pillows. I have one done and three covers sewn together. I just need to turn them, stuff them, and put the braid on.

I looked through the sewing projects that my mother had started. There are a lot of them. Purses, vests, appliques, a wall hanging. I need to see if there are any projects that I can finish. I hope so.

lucky

Well, I am feeling either lucky or unlucky, depending on how you look at it. If I was lucky, then I probably wouldn't have had these problems at all. But I guess I am lucky because both of these turned out fairly well.

1. My husband is trying to demolish my car slowly, a little bit at a time. Not really. I asked that my car be allowed to "sleep" in the garage with his car. The trouble is, the garage is a small two-car garage and my Focus has big ears. Dave's Santa Fe takes up a lot of room and my Focus just fits. Well, the first time that Dave tried to put the car in the garage, he scraped the passenger side of the car. The second time he tried, he knocked off the driver's side side-view mirror. Luckily, it only cost $106 to get that fixed. The scrape is still there. I need to get some paint that matches my car color.

2. Brett returned from San Francisco on Sunday. I was to pick him up from the airport, as he had left his car in our driveway. I had to take the Santa Fe (mirror wasn't fixed yet). I had contacted Brett via cell phone on the way to the airport, but he said his cell phone was dying. So when I parked to wait for him in the "tow away zone" I wasn't sure he would be able to find me. I waited and waited. I knew he was having to pick up his bag from the baggage claim area, so I thought it would be a little while. Still I was getting worried. I thought I would pop my head into the terminal and see if I could catch his eye and let him know I was there, as I couldn't reach him by cell phone. I was able to find him, but when I got back to the car, a police officer was writing up a ticket. I was only gone maybe 2 minutes. Geesh. Anyway, he said that he had called the tow truck and that the ticket and the towing would be $150. I started to cry quietly. I asked if there was anything I could say to change his mind. I knew that I had done wrong, but...but...oh, well, darn. Then he stopped writing and said, "oh, okay. I won't give you a ticket. Since you didn't try to argue with me, I will let it go." Oh, my gosh. I couldn't thank him enough. I was so glad. I thought sure that he wasn't going to let it go, but he did. Whew. That was a close one.

So I am either lucky or just stupid. Not sure which.

Sisters and family get-together

My sister Cindi and I had all our kids and Cindi's husband over to Cindi's house. Lots of husbands didn't show up, but the main core was there.


Brett, Jenna, Kari, and Mindy













Ken and Mike

















Charly and me, with burp stain on arm.















Cindy, Charly, Mike, and Lisa













Brett and Charly

on my own

Tomorrow I will attempt to be "Dave" at a football game. This is exciting and I may fail. Dave usually types up a brief play by play for notes for a weekly article where he features the game that he is attending. This weekend we decided to split up. Usually I sit with him and try, try to identify who is making the plays. It is trickier than you think. Dave is going to the big MAC game, Kent State versus Ohio University. I am going in the other direction to attend the Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan game in Kalamazoo. I wanted to go see my sister with on Sunday, and this works out pretty good. I will stay overnight at Kari's apartment and then she and I will go over to Grand Rapids to see Cindy and her family. So all the cousins will hang out at her house.

Anyway, I am nervous that I will not be able to do the job that Dave does. He will have to write up the article about the Kent State/Ohio game. But if I do a good job, then maybe he will write up my game also, from my notes. We will see.

tastes from my childhood

There are certain tastes that I remember from my childhood and sometimes try to recapture. My mom's barbecue spareribs was my birthday meal. I would get the barbecue sauce all over my face.

My mom also would make mashed potates, egg noodles, and crumbled crackers sauted in butter to top them. You would pile the noodles over the mashed potatoes and the sprinkle the crackers over the pile. Then gravy poured over all of that. A heart attack waiting to happen, but my mother didn't die of heart problems and my dad is still alive at 84 years old.

But the one taste that I keep trying to recapture is the Frisch's Big Boy fish sandwiches. I don't know how often we would go there and how often I was allowed to have one, but it was at least two or three times. I remember the taste and feel of the tarter sauce and cod, mixed with the bun. It was delicious. My mouth waters just thinking of it. But trying to relive that taste can be disappointing. Elias Brothers Big Boy sometimes doesn't live up to the Frisch's Big Boy. One time I went to a Big Boy, all set to relive the experience and taste. I bit into the sandwich and almost gagged. They had run out of Big Boy tarter sauce and were using Gordon's Foods tarter sauce. Yuck.

Tonight I had a Swiss Miss, which is also made with the BB tarter sauce. It was good. But there was one bite that had just enough tarter sauce, lettuce, and bun that reminded me of the taste that I remember as a child. Heaven.

What tastes do you remember from your childhood?

first snow - 2006 October 11

my wish

Sometimes, just for a brief moment, I get scared that I will not be allowed to stay on earth long enough to see my kids have families and watch them grown and be able to interact with them. Probably that is my greatest fear, but I try not to think about it too much. My mom didn't really get to hang around long enough to do that, although, she didn't really seem that interested in being part of my life or even part of my kids' lives. My dad has been around for 84 years, which is a nice long time, but he doesn't seem to want to be involved in our lives either. He just wants people to call him and visit him, but doesn't call us first. He never asks how my kids are doing.

Me, I want to be around and involved. If I end up alone as I get older, I am moving to one of the cities where one of my children are living and they will have to invite me over their house for things. I will get a long distance phone plan where I can make long distance calls to all the other kids and grandkids. I want to go to school functions and recitals and sports events that they are involved in. My wheelchair/walker/oxygen tank will have to be allowed also.

almost knocked myself out cold

I don't know what happened. I laid down on the bed for a few minutes (during work) just to rest my eyes. About 1/2 hour later, the phone rang. I finally heard it ringing and jumped up and tried to get to the phone in the other room. Somehow, maybe I wasn't quite awake or something, I tripped, stumbled and finally fell headlong into the wall across the way from the bedroom door. Bing, bang, and boom! I jumped up to still get to the phone.

I don't know how I didn't knock myself out cold. I am still finding places that hurt. Bruise over my left ear, blood bruise on my middle finger on my right hand, left wrist tender, left knee now starting to swell and hurt, right side of my neck tender, left elbow scraped up and sore. I wasn't doing too bad until now, when I tried to go to sleep. Everything started hurting.

If someone could have taped me doing that, I am sure we would have won on America's Funniest Videos.

family of squirrels

Well, we do not have birds to watch or other critters in our backyard, but we seem to have a family of squirrels that live in the tree in front of our house. One was sitting on our front porch the other morning, eating his/her breakfast. He/she looked at me as if I was interrupting something. Then this morning I noticed that both were in the front garden. One was eating the flower weed that had grown quite large (we are having a hard time keeping up with the yard work). The other was sitting in the shrub eating the red berries that are all over it. They like to play in the front garden also. I notice them running in and out between the shrubs.

I will have to get so I name them and stuff. This is the same squirrel, just two different pictures.

Dear God letter

Dear God,

Thanks for creating me. Not sure why you did, but I hope to know more later. It is kind of hard not knowing what your big plan is for me. I think I have figured somethings out already. I hope I am right. For instance, I pretty much have it figured out that we are put on earth to learn lessons. Or to help others learn lessons. It seems very complicated, because I never know when I am learning a lesson or I am helping someone else to learn a lesson. Maybe a little of both.

I did want to know though: Are we humans suppose to be bugging other humans about what to believe and what not to believe? Or are we suppose to be paying more attention to our own beliefs and our relationship with you? The reason I ask is that I have had so many people try to tell me that I am not going to go to heaven because I don't believe the way they do. They try to push their ideas on me, saying that the Bible backs them up in this. It is almost like they need me to think the way they do so that they can feel good about their beliefs. The ones that really get to me are the ones that say that they are "Christians" and that they love me, and then in the next breath or behind my back, they say mean and hurtful things about me or other people. What kind of Christian is that? I don't get it.

I tend to want to stay away from people who are always telling me how to run my own life, but yet they don't seem to be able to run their own lives. Well, maybe I need to pray for them. It seems that they like to "control" other people because they don't seem to be able to control their own lives.

They think the devil lives inside of me because I don't believe exactly how they believe or because I have made mistakes in my life. Mistakes are how we learn things in life. We make a lot when we are young. Oh boy, do we. But the mistakes are how we form our beliefs and learn life's lessons.

The funny thing is that I feel this need to "preach" to them what my beliefs are, as if that will change their minds. So then I am doing the same thing back to them. When I feel the temptation to preach, I instead look inside myself and ask over again what do I believe? Does it feel true and right? If so, then I don't need to tell anyone. My actions and words and deeds will reflect my beliefs.

Glade Cinnamon Sticks air freshner - gone :(

Okay, I need everyone's help. That is if you want to help. I love the LADE® Air Freshener in Cinnamon Sticks® fragrance. It is the only fragrance that handles the odor, if you know what I mean, without making me sick.

The Glade company has stopped producing this product. Read the letter below. I need anyone who wants to help to email them at this address and ask that they reconsider their decision.

Contact Us

Thanks for your help.

Dear Deb,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding GLADE® Air Freshener in Cinnamon
Sticks® fragrance. We always appreciate hearing from our consumers.

SC Johnson has decided to stop producing this product. Although there
may be product still available in stores, it will become increasingly
difficult to find as inventory is depleted. I'm sorry for this
disappointing news. Please be assured your interest in GLADE® Air Freshener in
Cinnamon Sticks® fragrance will be shared with the appropriate people in
our company.

We have a wide variety of other wonderful GLADE® fragrances available.
So you can find a new favorite, a complimentary coupon has been sent to
the address you provided. To learn more about our fragrances, please
visit our Fragrance Finder on www.glade.com.

If you have future comments or product information needs, we invite you
to visit or e-mail us again at www.scjbrands.com.

Regards,

Stephanie

Consumer Relationship Center
SC Johnson, A Family Company
Toll Free Number: 1-800-558-5252
www.scjbrands.com

Reference Number: 012815248A

Amazing hand shadows

Dancing hand shadows - Pretty cool

drifting apart - well not really

Well, I am not sure how I feel about this. Dave went to the first MAC football game of the season without me. He took time off of work, drove to Muncie, IN and stayed overnight. Part of me enjoys the time alone. Part of me wonders if he doesn't need me anymore. I know that couples are suppose to have things they do separate from each other, but so far I haven't developed any friends separate from Dave and no activities that I do on my own, except grocery shopping and getting my hair and nails done.

Actually, I am not sure I want to develop new girlfriends. I have my family to tend to and Dave, and sometimes when you have other friends, they take up more time. But it does seem a litle lopsided. Dave has friends from work, and friends from his fantasy football league, family, and friends from the MAC. I am just "the wife" that tags along.

Actually, I probably couldn't have gotten off of work to go to the game. But I never like to be left out of fun things. This is a left over feeling from childhood. I get jealous whenever someone gets to do something that I don't get to do. Yet, it doesn't bother me when I get to do things someone else doesn't get to do. I remember that it made me feel a little better if someone went away somewhere that I couldn't go, if they brought be back something. Like if my mom went to the store without me, I wanted her to at least bring me back something. Guess what. I still have that childish wish. So if Dave brings me back something (even if it is a candy bar or a plastic football - well maybe not that), then I will feel a little better. Geesh, do we ever grow up?

Okay, I have to update this post. I was a little off balance. Things are back to status quo. The air has been cleared. More communication will take place in the future and I will be taking my medication more regularly. (just kidding). But seriously, things are all better.

more cute pictures, at least I think they are cute

Well, I was emptying some boxes and found this water fountain that Dave's sister, Diana, gave him a while back. I cleaned it up and put some water in it and turned it on. Immediately the water started coming out of the flower on the side and running down from the top, gurgling and sputtering. Sparky hopped off my shoulder and went to the fountain. He was quite intrigued and was trying to find a way to take a bath in it. That is why he is all fluffed out. What a riot it was to watch him. I had to take pictures because of course he probably won't do it again when anyone else is around.

our child - well, not really, but he is cute

Sparky was so cute tonight. He decided to go over the window via the couch. He then found the cords for the shades and started climbing up them. Once up in the curtains, he peeked out from behind the curtains and then sat on the outside of the curtains for a bit. Then I held the cords out for him to climb/slide down. He did a couple of flips on the cord and then landed on the couch again.

Of course the batteries in my camera decided to run low at that moment and I had to reload before he got off the curtains. So the first few pictures were dark and then the latter ones were too bright. But I did take the time to make a small collage so that the blog is not bombarded with pictures. Of course if someone wants to see more of the cute lovebird, I will be glad to post more, because there are more.

It must be that Sparky is getting more comfortable in his new surroundings. He also wanted to check out the towel closet today. He has a special clucking sound when he is in the closet. Kind of a cluck, cluck, cluck. Sometimes when he is on your shoulder and you go into a dark room or closet, he makes a whistle that Dave taught him.

a good time was had by all

This last weekend Kari, Mark, and Charly came to visit. We didn't really do anything special. Just sat around and watched the grandchild grow. We had good food and watch TV, talked about sports, and other burning issues.















Then great-great grandma, great-grandma, and great-grandpa came over on Sunday.















Father, great-grandfather Les, and grandfather Dave with Charly and Sparky.















Grandma Deb and great-grandma Joanie















Great-great grandmother Helen.

Sister and her husband

Well, I have been trying to post this picture for a while, but there must be a new security thing with Internet Explorer and I kept getting a runtime error. So I tried it with Mozilla and was able to upload the file.

Aren't they a cute couple?

neighbors

Well, the neighbor across the street from us came over to say hi....we think. He is an older gentleman. He came to the door, rang the doorbell, and sat down in the chair on our front porch. This was at dusk one evening.

Dave went to the door and at first did not see anyone, but then noticed that the man was sitting in the chair. So he felt like he had to open the door. I put the bird in the cage and went out with Dave to "chat". Well, it was Bo from across the street. He came to say hi he said. But I am not sure that is exactly what he was trying to tell us.

I cannot detail the conversation, but can give you some of the topics he touched on. His wife died a couple of years ago. He misses her terribly. They were married 50 years.
********
Then he tells how she died. She went to get her hair colored. When she came back her head itched. After a day or so, she went to the ER. There, either because of the discomfort or the pain, they gave her morphine. She was allergic to morphine. She died.

His daughter, he says, represents the big-wig doctors at the hospitals. He does not sound fond of his daughter. He says he has bought her a house and a car and she is not grateful.

He wondered if we knew the people who lived in our house. We say no, but that we met their children. He says that Mr. Delvecchio was a nice person. He says that one day Mr. Delvecchio came over to his house, which was unusual, and said good-bye. The next day he shot himself in the backyard, killing himself. His wife found him. (We did not know this.)

Then he says that the lady in the house next to him came over to his house one day, about a year after her husband had passed away. She missed him greatly and was wondering what she should do. Bo says he didn't know what to tell her. She went home and took an overdose of her diabetic medicine. (Yes, she died also.)

Bo says that he misses his wife greatly. His feet hurt him at night and he cannot sleep. He is in pain a lot. Nothing seems to help.

He had a mercedes (he used to work for Ford, had a little money). He wanted to sell the mercedes. A man in a junker car came by one day. Offered him 25,000 dollars cash (Bo was asking for $50,000). Bo said, you got the cash? The man said yes. He went to his car, pulled out a paper bag, dropped the cash (100 dollar bills) on the table. He said he would be back for the car the next day. Bo says how do you know I will not take your money and take off? The man says, I am from Columbia, I will know where you are and will come and get you. (Drug money?)

Now Bo has his boat for sale. He says this was a custom made boat. Someone has purchased it from him.

As Bo got up to leave, I said that I would like to come over sometime and meet his dog and that if he needed help with anything to not to hesitate to ask. He turned and said, this is a one time thing. I will not be back. No, you may not come to meet my dog.

Dave and I were perplexed. Did he come to say "good-bye"? It has been a few days since he came over and he is still around, so I don't think he plans on committing suicide as so many, if his stories are true, have done in this area.

I asked our next door neighbor about Bo. She said she wished that he had not told us about Mr. Delvecchio. She grew up next to the Delvecchios and seemed embarassed that I knew about it. She also doubts that either Mr. Delvecchio or the lady across the street went to his house before they died to say good-bye. She cryptically cautioned me to stay away from Bo. She would not say more.

Bo did say that his house was the first in this area. Then the trailer park was built. Then our house was the first house in the subdivision and used for the model home.

Not sure what to make of it all. But makes for an interesting story.

ghetto birds

At our apartment we liked to watch the birds in the backyard. We put out bird feeders and the birds would come and eat, a few at a time. Never too many. They all seemed to behave themselves well. The squirrels would sometimes be bullies and push the birds away. We saw cardinals, cowbirds, sparrows, wrens, woodpeckers, and sometimes a gold finch.

So when we moved to the house, we wanted to put out the bird feeders and did. Oh, my gosh....what a mistake. We didn't realize that ghetto birds hang out in this area. They swarmed the bird feeders. It was like a sight out of the movie, Birds. I had the bird feeders in the front, and I thought I heard a couple hit the front window. In fact, one of them was lying dead in the garden. It was a horrible sight. The only birds that came to the feeders were the ugly ones. The sparrows, wrens, grackles, and cowbirds. They were pushy and demanding.

I moved the feeders to the back of the house and decided that when all the seed was gone that I would not fill them up again. I hated seeing them act like that.

Then I told our neighbor about them. She said that one year she had tried to re-seed some of her grass and the birds kept coming and eating the grass seed. So she thought if she put some seed in a pie pan it would keep the birds away from her grass. She said they swarmed the pan and that later there was a dead bird lying in the middle of the pan.

Tonight, I saw a swarm of birds hanging out on the street corner. They found a piece of bread and they were all fighting over the piece, stealing it from each other, pecking at each other. I swear we have ghetto birds living in this area. That is probably the only thing I miss about our apartment.

America's Got Talent - jugglers

I missed the first part of America's Got Talent last night, so I was glad I could see the video of the Passing Zone. I thought they were good the first time, but the judges didn't like them. This time, I thought they were entertaining.

http://www.nbc.com/Americas_Got_Talent/video/index.shtml

Too bad this show isn't about real talent anymore, though. It is like watching a train wreck. And, boy, do we like watching train wrecks. Don't we?

real car pool

http://www.centralohio.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/BE/20060802/NEWS01/608020330/1002&template=BE

I thought I had heard of everything, but I heard this on the news and wanted to find the picture of it, but only found an article. A man decided that he didn't have enough money to fix the air conditioner and his kids wanted to go to the beach. But with gas being so expensive, he decided on a more economical way. He bought a plastic tarp and put it in the bed of his pickup truck and filled it with water.

What a clever idea. I will see if I can find a picture.

sweltering heat

One more day of the heat. How is everyone else holding up?

Me, I am thankful for air conditioning. Although this poor air conditioner is having a hard time keeping up. It is 80 degrees in the house now. I am thinking of moving my computer to the basement. Actually, Dave and I should have bought an air mattress yesterday and slept downstairs. Dave didn't sleep well. Me, I had a small fan on me. Not sure why Dave didn't want the fan. Maybe I just forgot to ask him.

We also were lucky that our electricity hasn't gone out yet. The lights went out for a second last night. Later we heard that quite a few people just south of us were without electricity. I guess they were without it all night. Then their's came back on and more people lost their electricity on the other side of the road (Warren).

I have been keeping all the blinds closed, using as little electricity as possible (although I have a fan running today in my office).

Dave works at DTE and they sent an email around to everyone regarding "internal load reduction". What that means is that DTE would be turning off half of their lights and not running some of the elevators and other energy conserving measures. Dave's office is in the bowels of the building and they had half their lights off. Then later in the afternoon, the rest of the lights were turned off. Only the computer screen and the lights at their desk worked. He said that if they were working with all the lights off again today he would come home. He doesn't do well in low light. He thinks DTE got something mixed up, because another department had all their lights on. Someone threw the wrong switch or something. Or maybe it was on purpose, as his department is a contracted service and not DTE employees.

Dave's internet radio program - 7/31/06

Monday, Dave and Al conducted their first internet radio program at the MAC Media Days. Three hour program. They did well. Players and coaches stopped by the table to be interviewed.

I thought they did very well. They only had three short breaks. Otherwise, they talked for three hours. Windbags. Actually, they were awesome.

I was the "producer", making sure the cell phone didn't lose its connection, communicating with Broadcast Monsters as to when the breaks would be, making sure Dave and Al were on time for the breaks, getting the guests to sit down and put the headphones on, wiping off the sweat from the ear pieces on the headphones, keeping track of who the guests were. It was fun.

Listen if you would like here

The night before, Dave was voted the new MAC News Media Association president. This is something that he wanted, but in the past the "rules" (and I use the term loosely and you will find out why in a minute), was that only members who were full time print journalists were eligible for this position. Well, the full-time print journalists finally realized that the membership was declining and that in this electronic world, they needed to revamp the association. The three past presidents and some other members are going to be a committee to back up Dave (Dave was the only one who expressed an interest in the position and is experienced in electronic media), helping him get the membership and rules available via the internet, getting deadlines set and enforcing them for voting for awards and contests, etc. Sounds like I will be also backing Dave up in this endeavor. (People were calling me "the first lady". yuk, yuk, yuk, very funny.)

But it is nice that all Dave's hard work is paying off. People are actually starting know who we are and have actually visited our website. Some journalists use Dave's website as a resource. That is our wish, that we slowly build up respect for what Dave does on the website. Maybe this year we can actually start getting some sponsors to pay for the costs associated with the website and radio program.

Sunday, July 30

Went to the library. This library is open on Saturday and Sunday. It looks like it is brand new. So cool.

Got three mysteries to read. Hope I haven't read any of them before. I get confused easily with which ones I have read and which I haven't. I try to read one author at a time, as usually they have their stories go through a progression or a series of sort. But it is hard to remember whose books I have read and if they have any new ones out. I like to try to start reading new authors, but get fearful that the books will not be interesting. I need to spend more time picking out the books than I usually allow myself.

home and bed

Pictures of our living room. Boring, I know, but we finally got our roman shade blinds. Then we had to get valances. Thanks to Anna's Linens, they didn't break our bank account too much. The paint job was done by our loving family. Throw pillows on sale at Anna's Linens also. The runner on the table will probably be changed as soon as I can make new ones. I think the house has a homey feeling to it. Warm and cozy. The wall decorations were gifts from Mom and Dad (Les and Joanie). I am not much of a decorator, but I do know that it feels comfortable, so I like it.

Also, my bed is starting to be my friend again. I had quite a spell where I could not sleep. I would start out in bed, then move to the couch, and then finally to the floor, then back to the couch or bed. But finally, I am getting better sleep. I still have to move to the couch for about an hour during the night, but hope that gets better soon too. I wonder if I am sleeping better because I bought a mystery to read and have been reading periodically. Maybe that calms me down or something. I just finished it, so I had better go get another. I will check out the local library, otherwise, I end up with too many books that I have bought and I don't really like to re-read books.

the bed is not my friend for now

I am having a love-hate relationship with my bed. I fall asleep now, but then 45 minutes to an hour later I wake back up. Legs start tingling. Can't lie still. I thought it was getting better, but it isn't. I try not to think about it. I try relaxation techniques, but even those don't work. The urge to move my legs to get rid of the tingling, itchy feeling is just too great. I sometimes try rocking myself to sleep. That doesn't always work and I have to move to the couch to do that, so as not to wake Dave. The couch is even getting unfriendly to me. I was lucky tonight because I have been able to sit at the computer for a long enough time to write some short posts.

Guess I will try to read a book, but that doesn't always catch my atttention enough to keep me still. If that doesn't work, I could try doing some leg exercises and see if that helps.

How the house is shaping up.

Bedroom with new curtains. I want to make the tabs at the top so they hide and maybe shorten the curtains.












The living room. We still need to get pictures hung and the new shades haven't come yet.















But it looks warm and cozy and inviting to me. Maybe some throw pillows would be good also.











Dave's office. I wonder if we should paint the white wall with the green. The green looks good.



My office with yellow sheers. I have a picture or two to put up that will look great in this room.

Ikea takes you for a ride

I forgot to tell about our trip to Ikea the weekend before last. We went on Sunday, thinking that we could find a small kitchen table and chair set. The parking lot was in overflow mode. I considered telling Dave that we should go somewhere else. But we both were curious about what the big deal was. There were people in the parking lot directing the traffic. We couldn't believe it. Walking in was like walking into Cedar Point. You get a map and a pencil to mark off the items you want to pick up at the end in the furniture pickup. You have to stay on map's dotted line otherwise you get lost. There were crying kids, crying adults, wall-to-wall humanity, interspersed with furniture and shelves and bins. The items for sale sprung up randomly. It was a nightmare for agorophobic interverted individuals. Somehow Dave and I were able to find a table, possibly the perfect table for our kitchen. It is a half-circle with a rectangle that is the drop leaf, so that two, possibly four can fit at the time. We picked out two inexpensive chairs. I also begged for one more piece of furniture in my office (to make an L shape of my computer desk so that I can make notes with my left hand). All of these pieces needed to be picked up in the Furniture pick up area on the first floor. We were on the second floor. We tried going back the way we came, but the rush of humanity pushing forward toward their goal was too great and we were forced to conform and follow "the path". Now without the map, I doubt we would have found our way downstairs, even with the signs and the arrows on the floor. It was just to confusing. Sometimes, it seemed like a particular mean-spirited haunted house where you are turned back onto the path you just came.

Well, as you can guess, we made it out of there and yes we even were able to pick up the unassembled furniture and take them home. Assembling furniture - that is another story to tell. Dave and I are not the best people to try to assemble things together with. I think I know how to do everything, and Dave hates doing it and those two attitudes do not go along well.

Sunday, July 16

The heat is getting slightly unbearable. Our new house is holding up well under the onslaught of heat. Air conditioning set at 74, but actual is 78. Dave has been writing his football preview article all day yesterday and today. Yesterday I did a lot of errands, bought curtains, did grocery shopping, etc. I got a good deal at Anna's Linens. I will post some pictures of the rooms as soon as I have everything done that I wanted to get done and I get my office organized and I can find my camera and the connection that goes with it to the computer.

homeowners, part 2

Dave and I got up and had breakfast, the first one together in our new house. Then we got around and went outside to take care of the yard. That was the one thing we really didn't want to have to do with owning a home. I pulled weeds and Dave dug up the weeds growing between the cracks in the driveway and sidewalk. There were a lot of weeds, they had gotten out of control. Hopefully we can stay on top of the upkeep for the summer. We have someone who cuts the lawn for us, but there are still the weeds in the flower beds and driveway. I can't believe all the work that Dave did today. He got a lot done while I went to the store later in the afternoon. Dad and Mom stopped by because they were in the area. Dave told them that he was cursing me with every weed he pulled because I was the one that wanted a house to live in instead of an apartment. But I think the exercise is good for both of us. I have lost about 5 pounds and Dave's weight has come down a little also.

insomnia

Don't know why, but I have had insomnia for about 6 months now. I am so tired in the evening that I can hardly keep my eyes open when Dave and I are watching TV. I feel like I am ready for bed. I go to bed and sometimes even fall asleep, but 30 minutes later, I am wide awake. I hear Dave snoring softly and get more and more irritated that I cannot fall back to sleep, especially since he is sleeping so soundly. Then I worry that I will wake him up with my moving around to get comfortable. The more I try to lie still, the more the urge to move comes over me. So I go to the couch. There I can usually kick and squirm and thrash until I finally fall asleep. Then 2 hours later, I am awake again. This goes on all night. Starts all over the next evening.

when was the moment

When is that magical moment in a marriage when the couple stops holding in the burp or fart in or moving to the other room to let loose? When do they become that comfortable with each other?

painting

Well, we went to the Home Depot and bought some paint. Remember, I am new at this....probably picked ugly colors. But, we bought three gallons of "sienna buff" for the living room. One gallon each for the bedrooms, New Hunter (green -Dave's office/guest room), Quiet Moment (my office - blueish color), and Serene (light blue - master bedroom). We bought three rollers and three pans. We have two paint brushes. Mindy had me buy five drop cloths at the dollar store. Bought a roll of painters tape. Probably need more. We will see. I will try to get the rooms taped this week. Plus I got a gallon of gloss Swiss Coffee (cream colored) paint for the bedroom baseboards and moldimg around the windows/doors. I will see if I can get those done before Sunday when the kids are coming over to help paint.

The cable TV will be set up Friday morning. The DSL will be set up by the 27th.

I am getting excited...the move in date will be coming shortly.

Weekend - June 17-18

Mindy came over to help with a lot of work on the house on Saturday. She was awesome. She got into the lower kitchen cabinet cupboards and pulled up the old contact paper. We got all the contact paper off of those and the pantry and the linen closet and the refrigerator cleaned. Mindy, thanks again. Then we decided that we needed a little pampering, so we went to get our nails done. Mindy had a manicure and I had a pedicure.

After that, it was back to the apartment to eat pizza with Dave. Mindy helped me pick out colors for the walls with color samples that I had.

After Mindy left Dave and I went back to the house to attempt to put in the mini-blinds that we bought for the bedrooms. Dave did a good job of measuring, because the blinds fit the windows perfectly. We had a little trouble getting the first one in.....I had forgotten some of the steps and of course we didn't read the directions. We did five windows total. Some took only 10 minutes, but the last two seemed to take longer. We both were hot and tired, but totally proud of our "home project" completion as a team. I took the left side of the windows and Dave took the right. This is new territory for Dave and it has been a long while since I had a house of my own, so it will be interesting how well we do. But it will be fun learning.

Sunday, Dave's parents and his grandmother came over for Father's Day. I remembered seeing the "Take Home Chef" cooking pork chops and yams. I thought that would be good meal. It actually turned out well. I also bought a couple salads at the grocery store to supplement the chops and yams. I forgot to buy rolls, but no one seemed to miss them. I had the coffee pot already to brew some coffee, but I forgot to offer coffee to everyone after dinner. I enjoyed having everyone over and look forward to more entertaining at our new house.

Homeowners

Monday night Dave and I signed the papers to seal the deal on buying our new home. We will be living in Dearborn Heights. It is a cute little neighborhood. I have a list of things to get done at the house before we move in on July 1st.

Paint the living - this is a possible, as it probably is a lot of work.
Paint the bedroom and my office - I definitely want some color in the house, so I hope I get these done.
Put new paper down in the kitchen and hallway closet. First I have to pull up the old paper. It is dusty and old.

The yard needs some work, but we might hire a lawn service to take care of it, because we are old and decrepit. Not really, just I think it will be a lot of work.

McMillan Clan

Excerpts from different websites.

Clan MacMillan - McMillan History

The first significant settlements of M’millans outside Scotland were probably in Northern Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries as part of the Protestant “plantation”. While some came there from Knapdale and Arran, most probably belonged to the nearby Galloway branch which contained the devoutest “covenanters” in the clan. Indeed many Presbyterians in southern Scotland were called “McMillanites” after the Rev. John McMillan of Balmaghie who founded the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the early 18th century.

Other M’millans from Argyll were among the earliest of Scots settlers further north; particularly in New York, where they seem to have been joined in the second half of the 18th century by cousins from elsewhere in Scotland.

"The Scotch-Irish were the descendants of Scotsmen who in the seventeenth century had crossed to Ireland to dwell (there)....

******************************************

Apparently there was quite a lot of Scots who were discriminated against in Scotland and who moved to Northern Ireland. Then my ancestors came to Pennsylvania probably in 1738. They lived in York County, probably around Wellsville. Then they moved to Ohio, Clinton County.

night out at the bar

Dave and I went out to see our friend Mike Katon at the Northfield Roadhouse. We went a little early so we could partake of their menu. Plus Mike had promised to give us one of his new CDs that he produced on his own label. Dave wrote the liner notes for the CD. Diablo Boogie The notes take up a whole page on the inside of the CD cover. I

Going to the bar to hear Mike is always interesting. The bar wasn't very full. The food was pretty good, though. Dave and I both had two beers and then switched to coca-cola, but the coke was flat. The waitress said something about it being the bar coca-cola. Not exactly sure what she said because Mike's music is so loud that a conversation is impossible. That is what we like about Mike, his energetic, heart-thumping, guitar playing. His drummer, Johnny, sat and talked to us for a little bit before they started playing for the night. Johnny, is an awesome drummer, who is a carpenter by day. He had an interesting story to tell. Maybe Dave will post a comment and tell the story, or at least as much as he could hear of it.

People watching was interesting also. Three drunks came in later in the evening, two men and a young woman. They were loud and boisterous. The woman kept wanting to dance and the two men took turns dancing with her. As the men staggered to the dance floor they both eyed me. I don't know why they took an interest in me at all. Maybe because I wasn't sitting that close to Dave and they thought I was available to even things up for their group. The older guy stopped at our table and leaned on it as if he was tired from dancing. I could feel Dave's irritation with him rising. I kept my eyes on the band, feinting deep interest in Mike's playing, and ignoring the man at our table. He didn't take the hint. He came over to my side and leaned over me and tried to talk to me, which was impossible because the music was loud and he was slurring his words. Finally, he went away. Thank goodness.

There was an older couple off in a corner. The woman was wearing a jean skirt that was way too short for her, especially at her age. They had been playing kissy face all evening. During Mike's song, Barbecue on my Boogie, which is kind of a suggestive song, I noticed that the woman was facing the guy, straddled over his lap, playing their kissy face game. Dave and I were totally grossed out by this ugly display.

Well, all in all the night was good. We got to listen to rip roaring good rockin' blues and visit with Mike and Johnny. The food was very good and we didn't have to stay home and watch mindless television.

Of note, please, no one let me drink beer ever again. I woke up at 3 am with a migraine. It is better now, but still feel a little fuzzy around the edges.

writing

I want to write like Brett or Dave. I want to be articulate and witty. I try to talk and gibberish comes out. How can I write if I can't even talk?

Well, I am going to give it a little try.

Married couple conversation while watching Wife Swap:

Woman: Oh my gosh, look at those lips. She has had collagen treatments and they are horrible.

Man: What are you talking about? Oh, yeah, they look like a duckbill.

Woman: Domestic goddess....ugh, look she is cutting her husband's toenails. Do you want me to do that to you?

Man: I don't trust anyone to cut my toenails.

Woman: I would be a domestic goddess if my husband bought me a washer and dryer like that. No, not really. I am not a fancy person.

Man: Yeah, well you aren't getting a washer and dryer like that anyway.

Okay, that is all I can remember. That is the other problem....I can't remember details of conversations. I only remember the impression the conversation gave me. Whether it was a harmonious, sad, or contentious. My mind likes to remember images or designs, and I am most comfortable dealing with feelings about things. I could never win a debate, because I cannot articulate my thoughts about why I like a certain politician or debatable topic.

Oh, well, I will keep trying.

nature walk

Dave and I went back out to Kensington for our two mile walk. We have been a little negligent in keeping up our walking, so we are trying to get back in. We went a little different way. We thought we saw a deer, but it went away quickly. We liked the trail we were on because there wasn't much traffic. Toward the end of the trail, we saw a man with a tripod and camera in the middle of the path. Our first reaction was to groan. We hate meeting up with other people. Our desire to be away from other people is something that we both share, which is nice, since we both don't seem to have the need to get away from each other also.

But then we noticed what the man was trying to take a picture of. It was a deer just lying in the grass a few feet away from him. I was able to get some pictures of her also.

getting closer

Well, it is getting closer to the time when Dave and I are homeowners. Time to grow up. It is exciting and scary. We should be closing on the house next week.

It is a cute little house. Just my style, I think. Three bedroom, two bath. Hurray, two bathrooms. Boy do we need that.

We should have two weeks to get the house ready to move in. I would like to paint and do some other little things.

I am thinking that in August we will have to have a housewarming party.

Smoky Mountains

Well, we are back from vacation. It was a lot of fun. Had some problems along the way, but everything worked out in the end. The view was incredible.

This is a view of the foothills in the morning from our cabin balcony.








Here is every one relaxing.


We also drove to almost the highest point in the mountains. Dave and Joannie walked the rest of the way up. Les and I were affected by the high altitude and didn't make it to the top.

We checked out Gatlinburg. I still think it is too commericalized. We found the motor nature trail, but we were too tired to stop along the way. If we go back again, we will definitely do some hiking along that trail. Lots of rapids and waterfalls.


We took off to see Parrot Mountain. They have a cage where you can feed the lories. They have another spot where the macaws can be fed and they will sit on your shoulder or arm. One grabbed Les' hat and put a hole in it. Another bit my ear a little. Dave liked the hawk headed parrots. They would make sounds like a phone ringing and stuff.