Man, so many little tidbits to share, my head is spinning. I’ll start with my amusing dinner this past Tuesday night. I was invited over to Aimee and Mike’s for dinner to make up for me having to ditch them this past Sat (big hugs and kisses to the persons who invented pamprin and heating pads--w/o them I’d have quickly plotted and carried out my own demise). Anywho, the evening’s main event was the celebration of Big D’s (7th) and AA’s (4th) b-days. Both boys got Star Wars kites. Big D also got a build-your-own-monster-truck kit and a paper airplane kit. AA also got a matchbox fire engine ladder truck and a beautiful book, Brava Strega Nona! --a nod to the Italian heritage (I think mom will like it even more than he does). Aimee and Mike are AWESOME (in every sense of the word) peeps who work with me. They have 4 munchkins ages 11, 7, 4, and 2. Entering a house like that is almost like going to a foreign country for me--alien beyond compare. Lots of action, loud noises, and juggling. My favorite highlights included:
1) a dinner conversation that went something like this:
4 yo = “Mom, when you hurt your eyes, you are supposed to put mud in them. And then you brush them off like this...[demonstrating]” (referring to the biblical story of Jesus healing the blind man)
11 yo = “You know Jesus made the mud using His spit!”
7yo = “Dad, is that because they didn’t invent napkins yet?”
2) while homework was being checked and dishes put away, the 2yo running around the house in her pink piggy pjs sporting the toy welder’s goggles shouting, “Alleluia” at the top of her voice and laughing.
After the kids were put down for the night the adults dialed up the movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly on the Roku box--very, very interesting, but definitely not a Tues night movie. We were all fighting the nods not even 20 minutes into it so I packed it up and headed back to the south side. I’ll have to try and watch it again on another night.
There are so many other things to share I don’t even know where to begin. It will all come across as a random prattle of disconnected, jumbled experiences--but hey, that is my life. :)
First off, before I forget…
Happy Birthday to:
Becky - hope you are over the flu and having a great day lady!
Happy Belated Birthday to:
Dee--your b-day week plans sounded Marvy-luss!
Elaine--looking forward to the celebratory night on the town!
New Maurer--Are you here yet?
Work. Work is going well. Very busy. Still a bit disjointed, but well. We’ve implemented a bunch of cost savings notions that are helping us reverse the trend. The company has ceased tuition reimbursement--I am SOOOOO thankful my MS is completed. That would devastate me to be on that path and then have the rug pulled out from underneath. Also, we are modifying our main building here to fully utilize the square footage--looks like a big wall is going in about 20 paces south of my desk. Fortunately, I won’t have to move my desk--that is only slightly less tedious than moving my home. We were able to score some deeply discounted Wings tix (~$17 a ticket for the Joe) thru an offer made to the company, I couldn’t use them so I passed the deal back on to the fam on the East side--but everyone is so busy I don’t think anyone got to use them. Other than that, I helped throw together a quick (very quick) fundraiser for our Bulgarian Orphanage Aid project. We sold green root beer floats--and we able to bring in profits totaling over $500. I has extremely pleased with the turnout. My colleagues have bigger hearts than I ever thought possible. It makes me so proud of them. I’m very lucky.
Last Friday I took a vacation day to spend with Judy here in town. The day started off great cuz I got to see U2 perform live on GMA at Fordham University in the Bronx. Man do I still like them. Bono is a intriguing as ever. Anywho, the weather here was Bee-U-Tif-Full! We hit Great Lakes Furniture. It is my FAVORITE furniture store. I’ve bought all my BR and LR furniture from them. Due to the economic situation they are going out of business. It makes me very sad. Altho I didn’t need or want new furniture, I wanted to walk around the store one last time to say goodbye. It may sound kooky, but it was one of those stores I would wander around and gain ideas and inspiration from. I’m really going to miss it. I brought one last small piece home with me--a small planter shelf for the master bath that will completely compliment my ancient ruins motif going on in there. Good-bye GLF. :(
Judy and I hit Good Earth for lunch and then toured DT Holland. Altho I live here, I rarely take the time to enjoy the inherent beauty and charm of my adopted home unless I am entertaining guests. So, it was really nice to stroll the streets with my mom. The DT association was holding their “No boys allowed” shopping weekend featuring deals and specials. I bought an autographed low country B&B cookbook (my heroin) at one store. We then stopped into The Bridge, our awesome fair trade store where Judy bought me some groovy necklaces and a scarf. My mom spoils me. All of us kids. Her grandkids too. But she really enjoys doing it. I’m almost to the point where I don’t try and stop here. Almost.
Judy and I then went to Moynihan Gallery. They were holding a b-day celebration where they had a MI puzzle all complete except for one piece. Every customer got to try their luck and pull a puzzle piece from a big jar to see if they could pick the missing piece. The grand prize was an original oil by Ms. Kate Moynihan herself. Altho I wasn’t a grand prize recipient, I picked a silver star puzzle piece winning me a Big Red print by Randall Higdon, a doors of DT Holland poster, and a collapsible/reusable shopping bag. I was happy with it. :)
We then went and got our tickets for the 7:00 showing of Taken at the local multiplex (action packed and fun for those who enjoy revenge based violence, but not altogether believable). We headed back DT for a quick dinner at CityVu Bistro, followed by a nice stroll along the Heinz/Lake Mac Walkway--then back just in time to catch the movie. We made an early night b/c we had to be out of the house by 5:45 the next morning to pick up Elaine and catch the bus in GR for our shopping trip to IL.
My luck continued on the bus as mom’s name was drawn in the raffle and she won certificates for free videos from a local place--which she gave to me. She then picked the next winner’s name out of the bowl--Me. Nice job Mom! I won a $20 gift certificate to Applebee’s--I just may have to take Kyle out to his fav place. Elaine and I had some good girl chat time on the bus on the way there--the assigned seats had us sitting together and Judy up a row and across the aisle. Mom is good at making friends so it was no biggie.
We made it to Gurnee Mills just as it was opening. None of us 3 were on a mission. Just exploring. We scored some good deals at the Bath & Body Works including some 90% off shopping/beach bags--originally $40. For $4 it was worth it just not to have to carry multiple shopping bags from all of the stores. Other than that I got a few over-the-shoulder-boulder holders and 2 more cookbooks (one on preserving year round and another on Shelburne Farms in Vermont). We headed back to the hotel at 5:00 for some snacks and toddies. Decided we were done shopping for the day--the bus was making 2 more trips back and forth to the mall. We chilled in the room for a bit (pretty decked out with a fridge, microwave, lay-z-boy, and air-hockey table) and then went across the parking lot to Timothy O’Toole’s for dinner where I excitedly ordered one of my favs, Guinness & Black (alternate names depending on where you order it, but essentially a Guinness with a shot of Chambord). This place was brand new, so I should have known better, but it was Irish themed so I just presumed they’d get it right. They didn’t. They served the Guinness ice cold. I had to wait forever for it to warm up to room temp. The consolation was that they were handing out free 6oz samplers of both Harp’s and Guinness. We all 3 took one or the other, but neither Judea nor Elaine are beer chicas, so they gave me theirs. We returned to the hotel to call it a night, but not before I sharpied a lovely stick-people couple and their dog into one of the ultra-cheesy mass produced kaka oil paintings in the room. I picked up that little habit at a funky motel up in Chassell, MI. (Angie M. -- Remember Caroline, Brandon, and you and the snowsuit sleeping bag? hahaha!)
The next am we boarded the bus for Light House Place in Michigan City, Indiana. The weather did not cooperate--shifting between drizzle and violent downpour every 20 minutes. I got a few work shirts, a potato masher at Le Creuset, and some Harry & David treasures for me and my colleagues. I spent more $ than intended, but I felt altho I may not have totally honored my less-spending/less excess plan, I made no frivolous purchases.
After we got to GR and dropped Elaine off, mom and I headed back to my place. We were whipped and made a pretty early night of it. Next am we got Judy packed up and headed out to grab breakfast before she hit the road for home and I reported to the Center for Women in Transition (CWIT) for my week of volunteer work.
Working at CWIT was an AMAZING experience. I was blown away by how good it felt to do something for people in need in my community. I can TOTALLY get the draw of working for a non-profit. It felt truly purposeful. It also made me realize just how complex my responsibilities at my primary job are. I gained new respect for many things:
*my ability to jump in and use some design/computer skills that I just take for granted everyone possesses (b/c I see us all as such unique and creative beings)
*people who sacrifice big $ paying jobs, for jobs that pay big in other less tangible, but no less valuable ways
*myself--he inner self-critical me tends to see myself as a glorified secretary at times. This being the only ‘real’ job I’ve had since college. I wasn’t sure what else I was qualified to do. I was able to prove to myself that I have skills and talents that people do indeed appreciate and value. It may seem weird, but that was a fear I have carried around inside for quite a while.
On top of all those wonderful things, I got to work with some wonderful people--Sherry and Jean in particular. Holland is really a small town at heart and I was delighted to hear Sherry needed to call someone about the DT St. Paddy’s Day parade--someone we both knew, so I got to give him a surprise hiya. I learned Sherry also dreams of opening a B&B in the very exact house I’ve had my eye on here, Windy Ridge Estate (sorry, there are no links to this at this time b/c they took it off the market--it looks like it would fit right in on Mackinaw Island). Sherry’s hubby is a Schoolcraft College Culinary School grad (uber-yeah!). While at CWIT my tasks were to design and prep things for the Volunteer Appreciation Open House (hard invites, evites, mailing labels, welcome sign, flower tags, etc.--the annual fundraiser program had already been completed). To express her gratitude, Sherry took me out to lunch on Friday to the Curragh where I got to meet her good friend, who also happens to own/run the establishment, and who happens to hail from Greece, by way of Chicago. She travels often back home to the Peloponnese to visit her rents. Altho we didn’t have much time to talk (the prepping for the big SPD shenanigans was in full swing) it was some cool kismet.
That Friday night I headed to Dan and Nadine’s for a fine dinner of raclette, wine, and scotch sampling. We had a great time and look forward to getting together again soon.
Okay, I made it half way thru my list of mundane tidbits and this is already too long, so I’m gonna cut it off here and put the rest in another post.
Wishing you all health & happiness!
Growing Up
15 years ago
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