Editorial Reply

This is in reply to the "Hints from El Gato" post.

Okay, first of all, she does not work for me! Fritz does. (Oh, she gives me treats and opens the blinds but that's about it.)

Second, she didn't forget to open the blinds. She just didn't want to stop what she was doing to help out a poor little cat who just wanted a little amusement. I mean, she watches tv, so what is the big deal if I want to watch out the window?

And yes, I did put my tail in the air and stroll out after only ten seconds. This is why: I could hear something in the yard that rustled and tweeted. It was driving me crazy! It was taunting me, and the more the leaves rustled the more excited I got. But when the self-appointed QUEEN finally quit tapping on those rattly key things and got up off her hindquarters to open the blind, my prey was GONE! So thanks a lot, ma. You blew it. Just for that, I left a few more hairs by your coffee cup. And when you walk through the rooms, watch out, their could be a furry little surprise waiting to leap out at you!

Hints from El Gato

Why would the cat stare at a closed window? I'll tell you why: That's HER window, and every day, it is my job to open the blinds so she can see outside. Yes, MY JOB. I work for a cat.

Today I forgot. So all the while I have been working on the computer, the cat has been taking turns staring at me, staring at the blinds, staring at me, staring at the blinds. She even meowed once. Then she pawed at the slats, and when she bent them down with her paw, peeked through the little opening.

So I opened the blinds. She got all excited, looked out the window for all of ten seconds, gave me one last contemptuous glance, hopped off the bed, and strolled out the door. Damn cat.

Art Gallery and Open House Fun

Fritz, Grace, and I went to the Grand Haven Area Arts Council to see the student art exhibits on Thursday. Grace's entry was a colorful Picasso style self-portrait that was cut out and folded to be free-standing. Emily's cut out wolf was lined with sparkly glitter glue and posed in a loping gait. We got to see many exciting styles of art, some truly amazing! The girls did a good job on their projects and we were all proud to see them displayed.

Then, Fritz, Laura, Chris, Grace, Emily, and I went to Emily's school Open House later that evening. It was fun!

First we got to see her Power Point computer project. The students each chose an endangered animal and did a computer presentation on their research. Emily chose the Gray Wolf, and I was so impressed with the professional presentation, with all the words capitalized and spelled correctly. We couldn't help but laugh when she used the word "retaliated" instead of "related," as in, "The Gray Wolf is retaliated to the canine family." She spelled it correctly, though, LOL!

The timeline each student made were so interesting! Emily's went something like this: I was born in Muskegon, I had a birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, My mom dropped me on my head, We got a cat named Piten Pat..... Again, we couldn't help but laugh, it was so cute. Then we watched her perform an experiment in which 3 liquids were compared as to mass, had cookies that were the BOMB, and then watched Emily on the computer doing a geography exercise. All in all a fun time. Her teacher, Mr. Dean, was very nice, he even gave me the website for the geography game. I was impressed with the projects the students did and how much they are learning.

Why Did The Turkey Cross The Road?

Today being the first day in awhile without gloomy skies and snow, I decided to drive down Sherman to the beach. About a mile from the lake, I saw a turkey casually strolling across the road. A quick check of traffic and one grab of the camera enabled me to get two quick shots.

Two reasons I took a picture. One, it was the biggest wild turkey I have ever seen. It stood over 3 feet tall, I am guessing. And it was alone. I have never seen a turkey sans flock in the wild. And there were no more to be seen anywhere. One more thing. There have been reports of wild turkeys annoying some of the ritzy titsy people who live near the dunes. Some adore them and feed them faithfully. Others chase them with cars, sticks, lawn mowers, etc. Bottom line is, they have a right to live where the habitat suits them and apparently ritsy titsies are not the only ones who find the dune area inviting. Sand mining has already driven off many of the local species, such as foxes, deer, raccoons, and the like. Nature selected wild turkeys to succeed in the area, but what happened to this fellow's flock?

Blades of Glory

Fritz and I went to see the new Will Ferrell/Jon Heder skating movie, and I must say, I was entertained. The critics (of course) had some criticisms, but not all of them were valid. The only one I think is worth mentioning is the one that said Jon Heder was Napoleon Dynamite on skates. Duh. With a mug like his, he is always going to be typecast, his role potential is somewhat limited. He played another likeable doofus and as such was well-fitted to the character he played in "Blades." Sorry, not a valid criticism.

It isn't an art award contender. It isn't a cutting edge movie, no pun intended. It is somewhat formulaic and therefore predictable. However, it has Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Amy Poehler, and someone who knows a lot about playing a coach, the one and only (much aged) Craig T. Nelson. So what....do you want to laugh or be impressed? I wanted to laugh and I did get that, even if there is much not to be admired, it is what it is. I loved the "skating," and seeing the likes of Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton, Dorothy Hamill, Nancy Kerrigan, Sasha Cohen, and so forth really gave the movie another cheerful lift, no pun intended. I could have done without the sex addict sidebar but at least it did tie in neatly when the closest competitors hatched a scheme to break up the star team. It was an acceptable marriage of gratuity and plot.

If you want to be amused, go see it. If you are an art snob who must find fault, save yourself the pain and watch A & E instead. For me, there are enough drug, running car-exploding, shoot 'em up, the-world-as-we-know-it-violently-ending despair-mongering movies to last me a lifetime. "Blades" for all its shortcomings is funny and I'm glad I finally got to see it.

Spring Vacation!

Haven't kept up to date with the blog since I have had Grace and Emily here for 8 days over spring vacation. Brooke and Paige got to spend a night, too, and Hailie came over once during the day. I didn't get to see Chantze except in passing, but I guess he enjoyed spending time with his boy cousins!

Some of the things we did: Went to the library and stocked up on books, played on the jungle gym at the beach, shopped for art supplies at JoAnne's and worked on a initialed pillow (Grace's), a wooly sheep note holder (Emily), and made a video of a dream sequence (Brooke and Paige were the actresses, Grace wrote the script and directed, Emily acted and helped with costumes and props), ate at at the Red Wok Chinese Buffet, played WebKinz, watched the Ant Bully, finished up some homework projects, colored Easter eggs with Aunt Jamie and Samantha, Danny Jr., and Anthony. (We also manufactured a gross "spilled ice cream cup" joke to play on their parents! The ones Brooke and Paige made went over very well, they even ended up at the hospital thanks to Ray and Cindy, and quite a few people got embarassed/mad!) By the time you read this Laura and Chris and maybe Walter and Grandma Val will have had the trick played on them, too. Vacation ends soon, but gosh, it was fun! We would have liked to go on a picnic and walk but the weather was not good. Still, we did have fun, and it went by so fast I can't beleive it!

The First Big 'Un!

Fritz and I got to see this LeFarge Corp. cement hauler leaving Muskegon a couple weeks ago. It was right after the last of the channel ice disappeared, and our first daytime sighting of a big ship coming into port since winter.

Grace's Fifth Grade Play

Here are two scenes from the Emperor's New Clothes. In the first scene, Grandma berates Peter for his lazy ways while Mother (Grace) sticks up for him.

Peter has to go make his way in the world to prove to everyone how clever and able he is. Mother believes in her son, and is sad to see him go.

This play was actually recommended for high school students, or junior high. But Mr. K, the drama coach, believed in his students and ordered this play against the advice of the suppliers. And his faith was rewarded, because in spite of the level of difficulty, they all did a phenomenal job!

The Emperor's New Clothes Cast Pic

This is Samantha, Grace, and Loren, otherwise known as "The Baker," "Peter's Mother," and "Peter." The play was fun to watch. lots of drama and laughs!

Friday Fun With Ronald

Brooke and Paige get to spend time with the other Grandma (That's Me)! It was so much fun to have them with me when we went to see Grace in a play. But first things first, we had to grab a bite to eat, and I just happened to know a McDonald's where the kid's seats are made out of plastic cheeseburgers. The girls gave their jackets and "stuff" to Ronald to keep an eye on while we sat at the little table, with smaller than Grandma-butt sized cheeseburger seats. While they were dining, Brooke told me they have a new "Lose weight thing" at their house. And she told me, "You need to come and try it!" Oh, I gave up hamburger for Lent so I was good, I didn't even sneak one of their fries or nuggets! Those smiles tell it all.

Bad Will

Okay, so I have a few extra minutes before I had to be at the school to pick up G & E. I remember this Goodwill store on the corner I've always wanted to check out. So I go in, and kind of hurry through and get a really nice pair of leather gloves, lined with faux sheepskin, for a buck fifty. So next time I have a few extra minutes I go in again. This time I find the cutest little picture frame for a buck fifty. It looked brand new, so I bought it. It had seashells on it, starfish, and was a sand color. It would match something I had at home. So I pay a buck fifty. Tonight I was looking through my "stuff" and I found the frame wrapped in newspaper. I smiled, and unwrapped it so I could look at it again. And there on the back, on the label, were those words I never expected to see: DOLLAR TREE.

Sigh.

March Moon

You had to be there, maybe, to appreciate it. Jamie and Danny drove me down Sherman Blvd. to see this beautiful March moon rising in the east. No picture could do justice to it. It was awesome.

This is Weird

I download my camera pictures to Picasa and edit them. When I saw a picture that was almost all black, I was going to delete it, but was curious about the pale image. So I cropped it down and this is the image that was left. Eerie, huh? I am still trying to find the original, which has already been deleted from my camera. All I can tell you is that there were dots of light in it, most likely from the mirror ball at Jumpin' Jupiter.

The Eagles Have Landed

As promised, I have kept an eye on Mona Lake for the migrating eagles. And a few days ago, Brandie, Grace, Emily and I saw four in a tree next to Mona Lake as I was driving them home. Today, Fritz and I were in the same area and saw a big eagle sitting on the ice. I pulled over on the busy freeway and slogged through knee-deep snow in anklets and loafers to try to get a shot, but it didn't turn out. So we tried driving to the other side of the lake. We spotted this fellow in a tree. I can't tell what kind of raptor it is, except it appeared to me to be a golden eagle, not especially a large one, but it was very hard to see. The image you are looking at was cropped out of a much larger field. Well, there may be snow and cold, but the eagles have landed!

REDEYE NIGHT COMING UP

For any of you Red Eye fans out there, this next weekend the band will be throwin' it down at a new place: Deano's on Apple Avenue...yes, it is a country hang-out. Word on the street is that they were initially scheduled to play at MiBar, but someone told the owner they were for the older rock n' roll crowd...so they got moved to the owner's other establishment, which used to be Deano's and may still be, who cares, just be there. Bring your dancin' shoes and leave the ball and chain at home. (: > ). Play your cards right, you might even get a DD!

Seeing Is Believing

These crocus sprouted up about 5 days ago, on a cool, rainy late winter day. Today, the cool has turned to cold, and to look outside at the blowing snow, you would think we were deep in January. But these bright green harbingers of spring tell me to snuggle in that downy comforter a while longer. Drink diet Swiss Miss with a dash of cinnamon. Turn off the electronics and listen to the wild wind grinding snow against the house. Enjoy it while I can.

HIghtower Gig

For those of you who knew we were going to Hightower Saturday night for a karaoke gig, it turned out okay. Crazy John's parents were there, and his dad sang a lot, and did very well. He has a great voice. His mom, too. As for CJ, he is down in N'awlins heppin' out the po folks (he probably has a scam going) and according to his parents, he isn't coming back here to live. We also saw an old acquaintance of ours from the old Griff's karaoke gang, and a former neighbor of Mom and Jim's, a gal Mike's age who used to be in love with Mike when they rode the bus together back in his Whitehall School days. She married some guy and had a passle of kids, but her hubby died, and now she is a biker country gal up in the Walkerville area. It was great to see them! We got lots of hugs. Fritz and I dropped Val off in Montague just as the first few flakes of moisture hit the windshield, and while we stopped for oil for the old Ford buggy, it really started coming down. We did get home safely and spent all day Sunday laying around. Our cable went out for a few hours so we watched DVDs. Thanks Mike, for working on the brakes, we had a safe trip and got paid for a full night!

Jumpin' Jupiter!

The wheels just keep on turnin' at the rink and just to slow things down, they have a special event every so often. In the top picture, they skate to music until the whistle blows. Then they have to lay on the floor and do whatever the refereet says, like wave your arms and legs in the air. That's Danny Sr. in the striped shirt with Danny Jr. in background.

Dad and His Birthday Princess

Samantha is the just-turned-11 daughter of Jamie's friend Danny. They put together a skating party for Sam and her brother, cousins, and some of the kids in our family. We went to Jumpin' Jupiter, and it was great! They got to skate for two hours, and wonder of wonder, no one even got hurt (although a few knees and butts will be sore!)

Here, Sammy and her dad share a special moment of skating together.

Jinx at the Rink

Aunt Jamie I can't get my skates on! Grandma, I can't get my skates on! Hey, my skates won't go on!

Well, let's see....are they too small? Let's hold them up to your feet. OH! They ARE a SIZE too small! No wonder!