Who's place is this anyway?

Before

After











Did we have a dated house or what? What do you expect from something that is 61 years old? (Hey wait….) Awning, aluminum siding, fake stone, and the white…yuck. We made so many improvements on the inside, including replacing all the windows, this just had to be done.

It was an amazing journey (thank you Estee Lauder). The original siding was a wooden type siding. not sure how many times it had been painted. Then the aluminum, and fake stone, went over that. We had taken a window out on the side of the house, and a removed the original front door….see it just had to be done.

Now it looks 100% better, just a little bare. Oh what to do landscaping and/or porch wise. We are always open to thoughts (hint…hint).

What did “i” do with my husband?

It started out innocently enough….an iPod for music. I mean after all, he is a sound guy with a musician’s heart. I am guilty of this one. Who knew what it would lead to?

Then it progressed to a Mac from work. To stay compatible with his team, he says.

Next came the iPad. What can I say, a graduation gift. Yep, me again!

Oh, and I can’t leave out the audio book of Steve Jobs biography, on 20 CD’s. Yea, on sale at Costco. It was actually a good story to hear.

The latest came this week...the iPhone. We had to, it was time to upgrade!

What else is out there?

I love my husband dearly, but he has been drinking too much of the Kool-Aid. What can I say, we are a house divided. Michigan and Ohio. Reds and Tigers. Red Wings and Cyclones? This list goes on.

I still love ya honey with all I got!!!

How and why I spent my birthday money

Because of my generous husband's birthday gift to me, and my lack of "neediness" for gadgets and toys, I had a hard time spending the huge gift certificate he gave me.  I waited for the "new" iPad to be released and started shopping for a tablet. The iPad had nothing compelling to me to justify the cost.

So I started my comparison between the Toshiba Thrive and the iPad2, especially since the price of those two units were comparable, since the new release of the iPad. Here were the pros and cons as they applied to me, and why I made the decision I did.

Pros

• SD card port (I take pictures and like this easy download option, not available on iPad2. I don’t have to plug in my camera and run that battery down too while downloading. I can pop out my SD card and plug it into the Thrive.)
• USB port (none available on iPad2)
• Bigger screen (10.1 vs 9.7)
• More RAM (1G vs 512MB)
• Flash (not available on iPad2)
• Google Navigation (not available on iPad2..free)
• My familiarity with Android OS (I've been using a Droid X phone for 2 years)
• Widgets, I love my widgets (no such thing on an iPad)
• My lack of convention (because everyone else has an iPad..sorry, not drinking to Kool Aid)
• HDMI and mini SD ports (not available on iPad2)

Cons

• Bulk (.62 pounds vs .34 pounds)

I played with one at Best Buy, and I like the feel of the back of the Thrive. It does not have a smooth back, and just feels like it would not slip out of your hands. The response time of the execution of the apps were virtually the same on both units.

So there ya have it....why I bought a Toshiba Thrive. Now I can't wait for it to get here....2 more days!!!

Thank you my most wonderful husband!

Happy 60th to me!

Birthdays are all about attitude. I didn’t realize mine would be so good (pat on back now). I truly see this one as entering the decade of ‘RETIREMENT’…and yea, yay for that!!! Just the thought of that makes me happy.

I do have to say that the ‘celebration’ this time was much more that I have experienced, probably since childhood. It was like a birthday week. I really do not like attention, and my preference is to treat it as just another day. And I am so blessed to have a husband that views birthdays in much the same way. However, this year my husband was replaced by someone who broke all our ‘spoken’ birthday celebration rules. (Who is this guy, and where is my Ed?)

This year was marked with an onslaught of birthday cards, and Facebook wishes, the likes that I have never received before (thank you little seestor), a half dozen balloons, a cookie bouquet, a pot of tulips, bouquet of roses, bouquet of cut flowers, two family sized bags of Twizzlers, an entire pan of homemade Rice Krispy treats, a 760 piece bag of Tootsie Rolls, a t-shirt, feather boa, and tricked out cubeland space. There were energy drinks, Starbucks bucks, my very own homemade pan of brownies (that were all edges and corners), lunch with my team from work, and a super night out with my small group.

Remember the ‘broke the birthday rules’ man I mentioned above? He outdid himself with a gift that was a way too much dollar amount gift certificate to B&H. (If you don’t know what B&H is, that makes me feel more geeky…it is a electronics/photography online store) So I still have birthday gifts coming, once I decide what to buy.

All that to say, that I feel truly blessed and loved by everyone. I am the luckiest woman on the planet, I have the best God, family and friends with me always and forever. Thank you everyone.

Acting goofy

I need to spend more time with my family; they are the only ones I get this lifetime. My ‘seestor’ and I just spent a weekend in Gatlinburg, TN. It was great fun (would have been more fun if I didn’t have to have been fighting a cold). We walked (to quote Angie) “the hardest half mile in my life” (and she was right), didn’t eat dinner all weekend (another story), built a tent in our room, shot a bear (with the camera), went swimming, enjoyed a hot spa, walked and shopped a lot, and more.

Angie knows how to have fun, guess that comes with having kids, you get to “play” with them. One reason I wanted to do this weekend with her was to have an excuse to just act goofy (yea, as if I needed an excuse, uh?). There is something about acting goofy with your family and I just wouldn’t do otherwise. I have been trying hard to figure out exactly why that is. I know that I could do this with any of my siblings, and I also know I would not do it in front of their spouses. Why, oh why is that? It really puzzles me, is “blood really thicker”?

This “hardest half mile” was straight up a mountain side. (Well, ok maybe not straight up, but it sure felt like it.) We walked up to the observation tower of Clingman’s Dome, the highest elevation in the Smokies National Park. My brave and fearless sister continued up the observation tower, where she left her chicken sister (yes, that would be me) behind. But did she belittle me for being said chicken? No…that is the love of a sister.

What the heck is it about heights and age? The older I get the worse I am about heights…I don’t get it. This is from a person who has skied from 10,000 feet! Does everyone get wimpy when they get old, or is it just me?

All weekend the joke was that Angie wanted to see a bear. Now I have been to Gatlinburg at least three times, and have never seen a bear (except in captivity). But Angie’s wish came true. We saw a bear in the National Park. She was so excited she bolted out of the car (see the youth and instinctive “play” she has?) with camera in tow complete with telephoto lens. Even with all that, the bear was pretty far away, and pictures were a bit disappointing.

Back down on earth, in our room, we made a tent of our bed sheets and drank a Bartles and James Pina Colada, just basically acting goofy. I could see me doing that same thing with any of my other siblings, but no one else.

So what have I learned from this experience? I am afraid of heights? Nope, already knew that one. I can help build a tent? Yep, check that one (who knew?). Angie gets her wishes? (ummm)

Vacations with Ed are totally awesome, and I would rather do that than anything, but I am learning that I can love and appreciate my family too. I think that is what God wants me to know for today. Thanks God.

RIP - my emotions....

I must be a really cold-hearted person. Somehow crying over the death of someone I don’t even know, someone who just happens to be famous, someone who may have touched a ton of people’s lives in the world, even mine, still just does not compute with me. It is almost embarrassing to mention and actually put out there for everyone (actually the one) to read on my blog. But I wanted this to be an honest account of my thoughts.

How can someone have that kind of intense emotional reaction to someone they have never met, or talked to, or even seen in real life? Their works might be great, and their legacy stellar, but to get so emotional? Did you think that death would never happen? Did you think about preparing to accept it, knowing it was close at hand when you had the chance?

I have been exceptionally fortune not to have lost anyone in my immediate family yet, so maybe I just don’t know what I am talking about. But I have lost close friends, people who should still be on this earth continuing to do God’s work, like they were doing when they were here. Those people I could and would cry over, and even be angry that they are gone. But that is because it is personal at that point. And my emotional grieving is personal. What is so personal about a big name celebrity?

I get the sadness, I get the respect part, but this overboard show of emotions and public displays of grief, is it for real? Do I need my heart softened more? Am I in for a major lesson in grief? Am I in denial? What the heck is wrong with me?

Days off Rock!!!

Most people take this for granted, but two days – in a row – off from work and volunteer obligations is a rare thing to happen to me. And I am very excited about it!! The last time I had two days in a row off, not counting vacation time, just two days in a row off, was….well I’m not sure I really remember.

But it is here now yesterday and today, count ‘em two days, back to back!!

My life usually consists of Monday off only. On that Monday any appointments that have to be made are made on this day, then there is laundry, groceries, bill paying, and if time and my energy (remember I am getting pretty old now) permit maybe some cooking and cleaning. But now here I am on day two, laundry done, groceries bought, bills caught up, and sleeping until I wanna get up!

Now what? What to do with all this time! Blog, I guess. What do you do with two days off in a row? Whatever you do, cherish it.