Tip of the Mitt

We have managed to escape to our haven in northern Michigan, Harbor Springs, for a four-day weekend. Arriving on Thursday night, when it was pitch black, made for a refreshing view on Friday morning, when we were greeted by the beautiful bay view. It has been one year since we last were here, and it has been interesting to see the changes. Pirates Cove Adventure Golf added several pirate mannequins and a big lighthouse, which will certainly warrant a nighttime visit. The Roast and Toast coffee shop added delicious scrambled egg wraps to their menu. The Emmett County Medical Center completed its renovations. More multi-million-dollar mansions have sprouted on the waterfront. New fast food joints have appeared. But in spite of all the development, it still remains a beautiful getaway. And it is the simple pleasures, like a walk along the pier, and a nap on the deck covered with the dogs, that make this a wonderful vacation.

(Re)visiting Ann Arbor

It's funny to go through your hometown with a visitor.  Rachel and Steve were here Tuesday and Wednesday.  We had a great time but we must weigh an additional ten pounds!  Since Rachel had never been here before, Steve had an entire list of things she needed to experience, most of them places to eat, like Pizza House, Charley's (for the Twists, of course), Washtenaw Dairy, Spots, and "good Chinese."  We also did a lot of walking and a lot of talking—we toured central campus, the hill area, north campus and downtown and shared a lot of stories and memories about the area.  It's funny how taking a newcomer through the same areas you pass daily can bring to mind long forgotten memories and folklore; it's like seeing it all anew, or revisiting it for yourself.  In any case, we had a great time and are very sad that the trip had to be so short, but we hope they will return soon (Steve—I know there are more places on your list so you just have to come back soon, even if only to eat). 

The arrival

Who knew that furniture companies delivered on Sundays?  The scheduled delivery for our new set was between 8 and 11  today, but we couldn't be here because of church, (and church was especially important and long this morning because it was all-church picnic day and "good-bye" Lloyd day, a wonderful man who we will all miss).  We were all set to have Cortney's parents come and hang out during the delivery hours as a special favor (and because Cortney's mom loves the dogs) but low and behold, the delivery guys called at 7:10 am and wondered if they could come early—they were right around the corner.  Worked for us...although we were almost late for the 8:00 service.
But the furniture is great. It is bigger than what we had before so it makes the space seem a little smaller, but we were expecting that and it still looks great and is really comfortable!  Unfortunately we didn't get to spend a lot of time sitting on it.  Instead we tried out the weed whacker and mowed the lawn in sprinkles of rain, and we cleaned the bathrooms and our offices, and even some of the basement.  We always keep a clean house, but it has to be spotless this week;  Steve and Rachel (our best friends) are visiting from Seattle Wednesday and Thursday.  We are really looking forward to seeing them, but I'm not sure they were worth the lawn mowing in the 86 degree heat. Finally, after finishing the above and grabbing a shower we were able to sit on the new furniture...but it was 6:00 by that time!  We want to point out that even the animals look pooped in this picutre, and they sat inside in the air conditioning all day!

New furniture!

Our old sectional sofa, a much appreciated hand-me-down, had become more uncomfortable than a Democrat at the Republican convention.  So last weekend we engaged in a right of passage through marriage—we bought living room furniture!  Come this Sunday our sitting room will be graced by a comfortable couch, chair and ottoman in tan, or camel.   The chair has spiral swirls for contrast.  I think it's the presence of the ottoman that makes us feel the most refined; a place to put your feet with such a fancy name.    The floor model of the ottoman was actually the last one, so we were able to take it home with us.  I thought we would get to try it out, but Cookie has taken up what appears to be permanent residence on it.   Diamond spent a good ten minutes trying to remove the attached pillow-top until finally giving up and falling asleep with her chin resting next to Cookie.  So much for refinement.  It's not an ottoman, it's an animal bed.

Spring showers, May flowers

We didn't have a whole lot of April showers, mostly snow, so I just call them spring showers.  We did get a lot of flowers, though.  This was only our second spring in the house so it was our first try with planting tulips in the fall.  A lot of them came up, and then a lot of them fed a lot of hungry baby bunnies, so only a few made it to adulthood.  Poor tulips.
With the nice weather returning the whole family is enjoying neighborhood walks.  The dogs get really riled up whenever you mention "walk" or "cart" (Diamond's wheelchair) or "OUTside," and then all bets are off.  We should probably know better than to try and take a family photo when the kids are in their walk paraphernalia.  It took about fifty tries to get a decent one, and this is it, thanks to the "attention getting device" that we tossed towards the camera (read: a rock).