Make new friends, but keep the old

Oh that overused, very annoying cliche from my Girl Scout years!  I had to use it because it has a secondary meaning in this case.  I've mentioned before the joy that is facebook and its ability to reconnect us with our past (okay, sometimes that's not such a joy); In the past year, since I joined that adictive social monstrosity, I have connected, or reconnected, with over 300 of my "closest" friends.  What???  How did that happen?  Before I knew it I was denying friend requests and actually "hiding" certain people from my actions feed so that I would be able to find and keep up with the daily events of those I really care about (and if you're reading this, you're one of them, I promise).  But in that process, called social networking by those who actually know how to use it to their best advantage, I was able to find some of those people who really, truly, are good old friends, and those reconnections have been delightful. 

This week Calvin and I spent two separate days with two of my friends from my elementary school/Girl Scout years and their children.  The first day we drove over to Battle Creek to meet my friend and her son, only a few months younger than Calvin, at Binder Park Zoo.  We love Binder Park Zoo.  I can't say that the boys did too much interacting, although they were both equally intrigued with running in circles around the gazebo and waving to the train and engineer as it went by, but I had a great time catching up with my friend and meeting her children.  Also, we got to feed the giraffes, and that always makes for a great Binder Park visit.  Then today we drove to Plymouth to spend the better part of the morning and afternoon with another close friend and her daughter, only two days older than Calvin.  Those two, for whatever reason, are pretty wonderful together.  They actually play together, sometimes converse, and usually even take turns.  It's a match made in heaven, and I don't mean for them–I'm talking about us moms being able to sit and chat while the two kids play well together all on their own.  Really.  Heaven.  So whoever said you can't go back?  They were right.  But then again, who really wants to?  Especially when going forward is so darn much fun.

Time. It got away from us.

We realize that we have neglected our blogging duties for some time now. We usually aim for at least one post each week, but the past two weeks really knocked us for a loop around here, in ways we hadn't even imagined. For one thing, we thought that hiring someone else, someone who came highly recommended, to wash and re-stain the deck would be a grand time saving idea, but that plan didn't take into account the fact that they might set our house on fire, resulting in a visit from the fire department and a week's worth of stress and worry while they hurried to fix the thankfully small area of damage (which, also thankfully, remained mostly outside).  Of course this is exactly what happened.  And it wouldn't have been nearly as worrisome or stressful if said accident had not occured the weekend before we were to host, and I do mean host, a wedding for a close friend. What goes into hosting a wedding? Well, while the contractors worked all week to fix the house and deck, I was busy cooking reception foods (including bliny toppings, borsch, and chocolate covered pretzels), and on Friday we hosted a small pizza party while we finished the food preparations (including assembling fruit kabobs, cubing cheeses, and making 250+ blinys, which kept us up until 3am); We housed six people, including the bride and groom, so on Saturday we ferried people around, making it to the 11am wedding, then home to pick up the food for the 1pm reception, after which we packed it all up again to head back home; On Saturday evening we had all the guests over for a second reception, this time a BBQ at our house, followed by movie watching and euchre tournaments; And Sunday consisted of an afternoon of Guitar Hero play, and ended in a final airport trip.  Even when you are tired it is very hard to say goodbye.  So.  What did you all do with your Memorial Day weekend?

More pictures, of course, in the May 2009 album.

Playing house

She balances the check book and cares for the baby, he cooks and cleans the kitchen.  It's a match made in heaven.

Hiatus for the holidays

We are taking an internet hiatus for the remainder of this festive season, but here are a few highlights from our Christmas celebrations and the pictures are up in the Merry Christmas 2008 album.  We hope you have safe and enjoyable celebrations, and we'll see you in the new year!

Ford, Victoria, what's the difference?

We often hear people talk of a Victorian Christmas and all its traditional charms. In fact, we've heard ourselves mention that ultimate of Christmas experiences from time to time. But we're here to tell you that a Ford, as in Henry Ford, Christmas is really just as magical and full of traditions. Tonight we took some time off (thanks to Calvin's wonderful Grandma and Opa) and went to Greenfield Village's Holiday Nights event. We went last year, too, and it was just as beautiful, but this year it was an adult date night and that allowed us to enjoy the evening at a more relaxed pace, sans freezing, whining toddler, and follow it up with drinks with our good friends. All the icons from the holidays of old (Santa on the roof, roasted chestnuts, open air skating, and mulled cider with hobo bread) combined with some modern conveniences (blowing heat in the old court house) made for a fantastically magical event, one that we plan to make an annual tradition (and Calvin can join us when he's old enough...to drink). Yes Ford built a very nice village, and a very beautiful Christmas tradition to boot.