May 24, 2014: Annual Trip to Baldwin

We decided to take our neighbor Kay Mueller on our annual trip up to Baldwin. Of course, we had to stop at Hillyop Bakery near Grant for their rolls.   

Then, we went to Newaygo and wandered around the art fair.  Mom and I got this cute handmade necklaces for $10.  They were made out of magazine paper.   We found some clothes at the 37 North store. We had a nice lunch at the Train Stop Depot restaurant.

We continued up through White Cloud.  I wanted to find this hotel that my coworkers, Deb Wilson and Kevin Green had talked about.  It was called "The Shack" which is in a little town called Jugville.  Its a beautiful resort near White Cloud.  They serve banana splits at night if you stay at the hotel.  Some of the rooms have jacuzzi tubs and fireplaces.  

They also have breakfast and dinners.  

I thought it was a beautiful place to stay.

We showed Kay where our cabin was located.  Stopped at Peggy Katt's store, Katt's Meow. She had some beautiful clothes in the store.   Peggy says she is having a harder time walking around.   She has fallen twice recently and become black and blue.  She and Kenny are going to start going to Florida in October and come back in April as the winters are too dangerous in Michigan for walking.

We had ice cream at Jone's Ice Cream.

We went to the gravestone for my grandparents and my dad to plant flowers.  Uncle George had come up about a week ago to plant some geraniums. We planted some day lilies. 

Showed my Mom and Kay the Amish Community and the school where I helped with the shot clinic.

Overall,  we all had a lovely day.   when we got home,  I lauds on the couch and fell right asleep. I was exhausted.

May 21, 2014: Immunization Clinic in the Amish Community

Today, Shari Resnick and I were able to go with the nursing supervisor, Pat Krehn, and another nurse, Christie, to the Amish community in Holton, Michigan. It isn't too far from Hesperia and Fremont. Shari had never been to the Amish area in Muskegon, so this was a real treat for her. I had been to the Amish Country Store a few times, but never drove around the Amish neighborhood. We rode in a county van, which turned over its mileage to 100,000, while we were driving. Pat has been giving shots in the Amish community for about 20 years. She has worked hard to convince them how important it is to get vaccinated against diseases. We went to Meadowview School and set up a clinic to administer the MMR shot for around 60 people. It is a one room school house which educates children from first through eighth grades. When we arrived, the Amish, dressed in their fashion, all looked at us as if we were from another country. The children are all so cute and well behaved. It was a little chaotic in the beginning as everyone had to fill out registration forms. Some of the families had 8 or more children. They were all very kind. There were a few teary eyed children after receiving their vaccine, however, they were 100 percent better than the kids we vaccinate in our health department, who can often be screaming or running around. I think many of the kids we normally vaccinate could use a summer boot camp in the Amish community, in order to be well mannered. I found out today that if an Amish man has a beard, then it means he is married. Also, found out that when they have a dinner, the men and boys are served first, followed by the teenagers, children, mothers, and then the elderly. We stopped in the Amish Country store, which was rebuilt after having been burned in a fire last year. We all had lunch together at the Russ's Restaurant on Holton Rd. I had the reuben soup which was wonderful. That may be my new favorite soup there.

February 15, 2014: Kevin's Funeral

I was supposed to go to Becky Ruger Stowe's wedding reception last night, but with how I felt, I decided not to go.   I got to see photos on Facebook that were posted by her husband, John.   She looked so beautiful.    Becky said she had been praying for me all week.  

I really wanted to be there for Kelsey & Matt today at Matt's brother, Kevin's funeral.   Matt's 35 year old brother, Kevin VanZanten, died on Monday from myloma (cancer of the blood).   He was diagnosed in September 2012.  Kevin left behind a wife and 2 daughters, ages 3 & 5.  Kevin had been a captain of Richard Devos's yachts and traveled all over with him.   He was good at fixing boats.  His hard work gained Mr. Devos's respect so he was hired.  He got to help design some of the yachts that the Devos family bought, including carpeting, interior design, etc.   Kevin ordered the food and alcohol for the trips.  Mr. Devos sent him to captain school in Traverse City for a month.

Kelsey was so happy we came to the funeral.  I got to see Devon all dressed up in a shirt and tie.   His girlfriend, Taylor, came too.   Devon and Matt were very close to Kevin.  Kevin dressed up like a geeky Matt for one Halloween.  He wore Grandpa Thomas's apricot leisure suit which was very funny.

I had a nice conversation with my Uncle Steve about my battle with anxiety and depression that has occurred this past week.  He said there was a class of drugs back in 1985 that made people commit suicide, which I think is what my dad was taking before he died.     

November 15, 2013: Meeting Buddy Valastro (Cake Boss)

Originally, we had tickets for November 17th to see Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss, on tour in Kalamazoo, but it was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. So, I got my mom on board to go see him on tour in South Bend, Indiana. We got a reservation at an Irish Bed & Breakfast for the night. The day before, I had found online that Buddy was going to appear at the Kroger grocery store on Ireland St. in South Bend, so we made sure we left early enough to go to that.

I thought it would be nice to use our travel mug to get our 50 cent coffee refill at the Great Harvest Bread Company in Grand Haven, so we stopped there on the way to South Bend. I was glad to see the owner, Cindy Wisen, at the store, so I could tell her about going to see the Cake Boss. She watched the show and loves Buddy, too. She put some apple pie bread in a bag for me to give to Buddy. She said if we couldn't give it to him to just eat it ourselves. She said if I got a picture of him with the bread, she would post it on their facebook page.

It was about 98 miles to South Bend from Holland, so it wasn't too long of a drive. We got to the Kroger store around 2 p.m. There was already a line in the store and a small line outside. One of the workers took several of us from outside into the line in the store. We were standing at the end of an aisle, in just the right place to see Buddy give his grand entrance. He was in the break room taking photos with Kroger workers. One of the managers said Buddy is very personable. So, when Buddy finally came out, he came right where we were standing. I got to shake his hand. Both my mom and I got our photo taken with Buddy Valastro. He is very handsome and personable. He let me have the Great Harvest Bread bag in the picture to advertise it. He gave my mom a hug and a wink which made her day. He signed our books, as well as the cake box. I told him I went to his bakery in May. Of course, I think of things I wanted to say to him after my turn is done. Oh well. I still was excited to finally meet my idol from the TLC show, "Cake Boss". We found out that Buddy and his crew were staying at the Doubletree Hotel across the street from the Morris Theater, where he would be performing at night. 

We got to our Bed & Breakfast and the owner was not there. We were surprised. I called her twice and got a call back that she is a nurse and would get out of work at 5:30, but she gave us the code to get into the house. This was our first Bed & Breakfast and we were wondering if we had made a mistake. Mom and I had pizza at Bruno's pizza in downtown South Bend and visited the South Bend chocolate store before walking to the beautiful Morris Theater to see Buddy Valastro's show. The Morris Theater is one of the most beautiful theaters I have ever seen. Buddy showed us some cake decorating tips and had contests for the audience to participate in, in order to win the item he decorated. It was a fun show, but I have to say that meeting him in person at Kroger was actually more of a highlight for us. We bought one of the Cake Boss cakes at Kroger and had a slice before we went to bed. I was reading the box which said it was made at Dawn products in Jackson, Michigan. Really? It wasn't even made in New Jersey. Overall, I was in high heaven after meeting Buddy today. I think he is now the 15th famous person I have met in my lifetime.

October 31, 2013: Halloween

I had been following the actress, Melissa Gilbert, on Twitter, who would tweet about watching the show "Breaking Bad". I also heard some people at work watch it, so we watched all of the episodes for several weeks on Netflix. It is a very addicting show to watch. The pilot first aired in 2008 and finished in the fall of 2013. The show received several Emmy Awards. I wanted to dress up like the main character, Walter White (aka Heisenberg). This character was played by the actor, Bryan Cranston. He did an excellent job portraying a geeky chemistry teacher, who was diagnosed with lung cancer, and started a meth lab out of an RV in order to pay for his cancer treatments. His side kick, known as Jesse, was pretty entertaining too.

 I decided I wanted to dress up like Walter White in his lab outfit, with meth in the bag. Well, it was actually blue pop rock candy. I had received the OK from our deputy director to wear the costume for Halloween, so bought all of the stuff I needed to transform myself into Walter. A few days before Halloween, my supervisor and I were called into the deputy director's office and shown this email that my coworker, Penny Boynton's son, had written to the County Administrator and the commissioners regarding my Halloween costume. I was furious that they would do something like this, especially since I had bought all of the items for the costume. So, of course, I was told I couldn't wear the costume to work, but I could have changed it to 'Breaking Good' and worn it that way, but I decided not to do that. I decided I wouldn't let the costume go to waste, so I dressed up in it and wore it for the girls I hang out with at Barnes & Noble. It was fun dressing up in the costume. I looked like the craziest man. The mustache itched quite a bit, too. 

For Halloween at work, I borrowed my coworker's angel costume and wore that instead of the Walter White costume.

October 27, 2013: Demolition of Sappi (the old S.D. Warren Paper Company)

Both my mom and I were looking forward to seeing part of the Sappi Building demolished, with the use of explosives. I had read in the Muskegon Chronicle that the best spot to see it was on Edgewater St, so we got there around 9 a.m. It was in the 30's outside, so pretty cold. One of the Muskegon Chronicle photographers, Natalie, was down there setting up her cameras to capture the big event. Mom found a rock to sit on and I found one nearby. Here is what was posted on Mlive regarding the momentous occasion. "With a thud that hit in the middle of your stomach, the former Sappi paper mill power plant came tumbling down Sunday morning apparently without a hitch. The son of property owner Doug Melching and sons of Trinity Industrial Services Tom Frost pushed the plunger down about 10:40 a.m. to set off the explosions that brought down the 10-story, 200-foot industrial building. Within a matter of seconds the steel structure was lying crumpled, falling to the north just as the Melching demolition team had planned. The event was witnessed by several hundred on site and thousands more to the west and east of the site at 2400 Lakeshore Drive. Within several minutes the big black cloud of smoke and dust had cleared and the Melching team began to inspect the area with Muskegon police and fire officials. “We are going to bring this down with one mighty boom,” a Trinity crew member said over the radio before the 10-second countdown began. “Let’s keep everyone safe.” Initial reports are that the nearby Habs Good Eats n’ Treats at 2445 Lakeshore Drive is fine. Houses are being checked, with a cracked window reported so far." After the building came down, we drove closer to the demolition site, in order to get a better look at it. It was pretty impressive. Lakeshore Dr. from McCracken to Cottage Grove was closed, so we weren't able to walk around there. Then, we stopped at Tim Hortons for hot chocolate and donut holes to celebrate the big day.

October 19, 2013: Grand Haven and U.S.S. Silversides

 

 

 

What started out to be a relaxing weekend with no plans turned into a weekend full of plans.    I like to be busy, so it was a nice welcome to have some unexpected plans.

My Mom and I decided to go to Grand Haven to get our free loaf of bread from Great Harvest Bread Company.     We have a frequent customer card and had filled it up, so we could get a free loaf.    The owner, Cindy Wisen, from my church happened to be there so we had a nice conversation.  
Before we came to the bread store, we saw an open house sign for a condo in the Grand Theater condos.       The one we went through had 1 master bedroom and 1 small bedroom.     The kitchen was beautiful    It had dark brown cupboards and beautiful black granite countertops.    It overlooked the parking lot, which I didn't like.   They were asking about $339,000 for the condo.      A nurse, who lives in the building, owned 3 other condos in the building and was trying to downsize.     
The association fee was $125.  It came with some cool amenities.    You could have a personal chef from one of the 5 restaurants downtown.  The chef would come to your condo and cook your meal for you and your guests.    You could get deferred restaurant billing, which meant you didn't need to pay at each meal at one of those 5 restaurants, but would get a bill for them at the end of the month.   Also, you had a private entrance to the wine bar next to the condo complex.

After my nap, I was looking on facebook and came across some photos Nina Ganesh Nandish had posted at the U.S.S. Silversides.   I was so excited that she was here in town.   I responded on facebook and we made plans to get together.   I hurried up and drove down to Pere Marquette to see her.  

I had about an hour wait at the Silversides museum for her, as she and her son were going on a tour of the submarine.     I finally hooked up with her.  It felt like old times with my old roommate, Nina, from Western Michigan University.  We were also in a co-ed professional business fraternity called Phi Chi Theta in college.       It felt like no time had gone by since our last visit, which really was around 5 or 6 years ago.    Her son, Nilan, is now 9.  He didn't know who I was as I don't see them that often.

She and Nilan came with his Boy Scout Troop, #746, from Northville.    The Scouts and their parents got to sleep on the submarine for the night. It cost the child $40 and the parent another $40, which also included pizza and breakfast in the morning.

I got to go on the submarine and see where they would be sleeping.    They were tight quarters.  Due to Boy Scout rules regarding females, the females were upgraded to the officer quarters, which was simply a private room holding 4 beds and a green privacy curtain.

So glad I was able to hook up with Nina and hang out for a bit.