Madonna Concert

With a crowd of approximately 30,000 people at the Ford Field, Madonna came out with burst of energy. It is amazing the energy she portrays during the full 2 hour concert she performed. This is the first time in 7 years that she has performed in her hometown of Detroit. She grew up in Rochester Hills. Her father now owns a vinyard up near Traverse City, which she purchased for him.

Although we had to wait 2 hours for her to come out, the show was well worth it. It is one of the best concerts I have been to. The graphics, lights, and sound were fantastic.

We stayed at the Milner Hotel across the street. It was only $88. It wasn't the greatest hotel, but it was close to where we were going. The door knob on the bathroom door fell out when you tried to close the door. I guess they forgot this room when they remodeled. lol But, we did have good heat which is important for this time of the year. They did have a decent continental breakfast in the morning. Most of the other hotels in the area were closer to $150/night.

Overall, the concert was well worth it. We only paid $40 a ticket which is pretty cheap for Madonna.

Thanksgiving Blessings

Pastor Jerry Depoy Sr. gave me something to think about today. He said we should be thinking about our blessings during the Thanksgiving holiday. So often, I complain about what I don't have such as a husband, children, siblings, etc.

So, I am going to jot down some of my blessings as a reminder of what God has given me.

1. Good health
2. Full-time job
3. Wonderful mother
4. Good family and friends
5. Hearing and vision
6. Health insurance
7. Dog, Maggie
8. Been able to travel the world
9. College degree
10. Home with electricity and heat, and of course internet access. :o)

So, instead of dwelling on what I don't have, I am going to start thinking about what I do have.

Beulah Justian

My mother called me at work this afternoon to tell me that Beulah Justian passed away Tuesday night in her sleep. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer back in May. I knew she was sick, but had no idea how fast she would go.

I am so glad we were able to go to McAllen, Texas this past winter to see her. She took us everywhere while we were there. She was a super friend to us, whom we considered as a family member, too. She made you feel a part of her family.

She took wonderful care of my grandpa Thomas when they were down in Texas. I thought of her as a grandmother.

She was a wonderful artist and gave my mom an oil painting of pumpkins that she just made in the past month in a class she was taking. She was really good at China painting, too. There were some of her paintings on the wall at the trailer in Texas, which I took pictures of this past winter.

I am going to miss her very much! I know she is in heaven now! God Bless her always!

Election Day 2008

Jim, Melanie, and Jasmine stopped by for pizza and to watch the election results. Barack Obama and John McCain were running for President. Obama is from Chicago. We found his house in Hyde Park back in August and got some nice pictures of his home.

Around 11 p.m., I found out that Obama became our new President. They had a big celebration in Grand Park in Chicago with over 100,000 spectators. I heard on the news that he cancelled the fireworks as he didn't think it was right to do that when the economy is not going well. I thought that was a great thing he did.

I was very happy last night to see him win! Way to go Obama!

Halloween 2008

This year, I dressed up like Hillary Clinton. I got the mask at Party City. I wore one of my suits to make it look more authentic. Rita McKenzie's son dressed up like Barack Obama. It was very cute.

After work, I went to Julie Henley's house in North Muskegon. Her husband decorated the front yard like a grave yard. Scott and Scotty enjoyed scaring the kids as they came to get candy. Julie dressed up like the weird scientist.

They had a coffin in one of their rooms with a headless body in it.

They had a wonderful spread of food. They had candy bones, tombstone shaped cake, ribs, subs, jello that looked like worms (done through a curly straw), and a bunch of other neat Halloween treats. Kathryn and Kenny stopped by after they went trick or treating. Jeanne and her husband stopped by around 9:30 p.m.

Julie and I laughed so hard at the kids getting scared by her husband. Julie's father is pretty funny, too. He has a deep voice and was inside saying scary things through the window. He is quite the jokester.

Halloween was sure alot of fun.

Home Redecorating

Since we are not moving anywhere, we decided to redecorate around the house. My bedroom is looking very nice now, in the natural, earthy tones.

Tonight, I was working on patching up the holes from the pictures we have hung on the walls. I still have to sand it down and then paint those areas. I am looking for new pictures for my bedroom. While looking in decorating books, I saw that square pictures are in style now, so I think I will get 2 of them for behind the bed.

Tomorrow, our new sofa and TV stand is coming from Younkers. Also, looking for a good deal on big screen TVs for the living room.

Tonight, I have to disassemble the TV, cable box, etc as we will be moving things around the living room once again.

Looking forward to having a treadmill back here, after being in storage at grandpa's house.

I had to get a storage unit last week to put the extra Rubbermaid containers with my household furnishings. I got the smallest unit, as I hate to pay alot for storing things.

So, that is the news to date. I will take photos of our redecorated place soon.

Gene the Pumpkin Man

Mom and I went to her friend, Carol Rhodes's home in Kalamazoo. Carol's husband, Gene Rhodes, is known in the area as the "Pumpkin Man". In 2007, Carol wrote a children's book based on the pumpkin farm. It is called "Gene, the Pumpkin Man". It can be bought at Barnes N Noble, Ebay, and Amazon.com

The book is illustrated just like the actual farm. It cost about $7,000 for the illustration. I have always wanted to have a book published, and will be thinking about what I want to write about. It has to be about something that would be different and interest people.

Anyway, their farm was featured on HGTV's "Offbeat America" in 2006. The film crew, along with the host came to their home and spent 9 hours filming. I am trying to obtain a copy of the video. I was able to see Carol's copy, but I want one of my own.

Film crews from Detroit have also come to the farm.

Gene's pumpkin crop didn't do as well this year, so he had to buy a bunch from the Amish farmers. Last year, his crop did well, so he sold some to the Amish farmers. They help each other out each year.

He has had this farm for 51 years. Everything on the property is orange, including the wheel barrels, his Cadillac, his clothes, and socks.

Inside their home, everything is orange, too, from the tea kettle to the candy to the tiles on the floor. It is really neat to see.

There were alot of people at the farm on Saturday. Parents were all taking pictures of their little ones next to the pumpkins. It was really cute to see.

We had a good time at the pumpkin farm this weekend and hope to go again.