Money

I just balanced my checkbook. I couldn't figure why I was off by 21 cents. Then, I figured it out. What a relief! I hope that 2009 brings a lot less stress financially for me. I literally live paycheck to paycheck, as I am still paying off old debts. Hoping to have them paid off in 2 yrs, along with my car.

My mom is getting me interested more in the financial stuff in the books and such. I am hoping to be able to put more in savings this year, as I have been struggling for the past 4 years trying to clean up past mistakes. Glad, though, that I am learning this at a young age.

Sometimes I miss my extra paychecks at my 2nd job at Younkers, but then, I also spent money there, as I saw things I wanted. That is probably not a place to work, if you like clothes shopping. lol

So, wish me luck that things will get better for me, so I can be in better shape to move out of Michigan.

Calvary Bible Church

Now that Christmas has passed, I decided to go to a different church today. I went to Calvary Bible Church in Fruitport. I was going there about 3 years ago, so thought I would go back. Bill Rudd is the pastor there.

Back in 2002, I was in a bible study through Calvary on Sunday nights, until I started working my 2nd job, where it got to be too difficult to go.

Finding a church home is difficult, especially when you are in your 30s, single, with no children. Some churches have mom groups, which I would not be comfortable in. Some have high school youth groups, which is too young for me, and then some have singles groups for those 50 and older. So, I am left in the middle, wondering where to go to find people like myself.

Christmas Cookie Decorating 2008

Brittanie, her friend, Maria, and I went to Beth's house for our annual cookie decorating. It had been 2 years since we last did it as we both were so busy. Last year, I was working at Younkers alot of hours. Anyway, I will always remember Gracie's cookies she decorated when she was a kid. She would put on gobs of frosting and sprinkles and make a double decker cookie. Bekky is 10 and Gracie will be 9. Brittanie is now 12. It is amazing how fast kids grow up.

Maggie came along, too. She enjoyed playing with the girls.
She was tired out, though, when she got home.

Christmas Story Movie - 25th Anniversary Convention in Cleveland

 

Christmas Story 25th Anniversary Convention: Cleveland, Ohio

We left for Cleveland, Ohio on Friday, November 28, 2008. We stayed at George and Marianne’s Thursday night and picked up my mom’s college friend, Maryann Poczik, in Ann Arbor and left for Cleveland.

We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel right in the Public Square in downtown Cleveland. The first event we went to was to meet the stars of the movie, “A Christmas Story”. They had a long table up with each star sitting behind it. We got to meet “Miss Shields”, “Randy”, the two bullies, the guy who delivered the lamp, “Flick”, and the two elves at Higbee’s Department store. I only bought 1 photo which was of Ian Petrello, who played “Randy” in the movie. It was $20 so I only picked one photo.

We took the trolley over to the Christmas Story House, as well as the museum. It was a cold day and there was a long line at the house, so we decided to do that on Saturday. But, we did go through the museum where they have several photos from the movie, Ralphie’s jacket, Randy’s snowsuit, as well as some of their toys they received on Christmas.

The museum gift shop was crowded. We took a look at everything but thought we might wait to buy anything until later.

We took the trolley back to the hotel. Then, we went to a viewing of the movie. I love that movie. I watch it every Christmas. It continues on TNT for 24 hrs on Christmas Day.

We had dinner at the Hard Rock Café which was in the Tower City mall that was attached to our hotel. We all enjoyed our cheeseburgers, which were really good. I haven’t had that good of a cheeseburger at the Hard Rock Café.

From 9-11, we went to the cocktail gala at the hotel and got to have our photo taken with each of the actors from the movie. We learned a lot from the guy who delivered the lamp in the movie. He lives down the street from the Christmas Story house. He helped out on the set with watching the boys, as well as being the gopher.

This was a great opportunity to talk with the actors/actresses from the movie.

Saturday, November 29th:

We got up early in the morning so we could be at the Christmas Story house around 10 a.m. We got on the 2nd trolley ride there. It was neat to be able to go in the house. They guy who bought the house, bought the house over the internet. It was selling for $90,000. He put a bid in for $150,000 and asked for the bidding to stop. He spent about $250,000 getting the house to look like the house in the movie. When he bought it, it had been remodeled with grey siding and new windows. So, began to change that. Before buying the house, he made some of the leg lamps and sold about 1,800.

The house was officially opened in 2006. The actors from the movie came out for the grand opening. The owner has a little apartment on the 3rd floor that he stays in when he comes to town. He lives in San Diego, CA.

We found out that the school teacher in the movie was 8 months pregnant in real life when she filmed that movie.

We found out from the lady elf that they haven’t received residuals from the movie in the past 15 years.

The shorter bully is now a hair stylist and has a son who was there.

We drove out to the Chinese restaurant, Pearl of the Orient, in one of the suburbs. When we got to the door, it said it wasn’t open at lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. We couldn’t believe that the official Chinese restaurant of the Christmas Story would be closed on the weekends, especially this weekend.

The actual restaurant is located in Toronto, which is also the city where much of the movie was filmed.

They had a costume contest at the festival

Mom, MaryAnn, and I went shopping at Jones New York and each got matching blazers. So, we had our picture taken together with our matching jackets. It was so funny.

There was a beautiful Christmas parade in front of the hotel. They lit up a big Christmas tree and shot off fireworks.

The public square was all decorated beautifully.

Then, we went to the screening of Bob Clark’s world. They want to get it into the movie theater, as a tribute to Bob Clark. He was the writer and producer of “A Christmas Story”.

Overall, the trip has been quite fascinating and I have learned quite a bit.

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.

Fire Truck Ride

Being a big kid is so much fun! We went down to the Ferrysburg fire department to check out their open house for Fire Prevention week and got cider, donuts, and pizza.
We got to take a ride on a fire truck around the area, which was alot of fun. The little kids were all excited. One little guy had a smile the whole time, which looked so cute with the lights flashing on his face. We felt pretty powerful driving down the road and making people pull over. Two little girls sat across from us. They were sisters...7 yrs old and 6 yrs old. They told us we rode by their house. What excitement it is to be a kid.

Pet Blessing-October 5, 2008

Maggie was blessed today. She received a prayer pin, too. She sure enjoyed the treats. There were several pets there, including a lizard. Plumbs served hot dogs, chips and pop with the proceeds going to Noah's project.

Taste of Home Show

The Taste of Home Show was also on Thursday. Never saw so many women in one spot. The Frauenthal Theater was packed to capacity. We got a goodie bag full of nice treats and food. Jeanne and Julie saved seats. I looked all around the lower level, but didn't see them. So, I went up to the balcony. Ran into Heather Singleton. She asked if I was staying out of trouble. Do you think that is possible? lol

Found Jeanne and Julie in the front row. Jeanne played a trick on me. She wanted to see my copy of the Taste of Home book. I swear she switched it out with hers. Well, I began browsing and noticed the numbers were all out of sync. What a laugh we had.

I am still trying to find the spice aisle as we speak. ha ha

Obama Rally at Calder Plaza

On Thursday, my mother and I went to Grand Rapids early in the morning to see Obama speak. Of course, I was hoping we would be in the bleachers right behind him, like we were when Hillary came, but knew it would be real hard. I never saw so many coffee cups in the garbage cans while standing in line. There was tight security here. They checked your cameras, purses, and cell phones. Our umbrellas were taken from us until we were done. I didn't want to part with my umbrella that has a beautiful design, which I got in Florida. At first, we were by the red art in Calder Plaza, but couldn't see a thing. It never fails...there is always some tall dude in front of you. lol We kept walking more to the right and got a much better view of Obama. He did a great job. His announced that his 16th wedding anniversary was on Oct. 3rd and he bought a nice gift for his wife. I wonder what it was. A gal from high school, Anne Whittington, recognized me and said hello. What a surprise!

Hillary Clinton's Visit

When I heard Hillary Clinton was coming to Grand Rapids, I had to go. I don't think she wanted to go at first, but she was glad she went. When we got to Central High School on Fountain NE, we were surprised there weren't more people there already. A lady asked us if we would like to sit on the bleachers behind where Hillary Clinton would be standing, so we thought a second and said sure. The lady said we would be on national television.

Boy, did we get a great seat, too. We were in the front row, in the middle. Hillary came out on the stage. She is a pretty lady, but shorter than I thought. We both got to shake her hand after her speech. We watched WZZM13 and sure enough, you could see us right behind Hillary. Awesome!

Star 108

My friend Sue and I went on the Port City Princess for the Star 108 Workaholic Women's Wednesday. I had wanted to go on this all summer, but there seemed to always be something else going on, so we finally went. It was cloudy outside which was a bummer. I wanted to get some good photos of good ole Muskegon before I moved to Florida. At the time, I had no idea that my mom decided not to move until my grandfather passed. Needless to say, I am not happy to be staying here in Muskegon another 3 1/2 years, but that's life sometimes. But, once I am vested at work, then I will be moving somewhere else. Hopefully, I will be more financially secure when I move in 3 1/2 years.

Anyway, we enjoyed the cruise and got our picture taken with the DJ's from the radio station.

Computer Frustrations

I am in the process of getting rid of things before moving to a new place in a couple of months, so had to disassemble my computer from the desk that I am selling and rehook everything up on a different desk I have. I had my TIVO hooked up wirelessly to my computer so I could download my TV shows to my IPOD. I also moved the router to a different computer and the internet just wouldn't work, even though I know everything was hooked up properly.

The problem was simple....antenna wasn't catching the signal and one of the cords was not stretched out to allow the information to send to the modem.

After a few cuss words, I finally got it all hooked up again. I decided to sell my own desktop computer which is 5 yrs old that I really don't use. I prefer the laptop as there aren't so many cords to hook up and I can use the laptop anywhere. Plus, I have a built in web camera on the laptop which is a nice added feature.

So, tonight I tackle my next project. I have to back up files and take off programs off the desktop to get it prepared to sell. Life is always interesting in the Gonyo household.

Traverse City Adventure

We went up to Traverse City this weekend to visit an old neighbor, Anne Ruthkowski, from Lawnel Ave. She lived across the street from us for years. Her husband, Tony, passed away this past April. We have been wanting to go up to visit, but both of us got busy and the years went by. It had been about 9 years since we were up there to visit them.

Anne took us up to North Port which is where Tim Allen has a house. Also, we went to see the lighthouse at Old Mission. Also, went around Suttons Bay. Anne loves to cook so we had some nice meals while there. We had Reubens for lunch yesterday, spaghetti for dinner, and then today a big breakfast and for lunch/dinner, we had T-bone steaks, mashed potatoes, salad, and ice cream with strawberries. I am still full from that. We got to see the grand kids. Two of them came over. They have grown up so fast. That area up there is so beautiful. It truly is a paradise. But, it takes a while to go from the Leelanau peninsula down to Traverse City.

Each way is about 14 miles so you wouldn't want to be doing that in the winter. It is a nice place for a retired person who has a man in the house who can fix things, but for a single lady, I think it would be a lonely place to live. But, it is nice to go up and visit and enjoy the peace and quiet. Anne and Tony bought the house 10 yrs ago for about $200,000 and the value increases especially with the lake view. They live right on Lake Leelanau. She has big windows overlooking the lake which is really nice. Three of her grandchildren now live out of Michigan. Jessica is in Austin, Texas. Alison is in Las Vegas, and Karen is in Colorado, so none of them stayed around here, which is smart.

I will be glad to be able to move once I have my 10 years in with the county and have a small pension for when I retire.I wanted to go back to school to get my graduate degree from Grand Valley, but when I saw the costs of it, I about died. They want $600 per credit hour. Each class is 3 credit hours. At least, that is what I read on their online catalog. I don't want that kind of debt hanging over me, so I am going to postpone that until I am working in a company that will pay for it, as I want to be debt free in 3 years and be able to just move where I want to. I was bummed to see how much it costs, but don't want that debt. I am tired of paying off old debts and want to move forward. Maybe I could take a fun class at the local college to keep my mind working and meet some people. So that is the news around here.

Grandma Gonyo's Farm house in Brunswick

Mom, Grandpa, and I stopped at John and Kathy Morrison's farm house in Brunswick, Michigan today to get some peaches. I thought we should try and see if they were home. John is my Grandma Gonyo's nephew. Grandma grew up in this farm house up until the age of 5 when her father passed away. Then, she moved with her family to Fremont. I have never been in this house before. Kathy gave us a tour of it and we got to see the bedroom that grandma lived in. She was upstairs in the bedroom to the left with 3 windows overlooking M-120. We also saw where her sister, Pauline's room was. The house has been renovated/remodeled. It is around 146 yrs old. Kathy has the original deed to the house in her living room. It was bought for only $104.

John and Kathy have 3 boys. The oldest is teaching English in South Korea. The middle child just left for Michigan State University, and the youngest, Max, is a senior at Fremont High School.

I am really glad we were able to see the house and see them after all of these years.

Labor Day Weekend

Saturday, I spent time just relaxing and surfing the net. It can be quite addicting. While I was doing that, I was getting caught up on my Young and the Restless shows. I was able to take a nice long nap before going to my friend, Beth's wedding reception. My mom is into her makeup so has been going to the Estee Lauder counter, as well as Clinique. She has now given me some fairly new makeup that she doesn't like, which is nice for me.

Sunday, I went to the Community Church get together down at Pere Marquette. It was a nice service. It was really nice to run into Jerry Depoy Jr. We miss hearing his wonderful sermons. That made our day.

My friends, Sue and Ashley took me out for my birthday dinner at Kirby Grill in Grand Haven. Ashley did the driving. This is the first time I have been driven by Ashley. I can't believe she is 15 already. I remember the day she was born. Time sure flies by fast. She did a good job driving. Thank goodness for seatbelts. 
Took Maggie down to the doggie beach to play in the water. I don't think she cared for the water, but I want her to learn to not be afraid of it. She enjoyed seeing the people and other dogs. Then, I took her to Frosty Oasis for her doggie sundae and I got a tin roof sundae.

Made chocolate chip cookies tonight, but got carried away with the size of the dough and made big cookies. I used to be really good at baking cookies but the last few batches haven't turned out right. So, guess I will be going to the store to buy cookies already made. lol This is why I need to meet a man who can cook.

Monday, my mom and I are going on a 4 mile walk on the bike path going towards North Muskegon. I will be bringing Maggie. Then, going to a church picnic at McGraft Park. Then, my mom and I will take Grandpa up to the Amish store in Holton to get some of their delicious soups.

You see, I don't sit down very long, but when I do, I am surfing the net while sitting in my lazy boy and watching TV.

August 1, 2008: Family Photo in Grand Haven

I had seen that Jerry Depoy's family had a beautiful family photo done at the beach, so decided that I wanted a nice photo of the Thomas family.  Charlene brought her camera and scouted out the areas. She had us all wear blue shirts and beige pants.    We had gone out to dinner in Grand Haven.

May 2008: Mom's Retirement from CMH

My mom got her teaching degree from Western Michigan University, specializing in Spanish.    She was a teacher up until I was born, then she quit and stayed home with me until my father passed away in 1985.   Then, my Mom worked as a clerk at Community Mental Health Youth Services for 19 1/2 years.    There were a few years where she worked many hours of overtime, sometimes until 9 p.m.    She found out after retirement that Social Security bases your monthly checks on the top 5 consecutive years of work, so this overtime helped her out.    

She got to the point in life where she knew she was ready for retirement, so she decided she needed a new chapter in life.   Her co-workers gave her a nice retirement party with food, cake, and beverages.  They made her a scrapbook of her time at CMH.  They gave her many gift cards, a horn for her new bike, and a funny Michigan bike plate that said "Hottie".  

She bought a three wheeled bike shortly after retirement, intending to use it down in Florida.

January 2008: McAllen, Texas

Mom and I flew down to McAllen, Texas to visit my Grandpa's girlfriend, Beulah Justian.  She was staying at the same mobile home park that she was in last winter.      Beulah took us all over McAllen.   We went on a few tours, too.  One of the tours was for shopping in Brownsville, Reynosa, Matamoros, and Progresso (Mexico).  We were able to go to a SAS outlet in Brownsville and found some nice shoes.  SAS stands for 'San Antonio Shoes'.  

We took a tour to San Antonio and I was finally able to see the Alamo.  We didn't care too much for the hotel we stayed at in San Antonio, but it was a budget tour.      Enjoyed the Riverwalk in San Antonio.    

Beulah's friend, Olive, flew down to Texas about a week into our trip.   Olive went with us to Corpus Christi.  We toured this World War II ship there and enjoyed looking at the sites.   

Beulah was such a wonderful hostess to us on this trip.  She had a hard time walking, as she was in pain, but she still kept plugging away.