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.    

December 24, 2007: Thomas Family Photo

My Aunt Charlene has been the photographer in the family.  She has always taken photos of the Thomas family throughout the years.       My Uncle Steve was a photographer, too, and taught my Aunt how to take beautiful photographs.       This is a photo from Christmas 2007 at Dayspring Assisted Living.