Neverending sickness...

For those of you who are curious, Mike’s business trip went well. He made it home safely and the trip was not a waste for him. I’m not sure exactly what he learned from the experience but it sounds like he felt informed when he left. Not long after he returned home, sometime the week of August 10th, Mike succumbed to the flu/cold virus going around. He missed a little bit of work (shocking for him!) but he was a real trooper when we had plans on Friday night to go bowling with some friends. We had a great time bowling and even managed to keep up with the pros – Kristen and John – in scores. I am not a great bowler but I like to go. Mike and John had a healthy competition going for quite some time. I think John ended up beating Mike but not by much. I think I broke 100 once but that was it =)


We just don’t have time to be sick in this household…Saturday August 15th we had plans to go with Melanie and Bruco to a “Salsa Showdown” in Holland, Michigan. It was a competition for salsa. Local people made their own versions of salsa and the talent ranged from amateur to pro. You got a basket of chips and you went around tasting the different selections. When you found one you liked the best you gave the people a poker-like chip. We all picked different people who we liked best. I like sweeter salsas so I picked someone who used pears, mango and pineapple in his salsa. It was super yummy. I think Mike picked someone who made a different version of a mango salsa.

After the competition we took off for the beach. This was one of the first weekends Michigan had where the weather was warm enough to go to the beach (80s). It’s been pretty cold for the summer. I can hardly believe we even had a summer since the weather has been so cool. Anyways, we brought our blankets, umbrella, books and coolers to the beach for a few hours of fun. I’m not really a swimmer anymore so I lathered up with sunscreen and played a beached whale while everyone else went swimming. I hear the water wasn’t too bad but they didn’t last long in it. Overall we decided we were all old and didn’t stay on the beach longer than 2 hours. It got too hot and uncomfortable. We packed up and left early. We stopped for dinner on the way back before crashing for the night.

Sunday, August 16th Mike and I had plans (again) with Mom and Dad Smolsky. A new casino opened up in Marshall, Michigan and we decided to see what the fuss was about. We also wanted to check out Mom’s new patio they had installed at their house. We arrived around 1 p.m. and saw the patio first. The day wasn’t very nice or we might have stayed for a glass of ice tea or something before the casino. I took some pictures so you can see what it looks like. I think the workers did a good job. Mom said it took them a full 8 hours to complete. The stones were pretty heavy.

After viewing the patio we took off for lunch and a bit of gambling at the casino. I have to say it was quite shocking to see my parents at a casino. I just haven’t ever seen them in that type of environment. We ate lunch at a buffet and managed to convince Mom and Dad to try their luck at the slot machines. No one had much luck with it. I lost my allotted money pretty quick. Mike played Craps for awhile but he didn’t win more than $20. Overall it was a fun trip but obviously not our time to win.

Around this time I finally caught what Mike had and got sick. At first it was bad but then it tapered off into annoying. I was sick the whole week with typical cold symptoms. The weekend of August 22nd & 23rd Mike and I attended a friend’s pig roast, visited his parents and did some much needed clothes shopping. We decided to try the malls in Grand Rapids since they have more store choices. Overall we managed to get a lot of stuff for reasonable prices because of the back-to-school sales. It was an exhausting weekend of socializing and shopping (hard to believe I can say such a thing!).

This week (August 24th) I haven’t improved health wise. I finally gave in and went to the doctor on Wednesday. They diagnosed me with bronchitis and sent me home with antibiotics. At first I felt like I improved but by Friday I was feeling the same and I didn’t have many antibiotics left. However, as usual I didn’t have time to go to the doctor for it. Instead we had plans just about every night of the week. Our friend Steve and Dee came to town from Connecticut for a wedding so we say Steve Thursday night. We had a great time but I was reminded by my lungs that smoke and bronchitis do NOT mix!! I left early so I could breathe.

Friday we had plans to visit my friend Alice in Elkhart, Indiana. Alice is my ex’s great aunt who has always kept up with me after things were over with us. She in her late 80s and will most likely be moving in with her daughter in New Jersey soon. She’s sharp as a tack but her body is just not cooperating. I promised her I would bring my new husband Mike to visit her before she left. Mike was a real trooper going to visit someone he didn’t know well at all and accepting the circumstances of how I knew her.

Overall the visit went fantastic. Alice’s daughter and son-in-law, Linda and Bob, were in town planning to take her with them back to New Jersey next week. They brought their two birds with them and it was very entertaining. I will try to post the video of these birds doing their tricks. We had a great time watching them and chatting with Linda, Bob and Alice.

Saturday Mike and his dad, Rich, started on the deck project. Our deck needed to have a bunch of nails replaced and have the stain reapplied. I understand this is a long, drawn out process. They got to work pretty early in the day fixing boards and putting in new screws. Mike’s Mom Lois brought Charlie to town to have his next series of vaccinations from the local SPCA where they adopted him. Louie tormented Charlie a bit in his cage. I'm surprised Louie is not more frightened of dogs but he doesn't seem afraid of anything! L0is and I took Charlie to have that done and then I drove her back to Grand Rapids so she wouldn’t have to stick around all day while the boys worked. We had lunch afterward at the mall and looked around for a little bit. I took off soon after to come home. Mike and his dad worked pretty late while I relaxed for a few hours before bed.

This morning I got up to go wedding shower shopping with my friend Kim. Our co-worker is getting married next weekend so we had an office pool for her gift. We had a pretty nice budget so we got quite a few nice things for her. Afterward we had lunch at Jessica’s house before all three of us went to see the movie “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” I think we all had the opinion we need to read the book. I liked the movie, although I’m not sure I would run out and buy it, but I hear the book is much better. I’ll put the book on my list of books I need to read.

Mike and Rich were still working on the deck when I got back. They’re making really nice progress. The reddish color of our deck is almost completely gone. Unfortunately I don’t think Mike will be done by Wednesday as he originally hoped. We’ll have to squeeze in finishing it before our cruise next week though!
As for me, after seeing the movie I gave in once again and decided to go to the doctors for my unimproved condition. Today my coughing started producing bloody mucus (sorry if that’s TMI!) Since we leave in less than 5 days I really need to be better for this trip! I went to the local urgent care place and they got me in pretty quick. Good news it he bronchitis is gone but I have fluid in my ears and they believe I’m developed a sinus infection. While the antibiotic I’m currently finishing is great for bronchitis it doesn’t do much for sinus problems. So I’m not on a second round of a different antibiotic, steroids to help relieve the swelling in my esophagus from coughing so much (hence the blood), cough medicine to help calm the cause of my irritation, and an inhaler I need to take 4 times a day. Seriously, if this doesn’t cure me, I think I’ll scream (or at least try).

The doctor at the urgent care suggested if this all doesn’t help than I need to go back to the allergist and get tested for asthma. Since I’m allergic to my darling cats, I may be fighting a losing battle if these problems all stem from my cats and not a virus. I really hope it’s just a virus. If it is the cats, I have a whole new set of problems!

That’s about all I got for now. We leave Friday evening for Detroit to catch our plane at the butt crack of dawn on Saturday. We’ll be gone Saturday September 5-12th. We leave from Miami on the Royal Caribbean cruise to Jamaica, Haiti and an island somewhere off Mexico. We’re both really looking forward to it!

Unexpected Trips, Babies, Old Friends, New Opportunities!

After an uneventful Monday and Tuesday, Mike finds out on Wednesday he needs to go on a last-minute business trip to Tampa for a convention. We tried to find a cheap ticket for me to go along with him but on three days notice, we had zero luck finding anything reasonable. So, Mike had to plan the trip by himself. Thursday was spent doing laundry and trying to iron things he would need for the trip. Mike left Friday afternoon for his flight out of Detroit.

As for me, I made plans to go out with some friends since I was free Friday night. I met up with my friend Erin and her cousin Ashley. We started out at Shakespeare’s Pub where we also met up with some friends for a bit before heading out for dancing at Wild Bull. Kzoo is pretty small when you think about it so it shouldn't be surprising we found more friends at Wild Bull =) It was really a fun time. We had drinks, friends and dancing.

Highlights of the evening included meeting a very short but rich man whose parents own half of Kalamazoo, at least that’s according to a friend of mine who says he knows him. Then poor Ashley was stalked by a local news anchor who had way too much to drink and wanted her to run away with him into the night or something. That was creepy. Erin had a "regular" attender of the bar ask her to marry him or dance with him, or maybe it just give him the time of day. Either way, she said no. Then a friend of our friends started pretending he was the lead singer for some song that was playing in the club. I don’t remember what it was but it was hilarious watching him “work the mic”.

I didn’t get in until 3ish on Saturday morning. I sent Mike some text messages since he was keeping up with me during the night. He ended up seeing a movie in Tampa after settling into his hotel. Saturday I slept in pretty late and woke up to find it was raining hard. I had plans to visit my high school/college friend Janell who just had a baby last week. I got up, bought a last minute gift (I can’t do anything ahead of time anymore…) and started my trip to Elkhart.

It didn’t take as long as I thought it would to get there so I ended up being an hour and half early when I reached Elkhart. Since Janell and Rob are still getting used to the new baby routine, I didn’t want to show up unexpectedly. Instead, I went to visit Alice, my ex’s great aunt who kept up with me after the divorce. She’s doing great for someone in her late 80s and she was so happy to see me it was touching. I spent some time catching up with her before I had to go. I left with the promise I would come back with Mike so she can meet him so I will have to arrange to do that soon!

So, I went to visit Janell, Rob and the new baby. Jayla Jean is super cute and so tiny. I forget how small a new born can be – especially when they’re considered premature. I got to hold her for a long time which I visited with Rob and Janell. I was enjoying myself immensely when before I knew it, it was time for Jayla’s next feeding and I had to get going. I also promised when I would visit again soon. I’ll have to figure out when and how later =)

After leaving Rob, Janell & Jayla, I met up with Camla and Paul for dinner at Luccesse. I haven’t been there in years, since I moved from Elkhart, but I found their food was still delicious. They have a new restaurant, a lot bigger than the last, but it’s still the same place for the most part. I talked with them for awhile before we got the distinct impression the waitress at Luccesse’s didn’t want us lingering in her section. It was very rude. But we made our excuses and decided to leave around 8. I headed home and crashed pretty soon afterwards.

Today I slept in and did a lot of laundry and cleaning up. My parents came over for dinner and to keep my company this evening. I’m just now (at 10:30!) finishing up the laundry/ironing. After this blog I’ll have to put it all away… sigh. It never ends.

From what I heard Mike’s trip is going well and he should be home around midnight. I will probably not wait up for him but at the rate I’m getting things done, he may be home before I finish!

This week I start a new opportunity in a different department. It’s not a permanent position and I’m not sure how the hours are going to work but it sounds like it’s a trial for a possible position later. Hopefully it’s something I’ll like. If not, I still have a solid position where I am =)

Wish me luck!

Dozeman Summer Days...

So, summer is almost over and I’m just getting around to telling you all about it. Sorry for the short summary but I don’t have time to write a novel now. As always, I will strive to keep up better.

June Highlights:

June 6th – My friend Kristen’s bachelorette party. It was a wild night of good friends and fun.

June 10th – Got my hair cut. Not really digging it. I’m not sure why I always think I’ll like it short and then when it’s actually short, I hate it. It’s growing out though so I’ll live in the mean time. .

June 13th – Kristen’s wedding day – it was a beautiful event and although we had a scare with some rain early on, the weather turned sunny and the outdoor wedding resumed.

June 20th – Our friend Lee’s Wedding – yet another gorgeous wedding at Henderson Castle in Kalamazoo. Doesn't this photo look like it's out of a magzine? She had a beautiful wedding party. I think the're all dancers... Lee and Erik are dance instructors =)
June 21st - Imprumto trip to Old Mission Light House in northern Michigan. Great trip - wish we liked wine more so we could apprecaite the wineries. Instead, we enjoyed the fresh cherry cobler.

June 26th – Mike's parents adpot a new puppy for our local SPCA. I help name him Charley.

July Highlights:

July 2nd – Our friend Matt turned 30 – we spent half the night celebrating with him and his party and the other half of the night we met up with Mandee who was visiting from Texas.

July 11th – Mike’s cousin Kaylee’s wedding in Caledonia. It was an interesting experience. It was a very laid back wedding.

After the wedding I ended my night with a bachelorette party for our friend Chris. I don't have many photos, but this pretty much describes the night.

July 18th – Free weekend – more catch up on house/yard work.

July 21st – July 24th - Mike’s in Texas visiting Texas Instruments and working with them on some microchip for work. He was very excited to go. Total nerd trip.

July 22nd – HARRY POTTER. I actually saw it opening night on July 15th but some other friend hadn’t seen it yet and Mike was out of town so I went again. Still great the second time around.

July 23rd – Met up with some friends for a trip to the Wine Loft downtown. It’s a very posh wine bar and although I don’t really care for wine, I found some nice Sangria drinks I liked.

July 24th – Went to see “The Ugly Truth” with some friends for my birthday. We had dinner before the movie and my friend bought my admission to the show. It was a really nice night!

July 25th – My birthday =) It was a very nice birthday. Mike bought me a purse I really wanted. It’s red Italian leather and really shiny. I love it. He also got me a Cold Stone birthday cake. Most of my birthday was spent getting ready to go to our friends Timm & Chris’s wedding. It was a really fun event. We made it a joint celebration with my birthday and their wedding so it was a long, tiring night. I spent most of the next day recovering.

July 29th – Mom and Dad came over for Mom’s birthday. We had a nice pot roast dinner and watched Seven Pounds.

July 31st – Combo birthday bash with my friend Erin whose birthday was July 29th. We had a bunch of friends meet us out at a restaurant and we partied. Mike and I wussed out at about 10. We had a long weekend ahead of us..

August 1st – It’s the annual ATD (Advanced Technology Department) Summer Party. Mike’s coworkers all get together and this lake house in Delton. We spend the weekend eating, drinking, swimming, boating, tubing and visiting. I spend most of the time trying to avoid mosquitoes. I’m happy to say the new Off clip on pack with fan worked great. However, I also used spray as a back up measure. Thankfully, this year I only came home with 5 bites as opposed to the 30-40 in previous years. I’m also happy to say I once again kept up with the boys on the tubing events. My arms, legs and stomach are killing me now but during the actual event, I held my own through giant waves, high speeds and other tubes hanging on top of me. Thankfully no one was hurt during the process.

August 2nd – We continued the eating/drinking/tubing until about 3 p.m. when Mike and I called it a weekend. We got home and I wanted to load some photos on the computer when I saw Louis intently staring at our fridge in the basement. It’s just a little college size refrigerator we store down there. Well, I think he’s chasing a spider so I move the thing a little so he can get behind it and take care of things. About 30 seconds later, I realize he’s not chasing a spider but something much bigger. Slightly freaked out, I recruit Mike to help me catch whatever it is. I stick Louis in the laundry room and go to find something to capture it with. Long story short, and after the basement is half a wreak, we corner this little mouse and chase him into our trash can. We then drove two miles down the road where I let him go into the woods. It was quite the experience. I applaud my husband for not questioning my methods or once suggesting we let the cats get it or kill it once it’s caught. Just another reason I married him... He has finally figured me out when it comes to animals =)

Now I’m just catching up on my blog and loading some music on my iPod. My muscles ache so I probably will not make it the grocery store tonight! At least there is always tomorrow…