Tag Archives: Michigan

What I Learned This Week – 8/25/13

Posted on August 26, 2013 by funnygurl2

On Sunday, my family and I went to the Day Out with Thomas event at the Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad in Flint, Michigan. This is our second year. It was kind of nice to know what to expect.

I wanted to look at all the Thomas stuff they had set up for the kids. My husband wanted to look at all the historical stuff at Crossroads Village that is always there, because he is into that sort of thing. My son just seemed pretty overwhelmed by the whole thing. He mostly just wanted to play with the toys that were set up. So much so, that he threw a glorious fit when we removed him from the gift shop toy table. He was not the only child throwing a fit when they were forced to leave that area. But, as i don’t have good behavior to brag about, I will boast that his fit was the loudest and most impressive.

My husband spent a lot of time walking around hand in hand with my son. I spent a lot of time pushing the stroller and taking pictures with the camera. Not quite the cozy family outing I had hoped for (In my head, I am holding hands with my husband, as we both push the stroller with my quiet, well-behaved child in it *sigh*), but we all said we had fun at the end of the day. I think my husband wouldn’t have taken a stroller at all. But it was worth it, because the Thomas-themed bag I took weight a ton, mostly from the full water bottles in the bottom. (Why pay $1.50 at the Village, when you can buy them for $.89 at the Speedway gas station on the way!) I consider an outing a success if we make it home with all the stuff we left with.  And we did.

The BEST part of the day was when we rode on the double-decker paddle boat on the lake at the end of the day. We just caught the last boat as it was about to leave. I got to sit! There was shade! There was cool breeze! There was fresh sea lake air!

CHILDREN WERE MELTING DOWN ALL OVER THE PARK!

BUT WE WERE NOT IN THE PARK! WE WERE ON THE LAKE!

Of course, some of the children on the boat were melting down too. I fortified my son with some crackers and cookies and we were good til he got in his car seat and passed out as we got on the expressway to head home.

Because most of you probably don’t give a flying fig about Thomas, I will post here my arty-fartsy pics from that day.

If you want to see Thomas, pop over to my Facebook page and I will post a couple over there.

If any of you reading this happen to have a little engineer at home and want to make them a Thomas cake for their birthday, you can click here for my own experience. (Go on, check it out. It is lopsided, but still kinda cute!)

A building at Crossroads Village

A building at Crossroads Village

Cider press

Cider press

A quiet train ride moment, frozen in time

A quiet train ride moment, frozen in time

Barns from the boat

Barns from the boat

Dam from the boat, with birds

Dam from the boat, with birds

Boat from the boat

Boat from the boat

Love my new camera, but sometimes the pictures it takes are very devoid of color. Maybe that is a problem that happens with the zoom. Anyone with any photographic advice on how to get more colorful pictures, I would love to hear it. I just have a little Panasonic DMC-SZ3.

And if your advice is “Buy a better camera”, I will delete your comment. Oh yes, I have that power…

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What I Learned This Week – 8/11/13

Posted on August 11, 2013 by funnygurl2

Recently, we went to The Monroe County Fair nearby. This is what I learned:

At The Fair

At The Fair

There is a definite reason the Lenawee County Fair is called “Michigan’s Oldest Fair” and the Monroe County Fair is known as “Michigan’s Finest Fair”.

Touching a real, live Wallaby is just as awesome as I had always dreamed. (Now I just have to figure out how to get one in my home as a pet.)

A sheep will try to eat anything, including my shirt. While I am still wearing it.

Kids love Tow Mater from Disney/Pixar’s Cars as a cartoon and as toys, but in real life he is scary. (My kid was not the only one who was too scared to stand by his giant buck teeth, which were as big as the children’s heads!)

The Little Smokey steam train that gives rides around the parking lot is a lot rougher ride now than it used to be 15 years ago. (It could not possibly be because I have gotten 15 years OLDER.)

My kid loves riding the ponies.

It is actually possible to go to the fair and have a good time and not spend much money. (Especially when your child is too short to ride the carnival rides :/ )

Chocolate covered bacon is BETTER than I could have imagined. (Note to Self: Figure out how to make it at home myself.)

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What the Wha?

Posted on July 4, 2013 by funnygurl2
Taxidermy Beaver

Taxidermy Beaver

This wacky specimen is located at the Tahquamenon Logging Museum in Newberry, Michigan.  I had to take a picture of it because, well, look at it.

I hope that is not what my beaver looks like when it gets stuffed.

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What I Learned This Week – 6/30/13

Posted on June 30, 2013 by funnygurl2

Apparently, I learned a lot this week.

I learned that I might like the artist Colette Carr. I originally checked her out on YouTube because I saw a pic of her with multi-colored hair. I wanted to know what she sounded like. She is lots of autotune, but also very cute, has bright clothes, some snarky lyrics, and dancey beats. I like to think I looked like her in my 20s. I didn’t. I wish I still looked like her. Here is a cool song by her.
NOTE: Contains explicit language. (Like, all through the song, including the title.)

I also learned that I am not the only one who has thought all these years that Avril Lavigne and her lead guitarist should get together. I think I started thinking that when I watched an MTV day-in-the-life special about her. Avril and her guitarist, Evan Taubenfeld, seemed very snuggily and friendly and oh so cute together. Here is a link to a couple videos featuring them.
NOTE: Contains angsty pop lyrics.

I also added a new page to I’m not stalking you. It is called What I Support. I plan to add causes to it from time to time. I am sure there are more I forgot. It lets you know a little more about what mental and emotional place in the universe I am working from.

I learned at work there is something called a “Gold Star Award” that the manager can give out for employees who go ‘above and beyond’. Ever since, I have been consumed by thinking about how I could win one of those. I really miss Academic Awards ceremonies from when I was in high school. They made me feel like a rock star! (Well, not really. But it was nice to feel recognized for my achievements. “Rock star” just makes it sound more glamorous…) They had similar awards at the last place I worked. But when I started there were 1200 employees in the building! And I did not have a job that screamed ‘above and beyond’ potential. By the time the place got down to a third of that amount of employees, they had stopped giving out awards:( When the place closed, I was fortunate enough to provide a home for one of my favorite ex-boss’s awards. (While we were alike in many ways, he did not treasure his awards as I would. Just sayin’.) My current job doesn’t scream ‘above and beyond’ potential either, but I have lots of extra time to craft a way to try and make that happen.  And I have fewer employees to compete with.

Hand-me-down award

Hand-me-down award

I also learned that it is AWESOME to go spy on the filming of a movie. They were shooting a scene for Transformers 4 in my backyard (OK, actually 20 minutes down the road). My son and I went down and watched for about an hour before I had to go to work. Of course we weren’t able to get near the actual set. But we were able to stand across the road from where they were moving the cars in and out. I took lots of pictures. Here are a few.

Optimus Prime!

Optimus Prime!

I was told this was a Lamborghini

I was told this was a Lamborghini

Stunt man?

Stunt man?

The proof is on the rented truck...

The proof is on the rented truck…

This video is taken by someone I don’t know, but is way more awesome than any of the pictures I took. Enjoy.
NOTE: Bitchin’ explosions.

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What I Learned This Week – 4/28/13

Posted on April 28, 2013 by funnygurl2

This week I learned that Crystal Bowersox is really nice. Last weekend I happened to be in Blissfield, Michigan (my hometown) for Railroad Days, and Crystal, whose hometown is Toledo, Ohio (very close proximity), happened to be dining at the same restaurant as my family. It was Lena’s Italian Restaurant. (Their pizza rocks. If you are ever in the neighborhood, check them out!)

Adrian & Blissfield Railroad, Railroad Days, Blissfield, MI

Adrian & Blissfield Railroad, Railroad Days, Blissfield, MI

RAILROAD DAYS, you might ask? I know it sounds dorky, but if you are interested in trains, then it is not. I was raised by a mother that when she rode me around on the back of her bike, we would stop for the train and wave at the engineer. When we were riding around in the car out in the country, she would race to the tracks for the train.

NO, SHE WOULDN’T TRY TO CROSS THE TRACKS IN FRONT OF IT!

She would race up to the crossing, and then we would stop and watch the train go buy.

I do similar things for my 2 year old son, M, who is very interested in Thomas, and can identify most of the major parts of a steam engine.

Anyway, Miss Bowersox was eating with her family, including her son, who seemed very interested in my son. My family and her family chatted and she was nice enough to give me an autograph. I TOTALLY wanted to get a picture with her, especially since I had my brand new higher megapixel camera with me. But I was too chicken.  (Check out my new page of Celebrities I have met, called When Stars Align.)

It was totally awesome that she was there, because, well, no one famous EVER comes to Blissfield. I think the last time was when Little Texas stopped at the Blissfield McDonald’s in the mid 90’s.

Crystal Bowersox Autograph, 4/20/13

Crystal Bowersox Autograph, 4/20/13

I also learned this week that I am employable. I HAVE A JOB! It is only part-time, only pays half of what I used to make at my previous job, has no benefits, and is a further commute (by like 3 minutes). But, it is also only part-time, so maybe if my husband gets a full time job, I can still fit this job around his. And I don’t have to clean any bathrooms. And the button-down uniform shirt actually fits me better than my own button-down shirt I wear for interviews-go figure.

PARKER UPDATE: The Vet says he had good healing tissue, and she is no longer going to check his progress every week. We are putting prescription cream and aloe (alternating days) on his wound right now. After two times sewing up the wound (and it coming back apart both times), she is just going to let it grow back together on its own. Which means there is a big hole in his doggy armpit still, which I try not to look at. If we put a T-shirt on him, he can roam around the house (supervised) without his cone collar on.

Q.  What do you call a Pointer wearing a cone collar and a major injury?

A. Still a flight risk!

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