Ok so it's been awhile since last we visited. Whats new and shiny today you might ask?
Good question!
After rocky appeared last week Sue and I decided to take another autumn walk in Kopernick Forest to see what we could see this last nice weekend out - Sue doesn't really like the winter forest as much as we do so the time she can get now will probably be about it for her this year.
We are all now waiting for the falling of the first snow of the season to arrive but finding little excitement in the few miserable flakes we have falling now. The TV weather mannequins have all been bleating the Blues over the snow storms to come.
Well We've been waiting and Watching And folks This is all we've gotten so far!
Well maybe more will come soon but for now we can only wait patiently and hope...
Our Best team news comes from our "Princess" again! She has been waiting so patiently now for over a week to hear from TDI. or Therapy Dogs International and this week we finally got our Diploma!
Yes Indeed! Holly and I are now a Registered Therapy Dog Team!
But wouldn't you know it, the week we get our papers and are ready to start our little darling goes into her Winter Heat cycle putting our visits on hold for a bit.
But this is all good since we'll be able to take full advantage of the support group from Thera-Paws and their experience in the new facility we will be visiting on Thursdays at 10:30 AM! I Know the OTHER 10:30! It is The Superior Woods extended care and it' on Geddes between Ann Arbor and Canton.
Well OK I guess thats about it from here for now. You are all up to date and we are all ready to say good night.
Well we're back again! Sunday afternoon and just got back from church and Moms house.
This morning while eating breakfast and starting the day with a smile at 9:00am I was interrupted by an unholy howling from the back yard. Not only from our little princess as is usually the case but also from the usually calm and more sedate "Wonderboy" Dacey.
Much like the Christmas poem about the night before "I threw open the sash to see what was the matter" "and there to my wondering eyes did appear" NO Jolly old man and eight tiny reindeer!
But the nemesis of trash bins everywhere. Our local masked bandit - Rocky Raccoon the neighborhood's newest interloper from the sticks.
It seemed the den which Holly had so meticulously created Was apparently just to his liking and sized just right for him. Au contraire - my furtive guest, this is the home of Ms. Holly B'golly and you sir, are not welcome here.
So as good fortune would have it after poking and prodding away at the hissing, growling weasel with a big stick. Then gathering the dogs into the house to prevent further warfare while at worship.
"GENUINE IMPORTED ARIZONA MOUNTAINEERING STAFF" Flagstaff Arizona circa 1992
It was time for your frazzled author to Vamonos for Sunday morning Meetin' in Ann Arbor.
And a darned good thing that I did. Seems that after my Communion and blessings from the Lord God Almighty. My visit out to Mom's place turned quite eventful. You see, after relaying the story of Rocky Raccoon and his new residence in my little princess' comfy backyard den, She was inspired with an brainstorm!
Mom's neighbor you see, has been setting traps in the neighborhood lately for local rif-raf on his own. So she thinks, "why not ask the neighbor to borrow a trap?". OK Ma, So off to the neighbors I trudge asking of him "Hey meester can I use your rodent trap today?"
Fortunately a neighborly bond of camaraderie was established and after unloading his car, I was ushered forth into the back yard. Where sure enough there was a fully loaded, slightly modified, Hare Trigger weasels youth hostel!
Here, sez he, take it and go in peace! Just bring it back next week I may have need of it then.
Well now I am ready! Varmint trap Arizona Mountineering Stick, yet something still missing?? Like where to take this furry little bundle of growling, hissing, biting and clawing weasel joy? Thats right we still need some transportation to his new home, for our Ill tempered raccoon interloper.
Here it is I think I've found it! That bucolic family farm upstate where everyone sends their aging pets and relatives to live out those golden years with the kindly farmer and his wife frolicking in the fields of fresh hay down by the stream.
Ok so I really dont know if he's going upstate but I know if he comes back he wont stay around long..,
Well here it is long after the actual day of giving "Thanks" for all we have.
I have now added to my list thanks for tryptophan's and the feeling of satiated bliss they induce.
This was actually a pretty laid back Turkey Day for me. Sue was working so I had a clear kitchen for my latest holiday Masterpiece(?)
Well by the time she got home I was fortunate enough to have finished the whole deal Turkey, Potatoes, beans yams and pies for dinner at 5:00.
One small bit of advice, when cooking yams in the oven and you need to add marshmallows, to prevent flames and serious oven disaster, DO NOT use Large sized Marshmallows filled to the brim, they tend to expand and fall to the oven floor igniting on contact with the burners! Nothing a little oven cleaning won't fix but a culinary trick you may not want to share with guests. They often tend to shriek and wail while dialing 911. So just don't do it!
Fortunately it all worked out for the best dinner was delicious and after dishes were done we both settled in to a tryptophan induced coma reflecting on the latest Thanksgiving day Lions fiasco.
Only after this coma did preparation for Real Thanksgiving dinner with Mom begin.
Since we were so late in eating on the holiday we all thought it best to share Thanksgiving on Friday here with Mom.
And as we all expected it turned out very nice. It really is good to have family over to share in the Thanksgiving, it just makes it that much more meaningful when we can all share in the Holiday spirit.
So thats all from here for today. We hope you all had a wonderful Holiday and were able to share in the real spirit of the day that has been shared by so many for so long HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!!
Well Today was the official Grand Opening of the New Ypsilanti location of 'All The Kings Men"
At 10 North Hewitt Road In Ypsilanti Twp(?).
Which if you haven't surmised by now is a Chess Store and playing venue new for West side players.
The opening was graced with a Simultaneous demonstration from Ann Arbor's own Ben Fiengold playing eighteen boards at a time and as losers left fresh players filled the void for nearly five hours!
From Bens web site...
Ben goes 24-0 in the Simul I played 18 people at once, and when games were done, new people took over. I scored 24-0.
Some of the higher rated players were: Manis Davidovich, Matt Hassen, Will Rhee, and Jenifer Skidmore
Ben is our newest Grandmaster and currently the only GM in the state. He made his GM norm during the annual Spice Cup tournament sponsored by GM Susan Polgar in Texas.
Ben is truly a marvelous individual with none of the air of superiority too often found in GM's. He possesses a sense of humor and jovial attitude that puts one immediately at ease in his presence.
Here is the Utube Video of Ben's GM winning game - Ben is on the left...
Unfortunately now that Benm has the GM Norm he will be leaving Ann Arbor for St. Louis Mo. Where a PAID instructional position awaits him with Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
It couldn't have happen to a nicer guy Congratulations Ben and best of luck in the new home.
As for my part in all this? After speaking with the owner of the club Dr Ed Mendel I found they would be in need of people to work the store on a part time basis. So I volunteered and with some pursuit I think I may be asked to take this noteworthy but unpaid opportunity. Hooray!
Well thats going to be it for today and I hope everyone is ready for Thanksgiving this Thursday. Then Friday Saturday and Sunday is the Motor City Open at THE MOTOR CITY CASINO HOTEL.
Hooray! Holly did it today with her usual "exceptional" self.
Our third and last evaluation was the best one yet and most satisfying.
Our evaluator was the creator of Thera-Paws Inc. in Michigan and a sweeter person you could not find.
I was more than a little worried after our initial phone conversation and her emphasis on the rules.
But Sue was a truly wonderful lady with a dog background and caring found in only the best of people.
She essentially stayed back and watched how we were interacting with the patients and staff only once directing us to a room where she knew the patient and her love of animals and dogs in particular.
Fortunately we had been able to take a run through the very nice Dog Park they have in downtown saline. This helped Holly and Dacey run off some energy before going to the facility for our testing.
I brought Dacey along this time too to put her a bit more at ease and it really seemed to make everyone happier through the visit.
That and I couldn't bear to watch the despondent look on Dacey's Face if we left him home alone yet again without so much as a by your leave. Yeah he is spoiled senseless.
As an aside to this park story we noticed a flock of about thirty Canadian Geese had taken up residence in the river and adjoining park area.
As some of you may know Canadian geese are expert at only two things I know of, that is getting sucked into jet engines and leaving copious piles of the stuff that goes through them faster than... well you know.
The thing we found so absolutely hilarious about this picture
was the station with dog poo bags and the sign that read please pick up after your pets. I can only imagine that this is so as to offer more area for the geese to plant land mines for the rest of our enjoyment. It's a crazy world here folks.
So anyway After meeting with about twenty people and staff this time, explaining to each one
what breed Holly was, where she was from and how her breed is used for reindeer herding throughout all of Sapmi' The land of the Sami People
(from Stumble upon)
"The Sámi people, also known as Lapps, although this term is considered derogatory are the indigenous people of northern Europe inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Their ancestral lands span across an area the size of Sweden in the Nordic countries. The Sámi people are among the largest indigenous ethnic groups in Europe.
We were roundly praised and applauded from each and every person through the entire building, cheering and shouts of Hosanna ringing in our ears and I believe even small bouquets of flowers strewn over our path as we left for the day!
How does one recover from such a day?!
Well Dacey and Holly went home to share a huge pigskin chew bone we found.
And I went off to Thursday chess club to be roundly beaten - only half of the time tonight! Sometimes humility comes from the most unexpected places. But all is good - our Little girl passed!
So much for now tomorrow is another adventure in paradise!
Whoa! Is it the 18th of November already?! Whats happened to our autumn month?
Sue went to the grocery yesterday and came back with a turkey! I think I know what that means and I am not prepared for this!
We went to "Superior park" today for a change and had a really relaxing trip there.
To be perfectly fair and not disparage the parks true name it is actually Schroeter Park.
The rain was trying so hard to motivate itself to a descent from the sky above that I began to worry. But the best it could manage today was a spit on the windows then rolled over for more autumn siesta. He'll awaken later on, after dark for a late night of revelry and abandon. No wonder he sleeps all day!
At the park they still manage to leave our table sentiments intact - Even adding some not unpleasant commentary on our testament to one another and to this lovely park.
Now I know how the rain feels today, I think I'll Siesta now too... Tomorrow is our big day
I just saw this quote on another Lappi lovers wall and had to steal it for my own ...
From Beatrice Bartley -
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Author Unknownon
Fitolas Wonderboy -my best friend "Dacey"
Just too darn true for any more words at all...
Well today was pretty uneventful except for the delivery of my new transmitter for the glucose monitor.
It seems the last one had a premature failure and hadda be replaced. You know what with warranty expirations and all that crucial stuff.
Now the funny thing is, I called Medtronics support last night about 10:00 pm Then we went through the diagnostics; the Tech support guy and I, to prove out the failure.
So he orders a new one shipped out for "Tomorrow morning" before 10:30am via UPS!? Yeah Right! Me thinks it'll be lucky to get here by Wednesday night! That is what the email confirmation said, so I wasn't too concerned.
But Damned if he wasn't right! 10:15 this morning and the UPS guy is banging away at my door ringing the doorbell then half way down the drive before I could stop him!! Hey, bring the package back!! Yes indeedy he did have the signature package from Medtronics!
It really made me think of "Jack" the old Mad TV - UPS guy that was forever hyper-stoked...
It makes me wonder what they do to those poor people at UPS to inspire that kind of urgent hysteria?? Anyway all the Stuff was there and I am once again a happy glucose monitoring camper!!
Stayed around the house (in my cell) and did some clean-up fix-up chores most of the day.
Studied some Kings-Gambit variations for an hour or so. Worked on the Rice counter gambit to the Kieseritzky gambit. Probably means nothing to anyone else but it does help keep the gears turning for some of the voids of time I have on hand.
Since I had to wait for a fax until 4:30 we didn't get to go walkies with the kids this afternoon and I have been getting the evil eye all night over it!
Well I suppose it means we do two hours or two parks tomorrow to make up for it. They are insistent taskmasters when it comes to our outdoor times, but thats just another reason I love 'em... Cause they are keeping me alive!
Ok it's late again and tomorrow is another exciting day for the family here so thats all for now folks.
I have been updating this thing from the top to the bottom when I really wanted it to post in the opposite direction!
Well lets hope I get it right from here on out!
I missed taking any photos when we went for our walk today. But Holly was concentrating on a hole she began working on last week! She was furiously digging sniffing and trying to get the best view of China she could from this side!
I had to go over and investigate what was so interesting... Well give it a few seconds and pow! a small field mouse shot up two feet into the air from another hole and scampered with great dexterity into the deep leaf cover of the forest floor and was gone!
Even after seeing this for herself Holly kind of said "screw it" and went right back to searching for the rest of the family!
It kind of reminds me of the Keasey story from "Sometimes a great Notion" where the stamper brothers played a Christmas joke on the youngest brother filling his Christmas stocking up with Horse Manure to see his reaction to the distressing event.
But when he found the contents he went running all around the house and barns excited as a kid with a new puppy! When the brothers finally stopped and asked him why he was so excited by the stocking full of horseshit he exclaimed with wide eyed enthusiasm "Santa got me a pony, but he must have gotten loose and I've got to find him before he gets away!"
Sort of like Holly and her search for the rest of that field mouse family she just Knew was still in there!
This is an archive photo of her search mode in the winter and her never ending devotion to it...
Well thats my story and I am sticking to it for today. See you all again soon...
Well here it is another lovely day in Michigan's Mid-autumn, a season I've always thought is her best and most vibrant of the year
The colors haven't all turned quite yet but Dacey and Holly seem to be enjoying the experience of the new ground cover now found on our daily Hines Park river walks.
The smells are reassuring, old and earthy, adding a soothing texture to this special time with nature.
and this fresh new earth blanket adds a pleasant, swirling musical sound as we pass, joined by the crunchy cadence of our footfalls winding through the ankle deep fruits of the past seasons bounty.
Almost time for us to leave for a portrait session at church. The dogs are wondering what's gonna happen? I Keep telling them they're going to be shot but they don't get it... With a camera dummies!
So this is short today but just enough to try into this bloggin stuff I hear about in the big city. Posted some photos and started the page so for now thats enough and I'm out...
Latest update 11/04/09 18:02-zulu
New Update posted 11/05/09 11:45 Z
We just got back from our usual Forest walk at Holiday preserve's Koppernick woods. Though the kids didn't seem to mind I think we were all a little supprised by the toll the winds and rain of the last week have taken on the leaves!
The last of the Kidney Teeth are still here
So it may be a little while yet until we have finally left our colorful season behind.
Well Chess club in a few minutes so later for now...
Nov. 13 2009... Wow time fly's when you're having phun. Yesterday Holly and I had our second round of Therapy Dog registration with Thera-Paws of Ann Arbor
We did our testing at Saline Evangelical extended care, in Saline of course.
Our sweetheart was absolutely perfect for her testing! We met with about a dozen people and got pets from everyone (and treats from more than one!)
Now just one more to go before we can start giving back to life by bringing a little smile to those who might need one the most.
Well thats going to be it for today, its almost time for our daily walk with nature.
Maybe we'll sniff out something good today. All for now...
Nov 16 17:00 Z
Trying to fill in the blog again for today and I keep seeing this Poster in my head...
So Whats new and Shiny today??
We got our appointment for Holly to do her last evaluation for Thara-Paws at Saline Evangelical again. Looks like this Thursday at 4:00pm. Don't know if I should point this but the tester I spoke with had a distinct German accent and emphasized that she strictly adheres to all the Rules of the testing program! There vill be Order!
I really hope we make it through this last phase! The good part is it will be at 4:00 pm and will give us a chance to do a run in the woods before we go so she should be more mellow than during our past visits.
Oh well wish us luck.
Feeling sort of out of it today, like a cold coming on or something...
Well the initial luster has worn off of Opera - but I think I still dig it. The widgets are kinda cool. I am really getting into the "Shout-Cast Player", been listening to Big R radio 90's alternative station. It's kind of like elevator music for the rest of us, pretty cool - Now playing NIRVANA- Lake of Fire (Live) One of those songs that get stuck in your head for a week or so then goes away...
If you haven't noticed yet I am a Huge fan of Demotivators. They speak volumes in a thumbnail on subjects we all live with day to day. So you'll probably be seeing more than a few of these gems here... A real motivation for any situation
Way too much time on my hands lately and not enough Cash.
The worst part is that I don't know if I have the heart to work in the Corporate Environment anymore...
Maybe I Can find Fulfillment with a completely new career path in a whole different industry...
Or Not.
Well enough of this nonsense for now I'll be back later with something better to blog about...
WIDGETIZE