Excuses, Excuses...

...and a little this an' that
     Well, hello there...  I hope this finds you relaxing and enjoying this Labor Day weekend -- the last official long weekend of the summer!!!!  Something about the impending "trying to get back into a routine" is drawing me back to the blog.  So much has been going on...mostly "life", and I hope I can make the time to recapture some of it on the ol' blog!!!  If not for the love of you people, then at least for the sake of me and holding on to those memories of kids who grow up too fast (and some days not fast enough).  I am trying hard not to give you all my excuses because in the end, that's all they are, right!?  Excuses, excuses!!

Spent some time here in Ludington, MI #puremichigan



     First, and foremost, let me just say that my mom is doing okay!!!  I have received a handful of emails asking about my mom and the blog (some of you have your email settings set for "no reply" so if I didn't get back to you, that could be why!).  I never meant to leave y'all hanging!!!  I will be back with Monday Memories With My Mom, possibly as soon as tomorrow a/k/a Labor Day....  Oh, and of course I won't just jump right in to the "present" -- you know I have to start from where I left off and go through it all -- possibly in too much detail!!!

Mom, Me, Muffin

     Meanwhile, here's what's been on my radar...
     Senior 2015   I have learned that the junior/senior year is extra busy!!  On top of a normally loaded down class schedule filled with challenging classes, there are sports and activities and clubs, driving, ACTs, college visits and tours, job responsibilities, summer camps that go with their activities, online classes because you can't always fit everything in your normal school schedule, concerts you "have to" see, volunteering you must do (NHS), teachers who rely on your summer support, senior picture and yearbook deadlines, registrations and forms (as in "please print your name as you would like it to appear on your diploma"), college mail arriving daily, life decisions hanging over you...  It's a lot and I'm just the mom!!  Oh, and let's not forget the "are we having a graduation party at our house and if so, someone better work on the landscaping around here...and maybe paint the house while they're at it 'cause Lord knows we aren't going to have any more time in the Spring than we do now"!!!???

We Toured Some Colleges
Applications are a Work in Progress

    Two Freshmen   I am thrilled to announce that, for the first time in seven years, all three of my kids will be back in one school -- high school!!!  Not since elementary school have we enjoyed this luxury...  I would also like to mention that this means I will have...three teens in high school (insert look of panic).  Although, my oldest has always been highly responsible and taken charge of most of her own scholastic well being, at this point I am not sure "the twins" (I am trying not to name names here, but I think you can figure it out) know what they are in for and the importance of making the most out of these last few years of activities and learning!!!!  My husband is very much a "they'll figure it out" person while I tend to at least give some very strong "hints" about what needs to be done to go in prepared and ready for success.  That said, though, I do think that by this time (a/k/a high school) there needs to be waaaaaayyyy less or better yet no "mommy" reminders and way more initiative from within (time will tell).  I find it hard to make the gradual transition from the elementary days of being somewhat of a "helicopter parent" into more of a 24/7 "consultant" role. 

Photo Credit wikihow.com

     The Exchange Student   What did she say???  Yeah, that's right, we have a German exchange student coming to stay with us in about two weeks!!  I have secretly always wanted to host an exchange student and with Megan begging "can we get one" (as if asking for a goldfish) for three years and then her teacher, "Frau M", personally asking if we would host a student I hesitantly agreed to it this past Spring.  The only reason I hesitated was that life seems "pretty full" as it is and last Spring seemed pretty busy, too.  However, as they say "yolo"!!!  We look forward to meeting her and I would imagine I will introduce her to you all soon!  Megan has been in communication with her through "WhatsApp" over the summer.  There are about 27 students coming and the German Club and host families have a pretty good schedule of activities and field trips for everyone to take part in during their visit.  So, four high school teens -- no worries, right!??

photo credit dclibrary.org
 

 

     Vacations   Although we've had our share of great vacations, we did not get away at all last summer.  This year I had everyone block four days off on their calendar (last weekend) so that we could take some kind of family vacation.  As It turns out, that was a great idea because nobody made appointments or plans and those with jobs took the time off of work.  There was only one problem, nobody ever came up with a great plan of what we were going to do!!??  Embarrassing, but true.  In the back of my mind, however, was the realization that our kids are in high school yet seem to have no real memories of some of the best things there are to see and do in our home state of Michigan.  So, we booked our hotels in the morning and hit the road by noon.  By 5pm we were at the Mackinac Bridge.  The kids had been to most of these places before, but were too young to remember.  The kids schedules drag you down as they get older and more involved in sports. I knew we had failed as Michigan parents when our kids got to Mackinaw and Mackinac Island and said "this reminds me of Bar Harbor, Maine".  What should have happened was when they visited Bar Harbor, they should have said "this reminds me of Mackinac Island"...  The lesson here is, we need to slow everyone down and get some vacations planned and on the calendar. 

Petoskey, Michigan Sunset (photo credit me!)
(to think we almost didn't take a vacation) #puremichigan

     The "Volunteer(ed)"  Last year I was approached by the high school music director and asked to consider volunteering for one of the many board positions available with the music boosters.  My comment was something like, "sure is the secretary position open" and she was like, "yes, we have two secretary positions", contact so and so...  Long story short, the positions I felt comfortable filling were not open (which was fine with me!) and, as is always the case, I soon got a call saying "I heard you were looking to volunteer"...  Ummm, not really...uh, uh.  Fast forward and much to my surprise I am now listed as "Co-Chair" of concert uniforms!!??  For the past year me and two other ladies got conned  volunteered to sort, label, get dry cleaned, inventory, make alterations and process uniform contracts for over 450 students.  Dresses, jackets, pants, cummerbunds...  It's hard tedious work and unfortunately comes at the beginning and end of the school years which always seem to be extra busy.

Photo Credit www.run2health.com

     Oprah  I'm going to see her September 12-13th!!!!!  It's a bucket list thing for me and her "Life You Want" tour is coming to my neck of the woods!!!  My friend Alyce and I are so excited about it -- and yes there will be a blog post!!

Photo Credit Oprah Life You Want Tour



     Health  I am long overdue for taking care of my own health.  Gotta schedule some appointments for me...  Although I have been to several doctors and dentists with my kids and my mom, I haven't made any appointments for me in awhile!!!  Heck, the dog has a better track record of going to the vet than I do at this point!!!  That's gotta change!!



Photo Credit www.intl.kit.edu



    Fall, High School Football and Marching Bands  This year all three of my kids are in marching band!!!  As a former high school marching band member -- this makes me very happy and proud as I have great memories and friends from those days!  I can honestly say I wasn't expecting them to all be together in this, and I'm excited to see our 220 member marching band take the field this year.  They've have been to camp and have been training since July and are looking good!!  The football team is off to a 1-0 start having our first away game this past Friday!  Sitting in the stands without the kids will be one of the closest things to an "empty nest" we have had in awhile!!

Marching Band's First Performance After Band Camp

     Family, Home, Holidays  Although I don't want to be overly dramatic (ok, maybe I do!), knowing that there will be a lot of "lasts" for us with Megan in her senior year already feels bittersweet.  I hope we can make the most of our family time together as we always should!  I can already feel the holidays sneaking up on us and I fear I'll be feeling a bit melancholy (there's a word I don't use every day!) through it all.  Hoping to tackle my "to do" list early and get some stuff done before...dare I say...the snow starts flying!!!



Photo Credit www.arizonaliferealestate.com

    So, you see, I must go and enjoy this last day of summer and I hope you do the same!!

    

      

 

Friends - Finally Fifty!

     So, not that I want to mention this again, but last year I may have turned the big 5-0 !!  Unfortunately, I had to be "first" in my little circle of BFFs,

but it finally caught up to them, too.

      In August, my friend Donna and I planned a surprise overnight at the MGM Grand Casino.  Nancy loves baseball and our beloved Detroit Tigers.  Donna and I tease her about it whenever we get the chance!!  While I do love our Tigers, Donna and I wholeheartedly agree that baseball is the longest game on earth and more often than not we just plain ol' don't "get it".  (I'm thinking maybe 5 innings!???)  Nancy, of course, thinks we are crazy!!  But, I digress.  So Nancy's daughter helped us out by taking her to an afternoon Tiger game and then bringing her to the hotel for some gambling, only to find the two of us waiting for some casino fun!!!  You may say, well how did you get her to the casino?  Or, how did you know she would go to a Tiger game?  Well, 'cause she does both quite a lot and those are two of her true loves!!!  It was not difficult!

      The poor girl walked to the hotel in like 90 degree plus weather that day!!  (Again, this is yet another reason why Donna and I might not be the die hard fans of baseball that we perhaps should be!!)  But don't despair as it wasn't long before we were enjoying some complimentary appetizers on the Concierge level, singing happy birthday and then hitting "the floor" of the casino.  We got a kick out of the Village People slot machine and the Willy Wonka is pretty fun, too.  Sadly for me, I lose money rather quickly...  Like, really it doesn't last very long!!  I will never totally see the fun in that -- but I do see the fun in laughing with my besties, chatting, eating and drinking a few glasses of wine!!

     We also knew that a few days later Nancy's family had planned a surprise birthday party for her.  Donna and I got each of us a "friendship necklace" that we ordered on Etsy.  They're really pretty silver necklaces with each of the three of our initials and birthstones.  We love them and thought it would be a good way to commemorate our milestone birthdays!  Her birthday was in September!!

Cheers - To Fifty Years!

Not Sure Who Made This for Nancy's Surprise Party,
But I Don't Think She Looks Like This!?

    Then there was Donna who tends to be in complete denial about "age" and birthdays...  A friend of hers had thrown a surprise party for her and her husband in August (her birthday is actually in November).  It was a very nice summer (remember summer!?) party with great food, a beautiful cake.  Once they finally made it to their surprise party (ahem...) we all sent off Chinese lanterns off into the sky.  It was so pretty and fun!  

Closer to her actual birthday, we had a nice lunch at Black Rock to celebrate Donna's big day.  I made some alterations to a slot machine as part of her gift and we gave her some funds for her next casino visit.  We also were lucky enough to all take a trip to Florida together in November where we bought her a few surprises for her big day, but that trip is another post for another day!!!

So, one casino overnight, one leisurely lunch, two surprise parties and one trip to Florida later -- and my friends are Finally Fifty!!!!

Our Gift to Miss Donna
Her Very Own Sex and the City Slot Machine

Donna Making a Wish and Sending Off Her Chinese Lantern

Donna Says "I Love Being 50!"
(or did I make that up??)

Margaritaville...in the D

     Over the summer, my husband was lucky enough to score some tickets for the Jimmy Buffett concert in Detroit, at Comerica Park.  Our relationship has history dating back to when Jimmy Buffett concerts were at a smaller outdoor venue, formerly known as Pine Knob.  When we were first dating, (which may have been over 20 years ago!!) I was able to score seats a couple rows from the stage for a few years.  We loved it!  As all parrotheads know, tailgating and pretending to be at a party in the tropics is always a good thing.

     We grabbed our good friends, Donna and Greg, former residents of Royal Palm Beach, Florida!!  (If I didn't ask you -- it's because you were up north!!) 

     First, we grabbed a yummy dinner at Bonefish and then headed for the concert.  I knew we were going to be pressed to find parking.  We did not have time to get there hours early and tailgate before the concert like a true parrothead would   Parking was at a premium and there was nothing to be found.  Thankfully, our friends had some connections and we were able to park on the sidewalk of a private empty lot and hangout with some real parrotheads. 

 

 

     Gotta love my buddy Greg who didn't even think twice about putting on the grass skirt I had picked up at the dollar store!!!

     After a cocktail or two, we headed to the concert.  Jackson Brown was the warm up band so we caught part of that -- not bad!!!  Oh, and those ominous looking clouds never did do anything!!!

 

     We had main floor tickets, or in this case "on the field" seats.  They were excellent and the crowd was fun as always!!  It had been awhile since we went on a real live fun date like this!!

     The moon was full, the weather was great!  Or is it, "The Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful"!!!!???  It was great to be out, in the moonlight, just like old times!!!

 

Long live Jimmy!!!!  Thanks for the good times!!

 

 

When Your Heart Keeps Going In...One Direction

     Over the summer, and for the past year and a half or more, Megan has lived and breathed for the boy band -- One Direction.  You either know who they are -- or ya don't, but they are all the rage!!!!
     The band recently completed their "5 Seconds of Summer" tour.  Tickets for the one night concert went on sale over a year before the concert date in our part of the country -- and sold out immediately.  I kind of thought it was a "phase" and that the band would come and go out of Megan's life by the time the concert came.  Maybe she would move on to the next band that came along. 
     I was wrong -- instead her "LOVE" for them continued to grow!!  She follows them on every form of social media there is.  Many of our conversations turn into One Direction updates.  "You should see Liam's haircut" or "Guess who's birthday it is today"???  

 

     As the year went on and the July 12th concert date grew closer and closer, I realized just how badly she wanted to see them.  She had it bad and the tickets were long gone.  She never really begged for us to get her tickets or whined about it because she knew it was sold out.  However, she checked many sources for tickets and in the weeks leading up to the concert tried continually to win tickets on the radio.  There were days when our entire family was calling WAMP radio trying to be the right caller number.  Megan actually got close to winning several times.  I was surprised she was even able to get through.  I didn't want to discourage her, but I knew the odds were not the best!
     One interesting twist to all of this -- I used to work for the Owner of The Palace and distribute tickets for all concerts and events as well as monitor our corporate suite and all of those tickets!!  Back in the day, getting tickets to this event would not have been a problem.  Sadly, both my connections and my former boss are gone.  I had a few friends also trying to make connections for some tickets, but in the end those didn't work out either.  Obviously, I was not willing to pay thousands of dollars.
     Meanwhile, Megan's 16th Birthday was looming -- September 12th.  I knew the best thing we could give her for this special birthday was tickets to this concert.  Although we try (really!) not to over indulge our kids, seeing Megan staying up through the night to try to win tickets and continually looking for any means possible to get there finally got to us.  A day or so before the concert, she finally just asked a friend to get her a t-shirt from the concert.  My heart was breaking for her.  She realized her hopes of winning tickets were not to be.
     Before we knew it, it was the night before the concert.  No tickets were won -- the ticket fairy did not come to our door.  I convinced my husband we had to try to find her some tickets. 
     We jumped on the Internet and made some phone calls to people in our area trying to sell their tickets.  After only a few calls, we settled on somebody who said they could meet us with a "paper ticket".  It was rather late a night.  I made my husband handle it.  The whole thing was rather seedy to say the least.  The price for two tickets was way more than face value.  My husband paid cash and basically got two pieces of paper for it!

     We did not know if the seller was honest.  We only new they appeared to be.  They could very well have sold copies of the same paper ticket to several people. The only way to know for sure was to go to the concert and scan the ticket!!!
     My nerves were shot!!! 
     But now the fun part -- we presented a big card with the tickets inside to Megan early the next morning -- the morning of the concert!!  We told her she could invite whomever she wanted although we were pretty sure which friend she would choose.  She was shocked and thrilled and called her friend right away!  (We also had to tell her there was a small chance the tickets would not work -- can you imagine!!!!!?????)
     Our family was to attend a graduation party that night, but instead my husband offered to drive Megan and her friend to the concert so I could attend my BFF's son's graduation.  I was on pins and needles praying we did not get taken for a ride on the tickets.  Thankfully, the tickets were legitimate and the girls had the time of their lives!  Once I got a text saying the girls were at the concert, I could finally relax!!!
     This was her 16th birthday present -- no car, no big party -- just two tickets to see Liam, Harry, Niall, Zayn and Louis!!!!!

     Jacob and Kristin did their best to "fake" their jealousy, but the truth is they are not as big of fans as their big sister.  They were excited for Megan and we had fun at the graduation party!!

 

Sure, they weren't front row seats.  They weren't in the fancy suite.  But she was there.

Thanking your mom on Instagram for an amazing night -- priceless!!!!

 

 

 

 

Chicago...My Kind of Town

    Back in August (don't judge my tardiness...remember I'm determined to catch up on stuff not related to my mom), on a Tuesday night, my husband randomly says...  Remember how I wanted to take Jake to a Tiger game in Chicago?  Well, they're playing tomorrow and I'm thinking of going.  Say whaaaaat?  I mean, I can be as spontaneous as the next person, but really!? 
     To review, we did not go on a family vacation this past summer.  The closest thing was probably spending part of 4th of July weekend up north.  I don't think I ever went into this, but Megan had to take a "Personal Fitness" class from 8am-12 noon for the first six weeks of the summer.  Monday thru Friday and could not miss a class.  See, you may find, like we did, that if your kid happens to take a foreign language class and is in music, their schedule does not allow for the personal fitness requirement.  Thus, we got to pay for a summer class, drive her to it, and be stuck here for six weeks...  Lucky us!!  Then, of course, band and football start in August, Megan started a job in June, the husband was tearing up our deck and rebuilding (still is!) and for those reasons and more we were close to home all summer.
     So, because I was stir crazy I said if you're going then me and the girls are going, too!!!  After making last minute dog sitting arrangements with our neighbor, getting Megan excused from marching band, and my husband getting game tickets on Stub Hub, we kind of had a plan. 

     We left super early (like 4 or 5 am) to drive the 5 plus hours to Chicago and make it by game time.  We did stop for a quick breakfast and coffee on the road at the famous...Cracker Barrel!!

 

    

 

 

     Both of my husband's sisters used to live in Chicago.  One still does.  My husband and I have been to Chicago many times, but I realized rarely have we gone in the summer.  Family holiday visits were typically in the Fall and Winter it seems.  I was scrambling to try to come up with a plan to make sure me and the girls got to see the maximum amount of stuff in the minimum amount of time.  I made a list in the car that included things like "The Bean", Michigan Avenue, Lakeshore Drive, deep dish pizza, Garretts popcorn, the Apple store and shopping...  No art, science, museums or aquariums this trip... 

 

     We arrived by 1pm and parked right in the center of the city and the boys took the "L" to Cellular Field for the game. 

 

     Our first stop was Millennium Park.  Interestingly, my girls are always up for a "photo shoot".  We had a beautiful day and the park was active and pretty!!

 

     Meanwhile, the boys were sending us some shots of their fun at the baseball game.  The Tigers ended up winning that game and they had a great time!!!

 

 

 

Our first time taking some shots at "The Bean" (Cloud Gate)!!  Can you tell I don't do "selfies"

 

all the time, but some of us know exactly how to do it!!!!

 

 

 

 

We walked and we shopped and the girls got some clothes.  We

couldn't even resist stopping at this downtown Target which was also a lot of fun!!

 

 

 

 

Garrett Popcorn was also on our list and we had not eaten since breakfast.  I remembered Oprah (my bff?) talking about it and when we finally got there it did not disappointment!!  Yummy fresh carmel corn and cheese popcorn!!  This place probably always has a line, but it moved fairly quickly and was not too long when we were there.  Took a bunch of popcorn home and munched on some at Starbucks while we waited for the boys to meet up with us. 

Throughout the day we had been texting my husband's sister who had no idea we were in town.  Her office overlooks Millennium Park and luckily, she was able to suggest a pizza place and meet up with us for dinner.  I think it was Pizano's...  There's a couple of good ones.  She said she has actually gone on a "pizza tour" through Chicago before where they got to sample from each place.  Pizano's was her preference and it was good!!  It was nice to catch up with her -- the kids love their Aunt Jill!!

 

 

 

 

We knew that 8 pm was our witching hour.  That would get us back home by around 2 am.  My husband had to work the next day (believe it or not) and the kids also had some commitments.  That's what happens with poor planning!!!!

However, our seven spontaneous hours in Chicago were a lot of fun -- and it was nice to hang out with my girls for awhile!!!!

Chicago -- we'll be back -- and this time Mom will plan the trip!!!