Over the hump

I love Wednesday nights.  The weekend is in sight and we are on the down slide.  I have a recovering husband and a very tired dog.  Samson spent his day with his 4 legged friends @Whiskers, had a lot of fun and a nice coif.   Grooming always help with the shedding.  

We have been watching the Olympics in our house.  One of the most exciting nights of hockey that I have ever seen was Monday night between Canada and US.  The game was incredible, so exciting in fact there were times when I had to remember to breathe.   Equally as exciting was following the Twitter stream.  You don't need a Twitter account to follow what I am writing here.  Just go to Twitter and in the Search box, type #hockey.  The character before the word hockey is called a hashtag and will pull into a stream all the references to the word.  You will see references in English, French, Russian and languages I don't even recognize.  It is also a testimony to the universal appeal of hockey.  Yeah, these are pros playing right now but even if there weren't pro players, people would still be crazy about the games, the players and the pairings.  So visit Twitter and search  #Olympics  #hockey #USA.  In that order.  

Enjoy the rest of the week.  

Things I desire, things that inspire

Out and about this week, I overheard three virtually identical statements by completely different people.

I still am waiting to hear if I have a job. Woman talking to the cashier.
There is nothing for me here. I will probably have to move out of state. Woman talking to store manager.
The ads in the paper get thinner and thinner. Oh well, what can I do? Woman talking to pharmacist.

I deeply desire for this state to rebound, regroup and rebuild. It's a fabulous state with terrific natural beauty, gorgeous beaches and water and miles of open roads winding through big and small towns. We have mountainous obstacles - fading industries tied to auto manufacturers, a wretched business tax and an educational system that is struggling. But we cannot rebound by continuously taxing those who work and invest. Increased taxation is not a long term solution to this economic problem and I fear that our leadership - both state and federal - believes that it is. I have talked to several business owners who shudder at the increasing taxes and employee benefit requirements, strong incentives to stop businesses from growing and investing. We are heading in the wrong direction. Sometimes, it can simply feel overwhelming.

But I am also inspired.

Paul and I took a Sunday afternoon to walk Meijer Gardens. It's a beautiful gift to the community and for a paltry membership amount, we can wander inside and out, snapping beautiful pictures, watching children run and play and folks just strolling around. It's fabulous.

I am inspired by people both at work and in the community who look for ways to generously give - time, money, resources. People who aren't bothered by the evening news, the naysayers, the prognosticators. People who go out and make things happen.

And I am inspired by my beloved Red Wings. This team has fought back constantly - throughout the playoffs. They were down and rebounded, again and again. If they can do it, I know we can.

This week starts the final week before the Wedding of the Century. I am mostly inspired by a family of great love and wonder and how much fun, work and effort it takes to pull a wedding off. I simply can't wait to be there - to hang out, to take pictures, to see great people and mostly to see the bride and groom. It will be nothing short of wonderous!

So share with me all, what's your inspiration?

Weekend Wrap up and a little anxiety

Whoooosh. That was the sound of the weekend screaming past us. Whew, I feel like I blinked and it's gone. Friday night was a pretty calm weekend, prepping for Saturday. Paul picked up the lawnmower, under repair at Four Seasons. The self-propel mechanism stopped working and if you have seen our hilly backyard, there is NO mowing without propel help. I ran a ton of errands, Paul did some IT work, Samson had a lot of playtime outdoors.

For the game, one of Paul's colleagues came over, accompanied by his 7 year old daughter Maggie. I got to learn all about icarly, something-kins and Barbie.com. While surprisingly none of this much appealed to me, it was amazing how nimble and quick Maggie was surfing around the sites. She was also a fan of my dual screens and wanted to know exactly (and I do mean exactly) how I set it up. Try explaining hardware upgrades to a seven year old.

Some more changes are coming our way. Next week, we completely rip out our closets, prepping for friends and business partners to disassemble, patch, paint and prep for the installation of our new closets. If you want to test your memory, short AND long term, try living without closets. And try remembering where the heck things are. This is going to be a tough (and anxious) couple of weeks.

Mr. Handsome is not a fan of the upheaval. He followed Paul around for much of the demo today. Paul has a great start on the project that included power tools and a lot of banging. Samson put himself to bed for a good part of it.

I have also started moving my pictures to my new website. I hope to post my favorites of the week online at Deirdre Honner Photography. Along with Google and Flikr, I have enough pictures of the backyard and Mr. Handsome for the world to enjoy. My next great photography adventure will be with my friend Julia. We have a photo-date set for the end of June. Should be fun!

The Red Wings are off to a great start against the Pittsburgh Penguins. I don't have the stomach for playoffs but here it is. The Red Wings need to keep on the pressure and make sure their defense are stationed to help Osgood. Game two starts at 8pm. Go Wings!

Friday Happy Dance

Wow, it's Friday! It's another week in the books and I have almost nothing to show for it - no pictures of Mr. Handsome, no pictures of the beautiful, yet fading flowers in our backyard, no funny stories of this or that. Nope, none of it. You know why? Because the Red Wings played hockey this week and I was doing nothing but waiting for the game. There were other incidentals - work, calls, business, etc but really, all I could think about was the game. So the Red Wings finished off the Chicago Blackhawks and are staged to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night. This will be playoff hockey at its best. I don't know how much I can stomach but it will be some of the best hockey ever played. Stay tuned.

We have suffered through some nasty rain this week that pretty much curtailed picture taking. Even his Handsomeness didn't pose for the camera. As remedy this weekend, Paul and I plan to take a stroll in Meijer Gardens and shoot some pictures.

Enjoy the weekend. <<Let's Go, Red Wings >>

Friday Happy Dance!

What a wonderful week. Lots of good things happening at work and the Red Wings play the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3. Fantastic! Let's Go, Red Wings!

Midweek

I can't believe that it's Wednesday already. The weather is gorgeous and nary a cloud in the sky. Lots to do over the long weekend but until then it's time to enjoy American Idol and Detroit Red Wings.

And I have the Grass Doctor to thank for the trick of keeping flowers alive!

Amen

Way to go Red Wings! Chicago, here we come.

Sunday et al

So Saturday night happened because of a dinner in May where we didn't drink all the good wine ... that happened because a colleague has a wife who loves photography ...who I happened to meet because I work at Calvin College and ..., well you get the picture. (He he). So Paul made rack o'lamb, long grain rice, fabulous salad with terrific home made salad dressing and some fantabulous wine. We ate good food, drank great wine, talked, laughed and even had some ice cream. Every night should be that much fun.

Fortunately Julia brought her camera along, a pretty sweet Canon and we spent some of our time taking pictures in the living room. I have been uninspired with the outside and she helped me see all the fun things that are worthy of a few pictures in the house. Ah, sweet inspiration! What's best about a friend like Julia is that she doesn't just say, 'oh nice pictures' - she tells me what she likes and doesn't like. Critique is SO helpful. And her pictures are just terrific. I always look forward to what she posts.

Paul and I got a lot of things done around the house this weekend and while much still needs to be done, the grass is looking fine and the gardens lush. The weather has been unusually cool and there is a frost warning tonight. Really, a frost warning. I will take frost, we have had snow this late in the year so no complaints.

This is a busy week and an equally busy weekend. We have a contractor coming to look at our closets (time two), a visit with our accountant and then Friday starts the Relay for Life. There won't be much between now and then except a few pictures or such. We are hoping that the Red Wings roast the Anaheim Ducks. There is enough fowl in the world!

Have a great week all!

Wrapping up the week

It's the Friday happy dance!  It's been a good week and @plkrat (Paul for you non-Twitter peeps) is almost back to his good, healthy self.   We needed a little fun around our house, as if there isn't enough and expanded our Twitter presence.   Paul and I so enjoy having a dog in the house. Going about our daily and evening activities, we usually give him a voice.  Samson will say things like "where are the puppy treats?"  or "why don't you cook me a steak too?"  or "I need to chase the squirrels"  If you look into his big, brown eyes, you can hear his questions.  

So we added the Handsome One to Twitter.  I mean really, don't you think that beautiful face needs a social media presence?  If you would like to hear what Samson has to say, you can follow him @thedogsamson.   He is pretty funny.  Just a warning, he tweets about his toots.  He can be a little stinky and you can be grateful that there is no smell-o-internet.  

And congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings who swept the Columbus BlueJackets to move on. There is NOTHING like playoff hockey.  Absolutely nothing.  

I will be a little under the radar this weekend with two whole days of photography classes.  It sure will be fun and I can't wait for Saturday morning.   Happy Friday all!  Enjoy the weekend.  

Weekend Wrap up

Paul and I have both been under the weather and for the first time ever, Paul is really sick and I am just moderately sick. So we have been taken it easy. We watched our beloved Red Wings kick the wind out of Columbus Bluejackets. Really unimpressed with Columbus and Ken Hitchcock. Hope the Wings put 'em away in four. I can't stand cheap shots during hockey and it was nothing but low end, cheap shots by Columbus.

I did have some time to take a few happy snap pictures in between naps and meals. The sunset was lovely even with the clouds. Samson also had some fun chasing the flat disk and rolling around in the grass. The kids were out next door, along with Samson's BFF Annie the corgi. Gosh is she cute. :)

My pictures of airdog Samson are a little bright - didn't have my polarizer on but they are pretty good. He has so much fun with his frisbee. We also took advantage of the warm weather to give him a bath. It wasn't high on anyone's list but he was a little stinky. Now he feels and smells good.

Not too much excitement in the G, but life is good. G'night from all of us.

Left turn

And we woke up to snow. Not too much - a dusting really but that completely killed my plans for taking pictures of the crescent moon. Rats.

When we arrived home from work, Samson was ready to chase some FD. He always gets so intense with the FD but mostly I love his jumps. He is such a happy, funny dog. While Paul was making the masterpiece that was our dinner, I did get a couple of killer shots of the sunset. It wasn't as colorful as previous nights but the contrails of a couple jets made it lovely.

The Red Wings had a wonderful game last night against the Thrashers. We are such wild swingers - frisbee and catch with the dog, an incredible meal (by chef Paul of course) with great wine and Friday night hockey. Really, that's craziness. :)

We have a busy weekend with a few errands, dinner with friends tonight and Ann Marie coming to spend Sunday with us. Enjoy yours!

Rough Week

I spent the week primarily in a fog - a Sudafed, Dayquil, NyQuil induced fog, depending on the time of day (or night). I don't recommend it. I even checked WebMD for help. This has been a rough winter for me, despite the fact that I do all the elementary things like drink plenty of fluids, get plenty of rest and maintain moderation. At least for me, it hasn't worked. In my moments of coughing and hacking, no sleep but exhausted, hungry but unable to eat, I turned to my inspiration. Samson the Handsome One. He can eat and sleep despite my illness, the financial crisis and the Middle East. Such a life. Whenever I caught him resting or sleeping, I grabbed a picture. It didn't help me one bit but at least it is content for a blog post and dang if he isn't handsome? At least someone in the household was sleeping.

Oh and good news for me. I finally got into a photography class at Norman Camera. That class is at the end of January. Can't wait! I also have a new DVD on Creative Lighting for my camera - basically using a Flash for dummies. It's harder than it sounds! I have Cara, an absolutely amazing photographer and friend to thank for the recommendations. I have much to learn and will take all the assistance offered.

It is snowing again today. Not the original 3-5 inches forecasted (I never thought the storm had those kinds of legs anyway) but enough snow to entire Samson the play, romp and chase frisbees. It's a cuddle-in kind of day. Tonight the Red Wings play and oh yeah, there is some football game on. ;)

Enjoy the weekend!

Wednesday .. er, Monday ... or...

...whatever day of the week it is! I was back at work today and while not feeling 100%, was well enough to keep down some scrambled eggs and chicken soup. Oh yum.

Lots going on in the world -a woman in western Michigan is stealing Salvation Army toys (an incredible low), the governor of Illinois, was well, trying to sell a senate seat (what bizarre and erratic behavior) and Mr. Handsome spent his day at the Spa.

Much more to write but the hands are tired from stuffing Christmas cards. Go Wings!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Yeah, it is hand's down the most wonderful time of year. Tonight, the Red Wings dropped the puck and are playing the Toronto Maple Leafs. For sure, it's the most wonderful time of year. :)

It's been a busy week with lots of work, work and work. Tomorrow is Friday and the happy dance. Another conference next week and updates are due on the Handsome One.

Cheers!

Congratulations Detroit!

One word - whew. :) Congratulations to the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings!

All's well that ends Red! ~Mitch Albom. Well, until next year, Let's Go, Red Wings!

Slacker

I have been a slacker; busy, but a slacker none-the-less. Tuesday, the fabulous crew at HWC finished the work around the house. The front door looks great, the rebuilt wall is a fantastic and the windows give us safety, sound improvement and help in the pocketbook. I can't believe the difference that the new and improved windows have made in our lives.

Wednesday night, we had a busy night. We came home and immediately headed downtown to a private showing of the Warhol exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. I have to confess that I had not ever explored the art world here in Grand Rapids. I mean, for goodness sake, we were used to an entirely different world that included the Getty Museum. Well, I had a nice dose of humble pie touring the magnificent building and an incredible display for Warhol art AND the beauty of the stunning permanent collection. We were entertained and educated by two fabulous docents who knew their stuff. Of course, in pure Paul fashion, he did locate a slight error in a picture description (it was a sexton, not a chronometer - make a note please) so the docent promised to have it fixed.

The Red Wings played and an edge-on-your-seat game is NOT conducive blogging. While they didn't win, it was a good game but I still have some 'issues' with some of the ref calls. But I have to leave the lady by the river and look forward to the next game, Saturday night.

We are working through an adolescent streak in Mr. Samson. He is feeling his oats and is misbehaving a bit. We are back to the long leash, so when he decides to go visiting, he comes back. Ugh.

It's Friday and we are doing the Happy Dance! It's a busy weekend - more graduation parties, parties in general, more hockey and some painting. It's going to be a wet and rainy Friday but the weekend looks good. Enjoy!

Memorial Day

It has been a lovely day. We had strong storms come through here overnight with strong winds, lightening, thundering and drenching rain. We needed it. I love when I don't have to pay to water my lawn.

Sunday, we spent the day putting the house back together. We were able to get the window treatments up, at least most of them. A couple of the rooms will require professional assistance so a call to decorator is in order. The house is looking positively magnificent.

Today was a little more low-keyed. We still have a ton of work to do but we needed a break just as much. We did a little shopping today, heading to Meijer to pick up some items not found at Sam's Club. I don't think about shopping at Meijer but I should. It's little more out of the way but it is very well stocked with all kinds of things and their prices are really good. I can get better meat at Sam's Club but I have to remember Meijer.

Tomorrow, we hope to bring the house remodel (Phase 2) to closure. The external trim is going up including the front door. We will still have some work to do (mostly painting) but Paul loves it and will knock it out in no time.

Today, we also remembered Paul's friend, Dan Shanower, who was murdered by the plane flying into the Pentagon. Paul wrote a lovely note on him and you can read it here. Tonight, the puck drops at 8pm in Game 2. Go Wings!

A busy day

It was a good day. I got a lot done and I am very tired. ;) I got to drive around handling errands, a treat for me; which is quite funny given how much I USED to drive, now I hardly drive. I was the recipient of some good natured ribbing. Today, I went shopping to pick up vittles for the bare cupboard and gas up the behemoth. I have done some not very bright things in my life but waiting to fill up the Landrover on Memorial Day weekend was a topper. Of course, I pull up to the gas pump and it takes me a few minutes to remember how I open the flipper to the gas tank. I need to get out more.

I ran out to pick up the lawnmower that broke, while in my possession and use says the man, and had some time to observe humanity. I came up with some universal truths to which we should all abide.

1. The orange signs saying Road Work Ahead would be abolished. Roads would be created to never require road work again. At the very least, there would be NO road work when I am on the road. Period.

2. People should be required to use their blinker. If they don't use blinkers, on the third offense, the car will spontaneously combust. Occupants would be immediately transported to their destination while the driver would transport to a pig farm to shovel manure. That would apply to people who throw cigarettes out the window, too.

3. We could all take our dogs to work. Lots of businesses have 'take your child to work' day. I would like to take my dog to work. My dog is nicer than most people. Well, maybe not most people, maybe some people. Not the people I know and love .... but you know, other people. My dog makes me smile. A lot.

Paul and Deb made stunning strides in the house. The backroom is stained and the trim is painted. It's amazing. And beautiful. We still have a lot of work to do but all in all, things are moving along swimmingly. In the middle of the very busy day, Mr. Handsome had some fun on playing with Ms. Annie's toys.

Paul is grilling some strip steaks for dinner, along with cous cous and chopped salad. 1 hour before the puck drops. GO WINGS!

Red Wings make it!

Woo hoo!! It's on to Pittsburgh. Way to go Chris, way to guard the goal! Last stop before the Stanley Cup. Bring it home boys!!

Tonight is the night ....

....we hope. Tonight the Red Wings can wrap it up against the Dallas Stars. They are up three games to none. Of course, Dallas is on home ice and has a seriously vested interest in keeping the series alive. It looks like we are heading towards a Penguin/Red Wings final.

Paul and I have recovered from the concert and our hearing is back to pre-concert levels. Even with foamies, the music was a little loud. We were talking about the concert and the playlists and I was laughing at 'being old.' At the concert, as I sat there watching these wonderful musicians, my mind wandered to thoughts of, 'huh, that scaffolding looks dangerous. I wonder what their workers compensation rates are....' or, 'Stuart is such a wonderful drummer but after all that drumming and repetitive motion, I wonder if he has carpel tunnel syndrome. Or any of the guitarists for that matter' and, 'these are Brits and the tour was extended. I wonder how complicated their immigration extension was. Who did it? How do they extend their visas when they don't have a set location?' Paul kicked me after that one. ;)

The flowers are in full bloom on campus and are just stunning. And with the rain coming down, it will help everything especially our grass! It's back to work, it's mid week as we make our way toward the Friday happy dance!