#whyIstay

if you visit Twitter and search on the hashtag #whyIstay, you will see a litany of reasons people stay where they are.

Apparently in Michigan, 37% of the population would leave the state if they could.  We are not part of the 37%.  We lived afar for years and years - east coast, west coast, and all kinds of states in between, courtesy of the Navy.  When given the choice, we got to come back.  Come home.

Here are a few reasons #whyIstay.







awesome neighbors.







We < 3 Michigan! 

Ford and Christmas and gender

we bought a new car.  how's that for exciting?

we (that's the royal we) bought a Ford.  a hybrid.  and love it.  it's the first "American" car I have owned in a very long time (there were a few years in a Jeep) but mostly it's been European engineering in this house.  we needed to replace the car and went with Ford.  ironically, let me point out that my foreign automobile was made in the US and the Ford was made in Mexico.  but whatever.

the spousal unit is ecstatic with the car. and I was too until ... the commercials.

Brief recap.  

- first commercial with a young girl working in fashion - cute clothes, excellent purse - who will send Santa swatches for the right color car/interior.  cute.

- second commercial with a young girl who wants a larger car and rushes off to yoga.

- third commercial with a young boy who wants an F 150.

Sigh.

I see these and my blood boils a little bit.  why?  because.  because I want to see a little girl in flannel and farm boots asking for a pick up truck to haul her dogs or pigs or cow feed.  Or needing an F 150 to haul her hockey gear and horses.

I want to see a little boy who needs a small car to deliver flowers and handle wedding details.   or is a stay-at-home brother running kids around.

I want to stop seeing gender stereotypes. THIS IS 2013.  women run companies and countries as well as households.

PLEASE.  STOP.

Ford, you make a great car.  Now, make a better commercial.  

Renovation starts NOW

And so it begins. We have been waiting for this for a long, long time. We have the time, the money and the contractor all at once. Doesn't happen too often.



Once we started talking to Jeff and Dave about the kitchen, frankly, we gave up on the kitchen. Kept it clean enough to cook but not to entertain. With the new kitchen, we look forward to having people over again. :)

Call it providence but our broiler in our oven quit working last night. Perfect timing. Take a good long look because this is the LAST time that you will EVER see this ugly white kitchen.

It's all in the timing

Well, last night ended my very favorite shows - American Idol and DWTS. I know that AI has the finale selection tonight but both 'Davids' are so good that they will have long careers ahead of them. With the shows over and hockey not starting until Saturday night, this is the most serendipitous timing that I have ever known! Today starts round two of the Paul and Deirdre remodeling saga.

Today, our good friends and contractors Dave Van Houten and crew finish replacing some very old windows, put in a new front door (the ENTIRE thing) and rebuild our backroom wall. This is no ordinary wall - it is a wall composed of two enormous sliding glass windows. Over the years, the sliders (as they are called in this neck of the woods) have deteriorated so badly that last winter, we couldn't get the heat up above 58 degrees. It was the just the kick we needed to have Dave's crew take care of that wall. The new front door will be a blast too! From the front, our house is very bland and this new door will look fabulous.

In preparation for the work, and in between songs and dances, Paul and I removed all the vertical blinds and much of the hardware. That sentence reads so easy....it just typed so gently off the tips of my fingers but DANG it was a pain in the...neck to do all that. We moved the furniture and cleaned up three dogs worth of dog hair. (How that dog isn't naked, I just don't know).

This is perfect timing for all the chaos, dirt, debris and work. We are in between good stuff and I can take a few days off from work. Plus it's a long weekend. Mr. Samson is a little confused by all the moving of stuff and people but as long as he has us and a bone, he doesn't seem to care where he lays his head. :) Pictures will commence shortly.