Part One
We're zonked. Just got back a few hours ago from MI. Haven't been on the comp for any length of time in nearly three weeks. Anything special, just point me in the right direction, okay? Here's the first of two updates:
We flew in to Flint Thursday morning on a puddle jumper, only to discover that the airline had lost one of our bags. Rather than mix our clothes evenly between the two suitcases--half his and half mine in each--I'd gone against my better judgment and divided them at the last moment. All of his clothes, many of our toiletries, the cookies and our shoes occupied one bag while all my clothes were placed in the second. Always follow that niggling voice in the back of your head, folks. That intuition. I knew better than to do that. So, guess whose clothes they lost? Yep. That would be mine.
No worries though. I'm in the habit of carrying a single change of clothes for each of us and some toiletries when I travel for that very reason, so we were fine. More of a nuisance than anything, y'know? D went to the desk and provided an address and telephone number. The clerk gave him a claim number along with the assurance that they would phone us as soon as the bag was recovered. Worst case scenario, we have to go to the store and pick up a few things to get us by. No big deal. As it turns out, the airline dispatched a man with the missing priority luggage. He arrived after midnight that night to give me mine. The worst part was that I was his first stop. His next person was located three hours away and he intended to drive through the night to get there. Can you imagine having that job? I wouldn't want to be the person that stepped foot on someone's lawn before daybreak. Especially if they didn't know to expect you. They might mistake you for a burglar and pull out a gun.
Ten foot paper airplane sculpture near baggage claim
Went straight to the kids' house. Since Karen's split with Joe (the kid's stepdad), she has moved to a really adorable rental in a beautiful neighborhood. The bonus is that it is a hop, skip and jump away from Joey's college. We're talking decorative stone work, window boxes spilling over with flowers, multi-gabled roofs, porticoes, you name it. Here take a look for yourself at a few that caught my eye. By the way, am I the only person that goes to visit someone and takes pictures of buildings?
It's really hard to appreciate this one for all of the unusual details--the scalloped alternating colored roof tiles, the turrets, the wide windows banded with color, etc
Karen's house had beautifully restored hardwoods, marble sills, an original entry with a charmingly rough hewn carved door and leaded glass, plaster walls and arched doorways. When we arrived, I found out that Joey and Amanda had recently lost their beloved three-year old kitty. They believed the kitty may have ingested a plant that has the potential to be toxic. As a precautionary measure, they had taken the poor thing in to a vet. Unbeknownst to them, the kitty had an undiagnosed abnormally small heart (the doctor said it was only slightly bigger than a pea) and when medicine was administered to help her, she went into cardiac arrest and died. Of course, both Karen (D's ex, the kids' mom) and the kids were devastated. The house seemed empty without an animal. So........week before last, they adopted two kittens to fill the void. Meet Peanut:
This little guy was the cutest. He would sleep cradled in your arms for hours. One night, as we were making dinner for the kids, he sat on my feet mewing. He was so tired that his eyes would start to drift shut and he would sway and wobble. He was waiting for me to pick him up so he could nap! *laughs* And this is Sadie, Peanut's sister:
Honestly, it was really difficult to get good pictures of either of them. They were either darting around the room at ninety miles an hour or they were zonked out somewhere. Amanda went with us to get settled in to the cabins later that evening. We stayed on the same property that we did last Summer.
ETA: Amanda with D
We flew in to Flint Thursday morning on a puddle jumper, only to discover that the airline had lost one of our bags. Rather than mix our clothes evenly between the two suitcases--half his and half mine in each--I'd gone against my better judgment and divided them at the last moment. All of his clothes, many of our toiletries, the cookies and our shoes occupied one bag while all my clothes were placed in the second. Always follow that niggling voice in the back of your head, folks. That intuition. I knew better than to do that. So, guess whose clothes they lost? Yep. That would be mine.
No worries though. I'm in the habit of carrying a single change of clothes for each of us and some toiletries when I travel for that very reason, so we were fine. More of a nuisance than anything, y'know? D went to the desk and provided an address and telephone number. The clerk gave him a claim number along with the assurance that they would phone us as soon as the bag was recovered. Worst case scenario, we have to go to the store and pick up a few things to get us by. No big deal. As it turns out, the airline dispatched a man with the missing priority luggage. He arrived after midnight that night to give me mine. The worst part was that I was his first stop. His next person was located three hours away and he intended to drive through the night to get there. Can you imagine having that job? I wouldn't want to be the person that stepped foot on someone's lawn before daybreak. Especially if they didn't know to expect you. They might mistake you for a burglar and pull out a gun.
Ten foot paper airplane sculpture near baggage claim
Went straight to the kids' house. Since Karen's split with Joe (the kid's stepdad), she has moved to a really adorable rental in a beautiful neighborhood. The bonus is that it is a hop, skip and jump away from Joey's college. We're talking decorative stone work, window boxes spilling over with flowers, multi-gabled roofs, porticoes, you name it. Here take a look for yourself at a few that caught my eye. By the way, am I the only person that goes to visit someone and takes pictures of buildings?
It's really hard to appreciate this one for all of the unusual details--the scalloped alternating colored roof tiles, the turrets, the wide windows banded with color, etc
Karen's house had beautifully restored hardwoods, marble sills, an original entry with a charmingly rough hewn carved door and leaded glass, plaster walls and arched doorways. When we arrived, I found out that Joey and Amanda had recently lost their beloved three-year old kitty. They believed the kitty may have ingested a plant that has the potential to be toxic. As a precautionary measure, they had taken the poor thing in to a vet. Unbeknownst to them, the kitty had an undiagnosed abnormally small heart (the doctor said it was only slightly bigger than a pea) and when medicine was administered to help her, she went into cardiac arrest and died. Of course, both Karen (D's ex, the kids' mom) and the kids were devastated. The house seemed empty without an animal. So........week before last, they adopted two kittens to fill the void. Meet Peanut:
This little guy was the cutest. He would sleep cradled in your arms for hours. One night, as we were making dinner for the kids, he sat on my feet mewing. He was so tired that his eyes would start to drift shut and he would sway and wobble. He was waiting for me to pick him up so he could nap! *laughs* And this is Sadie, Peanut's sister:
Honestly, it was really difficult to get good pictures of either of them. They were either darting around the room at ninety miles an hour or they were zonked out somewhere. Amanda went with us to get settled in to the cabins later that evening. We stayed on the same property that we did last Summer.
ETA: Amanda with D
