Saturday Morning

Chewing on a stick

 Next best thing to a stick is a ball!

 Hide n seek...I found Jabez.

 He likes hanging out at the window

 We have a penguin in the house!  We have had a humidifier in the back of the apartment but we wanted another for the front of the apartment.  

Ice Sculpting

The night we went out to Chop House for dinner we noticed that there ice sculptures along the main street sidewalks.  It was really cold that night so this is the only one we got close to for a picture.  

Date Night: Ann Arbor Restaurant Week

Brian and I decided to venture out into downtown Ann Arbor this past Friday and experience Restaurant Week.  Occurring twice a year in Ann Arbor (January and June), we looked at the list of restaurants (lots of good ones), and The Chop House in Ann Arbor looked most appealing.  How it works is, lunch at the different participating restaurants have a special menu, consisting of 2- or 3- fixed course meal(s) costing $15, and with with dinners costing $28 that included a fixed 3-course meal.  Friday night, we each enjoyed a house salad that had spinach and greens, goats cheese, cranberries with a sherry vinaigrette dressing.  For our main course we had, (and shared with each other) the Medallions of Beef (tenderloins, dijon demi-glace, baby carrots and mashed potatoes) and North Atlantic Salmon (barbecued salmon filet, sauteed spinach and corn spoonbread).  For dessert, we each had chocolate decadence (layered brownie cake, white chocolate mousse, dark chocolate mousse with a chocolate ganache, paired with housemade raspberry sorbet.  It was really really good.  We both plan on returning, and highly recommend.  The food, the staff and service was TOP notch.  To cap off the night, we grabbed a cup of coffee at Starbucks.  Perfect date night.  Since we caught the tail end of Ann Arbor Restaurant Week this week, we plan on taking part, and venturing out to other restaurants in June.

Where we ate at

Chocolate Decadence

Twas the night before Christmas.....

Belated seasons greetings from Whitmore Lake, Michigan

 A busy little elfs' work is never complete

And Ma in her kerchief...and Gus in his Christmas quilt...had just settled down to a long winter's nap.  When out of the lawn there rose such a clatter...

...Gus sprang from his Christmas quilt to see what was the matter... 

 

 The Christmas quilt was hung by the chimneee.....glass panel door on a second floor apartment....with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there

Christmas quilt completed with binding and all.

Orientation Day 1

So my first day of orientation at the new job went well.  It was full day of classes that didn't really apply to me because I'm not working inside the hospital but it was still interesting.  

After orientation I had some errands to run...I went the bank and dumb me remembered once I got to the door that wouldn't open that it was MLK day and the banks are closed.  I then ran over to Target to pick something up and was pulled over in a shopping/residential area.  I was going no more than 35mph but I was talking on the phone because my boss had called and I was getting ready to pull over to finish the call when the lights flipped on.  I politely told my boss I would call him back.  When the cop came to the window he asked me a couple questions.

1. How long have you been in Michigan?  (obviously still have the Alabama plates on the car)

I then explained that I got here Friday.

2. He asked Do you know what Michigan driving laws are?

I told him well I guess not.

3.  He asked me how fast I thought I was going?  

I told him 30 or 35, in which he said yes.

4.  He then asked if I knew what the posted speed limit was.

I in turn told him no I don't and he informed me that is was 45.

So now I'm sitting here thinking if I was going 35 in a 45 why the heck did you pull me over???

He then informed me that there is a law in town that I can't drive in the left lane unless I was passing someone and there wasn't anyone in the right lane to pass and I was going 35 in a 45 marked zone while in the passing lane.

Are you KIDDING me!!!!  For my readers back home in Quincy that is like driving down Broadway and the left lane is only a passing lane.  For my readers in Birminhgam/Alabaster, it's like driving down 31 in front of Shelby Baptist Hospital and the left lane is a passing lane only.  This is ridiculous.  

The cop told me he would let me off with a warning since I was new to town.  Then he decided to play the nice card and asked me if I needed help with directions anywhere.

Mt. Brighton

Saturday night we went 15-minutes north to a town called Brighton.  We went to pick up a few things at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, PetSmart, and Aldi.  Before doing our shopping we stopped by the local ski resort (Mt. Brighton) to take a peek.  It is pretty neat and definitely something we want to try out.

The Trail Map at Mt. Brighton

 A view from the Lodge looking out on the mountain

Standing by the ski rental building looking up at the mountain

Whitmore Lake

Whitmore Lake is frozen over and is safe for people and vehicles!  We drove out to take a look but no we did not take our car out on the lake for a spin.  There were bob houses set up for ice fishing, kids building a snowman on the lake, skating rinks where cleared, ice hockey rinks where cleared, and 4 wheelers where buzzing about.

This is a picture of the ice hockey rinks.  Whitmore Lake has an annual Pond Hockey Tournament the first weekend of February for adults. 

 The same weekend as pond hockey they have a polar bear plunge....brrrrrr!  Sounds too cold for me!

Bob houses on the lake for ice fishing.

Welcome Home

I arrived home to snow!

Out for a Late Night Drive

I was originally planning on leaving EARLY (4 am) Friday morning. But after working my last game at Kingwood (Senior Basketball Night and with the Boys winning in overtime), I was awake, and deiced to start my 12-hour drive to Michigan.  With the car packed, I picked up Gus and Jabez, and I headed out (10 pm) to start the next chapter in our lives, and join Brian in Ann Arbor.  Here are some pictures from my drive.

Sweet Home Alabama (Birmingham, AL)

Music City (Nashville, TN)

The Park City (Bowling Green, KY)

Gateway to the South (Louisville, KY)

The Queen City (Cincinnati, OH)

The Birthplace of Aviation (Dayton, OH)

The Glass City (Toledo, OH)

Tree Town (Ann Arbor, MI)

The Long Drive

Friday is my move up to Michigan.  It will be a long drive up, but me and the animals will be happy once we get there.  In the last few days I have here in Birmingham I am tying up loose ends and seeing as many friends as I can before I leave.  

Avenue of Lights

On our last night in Quincy before heading back home, we went through the Avenue of Lights.  Going back home for the holidays, we always did the Avenue of Lights.  It is something Brian and I have enjoyed.  This year, there was 350-separate pieces, stretching over 15-miles.

It was a great way to cap off a great holiday season!  

As you drive through the park, some pieces are associated to music you can listen through the radio.

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A Snowman that takes his hat on, then puts it back on

 

A pack of dinosaur

 

This caterpillar changes colors from being all red or green to a mix of colors.

This Christmas tree changes colors to the music of Trans Siberian Orchestra

...playing reindeer games (baseball)

Santa and the Elves playing a little basketball 

An elf catching a ride on a polar bear.

An elf...

...making a snowman

A snowman...

sliding down the hill