A story in pictures.
Today I took a very nice walk downtown and I saw Mother Nature at her finest and I would love to share the pictures with you.
White and blue Heron, at least that’s what the guy who pointed them
White heron, taking in the sun.
Just a really weird flower
Daisies make me happy
Sunflowers make new very happy#
Baby Buny! This is for LG, and her squuuuueeeer
Teeny tiny frog
Optimus Prime!!! Bumble Bee!!! Optimus Prime!!! Bumble Bee!!! Optimus Prime!!! Bumble Bee!!!
Oh yeah…and Marky Mark!
Today, I went to see Transformers, Age of Extinction, with MM and we both had mixed emotions. I’m a purist, so to speak and I love the first and third Transformers movies, the second one didn’t do very much for me, but I still watched it and I think I own it, but I have Dark Side of the Moon on my iPad and I watch it when I fly frequently, although, I don’t always finish it because some of my flights are not long enough! They are trying to revitalize the series and Michael Bay is a fantastic director, but I’m not sure I would watch this one again, if not for Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee. I think I’m still working through the fact that Shia LeBouf wasn’t in it, you get used to and comfortable with certain characters and that’s what made the movies so great!
Of course, we love Mark Wahlberg, he was good in it, all muscled and the “everyman”, just a dad trying to help a friend and protect his daughter. I’m shallow, I liked the way he looked in the tight t-shirts wielding a welding iron. What I didn’t love was his stunt double who was very noticeably not Mark Wahlberg in some action sequences.
His daughter was kind of annoying, typical teenager, more focused on the boyfriend she wasn’t supposed to have and forgetting it was her dad who really saved her life all those times. Her boyfriend is cute, but really annoying, even with the Irish accent, and we know how I feel about those. I’m not sure how he added to the plot, but I guess there has to be a love story in all of these movies.
There was a strong supporting cast, Kelsey Grammar and Stanley Tucci, I’m not telling you who was the really bad guy and who was the sort of bad guy who turned around in the end and became a good guy. The voice actors for the transformers included, of course, Peter Cullen playing Optimus Prime and Frank Welker playing Galvatron, also the voice of Megatron and John Goodman was Hound, all great actors for the roles, Peter Cullen and Frank Welker being the original voice artists from the original cartoons.
We both thought the movie was a bit long and I know I should not have had the 32 oz bottle of water, as I had to get up and use the facilities twice and anyone who knows me knows I do not like to get up during a movie for that! Luckily the bathroom was right next to the theater.
There were a few good fight scenes and a lot that might not have been necessary, but it was the Transformers after all. The government is paranoid and feeds mis-information to the public and incites panic. The working man rises up against the government and the people trying to hold them back and put fear in their hearts and minds. The Decepticons want to destroy the earth, fun.
There were explanations to the ice age and extinction of the dinosaurs, bad transformers, metal hyenas, with fur!, transformer dragons and dinosaurs, oh my! Optimus Prime took his rightful place as leader of the Autobots and brought himself to his true ‘height and strength’ the leader he truly is. The personalities of the Autobots, more than the Decepticons, fit their body style and personalities. The Decepticons are all bad, so who cares what their personalities are like!
The bottom line is that no matter what, we should always have faith in ourselves, you may lose it in others, but never yourself.
I hope MM was ok, I kept hitting his leg every time Optimus Prime first came on the screen and when he transformed, kicked arse, got a new body and paint job and generally was Optimus Prime. Not to mention when Bumble Bee hit the screen, so happy to see him!
I enjoyed the movie because it was The Transformers, yeah, that’s pretty much it.
Go see this movie! That’s all I have to say, go see this movie!
I loved the first How to Train Your Dragon, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/?ref_=nv_sr_2, about a boy viking who is being brought up to hunt and kill dragons and discovers there may be more to them than he realized and forms a bond that cannot be broken with a night fury dragon he names Toothless.
In the first movie, which came out in 2010, Hiccup, our main character and hero was about ten, I believe and in this movie, he is twenty. Isn’t it amazing how fast kids grow up! [And I just took a peek and the next movie is coming out in 2016! You bet I’ll be there and adding it to the collection, like this one!
This story is about responsibility, family, love, understanding, forgiveness and courage. The courage to stand up to those who will hunt you and take you down, courage to stand up for what you believe in, courage to face even your family for what you know is right.
There is love, unconditional love, long lost relations, family, a major heartbreaking loss, the realization that you are stronger than you realize and we really are made up of both of our parents, we get both good and bad from them equally. I can’t tell you how difficult it is not to tell you everything, but there would be too many spoiler alerts! Did you know that in the dragon world, there is hierarchy, just like in almost any society; an alpha and all stem from them and must pay heed to them and do their bidding. Which can be both good and bad…
Lastly, there are dragons, I mean a lot of dragons, all shapes, sizes and colors and baby dragons, it turns out, are just like any other kid, they don’t listen to anyone. But, everyone’s favorite dragon is there front and center, Toothless. Toothless is a great friend and companion and protector for Hiccup and Hiccup is nothing but fierce about Toothless. And just when you think the movie can’t get any better…Toothless finds his footing, does what he does best in protecting his best friend and discovers something inside him that no one knew was there. Especially Toothless!
Everyone has to find their own way, make their own path in this world and it’s interesting to watch the journey that Hiccup goes through to find out what everyone else could see in him already.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1646971/?ref_=nv_sr_1,
Today, I stood and strolled on my dad’s college Alma mater!
I am in Greensboro, North Carolina for a few days and the first place I had to go was Guilford College. It is such a beautiful campus, exactly what you think a college campus should look like. Older buildings, lots of green grass and lots of trees scattered throughout the campus and open walkways to each building.
I will admit, it was not easy to find the bookstore, but I did and got my dad some treats and something for myself, of course! The weather is a bit toasty, but it was so nice under the trees to walk around and just reflect. And daddy, I still couldn’t find the library!
The college was started in 1837 by Quakers, or ‘friends’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakers. My dad went to Friends Select in Philadelphia, http://www.friends-select.org/, which was a Quaker school as well, is there a theme going here?
One of the coolest things about my dad, and there are SO many, is that he was part of the group that started the soccer program at Guilford College! How cool is that?
It really was awesome to be able to walk some of the same paths that my dad took, I felt very close to him!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilford_College
I love finding deals on things I know people will like.
This helps my gift closet grow and when it comes time for the holidays, I am either done or very close to being done. This makes me very happy and it’s something my mom was great at and she passed that skill down to GES and I. I have accomplished a lot, gotten gifts for people and when November/December rolls around, I don’t have to spend a lot of money all at once! Score!
When I moved to Colorado and got a storage unit, guess what went into the storage unit first, as in the back of the unit? DUH! So, that means starting over and I think I told you how I did that one day at Tuesday Morning, it was a great start!
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been going into a few stores when I needed something and found some great deals and I am so excited about them! I get tickled when I see something that screams “ooh, ___ would love that!”
So, now I have things for my gift closet, but I’m in a hotel! Um…any ideas what I should do with this stuff!? Who cares! I’m ahead of the game! Go me!
It’s hard when your friends are in pain.
You want to be there for them, help them through whatever it is, take the pain away and make it right again for them, even tell them it’s going to be ok, maybe even want to tell them what they should do.
Unfortunately, all we can do is be there, listen, be a sounding board, let them talk through the issues and their concerns and if they want our opinions or advice, we give it, otherwise, we stay silent. I know that is something that I am not great at, but want to be better at, staying silent, it’s not easy, I’m a fixer, I want to make everyone happy and take the pain away.
To all my friends who are experiencing something unpleasant, making them unhappy, please know that you have friends who care about you and no matter how much you think you’re alone in what you’re going through, you’re not, we love you and will be here when you’re ready to talk to us.
It was a full day! And what a glorious day! 77 with a breeze, did you have it as good! First official day of summer was a delight!
CKM and I got up leisurely, well too early, but leisurely, got motivated, checked her in for her flight, finished packing and headed out. We went to Angelo’s for breakfast, so good! I couldn’t finish everything on my plate, so we boxed it up and took it with us and I’m glad we did, i found someone who was hungry and could use a good meal.
We went down to main street and walked in a few stores that we hadn’t been in this weekend, had some laughs and then it was time to make our way to the airport. We got there in plenty of time for her to check her bag and get to the gate.
I had some time to kill, about two hours before KS was back in Michigan, so I went for a drive to see what was around the airport. I found Canton and Wayne, Michigan, walked around a mall and a Hallmark store, nothing monumental, but found a few more Chanukah and Christmas gifts, even some for Easter! I love a sale! Go me!
Then it was time to pick up KS, we connected at the airport and since we were both hungry, headed back downtown to grab some grub! We decided on Vellum but we just missed brunch and had about 20 minutes until happy hour and another hour to the start of restaurant week dinner. So what do two industrious girls do with time to kill? Window shop! That was perfect timing, we went back across the street to Vellum for happy hour and love those happy hour prices! The cool thing was we got a few of the things that we were looking at on the restaurant week menu! Poutine, fried beets and brussel sprouts and a watermelon sangria for KS, all delicious! We caught up on our week, laughed and had a good time. http://vellumrestaurant.com/
After happy hour, we walked around, KS got some dessert and then we headed back to the car, she was ready to get back to her room, do some laundry and watch the world cup: USA vs Portugal, which, as you know, ended in a tie. I got to the hotel, caught up with Nel, Liv and Sean, then headed up to my room and sat down, first time in a while.
Happy Sunday!
What a day!
Today was my last 12 hour day supporting the pharmacy at the hospital. It was bittersweet, I was happy to be finished with this part of the project, happy to not have to get up at 5am, be there at 6am and stay until 6pm. Happy that they were comfortable and confident with the application to not need our continued support, they are helping each other and know what to do if it’s a big issue.
Sad because I’ve spent two weeks with these people, I know it doesn’t seem like a long time, but when you spend 12 hours a day with them, you get to be friendly, friends. You laugh a lot and get silly, those wee hours of the morning are for silliness! You talk, get to know each other and have a good time. And when it’s time to go, they tell you how much they appreciated you being there, it feels so good and then hugs goodbye and you walk out the door. Who knows if our paths will cross, but I will remember them and maybe they’ll remember me. Well, some will because I became “snack girl”! I was responsible for bringing snacks mid-shift, I’ll take it!
CKM had a much more entertaining day! She started at the Farmers Market, lunch at the blue tractor, the library book sale: everything you can fit into a bag for $5! Then the Ann Arbor book festival, how could you go wrong? I lucked out with a t-shirt and rubber ducky from the festival, thank you!!
When i was done with work, I met CKM and we went to see ‘Architects of Air: Miracco’. “Miracoco is a glorious amalgam of engineering, technology, science, and art. The central dome features a spiral lattice of scintillating points of light on a field of iridescent hues. The outer domes explore the dodecahedron, using reinforced restraints to render a geometry that is more visible and precise.”
The entire structure was made of pvc pipe stretched so thin it becomes soft and pliable, very interesting. Even more interesting was that all the stitching was done by hand, really impressive! There were four different sections in different colors, blue, green, red with no artificial light, all natural.
http://a2sf.org/event/architects-of-air-miracoco/
Then we headed down to main street to Cafe Felix for dinner. The waiter said it was French with their own flair, um, not really. It was good, but we didn’t get the feeling of French, that’s ok, a new experience and tasty dinner. http://www.cafefelix.com/
After dinner we walked, went into different shops and bought a few things here and there, I’m doing well, I’ve gotten some chanukah and christmas presents already! Last stop was Cupcake Station, yum! She got a mini cupcake and I got a few cookies to bring back and share. http://www.cupcakestation.com/
Now, laundry is in, CKM is packing and I’m talking to you, sounds like a full day!
[Best part…NO alarm clock tomorrow! shhhh…sleeping!]
As the saying goes…”Come again some other day”! There are things we want to do and you are ruining them! Not completely, but still.
Wednesday night there was a huge storm, it rained all day and well into the evening. It was so bad that when I went to pick up KS to go to work, from the front door of the hotel to the car I got soaked. I was wearing khaki pants and when I got in the car, I was so wet, they were dark brown in front! Apparently it’s the rainy season, why? We’ve had snow, now rain? How about some nice even keeled weather?
Today it rained most of the day, which was fine for me, I was at the hospital working, but for CKM, she was running in between the raindrops! She decided she was going to go to the Archaeological Museum, Art Museum and Science Museum, she’s a museum kind of girl. It was easy to find parking, but dodging the rain drops is not that easy.
After work, we met back at the hotel to change and head out. There is an arts festival going on right now in Ann Arbor and we were going to go to hear a band play, but they got rained out, so we decided to go grab some food and Irish Pub fare it was! We went to Conner O’Neills for some futball [it was on, Honduras was playing Ecuador, Ecuador won, go Ecuador! Boy those fans are fanatic! We went for futball, good food and best of all, good company. it was yummy! http://www.conoroneills.com/annarbor/
After dinner we walked around town, did some window shopping, found some fun treats for ourselves and CKM found lots of goodies to take home with her.One of the places was Cherry Republic, nothing but things made with cherries, for miles! And tastings, chocolate covered cherries, cherry soda, cherry wine, cherry tea, you name it, it was probably made with cherries!
After shopping, we decided it was time for dessert so we got in the car and headed for…you guessed it, Insomnia Cookies! I have been talking enough about this place that CKM had to try it for herself. We got a few cookies and some ice cream, sat and enjoyed our dessert.
Now we’re at the hotel relaxing, checking email and talking to you! Who knows what tomorrow holds, I am done work at 6pm and CKM is going exploring until then! Then we are doing something fun together. Can’t tell you what that is yet [I don’t know to tell the truth!] but I will tell you all about it tomorrow!
Until tomorrow, have a great night!
Tee hee hee, if you didn’t know, A2 is how people from Ann Arbor refer to it and since I’ve been there for a few months and will be there a while longer, I’m jumping on the bandwagon!
Today I was awakened way too early, 7:30am, by some texted pictures, not naming names, very happy to have them, but too early and my fault that I didn’t have the phone on silent. But…it was a good thing and I’ll tell you why soon.
I stretched and tried to go back to sleep but we both know me and that wasn’t happening, so I got up, showered, dressed, started packing, had some breakfast, chatted with Ernest, the nice gentleman that works the breakfast area at the hotel, saw pictures of his grandkids, talked about Father’s Day, back to the room to finish packing and headed out.
I dropped my bags at bag storage, headed out, took a right and began walking down South Michigan Avenue. The past three days, I had been staying primarily on North Michigan Avenue and South Michigan Avenue has so much to offer. Good thing I’m going to come back some time, more exploring!
It was about a mile and a half from the hotel to Shedd Aquarium. Someone told me I needed to be there by about 9:30am or the line would be ridiculous and when I left about 2:15, the line for tickets was probably about a 1.5-2 hours wait, no thanks!
The website said the best days to go, Wednesday and Thursday, well, now it know why. Teenagers and wee tots, class and camp trips and there were a lot of them, not to mention families, good thing crowds don’t bother me much.
When I talked to people from Chicago, they said that so many class trips every year were to Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum of Natural History and Adler Planetarium. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_Campus
For my entry fee, I got entrance into the aquarium and all the sections including Oceanarium, Wild Reef, Jellies, Stingray Touch Experience, Aquatic Show and Sea Monsters, oh my!
I got to see the different sections including Caribbean Reef, River, Ocean, all great with frogs, snakes, fish, spiders, you name it, they had it. The Jellies were amazing, such beautiful creatures that can be so deadly. I got to pet stingrays, so soft and sleek, watch the aquatic show with dolphins, seals, a dog and some beluga whales, fascinating and touching, hang with some penguins and watch a 4D movie about sea monsters. That was fun! You sit in the seat and watch things come at you, get sprayed with mist and feel things touch your back, the audience reaction is the best.
I really enjoyed myself and could see myself possibly going back again, if I had people with me. I saw some beautiful creatures that I might never see on my own and learned a lot about them and how I could help, how we could all help.
I hope you enjoy some of my pictures.
