Tuesday, July 27, 2010

A Bit of Family Trivia



Every family has its own set of unusual, interesting and unique events and experiences, and my family is no exception. Here are a few tidbits of family trivia that doesn't really amount to much, but they do make conversation pieces to pass the time away! I have hyperlinked the names of the rich and famous, in case they are unfamiliar to anyone reading this.

1. During a few years of his time working at the 36th district court, Arthur worked with Judge Mathis.

2. My mother was a secretary for the Teamster’s Union back in the late 1950's, and at one time was secretary for Bill Bufalino, who was Jimmy Hoffa’s attorney. She took messages from Jimmy Hoffa on several occasions. (But she never knew a thing that went on behind the scenes... the women were never privy to that stuff.)

3. Aunt Kathy met Stevie Wonder in an elevator one day at Montgomery Wards in Detroit.

4. My brother Doug received a beautiful handwritten letter from Lillian Gish in reply to a note he sent.

5. John is now the owner of a baseball that belonged to my dad... One day in 1956 my grandpa took my dad to a Tiger’s game. Since Grandpa was friends with some of the players, he and my dad were allowed in the locker room after the game, and the entire team signed a baseball for my dad. Two signatures of note on the ball: Al Kaline and (now infamous Senator) Jim Bunning. Both of those players are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

6. How Grandpa first met those players is he played minor league baseball with some of them in the Toledo Mudhens. Sadly, he didn’t quite make the cut to the Majors.

7. During his service in the military band, Jimmy met and shook hands with President George H.W. Bush.

8. This will seem unremarkable to my Michigan friends, but may be of interest to the rest of you: I used to see Bob Seger in concert for a dollar at our local teen dances. A couple times I sat on the edge of the stage while he and his band (The Seger System and The Last Heard played. :)

So... what famous people have you met?


Friday, July 23, 2010

A cute Nun joke


There were two nuns..

One of them was known as Sister Mathematical (SM),

and the other one was known as Sister Logical (SL ).

It is getting dark and they are still far away from the convent.

SM: Have you noticed that a man has been following us for the past thirty-eight and a half minutes? I wonder what he wants.

SL: It's logical.. He wants to rape us.




SM: Oh, no! At this rate he will reach us in 15 minutes at the most! What can we do?

SL: The only logical thing to do of course is to walk faster.


A little while later...


SM: It's not working.

SL: Of course it's not working. The man did the only logical thing. He started to walk faster, too.

SM : So, what shall we do? At this rate he will reach us in one minute.

SL: The only logical thing we can do is split. You go that way and I'll go this way. He cannot follow us both.

So the man decided to follow Sister Logical.



Sister Mathematical arrives at the convent and is worried about what has happened to Sister Logical.

Then Sister Logical arrives.

SM: Sister Logical! Thank God you are here! Tell me what happened!

SL : The only logical thing happened. The man couldn't follow us both, so he followed me.

SM: Yes, yes! But what happened then?

SL: The only logical thing happened. I started to run as fast as I could and he started to run as fast as he could.

SM: And?

SL : The only logical thing happened. He reached me.

SM : Oh, dear! What did you do?

SL : The only logical thing to do. I lifted my dress up.

SM : Oh, Sister! What did the man do?

SL: The only logical thing to do. He pulled down his pants.



SM: Oh, no! What happened then?

SL : Isn't it logical, Sister? A nun with her dress up can run faster than a man with his pants down.


And for those of you who thought it would be dirty,

Say two Hail Marys!





Sunday, July 18, 2010

My magical childhood place


Once upon a time when I was very, very small, my grandparents purchased a little pink cottage near Port Huron, Michigan. As the years passed, I spent more and more time at the cottage, until I was spending entire summers there.

It was during those summers that I developed a love of flower gardening. My grandma taught me how to pull weeds, transplant daylillies, deadhead daisies, and so many things that are imbedded, but I can't specifically remember. My grandpa taught me all about big lake fishing off a dock. (I can still bait a hook and clean a fish with the big boys!) He also taught me how to safely identify and pick mushrooms and wild berries, and the proper way to carve birchwood whistles. But my favorite thing to do during the summer was walk the half mile down the dirt road with my grandparents to the beach off of Lake Huron.

It scares me to think back about how I would swim out over my head in that big lake. I didn't know about under-tows back then, and I always felt safe when Grandpa was around. I do remember him rescuing me a couple of times. After the second time, I was sternly warned to never go out beyond the sand bar.

I will eventually post some old photos from the olden days when I get my scanner working. But for now, I am posting some photos and a video clip from our visit to that same beach taken during our trip to Michigan. It feels so strange but wonderful to see my children in that same spot, with my childhood spirit running along side of them. The spirit of energy, wonder, and fearlessness, back before I understood the facts of adulthood, grief, and that not everybody was nice like my family.

















Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Rubbing Elbows with Greatness


My family and I were fortunate enough to share a very enjoyable breakfast with a fellow blogger while in Detroit.

Frank Nemecek is a novelist and independent film producer, as well as the creator of two of the blogs on my reading list: The Warrendale Blog and the rather male-oriented The Voices in Frank's Head. Not only is he very talented, he is also very nice!

I didn't know exactly what to expect when we agreed to meet for breakfast at The Dog House, but because of my vast experience of meeting internet friends (can you say ywbb?) I figured he would be fine. (Although Shelby laughed, "Here we go again, meeting strangers off the internet!")


Frank turned out to be a big, sweet teddy bear of a guy. I think he had a lot more to fear from my zany crew!!!

I first discovered him through his Warrendale Blog. This blog serves a real community purpose! I admire Frank for for his efforts to revitalize the neighborhood where Arthur grew up and, although it is a daunting task, there is indication that his efforts are paying off.

I can't wait to see what project he does next!


Friday, July 9, 2010

Matt and Melody's Very Big Day


Here is a small sampling of a really beautiful wedding. My wishes are for many happy years for the bride and groom.


































Guess who caught the bride's bouquet? It was none other than Miss Shelby!!



But it's going to be a very long time before she can do anything about it, no-sir-ee!! This momma says she has to finish college first. :-)

Video link: Wedding Video http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=141972759146472


Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Shelby's Project


The biggest reason for our trip this year was to attend the wedding of Matt and Melody.



In spite of being a college student on a budget, Shelby wanted to give them a special gift. So, she decided to make one.

























Good thinking Shelby! It turned ot very nice.