We’ve had quite a bit of snow lately, including about 7″ last Thursday. So, that means cleaning off the car, shoveling, eating snow, and chucking snowballs. Check out the photo gallery link below for some frivolity in the cold.
We had a great time with the Ts over Thanksgiving. Liz made a tremendous feast of turkey, sausage and cornbread stuffing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry-orange ring, wild rice and mushrooms, pistachio cake, and a lovely and delicious apple pie with a homemade crust. Yummy!! Besides trying on the old school helmet, we enjoyed each other’s company, played cards and Settlers of Catan, and even went to see the new Harry Potter movie. Thanks for spending Thansgiving with us- we loved having you!! Check out the photo gallery link below for the blackmail photos (thanks to Joan for sending along her pictures as well).
I was extremely saddened to find out that Dan Hager was killed in a tragic car accident going to work on Monday morning (local newspaper article and obituary). I was friends with Dan ever since I can remember- he was on my very first T-ball team and was a roommate through college. I have so many memories of Dan: high school days at Walton, riding around in his black Nissan Pulsar, college days in the dorms at GT and then in the Pink Palace, shared ME classes, GT football games, shows in Atlanta, CD shopping in Five Points, road trip to visit Matt in college, many Braves games. Dan was one of those guys that everyone liked, and he will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him. Though I’ve listed a few of my memories above, I know that there are countless more that I and others may have- feel free to share your memories via the comments. Below is a link to recent photo of the Hager family (thanks, Brett).
After several weeks of trying to find a day that worked for people, we finally had our GSHAS post-season outing at Leopold Bros on Saturday. While several folks had previous conflicts (and Chaz got sick at the last minute), we had a fairly small group. Jon L. was prepared to buy, but I let him off the hook as we didn’t have a team quorum since it was just Charlie, Ron, Jon L., Liz, and I. Those of us who attended had a good time (and yes, Charlie was there not just his bike). I have to say it was a rather poor showing- we need more work on the partying side of softball (perhaps we’ll work on that in spring training). Those of us who were there discussed assessing points to those who said they were going to come but didn’t (you know who you are). Perhaps those individuals can account for themselves and avoid the penalty? If anyone else wants to try and organize an outing again, I’d be up for it.
Check out the new Ford Fusion in Titanium Green that we got this week (photo gallery link at the bottom of this post). Though we’ll miss the Escape, the Fusion is really nice. The I4 is very smooth, and the car is quiet even at high way speeds. The steering wheel controls for the radio and AC/heat are very nice. We also really like the keyfob functions integrated into the key. The trunk is huge too. You can find more info on the Fusion at the official Ford site.
We attended the exclusive Inline-5s reunion concert in Milan last night. A great time was had by all as Eric, Hugh, Donnell, Tom, and Jeff put on an excellent two-set show. Highlights included “Rockin’ in the USA” (i.e. sound check), “Seven”, “Gotta Get Up”, “I Want to be Your Boyfriend”, “I Will Survive”, “House of the Rising Sun”, and “Gone Til’ November.” Click the link below to go to a photo gallery from the event. Feel free to add your thoughts via the comments.
Check out Matty in his Super Fly shirt for 70s Day during Homecoming Week!! It is kind of freaking me out!! Awesome!!
Hanna and Yousef came up to visit and to take in the UM football game versus Eastern Michigan. We had a tremendous weekend!!
After their arrival on Friday evening, we hung out for a while before going out to for dinner. As we were heading downtown, there was an amazing sunset with the sky full of brilliant purples and oranges. After a yummy dinner at Zanzibar, we headed out to Cafe Oz. We had an argile, heard a little Arabic music, and enjoyed the belly dancing. Yousef even ran into an old friend from high school in Ramallah. Even the old fogies (i.e. Liz and I) managed to stay out late. We then went home for a few hours of sleep before the noon game on Saturday.
We got up early to do some tailgating before the game (early enough even to stop by Steve and Barry’s to get some Michigan gear- Hanna behib small T-shirts). We headed over to Annie and Chaz’s place (thanks again) to enjoy our pre-game meal on their new deck. Liz made a delicious breakfast casserole and Annie and Chaz made chocolate chip pancakes and fresh sausage. After filling our bellies, we headed over the stadium in a light rain. Our seats were great- about 7 rows closer than our previous seats when Chuck and Fred came up for the season opener against Northern Illinois. The game was pretty much a blowout (55-0), but there were a few exciting plays- Breaston had a nice punt return and a guy from Eastern made a great leaping grab on a long pass play. Hanna even perfected the picture-through-the-binoculars technique and got some cool shots. The halftime show was awesome as the band played music from Spamalot with their parody “Search for the Big Ten Grail” with mascots from the other Big Ten schools. Later in the evening, we went to Mongolian BBQ and enjoyed a delicious, all-you-can eat feast. Following dinner, we walked around for a while (gotta work off some of that stir fry), gave some lady bum directions to a bookstore (oops, my bad), went to the wrong dessert place, and then went back to the correct one. On the way home, we saw a beautiful moon and a deer on the side of the road about half a mile from the house. We then got comfy, had our dessert, and watched the UF-UT game (go gators!!).
We slept in late on Sunday and then went to our favorite breakfast place, Northside Grill. Awesome as usual!! After breakfast we did some walking around the UM campus. We visited the Law Quad, the Diag, and saw much of UM Central Campus (including packs of future sorority girls going through rush- sadly, Hanna was not invited along). We then went back home and hung out for a while on the patio (Hanna even taught me some important Arabic lessons). We had so much fun that we even left a little late for the airport. However, all was well as Hanna and Yousef made their flight. We had a great time and look forward to another visit soon. Thanks for coming up!!
Below is a link to our photo gallery (note that there are three pages). Feel free to leave comments/additional memories/random observations on this post or the pictures.
Chuck and Fred came up this weekend to visit and attend the UM-Northern Illinois football game. We had a tremendous time this weekend- everyone was fundamentally sound!!
Saturday was game day and the weather was beautiful- mid 70s with a bright, blue sky and a cool breeze. After breakfast, we headed over to Annie and Chaz’s to tailgate (thanks so much for hosting us). Well, we made it after Liz realized that I couldn’t start the Escape with the Focus keys- doh!! Liz set us up with brats, burgers, taco dip, and two cakes and Annie made a tremendous potato salad. Chaz manned the grill masterfully and morale was sky high. The walk to the field was cool- Fred even found an earring in his shoe (sadly, just one)!! Our seats were great and it was awesome seeing the team run from the tunnel and jump up to touch the banner (though Chuck thought that the cheerleader running with the M needed to work on his conditioning). The game was a blast as Henne, Hart, and the rest of the boys took care of Northern Illinois. We exhorted the defense to make plays, cheered as Henne repeatedly hooked up with Avant and Massaqoi, saw Mike Hart and Kevin Grady make some great runs, sang “The Victors” a bunch of times, got annoyed by the drunk dudes and their way too young hoochies that kept getting up and walking in front of us, and even saw SuperFan VI. At one point Chuck yelled, “C’mon Big Blue, you are my adopted team for the weekend.” After the game, we headed back to Annie and Chaz’s to hang out a bit and dip into the cakes (very yummy). We rested for a while at home, watching a little of the GT-Auburn game. We then headed out to Pizza House to eat some grub and watch the rest of the game (sweet win for GT).
On Sunday, we headed out to walk around the campus and take in the UM experience (side mission: find Ann Arbor legend Shaky Jake [pic]). We went to the Law Quad and happened upon the UM basketball team picture. After heading over to the Diag (be sure to avoid the M before your first final), we went and did some shopping at Steve and Barry’s. We decided to head over to Grizzly Peak and had to stop to take a photo with the Junebug poster at the Michigan Theater. Sadly, Shaky Jake was nowhere to be found but we had fun walking around A2. When we got home, we watched Michigan Replay and learned how to sing “The Victors” using your diaphragm. I think Chuck and Fred have it now- just ask them and I’m sure they’ll be proud to demonstrate. For dinner, Liz made us her famous ribs and we BBQ’ed them on the grill. Man, did we eat good- ribs, corn, mashed potatoes, and cake for dinner!!
This morning, we had breakfast at Northside Grill where we ran into Chaz and Annie (we had just said that we often run into them at Northside). We then drove out to Dearborn to visit Shatila and pick up some pastries before dropping Fred and Chuck off at the airport. Couldn’t have asked for a better weeeknd!! Thanks for coming up to visit!! Here is a photo album from our weekend- feel free to leave feedack and additional memories from the weekend via the comments.
Thanks to Annie and Chaz for inviting us to the German Park picnic (it occurs the last Saturday of June, July, and August). Luckily we got there early as the lines were HUGE!! We enjoyed lots of German beer from the big buckets (luckily Chaz knows the proper pouring technique) and knockwurst, kielbasa, bratwurst, spatzen, potato salad, and saurkraut. Though we didn’t wear liederhosen, there was lots of great people-wating. Can’t wait for the picnics next year!! Below are some photos from the event.
John w/ bucket in background | Liz and Chaz | Annie and John
Thanks to Anne and Matt for sharing their Concorde grape harvest (grape wine, grape jam, grape conserve, grape pie, grape sorbet) with us (love the harvesting techniques!!). The link below shows some photos from the event (let me know via the comments if you would like high-res digital versions of any of the pictures):
Here is the travel log from our recent Alaska trip. Be sure to click on the hyperlinks to see the linked photos. Also, here is a gallery of all the photos referenced in the log (note that there are multiple pages). It might be easier to navigate if you open up two windows- one where you can read and the other to view the photo gallery (the photos in the gallery are roughly in the correct order). Feel free to comment, give suggestions, ask questions, etc. as we’ll be sure to answer. We had an amazing time and highly recommend a trip to explore Alaska’s wonders.
(more…)
UPDATE: New pictures added to the photo album
After about a week’s worth of work by the guys at Northland Services, the new patio is done, and we have been enjoying it this weekend (thanks Matt and Anne for helping). It was a bit hectic with the patio work (scheduled) going on at the same time as the tree removal (very, very unscheduled). We are really excited about it- the backyard seems so different now. The link below shows before, during, and after pictures:
Patio Photos
We had a wonderful time at Karen and Majd’s wedding. The link below contains a photo album, courtesy of the Tabak family (note that there are 4 pages of photos so be sure to click through the index pages).
It was great seeing everyone and celebrating together- a great time was had by all and morale was sky high. Feel free to post comments about the wedding and pictures below. For more wedding pictures, click here for the professional photographer’s album, here for Yousef’s album and here for Kavitha’s album.
About two weeks ago, we were sitting down to eat dinner when the wind really kicked up, and it started to rain. We heard a thump on the roof and went to the window and saw that a fairly large branch had fallen on the roof. Then Liz went upstairs and discovered that the whole tree had fallen down!! The tree was an aspen (apparently fast growing but short lived) and unbeknownst to us had started to rot at the bottom. We were really lucky as the tree was supported by the gutters on the corner of the house, the chimney, and the tree on the other side of the driveway (our new favorite tree). To cut it down safely, the tree guys had to secure the tree to other neighboring ones (note the ropes in the pictures). The damage was fairly minimal (we were lucky), and we are working through the insurance to get it fixed. Since we had to cut down a large ash tree last year due to the invasive emerald ash borer, we are looking to plant some replacements this year. Since our tree incident, there has been a rash of dead trees cut down in our neighborhood. On a positive note, we met a whole bunch of new neighbors as they came by to gawk/commiserate. Click the thumbnails or the links below to see the larger version.
Tree 1 | Tree 2 | Tree 3 | Tree 4
Matthew’s baseball team is in the state playoffs. Go BT Titans!! Here is a summary from Dad:
Several of you have asked me to keep you abreast of Matthew’s baseball season, so here it is. Matthew’s baseball team finished second in the region and made the state play-offs. The state play-offs are best of three series against teams from around the state in their region (AAA). They won their first series last Friday in a double header (10-0 and 9-0). Matthew got to pitch one (hitless) inning in the second game so now they are one of sixteen AAA teams still left in the state playoffs. They will have a tough second round this week against Cartersville, a team that has won the state AAA championship 3 years out of the last 4. In case you are interested, the link below shows some pictures of Matthew taken by a photographer at a couple of the games this past season.
You can view pictures of Matty playing using the following link:
Matty’s Baseball Pics
I have uploaded the photos from the GSHAS Pre-Season Tournament and updated the “Preseason Tourney” post with a link to the photo album. Here is a link to the photo album (photos complements of Liz):
GSHAS Photos
You can also find the photos on my Flickr page. Enjoy!!
Good effort yesterday in the preseason tourney!! We ran into some pretty good teams. Though we didn’t get a win, I thought it was great to get three games under our belt before the season opener this evening. Plus, it was nice to have John Carlson back patrolling LC. Overall, our bats started to wake up towards the end, and our defense was overall pretty solid. Ben was a wizard around second base and turned two sweet 6-4-3 DPs. Jon L. made some nice picks and plays at 3B. The OF ran down lots of balls and dealt with a tricky, swirling wind all afternoon. I’m sure there are lots of sore guys today. Chris took a bad hop off the knee in LF and managed to find an uncomfortable place to land in the OF after a wicked throw home. John C. and I also decided to dive after the same ball in short center. I introduced my side to John C.’s leg, and my lip met John C.’s shoe. But, everyone seems to be OK. Take your Advil, Aleve, Tylenol, etc. I’m sure I forgot some good stuff so feel free to add your comments to this post. Here are some photos (thanks to Liz the photographer):
GSHAS Photos
Thanks to our super subs Liz, Jay, and Matt C- I really appreciate you rearranging your schedules so we could be at full strength all afternoon.
Now for the Kangaroo Court count. If you accrued points yesterday, please post a comment with the total. I’ll go ahead and bring drinks this evening just in case. I’d like to come up with a way to reward good plays as well (i.e. positive points for OF assists, turning DPs, etc.).
John B. (3) [2 botched grounders, 2 errant throws, -1 for 2 DPs]
Jon L. (2)
Chaz (2) [2 DPs, 1 dropped throw, -1 for 2 nice tags]
Ben W. (0) [1 missed cut-off throw, -1 for 2 DPs]
Our living room and dining room furniture finally arrived. This page has pictures. Make sure to click on the thumbnail to view a larger picture. Unfortunately, the scanner was acting up a bit so the colors aren’t all that accurate (the furniture is a little lighter than it appears), and some of the scans have blotches in them (i.e. there are no blotches on the walls and furniture- hee hee). Let us know what you think.
This week we got about 8 inches of snow so we decided to have some fun with it (not that shoveling the sidewalks and driveway isn’t fun). So we rented some cross country skis for the weekend and went to the local UM golf course this morning. It was a great morning, about 30 degrees with some light snow falling. After falling a bit at first (and cursing the beautiful, white snow), I finally got the hang of it (again) and really enjoyed the skiing. There were a few others skiiers out but not too many. The course is large enough with varied terrain so you could either follow someone else’s tracks or blaze your own. We did a bit of both and plan to head out again tomorrow before the snow melts.
